Summary:

Vulpes Inculta is charged with carrying out the investigation into the low pregnancy and birth rates in the Legion camp.

Joshua Graham comes face to face with his demons when the White Legs attack New Canaan.


Vulpes Inculta stood on the edge of the rocky precipice overlooking Caesar's camp. The lull of the daily toil filled the air; men sharpening their weapons, practicing sparring in the pit, the crackling of campfires, the occasional sound of a woman's yelp of pain all added to the atmosphere. But he wasn't here to enjoy the scenery of what his master had created, he was tasked with an investigation; one which eluded three of his predecessors. Caesar was growing concerned with the low number of pregnancies around the camp, but he let Vulpes know that a great reward would be given to him if he could get to the bottom of the matter. They needed new blood to replace fallen members, and there simply weren't enough tribes this far west for the Legion to conquer; at least, none that were worthy.

He was three months into his investigation and already was responsible for making several changes around camp, from increasing food distribution to the women as upping their caloric intake would improve their fertility, to ensuring all women of adequate breeding potential were not subjected to severe beatings that could potentially cause miscarriages. Any man who disobeyed this rule was to be severely disciplined and his rights and privileges over women revoked for at least a month. It seemed to be working, and Vulpes did prefer not having to hear the random screams of women throughout the day and night. So far his improvements have caused a very slight increase in pregnancy rates, but it was too early to tell, and his instinct was telling him that there was something he was missing.

A woman walking back from the river with a basket full of dripping clothing caught his attention from the corner of his eye. His gaze snapped to her, watching her as she walked below him, her head down and her posture submissive as other soldiers walking past leered at her, long dark brown hair wrapped under a muddy coloured headwrap. Recognising her as the woman Aurelius had claimed for his own, he felt an urge to continue observing her. As nimbly as a cat, he made his way down the ridge and followed her, making sure she didn't spot him. Even from a distance he could tell why a man such as Aurelius would lay claim to a woman like her; she was beyond beautiful. Her movements, though submissive and straining against the weight of the wet clothes she was carrying, were graceful. She was taller than most women in the camp, standing at about 5'9", with long slender legs, elegant neck, almond shaped eyes the colour of a bright blue sky and plump mauve lips.

Walking through the active and noisy camp, she made her way to the women's section completely unaware that she was being followed. Setting her basket down she set about lining the clothes out to dry on a long line. Then something caught his eye as she got to the bottom of the laundry; she seemed to pick a small bundle wrapped in white cloth and, very skilfully, place it up her long sleeve before making her way back into the tent. Vulpes kept a respectable distance so he wasn't so obvious and checking that no one was around to see him he pulled back the tent flap to see what the woman was doing. He saw her rummaging in a bag of her personal belongings before removing the small bundle hidden in her sleeve and shoved it hastily under her mattress.

'What have we here?' Vulpes' thin lips crept into a grin. When she got back up and moved to leave, he hid out of sight around the corner of the tent waiting for her to leave before sneaking inside and taking the bundle for further inspection. With the item now in his possession, he went back to his tent to examine its contents. Unwrapping the cloth revealed several herbs bundled together with thin strands of string. Broc flower, xander root, thistle, another plant he didn't recognise and a pouch filled with small seeds. Overall it didn't look suspicious; these were all plants that were natural in their environment and had medicinal properties as they improved healing, had antiseptic and pain suppression properties. He was about to give up when he vaguely remembered a piece of information from an old world botany book he'd found in an abandoned library. Rummaging in his footlocker for it, he turned to the information listed for all the possible properties but didn't find anything. Heaving a frustrated sigh and now wondering if he'd made a mistake, he switched focus and tried going over the illustrations in the book to try to determine what the seeds and the other plant was, and after a painstaking hour he managed to identify them. The plant was something called stoneseed root which also seemed to have medicinal properties, but he found an asterisk for the seeds which were called Queen Anne's lace, leading him to the appendix section of information. And that's where he found what he was looking for:

"Queen Anne's lace, also known as wild carrot seed, was used as a natural birth control and traces its roots all the way back to India. These seeds contain compounds that have been shown in medical research to prevent fertilized eggs from implanting in the uterus; however, ingestion is inadvisable as certain compounds in the matter can be toxic and high doses from overconsumption can lead to death".

Vulpes had finally done what his predecessors couldn't: he'd solved the mystery of low pregnancy rates which had been plaguing the Legion for years, but his work was not done yet. Now he had to decide what to do with this information and how to present it to Caesar, as well as what to do with the woman.

