Six knew what she would find when she entered Caesar's tent complex. She could hear the murmur of voices as she passed the sentries stationed outside, and sure enough, there was Vulpes, standing to attention in front of Caesar's throne. Catching sight of her, Caesar gestured for her to come and stand next to him.

'Vulpes tells me he is in need of your services, my dear.'

'Is he now?' Six let her gaze slide from Caesar to the cold mask of Vulpes' face. 'And what, pray tell, could the leader of almighty Caesar's Frumentarii need from me that he can't do himself?'

She allowed herself a smile. She already knew what Vulpes wanted — they had discussed it in the medical tent yesterday — but she couldn't pass up an opportunity to needle him. Caesar laughed. On good days, he found her insolence charming; few others had the nerve to taunt his chief Frumentarius, and he enjoyed watching her vex his talented but imperious commander.

'A woman's touch,' Caesar answered, reaching out to pull her into his lap. He put an arm around her waist and Six saw Vulpes' jaw flex.

'Indeed,' Vulpes confirmed. 'We require some information that would be best acquired via persuasion.'

She raised an eyebrow at him. 'You mean to say your crucifixions are not persuasive, Vulpes?'

Caesar laughed again and Vulpes glared at her, continuing as if she hadn't spoken.

'Degenerates are especially susceptible to women,' he intoned, 'as a consequence of their weak character.'

'I see.'

She didn't need to say anything else. Even over the distance between them, Vulpes could make out that provocative sparkle in her eye. And you? it said, What about your susceptibility to women? To me?

'How could I refuse?' she continued, never taking her eyes off his face. 'I would be honoured to assist.'

Vulpes narrowed his eyes. 'Good. We leave for the Strip at dawn tomorrow.'

He made to leave, turning back at the sound of Caesar's voice. 'Ensure you take good care of her, Vulpes.'

'Of course,' he replied, 'although the Courier has always been very capable of looking after herself.'

'True enough,' said Caesar, squeezing her hip. 'Nevertheless, I shall hold you personally accountable for her safe return.'

'Very well,' Vulpes said, inclining his head. 'True to Caesar.'

I'll take better care of her than you, he thought, meeting her eyes for the briefest moment. The cuts on her cheek were still visible, red against her skin as she smiled at him, amused by his deference. Caesar murmured something in her ear and Six looked away, laughing quietly as the older man put a hand on her thigh. Vulpes turned to leave, disgust and jealousy roiling in his chest.

They met again in the early hours of dawn. The Fort was still quiet, the only movement from slaves preparing food and enjoying a brief respite from their masters. Standing in the courtyard outside Caesar's tent, Vulpes could hear Six moving around. She stepped out into the nascent light a few minutes later, dressed in her old armour with an unmistakable engraved pistol at her hip.

The last time he'd seen her look like that, he'd been trying to decide whether to let her speak or simply kill her outright, and had the distinct impression that she was thinking the same about him. His life would certainly be simpler if one of them had decided differently.

Shouldering a pack, Six came to stand next to him, closer than she'd ever dare during daylight hours.

'I hope you have something a little more elegant in that bag of yours,' Vulpes murmured, his eyes running pointedly up and down her attire.

'Some men are into leather, you know.' She smirked at him. 'But yes, I do.'

'Good.'

He found his eyes lingering on her mouth, on that infuriating smile. The sheer ferocity with which he wanted to kiss her was dangerous; they were only a few feet away from Caesar himself.

'You won't be needing this,' he said quietly, putting his arms around her neck to find the clasp of her necklace. Their faces came close and he lingered, taking longer than he needed and letting his fingers brush her skin. For all her teasing and bravado, he didn't miss the way her breath caught in her throat when he touched her.

Her reaction gratified him more than he cared to admit. He'd lost count of the nights he'd lain awake, cursing his own foolishness but unable to stop thinking about her, even before he'd admitted his feelings to himself. Knowing that she was as lovesick as he was made his stomach twist in strange and not entirely unpleasant ways.

He lowered Caesar's mark into her open hand, allowing his fingers to graze against hers. Six swallowed, her confident demeanour shaken as she looked down at the glinting metal in her palm. The message was clear: you're not Caesar's, not today.

She looked back up at him, the significance of the gesture not lost on her. Vulpes was gazing steadily at her: if he still felt conflicted about their entanglement, he was doing an excellent job of hiding it.

