Gradarius
(Roman Equestrian Series)
By A.M. Swink
Publication Date: October 18th, 2025
Publisher: Historium Press
Pages: 364
Genre: Ancient Historical Fiction / Historical Romance
WAR IS ON THE HORIZON
Sworn enemies turned lovers, Decimus and Luciana face new challenges that put their love to the test. Decimus, haunted by his past, struggles with his feelings in the present. Luciana, when confronted with her old friend Boudicca's struggles, questions which of her loyalties is more important: her loyalty to Decimus, or her loyalty to her people? When sent to investigate a Roman traitor in Decimus's legion, both will have to decide which side of the coming battle they'll be on.
Rome and Britannia are hurtling toward a reckoning. Will Decimus and Luciana find a way forward together before war tears them apart?
Excerpt
The fresh air did little to improve Decimus’s brooding humour. He stalked down the dim street, forcing Luciana to hasten to keep pace. She skirted around a timber drain dividing the roughly cobbled path and followed the centurion’s hulking shadow towards the quay. He turned to avoid the singing and laughter emanating from one of the nearby warehouses and made his way to the bridge spanning the Tamesis. Luciana, catching her breath, halted alongside him.
She gazed at him curiously. Decimus’s flinty blue-green eyes took in the collection of homes and businesses built up on the islands dotting the river’s far side. She touched his arm and felt him stiffen. She lowered her eyes to the bridge and took in the dark waves lapping beneath them.
‘Strange place to build a town,’ he murmured, shaking his head. ‘It’s nothing but a swamp.’
‘The waters here are sacred. Their boundary between the living and the dead is thin.’ Luciana folded her arms, shuddering within the folds of her wolfskin cloak. ‘It is too powerful for any one tribe to claim. But of course, you Romans have the hubris to believe you can.’
Decimus ruefully shook his head. ‘It was just a ford and an earthen fort when I visited last.’
She cocked her head at him. ‘I didn’t know you’d visited Londinium before.’
His expression hardened. ‘During the invasion.’
She heard finality in his tone and let the matter drop. She picked up one of his broad palms in both her own, twining her fingers through his. ‘Has the air cleared your head?’
He didn’t answer, eyes still locked upon the far side of the bridge. His grasp tightened as he squeezed her hands.
She felt the cool breeze whipping up from the quay and rested her head on his shoulder. A few pins fell free of her tresses, dropping into the inky waters below.
‘I’m sure you’d celebrate…if we were to withdraw from Britannia and leave you be,’ he finally said.
She clung tighter to his side and sighed. ‘I wouldn’t be unhappy, if that’s what you mean. Though I wouldn’t have any freedom to enjoy.’ She glanced up at him. ‘I’m your property, remember? I go where you bid me.’
He wound his free arm about her, drawing her into his chest. ‘You know I want nothing more than to go back to Rome.’ A lump rose in his throat. ‘But I can’t go yet. The legions can’t go yet. Not after everything…everything that’s been done.’
She gazed up at him. ‘You realise that everything that’s been done is precisely why we want you to leave?’
He lowered his head, brushing his whiskers against her brow. ‘Do you?’
‘Oh, Decimus.’ She closed her eyes. ‘I don’t know what I want anymore.’
She tore herself away and shuffled along the pier, tightly clasping her cloak to her. The thought of her mother and the Cornovii women huddled in their prison cell sprang to her mind and she shuddered. I have failed them. I've already turned traitor…and for what?
The wheel of Taranis burned against her skin. She squeezed her eyes shut. This is Gaius Nerfinius all over again. You’ve learned nothing, Luciana. Nothing. Do you think he loves you? Do you really love him so much that you would throw your freedom away? He is a Roman, after all…
The wind whipped about her, freeing the rest of her locks. They tumbled across her shoulders in a golden cascade, ends pulled like a flag by the gust.
‘Luciana.’
She turned to see Decimus still rooted to his spot, gazing after her. The moon peeked from behind the heavy clouds darkening the sky, illuminating all the emotion in his eyes that his stern face belied. Her pulse quickened, renewing the bond that drew her irresistibly to him. She tucked a fluttering strand behind her ear and smiled. I suppose many have turned traitor for worse.
She took a step towards him, though he stayed her with a hand. ‘Let me watch you a moment longer.’
Luciana straightened, tossing her head. She gazed at the water, letting the wind buffet her about. Decimus slowly walked to her. She glowed under the admiration shining from his eyes.
He tentatively reached out and brushed her cheek. ‘How can you be real?’
She warmed at his touch and stepped into his embrace. She took his grizzled cheeks in her hands and kissed him. Her thumb brushed the angry scar curving out of his beard, ignoring the way he winced and shifted away from her touch. Luciana recaptured his lips, savouring his hot breath and the aroma of spiced stew that clung to him. Decimus responded warmly, pressing her to him and cradling her slim form as it melded into his.
When they finally broke off to catch their breath, Luciana met his eyes. ‘It matters not what policy your emperor decides. For as long as I am yours, I go wherever you go.’
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A. M. Swink
A.M. Swink, the author of the award-winning Roman Equestrian series, grew up in Dayton, Ohio, obsessed with two things: books and horses. After a childhood of reading, writing, showing, and riding, she moved to Lexington, Kentucky to complete three degrees and work as a college professor of reading and writing.
She’s travelled extensively around Europe, exploring ancient sites and artefacts relating to the Iron Age and Roman era. She is fascinated by our connection to the past and the ancestral tether that draws us back into the mists of time.
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