Chapter One

XxX

Rushing down the seemingly endless hallway, she pulled her younger sister along by the hand, both girls' palms beginning to sweat with anticipation. As they neared the corner which opened up to the throne room where their father would be, the eldest daughter braced herself for on onslaught of orders that they were undoubtfully about to be met with.

"Maximum. We must evacuate this building immediately. The Egyptian army is invading the palace and we haven't time to spare, take your sister with you and run." Her father told her this in a grim tone that she knew meant there was no room for discussion.

"But… father! How can we leave? Are you going to just let them storm the palace and take away everything that you have achieved? I won't stand for it! I-I'll take all of them out myself!" She began to rant, furious that these Egyptians could instill even a sliver of fear into her father's mind.

"Maximum…" Her father tried to say, beginning to become frustrated with his daughter; this was neither the time nor place for her to be difficult, she needed to understand the circumstances that they were under and take action as he had instructed her to.

"No! Listen to me father, I will destroy them all! Kill every single-"She was abruptly cut off by a sharp stinging pain on her face, a decisive slap having been delivered by her father.

"Maximum! Who are you?" He asked her, his face serious and stern, awaiting his daughter's inevitable answer.

"… The next heir to the Roman throne…" She replied hesitantly, questioning his intentions after asking her something with such an obvious answer.

His expression shifted to become softer and more approachable, he continued, "Yes, and what must you do now in order to protect both your younger sister and Rome?"

She glanced around the room, her eyes focusing on the terrified and almost hysterical expression that the occupants of the room were plagued with.

Her eyes widened in realization, "I-I must take my sister to safety and leave…" She was by no means a naïve child, and it was then that she had realized what her father was really saying- goodbye.

"She understands the gravity of the situation at hand when she is still at such a young age, perhaps she can become a great leader after all." Murmured one of the servants present in the room.

Taking one last glance at the man she had called father; she curtly turned away and broke into a sprint. With her younger sisters hand in her grasp she had only one remaining thought. What will become of us now?

XxX

Bright rays of sun danced along the edge of the half-opened window and hit the warm tile floor that filled the elaborately decorated bedroom currently occupied by the most powerful woman in all of Rome- the Queen.

She was sprawled across one of the many gold embroidered futons that occupied the room, her long wavy golden brown hair splayed around her like a halo. The room had been decorated with only the finest silks and most expensive plants, most of which had been transported to Rome by boat and were painted the most exotic and rich colors imaginable. One such plant stood just beside the opening where the door to the balcony and the room met, its leaves a vibrant green and purple, supposedly imported from a land not too far north from Rome.

A knock sounded on the wall just outside the room, a child who was visible through the archways leading to the hallway fidgeted nervously awaiting the Queen's response.

"Enter." Spoke a smooth and confident voice with a certain edge to it that made the fidgeting young boy stiffen and enter the room, quickening his pace so he could be in and out as fast as possible. He was known to be quite clumsy, and did not wish to lose his apprenticeship to the High Priest of Rome, a position that had taken him years of strict training and humiliation to obtain.

Standing in front of the woman who was the sole ruler of Rome was making him increasingly anxious and he prayed that this whole exchange would go smoothly. Of course, he hadn't always had the best luck.

Bowing, the child spoke with a shaky tone, "Y-your Highness, the High Priest wishes to speak with you." Keeping his short, choppy auburn hair hanging in his face, the servant refused to look up, afraid of somehow embarrassing himself beyond belief.

The Queen remained sitting, refusing to stand until he looked her in the eye. Trying to keep her amusement in check, she decided to have a little fun teasing this young boy who reminded her of a shy and timid rabbit.

"If I remember correctly, you are the apprentice to the High Priest… Are you not?" The Queen questioned, giving him a look that dared him to say anything to contradict her.

Jerkily bobbing his head up and down in affirmation, the boy still kept his gaze on the floor. "Is there something on my face? Or is it that you dislike me?" She asked, a small smile playing on the corners of her elegantly sculpted lips.

He bit his lip hesitantly before looking up and hurriedly replying, "N-n-no! My apologies your majesty, it's just my first time meeting such an important person and… well I'm quite nervous." His words were somewhat mumbled and hard to understand, the speed at which he had given his reply made it seem as if he had been afraid that he would get a scolding for being rude to the queen. But he soon began to grin sheepishly once seeing the smile that now adorned the Queen's lips.

