Xxxx the love mentioned in this chapter is platonic xxxX
Like a silent lion stalking its prey, I silently followed Marcus through the narrow streets of Rome, mindful of his every mood. I clung to the shadows, disappearing out of his line of sight whenever he turned around. I could tell he feared being followed- I could tell by the way he walked, casting anxious glances over his shoulder every few steps. Occasionally he would pause, acting as if he was looking for something or restrapping his sandals. He was on edge, and out of fear of being discovered I began to purposefully fall behind him.
I followed him out of an alleyway, and frowned as I realised he had led me in one big circle around the Forum. I observed him as he stopped in front of a food vendor. He held up two fingers and said something, the man behind the counter handing him to small amphoras. For a moment I thought they contained wine, but I noticed steam rising from them, and then a large cauldron of what smelled like soup. He reached into the small leather pouch attached to his belt, and handed the man a few coins. He was then on his way again.
I followed him for a short while longer, the whole time contemplating what he could be up to. Soup was not very suspicious, but I could tell by his weary motions that what he was doing was something that he wished for no one, at least, no one he feared, to know. I did not think I fell under that category. I suppose I used that excuse to still my conscious about my immoral decision to follow him, discovering his secrets. There was just something within me, some curiosity that made me wish to seek him out. Perhaps it was a conviction, a will of mine to discovery some horrible secret of his, and use it to get him banned from the Centuriate. It would be cruel of me, and I stifled the jealousy I felt towards him.
You are doing this for Kaius, I told myself as I continued to follow Marcus, trailing behind him ever so carefully. This is the man he wants to serve under. Let it be seen if he is a noble man. If he is not, then he is not worthy of Kaius' help and admiration.
Marcus abruptly turned down a narrow side road, disappearing from my sight. My heart quickened as I began to fear I had lost him. I doubled the speed of my pace, and turned the corner. It was the back entrance to the camp, which led directly to the General's private quarters. In any regular army, the door would be guarded. But the General was a trusting man, who feared no ill-will from his men. I looked around for Marcus, but I did not see him. Part of me knew I should give up, but another part of me was unwilling to give up the chase. A flicker of movement a short ways ahead of me caught my attention. There was a slash of a red cape, which vanished behind a closed wooden door. I glanced around. No one was nearby, and those close enough to see me would not care. There was a low window beside this door, and I pressed myself against the outside wall. Sliding along quietly, I crouched low so I was directly below the windowsill. I listened.
There was a cough, and what sounded like some poor fellow hacking up a lung.
"My, you sound worse than this morning." Marcus' voice said.
"It could be worse," A voice croaked back. I recognized it as the General's, although it was distorted by illness.
"I fail to see how it could be any worse than now," Marcus said plainly. "This most recent bout of illness is most untimely."
"Yes, well, what can be done?" There was another attack of coughing, followed by a weak groan. "I feel miserable,"
"You look miserable," Marcus replied, a small chuckle in his voice. "You look like something that has come out of, well, and ass' arse."
"Thank you kindly for that comparison," Octavius spoke back, in an equally teasing tone. He sneezed suddenly, followed by a small wheezing sound, and another groan. "I hate not being present for a speech. Did it go well, Marcus? How are the people? Did they receive you well?"
"Ha," Marcus scoffed bitterly. I heard the sound of clinking pottery above my head and smelled the scent of soup as he set the amphora down. "I was received in some way, but not well."
I could not see what was happening, but I knew the General was most likely frowning.
"They treated you poorly?" He asked, his voice sounding disappointed.
"They did, Octavius. They threw things at me. I thought they would surely have my head." Marcus answered.
"Are you sure you are not exaggerating the last bit? They would not harm you, surely. Did they try to harm you? Did anyone touch you?" Octavius asked, clearing his throat with a cringe-worthy gurgle. There was the sound of a splatter as gook was spat out, and then a painful sounding wheeze.