The woman…

He wondered what she would do if confronted with his findings. Would she deny it? Own it and accept punishment? Was it only her or were there others who were helping her distribute the herbs around the camp? If he handed this information straight to Caesar, he would call for her immediate punishment, and for a transgression such as this she would probably be nailed to a cross and left to die. All his hard work would be for nothing if she had other collaborators who would certainly be a lot more difficult to find once the word got out that one of them was caught. No, a direct approach would cause more problems in the long run; he would need to approach this from a tactful point of view.

Folding the bundle neatly with all the herbs and seeds and securing it in the pouch on his belt, he left his tent with purpose, making his way back out into the camp to keep an eye out for the woman. When the right opportunity presented itself, he would approach and confront her; all he had to do was wait.


Olivia bit her lower lip as her arm searched under her mattress, trying to find the pouch that she'd left only a couple of hours ago. It wasn't there.

'Someone must have taken it' she thought as her mind replayed the events from her day's activities. She made her way out to see Elizabeth in the food hall tent and approached her as the tent was completely empty.

"Have you seen my pouch?" she whispered, "I can't find it anywhere".

"It's not where you left it?" Elizabeth's eyebrows raised slightly at hearing the news.

Olivia shook her head and looked around, "Do you think one of the others may have taken it?"

"Unlikely, but I will ask around for you", Elizabeth replied, grabbing a bowl and pouring her some of the evening's stew.

Shaking her head, Olivia was beginning to feel apprehensive. It wasn't like for her things to go missing; she trusted the other women implicitly and didn't have any reason to believe they would take any of her belongings. But if it wasn't any of the women, then who?...

"Here", Elizabeth nudged the bowl at her, "You need to eat".

"I can't eat now".

"Yes you can. There's no point in worrying about the pouch now, we will find it".

A terrifying thought crossed Olivia's mind, sending a cold chill through her body, "What if it wasn't any of the women who took it?"

"The men don't venture out into the women's area often, and when they do they have never gone inside the tents".

"How can you be sure?" Olivia's eyes were now wide with fear, "If one of them took it-"

"Olivia, calm down", Elizabeth placed a hand on her arm, "It'll be alright. I promise you, we'll find it. If you need something to carry you over, you can make do with some thistle. As long as you keep drinking the tea every day you won't have to worry".

Taking a deep breath to calm her frayed nerves, Olivia nodded and accepted the food she was given, eating it hastily and deciding she would go by the river to see if she had somehow dropped it on her way back from doing the laundry, despite feeling certain she had it on her person.

'Maybe you're wrong, maybe you thought you put it there but you forgot', she desperately tried to remember. Finishing her meal so quickly it left her feeling nauseous, she retraced her steps back to the river and, attempting to look inconspicuous, began her search.

"Looking for something?"

Olivia jumped back in shock at the frightful sight of the soldier standing behind her, dressed in full armour, dark goggles that hid his eyes from her and a Vexillarius helmet. His voice wasn't as gruff as the other soldiers she had come across, instead it was smooth like silk, though there was no mistake that there was a dangerous tone to his words.

"N-no", she stuttered, rooting herself to the ground.

An ominous grin spread on his lips and he moved forward to stand in front of her, examining her from head to toe behind his dark goggles. This was the moment he'd been waiting for; they were far enough away from the camp that no one could overhear their conversation and it was as if the solution was staring right in front of him.

"Yes you are", he reached in his pouch and held up her pouch, still filled with the herbs, "You're looking for this".

Her eyes darted fearfully to the pouch and he knew he had her. He wasn't as tall or physically robust as most of the other soldiers in the camp, standing at about six feet in height and sporting a lean though muscular frame. Even so, she knew that if he wanted to he could kill her with one swift move.

"No, that's not mine".

"Stop lying", the smile faded from his features, "I watched you as you stuffed it under your mattress in the women's tent". He could see her body start to quiver.

"It's just medicine herbs, for healing and pain", she said in almost a whisper.

"Oh, it's more than that. I know that you have at least one herb in here that is used as a contraceptive".

Olivia desperately tried to force her muscles to stop quivering, but it was almost impossible with the amount of adrenaline that was coursing through her body. All she wanted to do was turn and run; run into the roaring river behind her and let it carry her far away from here.

"Don't worry, I won't have you lashed to a cross…not that you don't deserve it", he took off his goggles and pulled back his dog skin head covering, revealing light blue almost grey eyes and short but thick dark brown hair. His features were harsh but not unpleasant, with strong cheekbones, arched brows, symmetrical nose and angular jaw. "Do you know who I am?"

When Olivia shook her head he smirked at her, "I am Vulpes Inculta".

