Phoenix Rising Read Online Free PDF Page B

with the lower classes.
    Martius reached forward, picked up the jug from the middle of the table and topped up everyone’s drinks in silence. The sound of the liquid echoed like laughter in Conlan’s ears. The gods were fickle, he had heard. If so, they must be laughing at his fate.
    He nodded his thanks and took a sip of the pomegranate juice. After the campaign rations and water he had consumed for the last ten days, it tasted like nectar. His stomach grumbled loudly, an insistent reminder that he had not eaten for many hours.
    Martius smiled at him, face open and unguarded for the first time. “Darcus, lads.” He gestured to the three servants who still stood in the vegetable patch. “Perhaps you would be so kind as to get us some food? I believe our guest must be famished.”
    Darcus, a huge gangly man with a badly mangled nose and crooked teeth looked questioningly at his master. “Sir?” he replied, voice deep and sonorous.
    “It’s alright, Darcus. We are in no danger.” Martius gestured again with his hand. The big man nodded and led the others in the direction of the largest chimney in the house, which looked to Conlan, to be attached to the kitchen.
    “So I am to be the father of the Third, then?” Conlan said, absently watching the servants’ backs as they departed. He thought it strange that had not seen any slaves in the house.  
    “You are.” Martius nodded. “The Phoenix Third is yours. The remaining nine hundred have been joined by the remnant of the disbanded Twelfth. Your legion is just under half strength, but the men are strong and we are already filling the ranks with new recruits.” He paused, looking into the middle distance over Conlan’s head. “The boys from the Twelfth really swung it for you, I think. Rumour has it they all voted for you… Your outburst may have gotten you into trouble, but it also bought you many friends. That and the fact you were the only cohort commander in the Third they knew anything of.” Martius fixed Conlan with a stare. “You will look after those boys, Father Conlan, the Twelfth have a long and illustrious history and I will not see it completely destroyed. There is a reason I had them protect the right flank at Sothlind. They are fine soldiers. Treat them well and they will follow you to the ends of the Earth.”
    Conlan nodded. His outburst should have cost him his career, and possibly his life, but instead it had bought him a legion of his own. A pang of guilt tugged at him for distrusting the primus general. There was true compassion in Martius’s voice as he spoke of the Twelfth. Conlan could only guess at the depth of his loss.
    “I will do my best to honour their loyalty, sir.”
    “Good. Make sure you do,” Martius replied. “I like you, Conlan, but you need to know that you cannot be so blatant in challenging authority. Your outburst left me no choice but to punish you. You do not know how lucky you are to be alive. If the Emperor had been present… You will find that I value constructive criticism in those I command, but you must not challenge me in public. I am always happy to be questioned privately. Do you think you can work with this arrangement?”
    Conlan flushed. He had doubted – no hated – a man who clearly did not deserve it. “I understand, General. It will not happen again. I am yours to command.”
    The three servants returned, laden with bread, cold meat, cheese and fruit.  
    “Good,” said Felix Martius. “We have much to discuss, I have a special task for you. Villius will fill you in on the details while we eat.”
    “Do we have wine, Martius?” Turbis asked. “All this juice is unsettling my stomach.”

CHAPTER FIVE
Conlan

    AFTER TWO DAYS, IT still had not sunk in. Legion father. The ultimate accolade for any rank and file legionary; and now it was his. The Third Legion, his beloved Third, dropped into his lap like a child’s gift on Empire Day, with General Martius playing the part of indulgent