Coventina Read Online Free PDF Page A

allowed.”
    “Wonderful, because you will love Layla’s cooking then.”
    “You are most kind.”
    “Thank you. I must admit, having Lucilla here makes this all much easier on me.” She watched his gaze turn towards her.
    “She is a remarkable woman, more knowledgeable than our scholars.”
    “I bet she looks a lot better to.”
    “She is a beautiful woman.”
    “Does she look like a Roman woman of your day?”
    “Yes.”
    “Your comrades don’t have to stay in the barn do they?”
    “No, they do not.”
    There is a tall stack of white chairs they can use to sit down on inside the barn that you can have them bring out with them.”
    “Thank you.” Marcus called to them to join him in the yard and bring the stack of chairs.
    Denise was in the middle of explaining what to do with the charcoal when Layla came speeding up the drive. Just in time for Lighting a 21 st Century Grill 101, Denise giggled.
    I’ve been a mental wreck. I hope I remembered to bring everything.
    “Marcus, can you spare a few hands to help Layla bring the food into the house?”
    “Of course Inquilina.”
    With all the food now in the kitchen, Layla started in to preparing a large feast for nine adults, six of them hungry looking males.
    Denise had the men loading a large cooler with ice, per Layla’s request, so they would not need to come into the house for drinks or water. She was still wary of their presence and ready for anything.
    “Ok, the grills are grilling, the cooler is waiting. What can I do to help?”
    “Leave, with me, now?” she laughed.
    “They are actually being very helpful and well behaved.”
    “They should be if they were able to build roads, bridges, forts and walls, but first and foremost, they are, or were, warriors.”
    “Good point.”
    Lucilla offered to help them prepare the food, but Denise thought it best to keep the troops entertained and learn as much as she could about them and why exactly there were here now.
    “Marcus has a thing for Lucilla,” Denise said, looking out the kitchen window.
    “That is understandable, she is a beautiful and brilliant woman.”
    “Ok, I have all the salads and stuff in the fridge ready to go when you are finished grilling.”
    “Let’s start grilling for our army,” Layla laughed.
    They each carried a large tray full of shish kabobs, burgers, chicken breasts and wings out to the waiting table near the grills.
    Venutius gave Denise a hand bringing out cans of soda pop, juice and water for the cooler.
    When the meal was ready, Denise laid all the food out on a table, explaining as each warrior came by what everything was. “This is chicken, try it, you’ll love it. This is the very best shish kabob. This is from a cow called a burger, very popular. Here you have potato salad, this is coleslaw from cabbage, macaroni salad, which will be very popular in Italy once noodles are introduced to you from Asia.”
    Layla watched them and could not help but wonder what a meal around the campfire was like when they were still attached to the rest of their legion.
    Eventually the conversation turned to what happened to them, why they appeared more than 1900 years later looking as if they had barely aged.
    “We were stationed at Eboracum,” Marcus started.
    “Present day York in Britain,” Lucilla said.
    “Yes, the place of the Yew trees,” Lucius said.
    “We,” Marcus said, motioning to his comrades and himself, “were on patrol.”
    “Patrol? Near your camp?”
    “Yes. It was necessary to send patrols out for a variety of reasons. Britannia was not a safe place for Romans when we were there,” Quintus said.
    “We were always prepared for battle,” Lucius said.
    “Eventually a permanent civilian settlement grew because of us, leading to streets being laid out, houses built and spread out over terraces on the steep slopes along the river,” Petilius said.
    “So, Romans were good for local business,” Denise smiled.
    “Very good for business. Not all