At the mention of his name, Olivia knew that she was done for. Even for a the lowliest of slaves, the name Vulpes Inculta stirred fear and obedience.

"Please…they're just medicines".

He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to him, "You are going to tell me where you've been collecting these medicines and who else is working with you to distribute them to the other women, or I will find unpleasant ways of extracting it out of you".

"Go ahead", Olivia whispered defiantly, her firm gaze fixed upon his, "I don't care what you do to me".

"Then maybe you'll care what I do to your friend?" he threatened, "I'm sure one of them will talk, and now that you know who I am, you know that I have the authority to round up every single one of you women and have you all disciplined".

"You wouldn't do that, you need us", she spat, "Who else will you use as your menial workers or to bear your children".

Vulpes chuckled in amusement, "My dear, you overestimate the value your kind have in this camp. We could easily replace the lot of you, if we wanted to".

There was no where to go, no corner to brace herself in for protection; she was out in the open with no place to hide and with limited options.

"What do you want?"

"It's very simple", he eased up on his grip on her arm, stroking the delicate line of her jaw, "I want you to give me the names of your accomplices. Everyone that has been involved in this little practice of yours".

'He doesn't know, he thinks I'm the main distributor', she thought, an idea brewing in her mind. She couldn't save herself, but she could save the others.

"It's just me", she said.

His amused expression immediately changed to anger and he grabbed hold of her throat in one hand, feeling his fingernails digging deep into the back of her neck.

"Don't…lie to me", he threatened in a low voice.

"I'm not", she gasped, starting to see stars in the corners of her vision.

"We'll see about that", he sneered, grabbing hold of her wrist and attempting to drag her back to the camp when another woman came running up to him. To Olivia's horror, it was Elizabeth. She must have followed her and seen what happened.

"What are you doing?" she demanded, but Vulpes pushed her aside.

"Know your place woman!"

"Please, I beg of you, let her go".

"Unless you want to be disciplined, you will hold your tongue".

"It was me!" she held up her hands in front of her in an attempt to shield herself, "Please, let her go, she had nothing to do with it".

"Elizabeth, no!" Olivia yelled but was immediately silenced with a swift and painful backhanded slap from Vulpes.

"I said silence!", he threw Olivia to the rough ground in front of him, watching her writhe in pain.

"It wasn't her, it was me", Elizabeth's pleading gaze was focused on Vulpes, "I gave her those herbs".

He sneered down at her, "I find that hard to believe".

"I'll prove it to you", Elizabeth slowly stood back up on shaky legs, "I'll show you where I planted the herbs. I'll hand over all my stock, just…please…Olivia had nothing to do with this. None of the other women did. It was me".

He allowed her to guide him to the area some distance downriver, dragging Olivia along with him in case she got any ideas about running. Sure enough he found the crop, hidden behind a rocky outcropping. To the standard Legionary soldier, these herbs were unremarkable. Almost all of them were native to the region and grew like weeds everywhere they went with the suspect plants craftily hidden among the shrubbery. No wonder no one spotted them before.

"Is this all of it?" he demanded, moving closer to Elizabeth.

"Yes", she nodded.

"If you lie to me, I will know", he fixed his cold gaze upon her but could see from her demeanour and appearance that she was being truthful.

"This is everything, I swear. Just…please…let her go", she begged.

Eyeing both women in front of him, he considered his next move carefully.

"What you have done here demands retribution".

"I will face any punishment you wish", Elizabeth looked up into his cold eyes, "But spare the others. I was the one who cultivated and distributed the plants. This was my doing. If anyone should be punished, it should be me".

"Yes…it will", he sneered, "Make no mistake, you will face the full wrath of Caesar himself. But the other women were complicit in this transgression of yours and will also face discipline; though it won't be nearly as…unpleasant…as yours".

He picked both women up by the arm and hauled them to the camp, making his way up the hill to Caesar's tent, pleased with the knowledge that a hefty reward would be waiting for him.


Following the news of Joshua's proposal to Mary, the whole town buzzed with happy chatter, echoing their congratulations and well wishes to the newly engaged couple. Dawn's reaction was the dearest, for almost the whole evening she cried tears of joy and couldn't stop singing their praises, so much so it made Joshua feel guilty for the way he rebuked her advice and attempts to get him and Mary together.

By the time the revelries had finished it was gone midnight and too late for him and Mary to walk back to the cabin, but Dawn had prepared for that possibility.

Joshua led Mary through Dawn's house and into his old bedroom. Although he hadn't been in that room since he left to New Canaan to spread the word of God and act as translator, everything inside was just as he remembered it.

"So this is your old room", Mary looked around the space, running her fingers over some old books in his book case.

