"Until All The Songs Are Sung" by Carmarthen (NC-17)

[piscaria.livejournal.com]

Title: Until All The Songs Are Sung
Fandom: The Eagle
Pairing: Marcus/Esca
Categories: First-time, post-canon, romance
Length: Long (20,893 words)
Warnings: References to a previous sexual relationship between teenage Marcus and an older man, although both are adults in their culture.

Author on LJ: carmarthen
Author Website: AO3

Summary:"Marcus blinks and rubs at his tired eyes, staring at the wax tablet, stylus hanging loosely in his hand. He has been recalculating the figures, pebbles clicking on the counting board, until the numbers swim before his sight, and he feels more and more worried every time they come out the same. The farm is not producing enough to feed him and Esca and pay the field-hands, and little remains of the money Marcus received from the senate for retrieving the Eagle of the Ninth Legion Hispana. This bad harvest is the last bad harvest they can afford, and it does not seem likely that Marcus will discover a gift for farming now."

In which Esca seeks out his kin in Hibernia and Marcus goes with him; naturally, sex, adventures, and miscommunications ensue. Originally a kinkmeme fill for body paint porn, this developed 19,175 words of plot (the second chapter is historical notes), and an amazing illustration by Motetus. There is also a podfic version available, thanks to inkjunket.

Review:"Until All The Songs Are Sung" takes place a few years after the movie's end. Since returning the Eagle to Rome, Marcus and Esca have settled down on their promised farm, as often happens in this fandom. But as the summary hints, this is no Happy Gay Farmers fic. The story begins with Marcus admitting to himself that they he and Esca can no longer afford to keep their farm. Nor can he return to his previous life as a soldier, thanks to his leg injury. Adrift and uncertain, Marcus has no idea what to do with his life. Fortunately, he's able to stall the decision for a few months when Esca suggests Marcus accompany him to Hibernia to find his mother's family.

This story does an amazing job of exploring identity. No longer a farmer or a soldier, Marcus begins the story unsure who he is. As he assumes a disguise to travel with Esca, even his identity as a Roman seems to falter. Esca, too, struggles with issues of identity as he returns to his mother's people after so many years of living amongst the Romans. Really, this is a story about carving out a space (and a family) for yourself in a world that doesn't quite fit.

carmarthen is an avid researcher (check out that second chapter of historical notes!) and it shows here in the best possible way. I loved reading the details of life in Hibernia, everything from boar hunting to cattle raids. Yet it's in the characterization that the research really shines through. Marcus and Esca don't feel like modern men transported back in time, as they sometimes do in Eagle fanfic. Instead, they ring true to me as genuine products of their time period and cultures. The dialogue, especially, sounds slightly archaic to modern English speakers, though never in a forced of stilted way. Instead, there is a timeless quality to it that really appeals to me. In fact, reading this entire story feels a bit like watching a skilled athlete -- there is a freedom and ease to the prose that entirely belies the work that must have gone into it.

I also love the podfic by inkjunket. Her voice is wonderfully soothing here and she does a great job evoking the mood of the story, which is melancholy and joyous in turns.


Until All the Songs Are Sung

Comments

[ci5rod.livejournal.com]

A remarkable story. Thanks for recommending it!