"It's quite alright; I imagine you feel as I did when I first met with the High Priest and the rest of the council, it was quite intimidating." She said with a conspirative look on her face, chocolate brown eyes lighting up.

Looking up at her in suspicion, the boy spoke again, this time less shakily. "You, the Queen were nervous?" He demanded incredulously, in disbelief that the confident and beautiful woman who stood before him could ever be nervous.

"Oh yes, I can remember the cold sweat I broke down into as soon as the High Priest looked at me and said 'She is to be the next Queen? I was expecting someone a little more… impressive.'" She laughed gaily at the memory while the servant continued to stare at her in shock.

"What? The High Priest actually said that? To the future Queen? And what did he mean when he said, 'impressive'? He must have meant someone else because you're really polite, sweet, and beautiful!" The boy spurted out, blushing darkly at his last comment. Shuffling his feet together back and forth, he darted his eyes up at the gorgeous woman sitting before him, and then back down just as quickly.

This little game continued on until she decided that while she had enjoyed teasing this boy, she did have prior engagements, ones that she could not afford to put off.

Chucking lightly, she shook her head in amusement. "If the High Priest sent you to give me a message then it must mean he thinks very highly of you, he only lets his most trusted pupils bring messages to me." He looked up at this particular comment, face becoming an even brighter shade of red. "I look forward to seeing you again in the palace, but as for now I must go to meet with your mentor." With that she shot the little servant a wink and strode out of her room in search of the man who had called for her.

The moment she had left the room, her womanly façade dropped, her dainty steps switching to a powerful and dominant stride. Her face morphed from a soft smile to a straight line, and the peaceful and loving aura that had seconds earlier surrounded her changed to one of a strong and prideful ruler.

What does he think he's doing, attempting to assert his authority over me by telling his apprentice to come fetch me instead of going himself she fumed, too caught up in her thoughts to even spare a glance at the people she passed in the passageway who bowed to her in respect. I will be sure to show him exactly who is in charge she concluded, turning another corner and coming face to face with the exact man who was occupying her thoughts.

"Oh, your majesty Maximum Reina, I just gave the task to go and fetch you from your quarters to my newly appointed apprentice, looks like he isn't as worthless as I had first believed. Perhaps I could make him into my faithful successor…" The High Priest of Rome mused, scratching his scraggly beard in what seemed to be deep thought. He was a man of tall stature, with an unkempt beard that was beginning to show signs of greying.

Maximum had met him when she was 12 years old, when she became queen. She had quickly realized that he was the type of man who would resort to lies and deceit if needed to reach his goal, and had despised him for his arrogant and rude attitude towards her and her family. It would be putting it lightly to say that she disliked him.

Glaring icily at the man standing before her, Maximum cut in with a crisp, "Yes, about that… What was it that you needed so urgently that you couldn't wait until the next council meeting for?"

Unaffected by her blatant show of hostility, he spoke on as if she hadn't said anything. "Ahhh… Yes, it seems that lately there has been talk of the general of the Egyptian army making plans to invade parts of Rome with the intent of conquering the land." He gave her a sly grin and continued on with his short monologue, "Of course we have no way of knowing if there is any truth to these rumors…"

It was no news to anyone who was on the council that the queen enjoyed going out into the public on a regular basis; she claimed that it let her understand her people and their wants better than if she never had any contact with them outside of scheduled appearances. She also made it clear that whenever she did go out into the public; she was always disguised, supposedly making it safe for her to venture out with no rules or constrictions to stop her from acting as she wanted.

Many of the council members had attempted to tell her of the danger she could be putting herself in, but as always her resolve was as solid as a rock and she could not be moved. It was exactly for this reason that the High Priest had told the queen of these rumors, he had been trying to get more power within the council and with the people of Rome for years and she knew it. Once he had told her of this rumor that could hold a potential threat to Rome, she would feel that she had no choice but to go out and see if it had any truth to it, and while she was gone he would work hard to build more alliances and take control. But as much as her gut told her to ignore his continuous taunts, she couldn't ignore this possible threat to her people and land.

