Chapter 17: Mistakes Made In Leisure
Ursa peeked out of the door late that night. One of the girls that was still awake turned and looked at her. She smiled at the timid new girl and walked over to her quickly. Ursa wiped her last few tears away and sniffed. She looked up at the much older blonde that stood in front of her.
"Hello. You must be Ursa Luna. Laetus said that you had been with the emperor last night and we're all curious.", the girl said with a wicked smile. "How was he?"
Ursa looked up at her confusedly. "How was he at what?", she asked in a shaking voice.
The girl giggled and put her hand on Ursa's shoulder. "You needn't be coy with me, or any of the rest of us. Was the emperor a gentle lover?", she asked in a whisper. "Or was he forceful and bold?"
Ursa looked away sadly. "I...I... don't remember.", she stammered. The girl giggled and took her by the hand. She led her into the main meeting chamber for the women. Several of them were still awake and talking quietly as some of the candles burned brightly. The girl led her over to a few empty pillows and sat down, motioning for Ursa to do the same. Ursa sat down slowly and looked nervously at the other women. "How was he with all of you?"
Everyone looked at one another and then began laughing. Ursa looked at each of them in confusion. Finally, the blonde put her hand on Ursa's shoulder once more. Before the young girl could explain anything, Quintus entered the room. Everyone became a little quieter and stared at the commander in disbelief. Ursa stood and nodded to him. Quintus looked down at her and frowned a little. She looked at him inquisitively.
"Ursa Luna, does your brother have any property to his name?", he asked in a slightly broken voice. He really hated being the person to deliver this message. Ursa's expression dropped.
"Why do you ask, Quintus?", she asked. He cleared his throat.
"There's a little bit of an incident going on. I'm afraid your brother has been executed.", he said softly. All of the girls gasped a little at the news of a killing in the empire being so close to one of their own. He looked away slightly. "If there's nothing for the guards to aquire then I will be on my way." Ursa stood and stared at him expressionlessly.
"What happened? Why was he executed!? When did this happen!!??", she shouted getting louder with every word. Quintus walked over to her and tried to put a hand on her to calm her. She pulled away angrily. "Who ordered this!!!???"
"Senator Gaius proved with documentation that your brother was an accomplice in a plot against him.", Quintus explained as Ursa began to sway slightly. "Caesar has ordered the execution of everyone involved."
"My brother never plotted to kill him!", Ursa screamed loudly. She panted and leaned forward a little. Quintus moved to catch her, but she stepped backwards and dropped onto the floor. Quintus looked down at her as she began to weep madly. "He killed him because of me!"
"Ursa, I myself read the parchments over twice before presenting them to the emperor.", Quintus argued. "Besides, the execution hasn't truly taken place yet, perhaps Caesar will change his mind after a moment."
Ursa looked up at him infuriated. She jumped to her feet and ran past him into the main part of the palace. She hurried into Tertullian's office and startled the poor scholar near to death. Quintus followed her part of the way, but decided he had best go in and see about the emperor instead. Ursa walked up to Tertullian angrily. He stood and nodded to her. "Tertullian, I know that you are more than familiar with everything in this archive and the signatures of every noble in the capital.", she said between bouts of crying aloud. "I need for you to go and get a parchment from the emperor about a plot that was discovered this afternoon. I need to see this for myself!"
"My girl, if it is in the emperor's possession then I cannot just go and retrieve it.", Tertullian argued. Ursa began to cry loudly. She slunk to the floor. Tertullian raced over to her and took her shoulders in his hands. "Child, what is going on?"
"Commodus is going to have my brother executed because I rejected him this morning.", Ursa wept. Tertullian looked down at her in amazement. He had heard about the emperor's outburst in the senate the previous night. Commodus was prone to bursts of violence from time to time. This was too far. He stood and patted her shoulders.
"Go back to the women's quarters and try and rest. Your brother will be just fine, I promise.", he reassured. Ursa looked up at him desperately and began to protest. He placed his hand over her mouth and repeated his instructions. She finally nodded and left. As Ursa walked down the hallway, Tertullian reached over to the side table and took a large scroll. He rolled it up tightly and walked towards the emperor's bedchamber. Tertullian forced his way into the chamber and stormed over to the desk where Commodus was seated and writing orders for the edict Falco had mentioned days ago. Tertullian said nothing as the emperor looked up at him. He commenced to smacking the young man repeatedly over the head with the scroll. "What is wrong with you, you ungrateful little worm!?"
"Tertullian...stop...what...Tertullian!", Commodus protested as the man continued to thrash him. "Guards!"
Tertullian snarled and went back to the door, slamming it shut. He stormed back over to Commodus as the youth tried to hide behind his bed and calm the angry scholar.
"Get back out here, Commodus or I'll come back there and make you regret surviving your childhood!", Tertullian yelled. Commodus peeked out and looked at the man. "Put down the candlestick, I know you." Tertullian watched as the young man carefully put down the candlestick he had grabbed for protection. He inched out from under the bed. "I have watched you for years denounce the fact that you are anything like your father. You have been very good lately at trying to prove yourself wrong! What on earth has taken hold of you and created this monstrosity!? You have been moody, reclusive, and hurtful to everyone around you that doesn't deserve it!"
"Tertullian, you are out of line! The only actions I have taken today were based on the fidings of my sister and the guards! There was a plot against my life by senator Gracchus and I...", Commodus began. Tertullian walked over and slapped him harshly, sending him to the floor. Commodus looked up at him in total confusion.
