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recognized him anymore, and while I knew most of the gauntness and wear in his face had only just recently arrived thanks to the orb’s exposure, I knew there was more to it.  He was too much like my own Jacob, and I wasn’t sure how he would have survived without a friend like John in his life, or, more importantly, a loving figure like Helena.
    I looked up as my thoughts drifted to Helena again, as they persistently did since the events of a few days ago.  Everyone in our group stood around a pair of graves dug into the ground just outside the walls of the legion fort.  Other graves had been dug elsewhere for legionnaires and Praetorians, but this location was for us – secluded and private from the still chaotic din of post-battle affairs.  Both graves were identically shaped, but one was tiny in comparison to the other, no bigger than a shoebox.
    The bodies of Vincent and my nephew had been buried and covered minutes ago, but not a single prayer, blessing, or benediction had been uttered since our group had arrived, and not even a whisper had been exchanged either.  Archer stood aloof from us, swaying slightly in place, perhaps still affected by the beating Jacob had inflicted on him, or perhaps because of his own guilt.  Everyone was quite surprised to see him here, even if I was still the only one to know his secret.
    Beside me, wrapping their way clockwise around the graves, were TJ, Georgia, and Alex.  None of them had known Vincent very well either, but I knew they’d respected the hell out of the man, as I had as well.  His friendship and special relationship with Jacob had been obvious the moment we’d seen the two interact, and the way in which that relationship had ended was heartbreaking, even to a trio of seasoned combat troopers like them.
    Beside Alex was Helena, who seemed to loom large in our gathered group, far larger than she ever had before.  Beside her stood Jeanne, who towered over Helena but seemed somehow insignificant beside her.  Next came James, who appeared only a little better than Archer, but had the immense native woman, Warrior-Queen Boudicca of the Iceni tribe, for support.
    I hadn’t known what to think of her when she and her trio of escorts had presented themselves to us on Anglesey Island.  She was an individual of prodigious stature, easily the next biggest person here next to Jeanne, but even after all our time together, I still wasn’t sure if I trusted her.  She’d weaseled herself into Jacob’s life so effortlessly, but it may not have been so easy had it not been for the orb’s interference, which only compounded my distrust of her. It was as if the orb had brought her into our inner circle for its own malicious reasons.
    I would have thought to keep my eye on her had I any confidence that I could do something about her should the need arise, but I couldn’t challenge her any more than a fly could challenge a hungry frog.  I only hoped James kept his eye on her, which could be a struggle as well since he’d been doing everything he could to keep his eyes away from her since the beginning.
    Then there was Gaius and Marcus, the two Roman Praetorians who hadn’t had an empress to protect in months, ever since they’d turned their backs on Agrippina to help Jacob and the others.  They seemed like good men, but like most people from this time period, I didn’t know them very well, mostly because of the language barrier – but at least that barrier was slowly coming down
    Finally, between Marcus and me was the Roman general, Galba.  No one had expected to see him here, but he’d arrived just as Jeanne and Alex had packed the last bit of earth atop Vincent’s body.  He’d come quietly and slid into place beside me, not even bothering to glance in my direction, settling instead to simply hold silent vigil over our fallen friend and the nephew all of us had wanted but would never have the chance to meet.
    Only John was missing.  He was still healing from