Centurion by Simon Scarrow

day’s march and by the third day a small number of men had begun to straggle, and did not catch up with the main body until late in the evening.
    ‘This can only get worse,’ Cato muttered as he watched the dark figures of the last men to arrive fumble through the dark lines stretching out across the rock-strewn ground, searching for their units.’In a day or two they will no longer be able to catch up with us. They’ll be strung out along the route. Easy pickings for any bandits, or the enemy.’
    ‘Can’t be helped,’ Macro replied, and then yawned as he eased himself back against his saddle bag and arranged his heavy military cloak across his body. ‘There’s bound to be a few slackers in any cohort. A few days of marching always finds them out.’
    ‘Slackers?’ Cato shook his head. ‘I saw some good men fall out of the column this afternoon. If we keep this pace up then those who actually make it as far as Palmyra will be in no shape to fight.’
    ‘Oh, they’ll fight,’ Macro replied confidently. ‘Or they’ll die.’
    ‘I wish I shared your optimism.’
    Macro turned towards Cato and in the faint loom of the stars Cato could see his friend’s amused expression.
    ‘What? What’s so bloody funny?’
    ‘Who said I was an optimist? I’m just telling you how it is. How it has always been for a soldier on campaign. You think we had it hard in Britain? That was a walk in the forum compared to the desert.This land is as much a danger to us as the enemy. Once we reach Chalcis we’ll have over a hundred miles to go before we arrive at Palmyra.’ Macro rolled on to his back and tucked an arm beneath his head. ‘This is the easy part, Cato.You wait until we reach the open desert.Then you, and the men, will really have something to complain about. Almost no chance of finding any water on the way, according to the governor’s instructions. The men will have to carry enough water to last five, maybe six, days when we leave Chalcis. I have no idea what condition they’ll be in when we reach Palmyra. But I do know that they will have the fight of their lives.’
    ‘Then it might be advisable to give them some opportunity to rest before they fight,’ Cato persisted. ‘These double watches are not helping things.We’re still a long way from Palmyra.’
    ‘Cato, you saw how easily that Parthian prince and his men slipped through our outposts and turned up on the governor’s doorstep.’ Macro jerked a thumb towards the horizon. ‘Who’s to say they’re not out there watching us right now? Waiting for the chance to attack. I’ll not take that risk. In fact,’ he reflected, ‘we’d better not have any more campfires from now on. Just in case the enemy are out there. I’d sooner the men were cold and tired than dead. Besides-‘ He broke off and yawned. ‘We’ve got more immediate difficulties.’
    ‘Oh?’
    ‘Yes. The officers and lads of my cohort are not best pleased to have me appointed as their new commander. As if the execution of Crispus wasn’t bad enough, they’ve had the former commander of Crispus’ victim foisted on them. Bit of a slap in the face. Makes you wonder if the governor wanted to cause us even more trouble on the road to Palmyra.’
    ‘I shouldn’t be surprised,’ Cato replied bleakly. ‘Another twist of the knife. What have your lads been saying, then?’
    ‘Nothing to my face. It’s more the tone of their comments and the generally sour ambience whenever I’m around. Of course, I don’t give a flying fuck about how they feel towards me. Just as long as they do as they’re told.All the same, we’d better keep an eye out for any further trouble between the legionaries and the auxiliaries. Last thing we need is for them to be watching their backs when they should be looking out for the enemy.’
    ‘Quite.’ Cato took a last glance round the camp before he eased himself down on to the ground and tried to make himself comfortable under his cloak. But despite