—Caput XXXIII—

Caesar may have been omnipresent as both author and historical figure throughout the early modern period, but in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries he was not the exemplary model of "greatness" that he had been in the Renaissance, and which he was again to become in nineteenth-century literature. Authors of the age of Enlightenment had, it seems, issues with Caesar: for that period he was too problematic a figure to be appreciated in straightforwardly positive terms. Authors found it difficult to reconcile his military genius and literary skills with the establishment of his dictatorship, and the circumstances of his murder. (1)

It had been a while since the last time Marcus had to endure the strain in his body for swimming for so long and so far; his muscles screamed and hurt under the effort, his lungs burned at each breath and he feared to suffer a cramp in the cold water—. I'm out of shape—he cursed, and cursed even louder when a tiny voice inside his head whispered "you are getting old." He was not old! His stubbornness took him near the ship, a massive darkness, rocking lazily, a sleeping beast cracking monotonously. Marcus stayed still for a moment, trying to hear beyond the waves crashing against that mountain of wood, but there was nothing—. These bastards must be sleeping —in all his years with the Eagles, very few times Marcus had encountered an enemy who knew how to keep sentries on alert during night. Usually, only enemies with Greek influence, the so called Hellenistic Kingdoms in Asia, had armies worth of that name; King Mithridates' forces had been specially though to defeat because, despite their Persian heritage, the Kingdom of Pontus was heavily hellenized. The army was composed by Greek style and Persian style warriors, not easily to overpower—. But the worst was to fight against another Roman army —during his time with Sertorius at Hispania, Marcus fought against the forces of Metellus Pius, and those had been truly difficult years—. There is nothing worse than having to fight against your own people… sentimentalism apart, is fucking hard to deal with an army that moves exactly as you do. Hope I never have to do that again.

— At your command, sir —Durus' voice took Marcus out his thoughts.

The men were ready to board the ship, with the ropes and pointy hooks they used to climb walls during a siege. Marcus didn't waste time and gave the order to begin—. The longer we stay here the easier to get caught —he were among the first to climb, the same of Durus and Scaeva, not an easy task since the ship, contrary to a wall, moved constantly—. Fucking ships! —Marcus cursed. His group moved slowly but it wasn't long until they reached the dock and confirmed what he suspected: everybody was fast asleep—. They must feel safe enough onboard to even leave a sentry—. For a moment Marcus toyed with the idea of killing them all, but discarded it, he chose to move faster instead, besides, he didn't want to risk Julila's life in an unnecessary fight.

Marcus gave his orders with simple signs and moved with all the stealth he was capable of, looking for Julila. He never thought about meeting Julius' family before and didn't know how to feel, excited? Nervous? Anxious? Indifferent? None of the previous?—. And why am I thinking this now? —Durus called him waving his hand and pointing where a faint light could be seen, hidden behind some boxes; when Marcus approached… he found Julius' eyes nailed on him. His heart skipped a beat when he realized he was staring into the female version of Julius—. Oh Gods…

What does she look like?

Don't worry, you'll know who she is when you see her.

Bloody Jules! —now he understood why the mischievous smile. Julila jumped scared at his sudden appearance, and was about to scream but Marcus moved faster and cover her mouth.

— Don't! Please. My name is Marcus Aelius Rufus and your brother sent me to rescue you —he spoke in whispers, and so fast that it took Julila a moment to understand what he was saying. Gaius had sent him to rescue them! She knew her brother would never abandoned her. Julila nodded and Marcus lower his hand.

— Oh dear Gods! Thank you —Julila whispered, smiling with a joy and happiness she had thought would never feel again—. I think they are drunk, our captors, not long ago they were laughing… like celebrating something.

Marcus nodded.

— That will help. Are you hurt? Can you stand?

— We are fine but we can't stand —she shook her head—. We have our hands and feet tied.

— We?

— My slave and I... Peri, wake up dear, we are being rescued —only when Julila turned to shake the girl Marcus became aware of her presence, and he wasn't happy. To carry Julila with them was bad enough, but to carry also with Peri would slow them down. He opened with mouth to protest but at the end just shook his head in frustration. He looked for his pugio, his dagger, and cut Julila's, and the very surprised Peri's, ropes.