"Shut up!", Tertullian yelled. "I am tired of obeying the word of an ignorant little ass! I mean that in the literal sense of the word, Commodus. Let me tell you why. Your sister has been riding you since you were a boy! She and the senate have blinders on you that are preventing you from doing anything beyond their views!" Tertullian glared down at the young man who stood up slowly. "You simply get to all fours and let on the nearest patron while they pull your reigns and take you anywhere they want!"
"Watch yourself, Tertullian! I could have you killed right now!", Commodus yelled defensively. Tertullian walked directly up to the young man and hit him on the side of the head.
"Then do it! Do something that you've decided for once! Personally I am sick and tired of watching you bend over and cart around every tidbit of poor advice you've recieved since you were allowed into power! You swallow every claim that the scheming politicians and your power-hungry sister force into your mouth and vomit them all over the innocent citizens in your service! You make me sick!", Tertullian shouted.
"Power hungry?"
"As if you hadn't noticed how she prods you around like a pup; telling you when to sit, stand, and piss! She has had her eyes on the throne ever since she was born! Her little boy remains undereducated lest in the tragic instance that you befall an accident she gets to warm the crown until he comes of age! She's been thinking about what changes she could make for the empire since before you were concieved!", the scholar chided. "That's not even touching what the senators have been planning."
"It was a senator that was behind the plot in the first place! Gracchus had evidence that...", Tertullian slapped Commodus back into silence.
"You impudent little fool! Gracchus has treated you better than your father! As a matter of fact, a beggar lying in the gutter that spits at you as you pass by would treat you better than your father!", Tertullian said spitefully. Commodus growled and backhanded Tertullian. The two stared at each other in shock for a moment. "Yes! Good! Vent your anger to someone that's actually deserving at the moment! If you want to take it a step further in the right direction you might go and slap your sister silly!"
"Leave her out of this! She hasn't done anything!"
"Exactly! And yet you see no problem with her! She has yet to comfort you in truth, give you any encouragement, or come to your aide when you've been ill! Need I remind you that the recovery of yourself and your brother was in her hands! You were the weak one, you should have died! Yet your brother breathed his last in her presence, not you! Doesn't that strike you as suspicious!?" Tertullian shouted firmly into the enraged youth's face. "You are proving every hateful senator correct and making every citizen wish that Lucilla would take the throne! You're becoming worse than your father! Killing innocent people without rhyme or reason."
"But the document that Gracchus wrote..."
"Let me see it.", Tertullian demanded. Commodus reached over to his desk and picked up the still slightly crumpled document. Tertullian yanked it away from him and stared at it. He looked up at the young despot and frowned. He rolled it up and hit Commodus with it a few more times. "You buffoon! This document is in Gaius's hand! Can't you tell the difference?!"
"No, I can't!", Commodus yelled defensively as he tried to deflect every blow of the scribe's papery blade. "I haven't memorized the hand of every senator!"
"Well maybe you should! Lest you kill any other innocent siblings of your women!", Tertullian shouted. Commodus looked up at him in confusion as the man put the scroll aside. "Ursa is back in the women's quarters bewailing the eventual execution of her brother! Shame on you! I thought that you had made some changes in yourself for the better these past few days! You kept on about how much you wanted to be with this girl and now you're going to take away her only family! You soulless little heel!"
"Ursa knows?", Commodus said in pure terror. She would never speak to him or see him again, possibly even do herself harm! He jumped up and began to run towards the women's quarters. Tertullian put his hand on his chest, stopping him from moving any further. Commodus looked at him inquisitively for a moment, then suddenly realized what he should be doing before trying to comfort Ursa. He looked down at Tertullian for a moment. "I need to speak with Quintus, he needs to get to Cicero before it's too late."
"Good, sire. I'll go back through the documents from the past few months. I'll try and locate the ones that deal with any threats against your life.", Tertullian offered. "Hurry, sire. This is a horrible thing to bear on your conscience."
Commodus pushed Tertullian's hand away from him and hurried to the door. He shouted for Quintus. Quintus, who stood beside the door after the recent attempt on the emperor's life, raced over to him and bowed.
"Quintus, go to the outskirts and stop the archers. Bring Cicero back to me at once!", he said hurriedly. The fact remained that Maximus still wanted the emperor dead. He took Quintus by the arm for a moment. "Take Maximus to the prisons. Arrest all of the senators that were at the palace this morning and quarter off my sister."
"Yes, Caesar.", Quintus said quickly and turned to leave immediately.
As Lucilla allowed Maximus out of his cell, she watched carefully and felt horrible about every action she had taken in the past week. She began to weep softly. The guards that had waited patiently for her motioned for her to accompany them back to the palace. Lucilla felt the weight of innocent blood on her, the ache was almost unbearable. The thought of her son's life being at stake somehow made it seem a little more easy on the surface. She only hoped that she would be able to take Lucius and leave before her brother fell to senator Gaius's evil. Maximus slipped out of the gates of the gladiator school towards the city gates. As he inched closer, he recognized the form of Cicero on one of the horses. He smiled and ran to the manservant that had proved loyalty and love to him repeatedly. Cicero turned.
"Maximus! No!", he yelled. Maximus froze as Cicero's horse bolted out from under him and several archers appeared around them. They fired at the two men all at once. Maximus shouted in anger as the arrows reached Cicero.