'Come on,' he said, turning to leave. 'It's a long way to the Strip.'

They were met by a pair of junior Frumentarii at the gates of the Fort, and Six raised an eyebrow at him.

'An escort,' Vulpes explained, 'per Caesar's request. For your protection.'

She laughed, eyeing up the young men in front of her. With her old armour on and a gun at her side again, she felt more like the infamous Courier Six with every passing minute. She didn't need protecting from anyone but Caesar, and perhaps herself.

'Very well,' was all she said. 'If that is Caesar's wish.'

Vulpes nodded, instructing the young legionaries to take up rear and vanguard positions to scout for threats.

'As far away as possible while still maintaining visual contact,' he told them. 'Upon reaching the Strip, you will disperse and wait at the usual checkpoint. We may be several days. Understood?'

The young men nodded and the first of them set out ahead. Vulpes and Six followed afterwards, keeping the prescribed distance. It was as alone as they were going to get for now.

They travelled in silence for a while as the day broke around them, wan sunlight turning into morning gold. Six was practically giddy with delight. She couldn't remember her life or her reasons for becoming a courier, but surely this had something to do with it. The freedom of an open road and no one to answer to — for a while, at least — was intoxicating.

Glancing at Vulpes, she caught him smiling, although he smothered the expression as fast as he could.

'What?'

He shook his head. 'Nothing.'

She grinned at him. He was wearing regular combat leathers as well, and it was easy to imagine that they were just mercenaries on the road together; a pair of caravan guards, looking for their next job. Outside the oppressive walls of the Fort, Six felt her mood soar, happy to simply exist with little thought for Caesar and his Legion.

Looking sidelong at Vulpes, she found herself admiring the sharp angles of his face, wondering how they would look in between her thighs. When he reached up to adjust his armour, her eyes fell on his hands: he had beautiful hands with deft, slender fingers. She already knew how they felt on her face, unexpectedly gentle, and Six got to thinking about how they might feel elsewhere.

'You aren't subtle, you know.' He was smirking at her, preening under her indecent gaze.

'I don't have to be,' she said. 'Tell me, Vulpes: do you actually need my help, or is this all a scheme so you can have your filthy way with me?'

She surprised him with an unusually sincere smile, borderline coy, and Vulpes felt his heart start to beat faster. Part of him was irritated by his emotional reactions: she had utterly bewitched him, and he hated himself for enjoying it as much as he did.

'Can't it be both?' he asked, watching her eyes sparkle with amusement. 'Besides, I thought you might appreciate an excursion.'

'How thoughtful of you,' she murmured. 'I shall have to find a way to thank you.'

She gave him a look which left absolutely no doubt about how she intended to thank him, and Vulpes felt a wave of lust wash up his spine. He wasn't sure when it had happened, but at some point their mutual desire had become an accepted fact between them, the inevitability of their affair a given. The anticipation was excruciating.

A few moments of silence passed as they each entertained the same lascivious thoughts, the air between them singing with tension. Vulpes cast his eyes out ahead: their escort was just visible further down the road. They weren't truly alone, not yet, and they couldn't afford to be blasé about the very real danger they were courting.

'You would do well to restrain yourself in Caesar's presence.' He gave her a pointed look and she laughed at him.

'Oh, come on, let me have my fun. Being a whore is terribly boring, you know.'

'You're not—'

'A whore?'

Six found herself smiling, touched by his knee-jerk attempt to defend her honour.

'I am, by any definition of the word,' she went on, 'but if consort suits you better... then being a consort is terribly boring.'

He turned to look at her, enjoying the curve of her lip as she smirked at him. 'Could you not find some less perilous pastime? One that doesn't endanger me as well?'

'Don't worry, Vulpes, Caesar doesn't suspect anything. He enjoys my insolence, just like you do,' she said. 'Besides, he thinks you might be gay.'

Vulpes stared at her in mute shock and the delight in her eyes twinkled brighter than ever.

'He says you haven't had a slave girl in years. We spent a lovely afternoon debating which of your Frumentarii you might be fucking.'

She smiled at him, visibly pleased by his reaction as icy fury and hot jealousy warred on his face. He hadn't considered that Six might actually hold a position of confidence with Caesar, and that they had been discussing him made his blood boil. In his mind's eye, he saw Six on Caesar's lap, a hand on her thigh as he leaned in to whisper in her ear. Her laughter behind his retreating back took on a whole new meaning.