— Can you both swim?

— No —Julila's answer wasn't surprising but he had hoped, in vain, for his job to be easy for a change—. Is that a problem? —the sweet concerned in her voice made Marcus smile.

— We'll carry you, don't worry. Come.

Marcus helped Julila to stand and both women followed him like scared sheep to where Scaeva waited. It was too dark, even with the pair of lamps onboard, and both women jumped surprised when they saw the dark silhouettes, moving like creatures from the underworld. Peri embraced her mistress, she felt uneasy around soldiers, after all it had been Pompeius' men who had taken her as a slave to Rome, but Julila soon recovered her good mood, feeling safe at last. She was too happy and too excited to pay attention to anything besides the fact that, Gaius had rescued her! Wait until she told Clodia, her adventure turned out to be even more exciting than she had imagined—. And to think all this started because of the mysterious Centurion who stole Gaius' heart… —her smiled disappeared and she nailed her eyes on her savior—. Wait a minute, didn't this man just say his name was Marcus Aelius…? —Julila girlishly screamed, leaving Marcus and Scaeva, and all the men around, in complete shock. Was she out of her mind?

One of the Veneti woke up.

Oh, this is fucking great! —Marcus took Julila's arm and pushed her to the rail.

— Take them out of here, now! —it was pointless to be silent now, and Marcus unsheathed his gladius.

— With your permission —said Scaeva and for Julila's astonishment one of the men carried her on his back to climb down.

The last thing she and Peri saw was a battle while they were taken to a small boat waiting for them. This was more excitement than Julila would have wished for, and she screamed all the way down to the boat, sure that she would die of a heart attack before being able to see her brother again. Peri almost passed out.

Even in the dark Marcus and his men attacked with savage efficiency, without giving their enemies time to react or think too much what to do, holding them down until Julila was on the boat. Marcus buried his gladius in his opponent's stomach, twisted the blade before retrieving it when he heard Scaeva's whistle. Then, he gave the order to leave. There was no time to climb down, the Venetii were too many and too eager to kill them all, so they jumped right into the sea. It took the enemy a while to gather their wits and start shooting against them, but it was too dark and they swam fast back to the coast.

Marcus cursed again with all his forces. If he had thought that reaching the boat was difficult, leaving under a downpour of arrows was even worst, and between the enemy and the darkness, they lost their way back to their comrades on the shore, arriving nearby the forest. They were all soak and extremely tired, even if the boat helped them at the last stretch. Julila had the good sense to look ashamed, she was aware it had been her fault things had gotten out of hand.

— Where are we? —asked Marcus to no one in particular, his eyes on the sea, almost waiting to find the enemies approaching and greatly surprised when he saw this was not the case.

Durus took a moment to look at the sky, the stars and then the surroundings before answering.

— We are at the south, not far from the camp, but don't think we'll make it back until morning, sir.

— If we hurry, we can arrive by dawn, sir —said Scaeva but Marcus shook his head, arms akimbo.

— We can't hurry, they won't endure the march back —he pointed at the soaked Julila and Peri, both exhausted and scared—. We'll rest here.

Oo0oO

In normal circumstances, Marcus would have never allowed his men to start a fire, the light would immediately give away their position, but Julila was shaking uncontrollably and he was not as heartless as his men thought. It wasn't until he was sure all his men were fine and they had sentries around the improvised camp, that he was able to sit at Julila's side, close to the fire.

— Are you fine? —not the most tactful question but hey! He was tired, soaked, and not so happy with her after she had screamed for no reason waking up the entire crew.

— Yes, just a little cold, but fine. Thank you so much for rescuing us —Julila smiled at him. Oh gods, she looks just like Jules… granted, a sweetest, more delicate version of Jules, but still; and she is an astonishing woman. And judging by the insistent glances his men gave Julila they were also appreciating her beauty—. Marcus Aelius, I'm really sorry, I don't know what happened to me —she blushed, looking even more adorable, especially with her long, loose hair wet, the same as her cloths, attached to her body in an almost obscene way.