"I see." Was all she said before turning on her heel and stalking in the direction opposite of the High Priest and towards the outdoor sparring arena used for practice by both the army and gladiators alike.

Fighting. Now that was something that Maximum excelled in, ever since had been a young girl she had sparred with the children of noblemen who came to the palace to both learn the practice of sword fighting and receive the highest education available in Rome. One such boy was Dylan; he now held the position of general of the Roman army and had first met her when they were both ten years old.

He was the son of a prestigious family and had lived in a life of luxury from the time he had been born. When they were younger and hadn't known much about each other, she had viewed him as an awkward young boy, not yet completely comfortable with his body that was steadily growing larger in some places, and staying the same length in others. He had worn his hair at a somewhat long length for boys his age, the tips of his curly golden blonde hair just reaching his shoulders. Sometimes when she had felt the need to at least attempt to make social interactions- well she was to become queen, wasn't she? Undesirable social situations included- he had rejected her almost immediately, once even stating that she was "too much like a boy" to talk to and that she should "learn to cook in the kitchen and sew clothes like other women".

It had been 7 years since then and both children had grown up to prove the other wrong. Maximum had become a beautiful and graceful queen-at least on the surface- and Dylan had shown that he wasn't an awkward young boy. No, instead of an antisocial uncoordinated fool, Dylan had grown to become a gorgeous young man, lean muscle lining his body, blonde hair shining brightly in the sun and his eyes a bright aquamarine that reminded Maximum of the sea.

Over the years he had become one of the "crowd favorites" of the Roman noble women (and Roman citizens) due to both his stunning appearance and his incredible swordsmanship skills. But of course, as Dylan's skill with a sword-and beauty- grew, so did his ego, and now it was so inflated that she was sure one of these days he would explode due to the enormous size of his head.

This was one of the many reasons as to why she was never too thrilled when he decided to strike up a conversation with her, and it seemed like today was going to be one of those days.

"Maximum Reina!" Stiffening slightly, she first contemplated ignoring his call and pretending she hadn't heard him, but when she heard him beginning to quicken his pace in order to catch up to her, she put on a sugary sweet smile and turned around to face the man who had become a constant annoyance in her life.

He sauntered up to her with a confident smirk in place and his head held high, most likely expecting her to faint just at the sight of him. "Hey, fancy seeing you around," he said this while giving her what was supposed to be a seductive wink, "I was wondering if you would accompany me to dinner tonight, and possibly more after… if you so desire." He said this last line with a lecherous wink, only proving to make her more agitated.

"Thank you but I must kindly decline your offer, I have matters to attend to until the late hours of night and I'm afraid I couldn't ask you to wait for so long." She gritted out, forcing the urge to beat him right then and there in front of so many witnesses away. Turning away before he could even think of a response to her rejection to his invitation, she continued down the stone path, watching as two boys –one who couldn't have been older than 12, and the other seeming to be about her age- swung heavy steel swords at each other with the intent to kill.

Of course, all training sessions were meant to be fought with the same passion as you would fight with in the midst of a raging battle, and these young men did not disappoint. She watched as the taller of the two raised his sword high above his head, and with an intimidating force he swung down with the intent to disarm the shorter boy. However, his plan was thwarted when the smaller boy took advantage of his size and quickly darted back to dodge what would have been a fatal blow that most certainly could have taken his arm off along with his weapon.

But he was not yet done with his counterattack, as soon as he dodged the heavy blade swinging towards him, he pivoted around the larger boy's body and swung his sword up and around so the tip of the blade just grazed the other boy's neck. Breathing heavily, the taller boy surrendered and dropped to the ground in exhaustion once the swords tip was removed from his neck and the danger of being impaled was gone.

"You tried James, you really did, better luck next time." The smaller boy teased the larger.

Clapping her hands lightly in approval, Maximum made her presence known to the two soldiers and they both tensed before bowing before her with the strict posture that only came from training with the Roman army. "That was beautiful swordsmanship you two, I am proud that we have such talented young men training to become warriors in our army." She said gently, giving them a small smile.

