There were three soldiers, horses bearing the LEGIO XX standard, pulling up on reins rudely close to the recently festive table.  Among them was Granius, his scarred face showing contempt at the decadent spread of food, who seemed subordinate to a younger procurator that wore a rather ostentatious helmet with colored feathers.  The younger identified himself as Quinto Flavio of the Gordiano Cohort, Regiment of the Horse.

The third was a very large centurion named Licinius, not heavy but long.  His boots reached much closer to the ground than did the others’.  And his helmet, noticed Pock from the inside of his barn, while not festooned with pomp, rode highest amongst them.  Pock h...

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