"Yes. I had some fond memories in here", Joshua exhaled, taking off his boots and loosening the wraps around his body.

"Here, let me", Mary came up to him and took over, gently unwrapping the bandages that covered his burns. His skin was no longer raw but he still had some pain, especially when he forgot to apply the soothing ointments that she made for him. "Are you feeling any pain?"

"No, I'm alright", he tried to hide his wince when he answered but Mary could tell it was beginning to bother him.

"Be honest".

He sighed then relented to her question, "Maybe a little".

Taking out a small jar from her purse with the pain soothing cream, she sat next to him as he lay on the bed and allowed her to treat him.

"Is this how it's going to be, all the time?" he thought aloud, staring at the ceiling.

"It will get better with time", she smiled down at him, watching his irked expression soften as the salve began to take effect and his body relaxed.

"As long as I have you with me, I could walk through fire again", he sighed, resting a hand on her knee while she massaged him. She focused her efforts on the most painful areas, his head, neck, chest and arms, and after about fifteen minutes he was fast asleep. She sat for a moment and watched him lovingly, his features highlighted by the moonlight pouring into the room. Rubbing the residue over her arms, she wiggled in next to Joshua on the bed without disturbing him, resting her head on his chest and listening to his heartbeat as she drifted off to sleep.


Some hours later, Joshua's body jerked awake and he felt his heart pounding in his chest. He looked around him in a daze, confused by his surroundings. It took him a moment to realise he was in his old room and when he looked down he saw Mary sleeping soundly by his side. He thought he'd heard a scream outside, but after listening intently for several minutes he realised that it must have been a dream.

He relaxed again on the bed with a sigh and wrapped his arms around his beloved, kissing her forehead tenderly. As he felt himself about to fall asleep again, he heard an ominous sound of a man crying out in pain not far away. This wasn't a dream!

Bolting out of bed and waking Mary with a start, he picked up his gun and peered out the window to get a look outside.

"Joshua?" Mary called in the dark, "What's going-"

"Shhh", he moved to kneel next to her, taking hold of her hand, "Follow me, stay quiet", he whispered.

Trusting his instincts, she followed him out of the bedroom and into the living room where they peered out the window behind curtains to look into the street. It was still dark out with just a hint of dawn breaking over the horizon. The sound of glass shattering in the distance made them both jump.

"Joshua?" Mary looked to him, searching his features for comfort.

"I think someone's in trouble", he answered under his breath, his voice calm and collected, "Mary, I need you to go wake Dawn and lock yourselves in one of the rooms. Just in case".

"Don't tell me you're going out there!"

"I have to Mary, people might need our help", he stroked the side of her face, but before he could say another word to comfort her he heard one of their neighbours shriek nearby.

"Go! Now!" he said. Mary nodded and he saw her run into Dawn's room just before he left through the front door, his pistol in hand and ready. The first thing he noticed was the smell of smoke in the air. Something definitely felt wrong, and as the commotion increased other neighbours nearby made their way out of their houses to inspect the noise. The majority of them had the same idea as Joshua and were armed and ready.

"Stay in your homes, protect your families", he said as he passed them by. Even so, two other men, Daniel and Charles, joined him to help search through the streets. Soon as they turned the corner of the street facing the south side, their jaws dropped in horror. Three of the houses were broken into, one of them was catching on fire and a body of a woman hacked to death lay sprawled a few paces in front of them, her wounds still weeping.

"Behind me", Joshua instructed and the men fell into line, their rifles at the ready. As they neared they could hear fighting, glass breaking, grunting and yelps of pain, then the deafening sound of a shotgun to their right before the air erupted in high pitched whooping and screaming as their enemies emerged from the darkness.

"White legs!", Joshua said, taking aim and downing three foes in front of them, "Shoot to kill!"

Daniel and Charles fanned out and started picking them off one by one. There were so many of them…

The fighting was brutal with each side taking heavy casualties. The White Legs were armed with more than their standard spears, bows and arrows and knives; they had machine guns and were quickly dispatching the New Canaanites. Someone must have given them the weapons… But who?

Running into the thick of the fight, Joshua quickly took down the enemy in front of him, snapping his neck with a swift twist and gunning down half a dozen more. He saw Daniel and Charles pinned behind an overturned wagon, taking cover from enemy fire. What happened next Joshua couldn't recall; rage overtook him and all he remembered was seeing red. It was as though the kind and compassionate man that Joshua Graham had worked so hard to become was undone in a split second and a wrathful Malpais Legate was let loose. Only when there were no more enemies to kill and the surviving White Legs fled in fear did Joshua regain control.