Inside however, she was boiling with frustration, her so called manly ways had to be bottled up and while watching the sparring session she had wanted nothing more than to grab a sword and join them. But years ago she had come to the realization that she had to make this false façade of a perfect queen in order to get others to listen to her; at least those on the council. It was a sort of advertisement for the people to show them that their leader was a capable young woman who would not bring their country destruction.

These were all things that the council and the High Priest were very aware of, and they continuously attempted to get Maximum to bend to their rules.

Focusing her attention back onto the two boys and off of her daydreaming, she noticed their fixated stares on her and blushed lightly, realizing they must have asked her a question while she had her been staring off into space. "What was that?" She questioned, hoping that they hadn't noticed that her thoughts had been drawn elsewhere.

"We were just asking for your name, we don't usually see ladies like you walking around the training grounds, it's not like you can even fight so why bother walking around here? Trying to pick up a man? Well I would be glad to inform you that- oof" Began the shorter boy, only pausing when his sparring partner elbowed him in the stomach.

"I apologize for my brother's lack of manners," said the older- and apparently more polite- of the two boys. "What he means to say is that we were just wondering what a woman of your stature would be doing around somewhere as uncouth as the training grounds?"

Shifting her gaze from one boy to the other, she finally rested her eyes upon the less rude of the two. "I enjoy watching sparring matches between soldiers in training; it helps to inform me what shape our army is in."

Watching as the older boys eyes widened in realization, she let out a small laugh when he bowed down to her and pushed the other boy down into a bowing position as well. He seemed to understand his position, but wasn't afraid of her, instead he seemed to bow to her in a playful and even somewhat mocking way. "I give you my deepest apologies for our behavior your highness, it won't happen again I promise you."

Still quite amused with this uncommon situation, she laughed once again before settling down enough to say, "It's quite alright, I find your personalities interesting, I wouldn't mind watching you two spar again, and if it's not too presumptuous of me, could I ask of you your names?"

Apparently still not understanding who she was, the younger boy inserted yet another snarky comment into the conversation, "Why do you want to know? So you can come back for more later? Like I said, go back to where you belong; inside the house, gossiping away with your fellow noble women."

Deciding that the boy had crossed the line and that she was no longer amused, she set her mouth into a firm, straight line.

Seeming to realize her growing discontent with the younger boy's manners, the elder of the two decided to step in before a fight between the Queen of Rome and his younger brother erupted. His brother had no idea how outclassed he was in this battle of wits and would be badly beaten and reprimanded if he dared to go any further.

"Zephyr, that's enough," he gave an apologetic smile as if to say brothers, huh? "I cannot tell you how thankful I am for your patience and forgiveness of my brother's rude behavior."

"I may forgive you…" She began with a stern frown, which slowly morphed into a sly grin, "If you give me your word that you shall meet with me tonight in the Southern Wing of the palace."

The older of the two shot his younger brother a warning look before replying, "I would be grateful to accept your invitation, at what time should you expect me?"

"Well, I presume that you will want to go home and rinse off before coming, so around when the sun sets would be perfectly acceptable. I would also like to mention that I give out this invitation not only to you, but to your brother as well."

As both boys gave her a look of disbelief, she gave them a small yet encouraging speech, "I know what it was like to be young too, and I was sure a spit-fire back then, I was scolded for lesser offences than what your younger brother has committed, and much harsher than the situation demanded. So let us meet up tonight and let events of the past, be just that- events of the past."

Looking up at the woman who had forgiven him for his previous rude behavior, the younger boy cleared his throat and finally spoke, "I may have been wrong when I judged you after having just met you so… sorry?"

It was a pathetic excuse for an apology, but the Queen took it nonetheless. "I shall see you two later… James and Zephyr was it?" She questioned rhetorically, not waiting to see their reactions of affirmation, already knowing the answer.

Silence settled as the two watched the mysterious beauty strut away, when James finally spoke, breaking the peace only to say, "Well… that isn't something you have happen every day, now is it?" Before starting his way back to the two story house their family owned, not waiting to see if Zephyr was following.

XxX

The sun had finally set, drowning the landscape in a blanket of darkness, the only sound being the thunderous crash of waves against the shore. His back lay flat against the cool limestone.