Marcus could have no taste for women but he knew what where his men thinking. He wanted to cover her… them, now that he took a moment to look at Peri, but all their cloths were as soaked as the women's.

— We'll move as soon as you have rested —Julila nodded like a schoolgirl.

— Are all your men fine? Are they hurt? —it took a moment for Marcus to realize she was sincerely concerned. That was something he wasn't expecting.

He had imagined Julius' sister different, didn't know different how, but definitely not this—. I was expecting to find a snob, superficial, obnoxious and vain woman —he smiled remembering how he had made the same mistake with Julius, expecting the worst of him just because he was a patrician—. I should know better by now.

— Just scratches, nothing serious.

They fell silent. Marcus didn't know what else to say and had a lot on his mind to bother in social pleasantries. His eyes rested on the fire, he felt relieve having Julila safe and sound with them, Julius concerned for his sister had touched him, and Marcus knew he would die before coming back without her. He wasn't lying when he swore Julius he would become his sword, and just as his father had always taught him, a man was just as good as his word. But now, he had to face their next obstacle: how to get back to the camp. He desperately wanted to rejoin the men left at the shore, but didn't know if that would deviate them—. We could wait until morning and then advance with daylight, but Jules would want to know what happened as soon as possible. If only I had known the enemy would push us so far away —he ran a hand down his face when he felt Julila's eyes on him, he turned to look at her, extremely bewildered when she blushed and turned away finding her cloths fascinating. Marcus blinked confused.

— Do you need something?

— What? Oh, no, no —Julila's blush was so intense she looked like a lamp in the darkness. They fell silent again—. Well, actually… —she moved closer to him— I was wondering… Are you a Centurion? —she knew as much about the army as she knew about siege engineering.

What the…? —what was wrong with her?

— Yes, Primus Pilus Centurion —Julila nodded as if she understood what that meant.

— And you said your name is Marcus Aelius Rufus?

— Yes.

— And you are redhead! —she exclaimed, now that she could see him better thanks to the fire.

— Lady Julila I have no idea what you are talking about.

— Gaius told you they called me Julila? —she asked with interest.

Gaius? —it took him a moment to understand she was talking about Julius.

— Yes —Julila smiled like a professional fangirl, until she became aware of something.

— How did Gaius know I was kidnapped?

— The Veneti sent him a message, demanding the release of their hostages and our retreat, threatening to kill you —Julila got pale.

— Oh dear… I-I-I never meant to cause him so much troubles… —Marcus felt sorry for her, especially remembering how furious Julius was. Of course, Jules is right to be angry, she shouldn't be here in the first place, but she looks so miserable that is hard to remain angry at her.

— Your slaves told him where the Veneti had taken you.

— My slaves?

— A house slave and a gladiator —her eyes filled with stars.

— You mean Philo and Tetraites are alive? Oh dear Gods! Thank you so much —she was so happy that wanted to embrace him, but manage to keep her composure.

— Can I ask you a question? —it was so easy to talk to Julila that Marcus forgot she was a patrician and the sister of his Imperator.

— Mm? Yes, of course, you are my savior after all.

— What are you doing here? —that was the million sestertii question.

— Oh… well, I came here because… well —she giggled—. Can we go somewhere else? —she whispered and Marcus saw her as if Julila didn't speak Latin— It's not what you are thinking —she blushed and hurried to explain, misinterpreting Marcus' expression—, Peri can go with us —he sighed a little annoyed.

— Lady, does this place looks like the Forum to you? —he didn't want to be rude with her but Marcus found her request as outrageous as if she had just asked them all to sing and dance for her— It's a forest, and we are in the middle of enemy territory, I don't think that to move away from the group is a good idea.

— I know, I know is dangerous, trust me, they kidnapped me from a forest like this, but… —Julila bit her lower lip—. I truly need to talk to you.

— About what that can't be said here? —Marcus was starting to get angry again. This was the first time he talked to Julila and couldn't understand why she acted as if she knew him. She bit her lip in frustration.

