"You treated us like dirt then taught us to fight as a unit. That is the mark of a professional military officer," Metie stated. "Last night you became a spirit and walked among the soldiers. Now you leave sacrifices for their dead and thank your Goddess for sparing us. That is very priest like. The guardsmen, Tribune, are conflicted."

Alerio Sisera had made killers out of a handful of guardsmen to win over one Captain. The other three Captains were in their regions and hundreds of miles away. And each would require a different task to give Alerio an endorsement as a Military Attaché.

Tribune Sisera prayed for an opportunity to get all four Captains in one place. He should have remembered Aesop's warning, "Be careful what you wished for, lest you get it."

Welcome to 257 B.C.