"Joshua" he heard Daniel's soft voice call a few paces behind him, snapping him out of his murderous rage. All he could smell was blood and gunpowder, the chaos and slaughter around them was terrifying. The rest of the residents had gathered together and were working to put out the raging fire that had devoured one of the houses and was threatening to spread.

"Joshua… It's over", Daniel cautiously approached his friend, "We should go get you looked at".

"What?" Joshua asked in a daze, "I'm fine", but the stunned look on Daniel's face told him that that was not true. Looking down at his arms and body, he saw that he was drenched in blood. Somehow he had picked up an axe during the fight, though he had no recollection of doing so. It was stained with dark red blood, still dripping with hot blood and a sliver of flesh hanging on to the metal.

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up".

"Where's Charles?" Joshua asked, blinking sweat and blood out of his eyes.

A sombre expression crossed Daniel's gentle features and he shook his head apologetically, "He didn't make it".

Joshua's wide eyes fixed on Daniel, at a loss for words to express his grief.

"He was a good man… We will give him a proper burial with the others".

Daniel nodded and placed a hand on Joshua's shoulder, gently directing him back to town, "We will… We should go find Mary first, get you out of these bloodied clothes".

'Mary!' a terrifying thought crossed his mind. He wasn't there to protect her, what if the White Legs got to her…

He sprinted with his weapons still in hand, wide eyes scanning for her through the chaos.

"Mary!" he yelled above the noise, "Mary! Where are you?!"

"Joshua?" he heard her voice. She was with the others helping tend to the wounded and dying, her arms and shins covered in blood.

"Oh God!" he ran up to her, feeling hot tears stream down his face. She was mortified at the state of him but held on to him tightly when he embraced her and held her tightly to his body, fearing that if he let go she would disappear, "Are you alright? Did they hurt you?"

"No…No, Dawn and I did as you said, we hid and waited until we saw them running away", she pulled back to examine him, "Joshua, you're covered in blood…"

"I know… It's not mine", he held her face in his hands, "Though for a moment I feared the worst".

"Me too", she stifled a sob and wiped tears away from her cheeks, "You should get out of those clothes. We need to keep your skin as clean as possible".

Joshua nodded absentmindedly, looking around at the devastating sights around them, "I can sort myself out, if you're needed here".

"Go to the house and wash up, I'll come see you when I'm done here", she caressed his face, knowing that even though he wasn't physically hurt, the events of this night had taken a mental and emotional toll on him.

Some time after Joshua had changed out of his bloodied clothes and rinsed himself off in a tub, Mary came by the house to examine him. He sat staring at the ground while she looked him over, feeling for bruises, broken bones, and any other injury that he may have suffered during the fighting; but it seemed that God had decided to spare him yet again.

"I can't believe after what you've been through, you've emerged unscathed", Mary shook her head in disbelief.

"Can't you?" he asked softly, "It's not the first time I've gone into battle".

"What happened out there?" she tried to meet his averting gaze.

He shrugged, trying to recall the events but it was as if that whole part of his life had been erased from his mind, "I don't know… I can't remember anything. All I remember was this rage building inside of me when I saw the White Legs and what they had done… all the death and destruction in front of me…"

Mary pursed her lips and lay a hand on his knee, "Try to get some rest. You'll feel better after a few hours of sleep".

"No", he shook his head adamantly, "I can't sleep now. They will come back. They won't stop until they kill us all".

"You can't know that", she studied him warily.

Joshua's eyes looked up into hers and there was a deadly and terrifying look to them that pierced through her, "Yes, I do. We need to be ready for when they return. And they will return in greater numbers. I'll be damned before I let them take our home from us".

A part of her wanted to argue her point and offer him words of comfort and reassurance, but that deadly look in his eyes prohibited her. Instead she nodded curtly and stood back up, "Very well… I suppose, given your experience you know best about these things. I'll be in the Church, tending to the wounded if you need me".

He reached up and took hold of her hand, the look in his eyes softening to the familiar Joshua Graham Mary had come to know and love, "I'm sorry Mary, I just want to keep us safe. This is the only way I know how".

"I know", she gave him a weak smile, "I should let you prepare".

With a nod, he hesitantly let go of her hand and watched her leave the house as a familiar pit started growing in his stomach. He couldn't forget the look of horror on her face when she saw him when the fighting ended, his body steaming from his own sweat and being drenched in the still fresh blood of his victims, and he hoped to God that she would never see him in that state again. But if they were going to survive, they needed to be prepared for anything. Come what may, Joshua was going to do everything in his power to protect his community and his loved ones; no matter the cost.