— I came because Lucius Furius told me about you —Julila explained fast, without breathing.

Lucius Fu…? —but then he remembered Camillus' full name and realization struck him. Now, it was his turned to get pale. It was stupid to ask what Camillus had told her because it was more than obvious—. She wouldn't have come this far for less than the whole story about Jules and I. Jules will be furious —he didn't know what to say so Julila kept talking in whispers.

— I came to meet you, I wanted to meet the person who has my brother's heart —Marcus could have blushed.

— Senator Camillus told you that? —he barely moved his lips, talking as if they were inside a temple.

— He said Gaius is in love with you.

All right, Marcus was officially embarrassed.

— And you came all the way here just for that? —he didn't want to talk to her about their relationship, it had already been embarrassing enough to have Camillus there and the Senator didn't look like a fan girl.

— Marcus Aelius is not "just for that" —Julila answered with all seriousness—. Gaius has never before fallen in love, he is the ultimate private person, he hides his feeling and never ever lets himself become sentimentally involve with anybody. Not even us, his family, know what he is thinking or what he feels.

— Lady Julila…

— Julila is fine —Marcus sighed.

— Julila, men don't like to talk about their feelings like women, if Jules doesn't let you know what is he thinking I don't think that is a big… what?

Julila shook her head with a huge smile on her face.

— You just call him "Jules." —Marcus wanted to pull all his hair, but instead ran a hand down his face—. Marcus Aelius I'm not a fool, I know men don't show their feelings, I was married for many years, trust me, I know. But Gaius is… Gaius is a professional loner, besides Lucius Furius, he doesn't have close friends, he has political friends, convenient friends, necessary friends… he is not honest even with his wife Nia. If he opened his heart to you is important enough for me to come here.

— Camillus said something like that.

And it's starting to scare me, just how lonely or secretive is Jules that his closest friend and sister decided to come here, to bloody Gallia Comata to meet me. This is insane! —well, yes, Marcus already had a taste of how difficult was to deal with Julius, but still… — To make things worse he is not your typical loner: silent, private and I-don't-need-your-help like, he is charming, social, good conversationalist and knows perfectly well how to work with others and make others feel as if they were indispensable for the success of the campaign. It's a pain in the ass to try to understand Jules.

— Sir… —one of his men called him.

— We'll talk later —and Marcus stood up.

Oo0oO

Marcus gave the order to continue the march. He decided to go straight back to the camp, and trust the rest of his men left at the shore would have the good sense to do the same. The problem was Julia didn't have shoes, having lost them during all her adventure, the same as Peri, so they would have to carry Julila. Not at all surprising Marcus had more volunteers for this task than he would have liked, and decided to leave the honor to Scaeva (another one who had volunteer for Marcus' astonishment)—. But who can blame him? If Scaeva sees Julila as I see Jules… Oh, no.

— Scaeva!

— Yes, sir.

— Don't you dare to lay a hand on the Imperator's sister —he threatened his friend. If Scaeva saw Julila as he saw Jules… well, he was the person who had almost stolen a kiss from an unconscious Julius.

— Of course not, sir! —Scaeva had the decency to look offended.

— You are warned —Marcus pointed him with his accusatory finger—. I'll be watching you.

Oo0oO

It was morning already and Julius knew nothing about his sister's rescue mission. A group that claimed to have waited as reinforcements at the shore had come back a little ago, but their report was so ambiguous that Julius had no idea of what to think.

— Sir, Primus Pilus Marcus Rufus ordered us to stay behind as reinforcements, in case the enemy chase them after recuing your sister —explained Gaius Visellius, standing to attention at the praetorium—. We saw the enemy ship come to live shortly after the Primus Pilus' group left, but we have no idea what happened them since the enemy attacked us.

— Do you know if they succeeded in rescuing my sister? —Julius' voice was dispassionate, as if they were talking about someone else's sister, and as if Marcus meant no more to him than the man in front of him.

— Not for sure, sir. But…

— Go on.

