For a moment Titus wondered if he was dreaming. Dreams were like that sometimes—people and places mixing up in mad ways, nothing like it was in real life. But it occurred to him that if this were his dream, then Sabina would be jumping up into his arms, holding her face up for his kisses. It wouldn’t be Vix twining a hand through her hair and tipping her head back so he could set his mouth at the base of her throat. It would be Titus Aurelius Fulvus Boionius Arrius Antoninus.

Not a dream, he thought numbly. No, not a dream at all.

“Titus!” Sabina exclaimed as Vix finally set her down on her feet. “I didn’t even see you sitting there. Since when are you and Vix such friends?”

He was surprised at how evenly his voice came out. “I could ask you the same.”

She smiled and put a finger to her lips, eyes flicking sideways to where Simon and Boil and Philip had pushed their bowls aside for a game of dice. “Later, I think. Dear gods, Vix, don’t tell me you let Julius make the stew?”

Titus felt a twist in his stomach at the casual way she used Vix’s name. Not so Slight at all, if you got a girl like that. Because Sabina clearly came often to sit by this fire, from the way she teased Philip about cheating at dice and begged Simon to teach her the Hebrew prayer for bread. From the way she sat curled in Vix’s arms, her head leaned back against his shoulder as he reached around her from either side to stitch up his torn helmet lining… Titus concentrated on his stew, very carefully spooning up every last drop and swallowing it down. He got another bowl, not tasting it at all, and that lasted him until Boil and Simon at last went yawning into the tent to sleep, and Philip finally staggered off to see if he could find a whore. Then, and only then, did Titus look up.

“Well?” he said.

Sabina smiled. “So how did you and Vix meet all the way out here?”

“He saved my life a time or two when I first arrived in Dacia.” Titus took a deep breath. “And you?”

Vix and Sabina looked at each other for an instant, and then their eyes cut away as they both started laughing at the exact same moment. That was when Titus felt a shaft of pure jealousy bolt through him. Jealousy, he noticed in passing, tasted a sour yellow on the palate—yellow as bile.

“It’s a long story.” Sabina reached up and smoothed Vix’s hair back from his eyes.

“I like long stories.” Though Titus had a feeling he wasn’t going to like this one.