"Octavius, you must not worry yourself over me," Marcus said gently. "You are ill and must rest yourself. Do not work up your blood for my sake. The people need their leader, and you need to heal."
"Nonsense," Octavius groaned. I heard the soft sound of feet touching the floor and a grunt. "S-See? I-I am well enough to stand and walk-" Crash!
It took all my nerve not to jump in surprise. I heard a gasp from Marcus, and the sound of a body hitting the floor, followed by a deep, keening groan.
"Octavius!" Marcus exclaimed. There was the shuffle of feet and the sound of a cot creaking as someone laid upon it. "You must not stand rise yet! You are not well- not well at all! What would Lucius say if he saw you just now? You could have hurt yourself!"
A bout of coughing. "I-I am fine- really, I am fine."
"No, you are not fine." Marcus continued. "I came here to bring you something to eat, and to offer my company. Not to have you fall down with worry. Save the fainting for the women, my dear friend."
"I did not faint," Octavius grumbled. "But Marcus, what did they do to you?"
"Besides pelt me with tomatoes?" Marcus asked. "Not much else, except for the yelling scolds and shouts and insults."
"What about Petronius?" Octavius' tone darkened, and I sensed a change in mood. "Has he said anything?"
"Nothing about our current fear," Marcus answered quietly, his voice immediately dropping. I had to strain my ears to listen further. "He was rather impatient with me. I tried to do what you asked of me, I truly did! I just got so frightened, Octavius. I know not why I was afraid-"
"Marcus, you put yourself through much," Octavius whispered. "Far too much than one man can take at times, and for this reason, I fear for you. You are not yourself anymore. Not since this all started. I think you have had enough of this undercover work, Marcus."
"No," Marcus answered quickly. "I can not stop what I have already begun without finishing. If these men are truly out for blood, you will be their first target. I can not let them get to you, Octavius. As long as I live they shall not lay a ringed finger upon you. And if they do, I swear I shall cut them down without mercy."
There was a small exhale of breath from Octavius, which might have been an attempted laugh. "You take this threat to heart, Marcus. I am concerned as well; but more for your sake. If I did not love you so dearly, my friend, then I would let you continue this quest of yours. But since I do, I can not let you continue doing this dangerous deed for me."
"Octavius-"
"Enough." Octavius' voice rang out, sounding strained. He fell into another bout of coughing, which soon subsided as he exhaled a sigh. "Marcus, I say this with love, but this is not your kind of work. If I were to lose you I do not know what I would do. We have known each other since our days as small boys, when we use to live on the edge of the river. Do you remember that?"
"Yes, I remember," Marcus replied, sighing. "You had that wooden toy boat that would always float away with the current. The one I would have to retrieve. You never seemed to keep it in one place."
"The adventures we had, in the olive grove?"
"Yes, those were wonderful."
There was a sigh from Octavius. "Those days are so far away now that I feel old."
"You are not old," Marcus soothed. "You are only in the early years of thirty. As am I. If you are old, then so am I. And I do not like to be called old. So, I must fight you for my honor."
Laughter drifted to my ears, and despite what I was hearing I could not help but smirk.
"Now; to bring up a more lighthearted topic, have you decided on your Optio yet?" Octavius asked.
"Yes, I believe I have," Marcus replied, now sounding more relaxed. "I do believe I have settled on Optio Kaius. I have seen how responsible he is, and how well he follows orders. He also seems to be an adventurous soul, which is good for a young man to have. I would like to request him to be my Optio."
"Alright then, and good choice," Octavius commented. "He will be most pleased, I am sure of it."
I could not help but smile at Kaius' good fortune. Yet, I was still not sure if I was happy that he would be serving under Marcus. The man definitely had secrets; ones I swore to myself that I would uncover.
"Well," Marcus said, his feet sounding nearer. "I should be off. I have paperwork to see to. As you know, being a Centurion is a lot of paperwork. I think it is a silly establishment." He sniffed.