He was standing just outside the Sun Temple, looking out over the cliff that the temple sat on, earlier that day he had fallen asleep to the peaceful sounds of birds chirping and the soft remedy of small waves washing up onto the dusty white sand. Shutting his eyes for a moment, he had lost track of time and had only just now awoken to the ethereal image of the moon in the sky instead of bright sun he had fallen asleep to.

Brushing his silky black hair away from his eyes, he turned to look back up at the night sky, he had always been fascinated with the moon, his mother had always told him stories before he went to bed when he was a young boy, and he always seemed to remember the one where a man had attempted to literally pluck the moon from the sky.

"Nic-Nicho-Nichol-Nicholas!" A voice called out from inside the pitch black temple becoming clearer with every passing second. Turning to see who is was who had shouted for him, Nicholas's eyes glanced over the area for possible enemies, finding only the golden statue of a Egyptian god and the smooth marble flooring that covered the ground of the building.

Deciding to investigate further, he pushed off from the pillar he had been leaning on and began to stalk towards the entrance to the temple. With the eyes of a predator, he scanned the inside of the building, this time taking in the dark shadow of a body covered by a bulky navy blue cloak that concealed the person's identity. When looking closer he could just make out the elaborate gold outline that decorated the armor of all the high ranking military officials within the Egyptian Army.

The man wearing the cloak stepped forward into the sliver of light that shined through the temple and pushed back the hood revealing a head full of golden brown curls and a pair of round light green eyes. "General Nicholas! I've been searching for you since this morning and had no luck, I checked the stables, I asked the King, and I was even forced to ask your concubines, oh the shame! But no one knew where you were!" He exclaimed, his childish whining conveying how fed up he was with his superior.

"I apologize for the inconvenience." Was all Nicholas said in reply, his expression not showing any sign of amusement, although internally he was laughing at his underling who seemed to grow more childish with each passing day.

He had disliked Samuel the moment he had first set eyes on his scrawny and -as Nicholas saw it- unfit body. When they had both been 12 years old they were introduced to one another because of their families' similar political and economic standings and while Sam had been fascinated with the cool and calculating persona that Nicholas possessed, he had been quite unimpressed with Sam.

In the beginning he had attempted to give the younger boy a chance, but Sam had proved time and time again that the only thing he could contribute to a group was his unending string of complaints about how harsh and unfair their training was. While he felt somewhat bad for doing so, he seemed to have made a habit of trying to make things harder for Sam; like when he had decided to take a nap by the temple that afternoon, knowing that the job of tracking down his whereabouts would be given to Sam.

"I'm sure you are…" Sam muttered, not believing a word he said. Ever since the first day he had met him, Nicholas seemed to hold some grudge against him, making him wonder just what he had done to offend the fighting protégée . He always made sure to shower his superior with compliments, reasoning that this was a sure way to get Nicholas to like him, though any results of this supposed full proof plan were yet to be seen.

Ignoring Sam, Nicholas walked through the temple and began his descent down the uneven steps that lead back down to the pathway on which he would find his horse that he had ridden to the temple.

Leather sandals slapping against the hard stone the steps were made of, he heard Sam shout, "Wait for me!" from the top of the staircase before running after Nicholas in an attempt to match with the other man's pace.

Taking longer strides in hopes of avoiding further conversation with Sam, Nicholas sped down the stairs with even greater speed, making it to the path within seconds. His feet collided with the unkempt gravel path and he raced across the winding trail, swiveling his head around to see Sam clambering after him.

He quickened his pace once again, refusing to let his subordinate catch up to him. Throughout this whole "chase", Nicholas had somehow managed to maintain his usual regal air, and Sam was becoming quite frustrated with his ability to be in control of every situation life threw at him.

How was it that while Sam had been stumbling after him the whole day, being made to look like a fool in front of both his peers and superiors, yet Nicholas still looked every bit the strong, enigmatic, and devastatingly handsome man he was known to be.

It just wasn't fair! Why did he get all the fame, fortune, and women, where Sam was just as good as him in every way. Or at least that's what the lower ranked soldier asked himself as he continued trailing after the General in question.

By this point, Nicholas had reached his large black horse and already mounted the stallion, impatiently waiting for his subordinate to reach him.

As soon as Sam reached him, he lightly dug his heels into either side of his horse and silently commanded him to begin the journey back to the palace.

xXx

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