The idea that there was any real intimacy between them filled him with rage, even as his rational mind told him it made perfect sense: he knew she had ulterior motives, and having Caesar's ear was the best way to achieve them, whatever they were. For the first time, he felt real doubt. Was she using him and he was just too stupidly infatuated to see it?

'You're playing a dangerous game, woman,' he hissed.

'The only kind worth playing,' Six replied, not batting an eye as she tapped the scar on her forehead, 'but if you'd rather I flirt with Lanius...'

She trailed off, trying and failing to smother the grin on her face as she looked out at the landscape around them, feigning innocence.

'He'd sooner rape you,' Vulpes snapped. 'Lanius prefers it when they scream.'

Six looked back at him sharply, the smile falling from her face as she realised that she had pushed him too far.

'And you don't?'

She was trying to keep her expression neutral, but Vulpes saw sadness beginning to pool in the curves of her face. He had reminded her of the nature of the Legion, the realities of rape and slavery that he took for granted as part of its fundamental character. To him, they were a necessity that sustained the only engine capable of bringing order to the world; to her, they were atrocities. Despite the jealous anger simmering in his chest, he regretted his outburst.

He realised that he had yet to respond to her question, and the shadows on her face were growing deeper.

'No.'

'No?' she echoed, unconvinced.

She turned her head away from him, no longer able to control her expression and not wanting him to see it. But he did, and it made him want to grab her by the arms and tell her every soft-hearted thought he'd ever had about her and that beautiful, infuriating mouth of hers. He had to suppress the impulse; they weren't alone enough yet.

'I prefer willing partners,' was all he said.

Six laughed bitterly, her lip curling in disgust. 'Do you find many of those among the slaves?'

Vulpes baulked, an eyebrow twitching in irritation. 'As Caesar rightly informed you, I have not taken a slave girl for a long time. Besides, not all women in the Legion are slaves.'

She glared at him, dubious.

'The Fort is a military outpost. It isn't representative of all Legion territories, surely even you can appreciate that.' He glanced at her, trying to gauge her reaction. 'There are noblewomen in the Legion heartlands. High-ranking officers are expected to take a wife from among them.'

'Wives,' Six rolled the word around in her mouth, seeing if she liked the taste of it. 'Do you have a wife, Vulpes?'

'No.'

It didn't look like he was planning to elaborate.

'But you are a high-ranking Legion officer, are you not?'

Six was watching him closely, the barest hint of a teasing smirk back on her face. She wasn't going to let this go. Vulpes sighed, looking out at the desert around them under the pretence of scanning for threats, buying time to frame his response.

'I have yet to find a woman I deem worthy of being my wife.'

She laughed at him.

'Surely the Legion produces good wives? Docile, submissive, deeply afraid...' she trailed off, meeting his icy glare with a defiant stare of her own. 'What more could you want in a woman?'

Six refused to look away from him, daring him to acknowledge the fallacy of his own feelings. The institutions he held in such high regard would never produce the kind of woman he wanted, because the kind of woman he wanted was her — and they both knew it. Despite everything the Legion preached about the desirable subservience of women, he wanted her precisely because she wasn't.

It was Vulpes who broke their prolonged eye contact, his face a mask of irritation. Six laughed again, quieter this time, and her expression softened. Being right didn't get her much, but rendering Vulpes speechless was satisfying, especially as a consequence of his own feelings about her.

She still didn't quite believe it. Until that night by the cliffs, Vulpes had hidden his feelings perfectly — perhaps, she suspected, because he had not acknowledged them even to himself. Now it all felt blissfully, painfully inevitable. Watching the sun play across his sharp features, Six felt heady anticipation and dread twist in her stomach. There was no happy ending here, but she wanted the story to play out all the same.

'And let me guess,' she began again, breaking the silence between them, 'the reason I am Caesar's consort and not his wife is because-'

'Profligates are not Legion citizens, and therefore cannot marry.'

'I see,' she said, giving him a long, thoughtful look before scuffing a rock along the road in front of them. 'The Legion has a very narrow definition of what constitutes a worthwhile life.'

Vulpes opened his mouth to disagree, then closed it again. Outlined by the orange haze of the Mojave sun, Six herself was proof enough of that.