"I agree," Octavius answered. "I should hope to be well by tomorrow. Lucius said the illness should pass. Oh, gods! Why am I cursed with such an illness, that it should come again and again, at the worst of times?"
"I know not," Marcus replied comfortingly. "Perhaps it will go away."
"I hope that every time," Octavius sighed. "Well, then, since you must be off in such a rush, I bid you well."
"I will be alright," Marcus said reassuringly. "I shall see you tomorrow."
"Good luck, my friend."
I heard the doorknob rattle, and I dove behind a stack of wheat sacks. Marcus exited the room, closing the door with a light click. He took a deep breath, and looked around once again. The calm aura that had been in his tone while he was with the General had vanished, and he once again held the look of a fearful man, uncertain about his future. He passed by the wheat, oblivious to my presence. I waited a good moment or two before I unveiled myself. There was no sign of the Centurion, and I slinked back out of the narrow road, and onto the main street.
As usual, there were many questions pulsing through my head. Why had Marcus been acting so secretive? What were he and the General afraid of? Who was Petronius? I had answers for none of these and knew only that they were somehow all connected.
He must be afraid of this Petronius man, I figured. Perhaps he is acting so cautious because he fears he will discover something. He must be a dangerous man if he frightens the General.
I thought on the matter for another moment, before pushing it to the back of my head. My stomach growled, and I realized that the smell of the soup had made me hungry. I walked over to one of the many street vendors and purchased a loaf of bread and some cheese. I considered buying an amphora of wine but decided against it. My head was still a little achy, and I did not feel like adding the discomfort of a hangover to my pain.
I eventually made it back to my barracks. Normally, a barracks block would house eight men. But since we were at peace, we had been given the privilege of having more open spaced barracks. Instead of eight men, we were split into groups of four. My barracks block at the moment was rather empty. Nicodemus was supposed to be one of my roommates, but he was now gone. And Lucios was hospitalized. The only other person in the group was Kaius.
I pushed open the door to the barracks. It was exactly how I remembered it from the days when I was alive in Rome, causing me to grin. Kaius, who slept on the top bunk, above mine, had his legs dangling over the side. He looked up quickly as I entered, and tried to inconspicuously tuck something beneath his pillow. I paid no mind to it. Kaius had many woman suitors, and it was probably a love not of some sort. I smiled.
"Kaius," I said, smiling widely. "I have just returned from buying supper in the marketplace. I have bread and cheese, and I believe we have some fruit somewhere about here that we can have for dessert. I did not buy any wine, though. I figured we could go a few days without a drink."
"Good," Kaius replied.
I frowned. I had been expecting jubilation and excitement from Kaius. Not a down disturbed demeanor.
"Are you now excited?" I asked, frowning.
"What?" Kaius asked, looking up at me again. "Why would I be excited?"
My frown deepened, and an uneasy feeling fell over me. "You were promoted...to serve under Centurion Marcus…"
Kaius blinked. "I was?" He asked, sounding surprised.
"You were," I replied. I did not understand why he seemed so unhappy. This was something he had wanted for a while now. "Did you not hear?"
Kaius shook his head. "I did not hear anything about a promotion. Where did you hear it?"
"Oh…" I said, not wanting to reveal my little spying excursion. "I overheard the Centurion talking about it to some of his colleagues. Come!" I coaxed, nodding to the back wall, where the wooden table was standing, surrounded by four empty stools. "It is time to eat."
Kaius slowly climbed down from the bunk and took his seat. I followed suit and offered him a small as I attempted to make conversation. "What were you called for at the Forum?" I asked.
"What? Oh...nothing." Kaius answered.
I felt suspicious of the answer and pressed him further. "Who called for you?"
He hesitated for a moment, chewing slowly on a piece of bread. He opened his mouth and spoke one name which made me shiver. "Senator Petronius."