— The enemy was desperate when they attacked us, sir. I would dare to say the Primus Pilus managed to succeed but I don't know what happened next, sir —Julius nodded.

— Thank you Gaius Visellius, that will be all.

Visellius saluted and left—. He is right, Mark must have rescued Julila, otherwise the Veneti wouldn't have attacked them. But what happened if the enemy managed to re capture Julila? Could the Veneti have found them? —whatever had happened, if there was someone capable of coming back alive with his sister, that was Marcus—. I'll trust him and continue with my plan.

Decimus Brutus had orders to begin the attack against the Veneti fleet as soon as the ships were ready. They wanted an answer that evening? Well, they would have an answer and would know what happened when someone messed with his family.

Oo0oO

Marcus was getting impatient. It was morning already and they hadn't reached the camp, they lost their way and wasted a great deal of time before finding the right track again. They took turns to carry Julila, not that it was difficult to find volunteers, but had to slow down the pace because Peri couldn't walk as fast as them and her mistress refused to leave her behind. At some point Marcus decided to carry Peri himself, fed up with the delay and making the girl extremely happy. She wasn't use to walk for so long, and barefoot! She was a house slave and one pampered so much that lived better than many free Roman citizens.

— What's that? —someone asked watching the sea at the distance— Isn't that our fleet?

They all stopped and looked their fleet preparing to attack the enemy.

— What do you think is the Imperator planning, sir? —asked Scaeva, shielded his eyes with his hand.

— To teach them what happen when they tried to be clever —Marcus grinned while Peri on his back watched the vessels with curiosity and admiration. She had never seen so many ships before!

If Jules decided to attack is because he trusts me, he knew I would rescue Julila no mattered what —and that made him feel the most important man in the whole empire.

The earth trembled and a distant neigh reached them. They all turned like one person, finding the enemy coming at them with their naked swords ready to attack.

— To the forest, now! —shouted Marcus. They all had left were their gladii, their scuta, pila and armors with their companions at the shore and there was no way they could defend themselves as they were against a cavalry charge— Climb the trees!

It was a bad plan but the only one he could think of. Peri surrounded his neck with such force that Marcus couldn't breathe, she was terrified, the same as her mistress, even more when the men started to climb the trees with them on their backs.

— What are you doing? —Peri voice was a shrill, and Marcus clenched his jaw feeling her nails biting his skin.

— Stop that! And sit on that branch —Marcus ordered as if she were another Legionary. The girl opened her eyes, big, round and crystalline, but didn't cry, just nodded and did as she was told.

Marcus unsheathed his sword and his men did the same, all eyes on him, waiting for his next orders. The sound of hooves got closer, the earth trembling furiously, and it wasn't long before the enemy appeared and it was then when the Romans jumped on them. Everything became a confusion of men and beasts, many Veneti fell to the ground, many of them pierced by the daggers, others wounded. Very few manage to escape.

Julila swore on the memory of all her ancestors that she would never again do anything as reckless as this. Never in her entire life she had been so scared. She was tired, hungry and wanted to cry until sleep overpower her. Scaeva helped her to get down the tree and her heart shrunken when she saw him wounded, the same as Marcus. His arm was bleeding but the Primus Pilus appeared not to notice or feel a thing. Because of her, Gaius' loved one was hurt. Julila took a deep breath.

They resumed the march and before long the walls of the camp became visible. They had made it and the men were more than relief, but before they arrived Marcus stopped with the pretext to rest and asked to talk to Julila, alone.

— This should be obvious but I want to warn you —his voice merely a whisper, even if they were several paces apart from the group—, Jules is very angry with you —Julila looked even more miserable, and nodded in silence—. Think carefully what you are going to tell him because he will be even angrier when he learns why you came.

— Don't worry, I have another reason to be here, I have an urgent message for him.

Marcus didn't ask more, but sincerely hoped Julila's message was important enough to have risk her life or Julius would learn how to breath fire.

(1) Thomas Biskup. A Companion to Julius Caesar: Chapter Twenty-Six: the Enlightenment. Wiley-Blackwell, p 400