Chapter 28: Facing the Greater of Two Evils
Commodus looked up at Lucilla in fear. She frowned at noticing that he was back to his senses. Commodus scooted away from her and tried to regain his bearings. He looked around the tent frantically. Lucilla tried to move towards her brother and calm him a little. The chain around her left ankle prevented her from getting close enough once he had made it to the door to peek out. He gasped and rushed back over to her. He stared at her in terror.
"Lucilla, am I outside the city?", he asked as his voice shook. She nodded. He looked away, his eyes quivering in anxiety. "Oh dear."
"Brother, you have been very brave up til now. Don't give in to your fears just yet.", she instructed. "There's still more for you to accomplish."
"What have I done? I'm going to die...tonight!", he exclaimed. Lucilla frowned at him. He turned to her and glared at her. "You tried to kill me!"
"I never!", Lucilla said defensively. Commodus glared more deeply at her.
"That draught you've been giving me is too potent, it was killing me. Galen studied it for me and told me so.", he declared folding his arms. "You really have had it out for me."
"No I haven't! That draught was a gamble, I'll give you that. Gaius wanted me to give you poisons, but I refused and came up with the recipe for the draught. It appeased him.", Lucilla replied. "I knew you were too strong to succomb to the draught to the point of death! Even as an infant your body fought poisons, illness, and potions. I knew that you would live, I had faith in you!"
Commodus stared at her in confsuion for a moment. His sister seemed genuine. He scooted a little closer to her and looked deeply into her eyes. "You were there when I was a small boy. You watched over Titus and I when we were in need.", he said softly at remembering Tertullian's words. "Did you think me strong then?"
Lucilla looked at her younger brother as if he had just taken the blade from the floor and jabbed it into her chest fully. She had been the eldest surviving child of Marcus Aurelius and Anna Faustina. This had displeased the man somewhat since there had been five children before her, all dead, and five after; again all dead. When the joyous occasion of the birth of the twins, Commodus and Titus, had come to pass; Marcus had supposed in secret that the two boys were not his, but had said nothing and remained unmoved by his suspicions. He was simply glad to have two survivng heirs to the throne. Commodus and Titus were soon found to have had weakened lungs and hearts because of their mother's illness during pregnancy. Marcus had noted that Commodus looked alot less like him than Titus. The derranged old man had decided to himself that Titus was from his seed and that Commodus had been from his wife's lover. Marcus arranged to give Titus a proceedure that would strengthen him. After the surgery, he and his young twin had contracted the plague. Because Titus had been weakened by the proceedure, the child had died. Commodus had basic memory of his brother, but nothing more. Lucilla had been the unfortunate person charged with watching over the two in their crib late one night, the night Titus had died. It was a terrible thing for the little prince to awaken to the cold, still body of his other half. Marcus had been hateful after the boy's death, he had truly had some measure of love for Titus. He blamed Commodus for the rest of his life and vowed to tear what he held dearest to his heart away from him at the very last just as he claimed he had done to him. Marcus had believed, like the silly man he was, that Commodus held ruling the empire closest to his heart. Had Marcus been blessed with full brain power, he would have seen that nature took away what Commodus had truly loved once and then denied it to him through the coldness of his father. Lucilla looked down, choking slightly.
"I didn't know what to do for him. I didn't hear him cry, or moan, or cease breathing. I don't know what I could have done to save him.", Lucilla said softly. Commodus continued to stare at her. "I did want to rule, Commodus. I can't lie about that. We're about to die, so you might as well know the truth. I have been terribly jealous of you for years. I wished madly that you had never been born."
Commodus moved backwards. He stared at his older sister in disbelief. She raised her focus to him, anger surging through her.
"But I don't now. I haven't for years. I love you, I never wanted to hurt you.", she said wiping a few tears away. "Gaius is a third cousin of our father. There are no other male relatives that close to him. He would be in line for the throne in the event of your demise. He cornered me. He threatened to expose me. He threatened Lucius."
"Expose you for what?", Commodus asked. He was feeling truly confused now. Lucilla's words were mixed and made very little sense. Perhaps she was suffering an episode just as he had.
"I killed our father.", she said plainly.
Ursa moved towards the city gates and watched through the small opening at what had happened to Commodus. She was infuriated that she had given her innocence to a man that had not taken her in marraige. She was more angry with herself than him. She felt as though that in the single action of passion, she had disappointed her brother, her friends, and the cause all at once. Still, she did truly love Commodus. She couldn't bare to think of anything unpleasant happening to him. She inched out through the gates and listened closely to three of the men that walked around the encampment.
"They said he just barged into senator Falco's tent and hasn't come out yet. I haven't heard anything.", one of them said.
"Falco isn't the main concern, Gaius was very specific; we guard him and Lady Lucilla above all. We weren't able to watch her a moment ago with all that commotion, but we must keep our forces focused until we march against the capital.", the second said firmly. "Besides, we had the newer recruits watching Falco. They didn't even follow after him when he bolted away. That would suit the little coward to show up and then hurry back to the safety of his palace."
"I say we go into the tent anyway. It wouldn't make Gaius happy to lose someone before we even begin this.", the third muttered. "No one will know if we're quiet enough. There's no light in the tent, so he should still be sleeping."
"Then why go in and bother him in the first place, half wit?", the first chastised as he hit his cohort on the arm.
"If you ask me, I think Gaius might be expecting somekind of evil to befall Falco. Why else would his tent be so close to the edge of our bivouac?", the third replied angrily. "I say we go in and make sure that nothing has happened and that Commodus is gone."
Ursa gathered resolve within herself and slunk past the three of them towards the centre of the encampment. She prayed silently repeatedly that Commodus was unharmed and simply biding his time in outside the encampment somewhere. She watched the three men walk slowly into Falco's tent. They complained and laughed quietly as they moved into the darkened canvas covering. She moved closer to the tent and looked around for any other patrol men. The three had been right, there were very few people at this part of the encampment to keep watch over Falco's tent. Ursa scoffed silently at the realization that there really was no honour among thieves and murderers. Gaius had been the cause of several evils according to Tertullian and Commodus. She, like the rest of the recent group of aquaintances in the palace, had been informed of Gaius being behind the documents that had detailed vulgar freedoms being given to legionaires. He had also been behind all but three of the orders for increased arrests and executions. Ursa slunk even closer, approaching the tent. She hid herself behind a grouping of crates and barrells holding supplies for the traitors. She waited patiently to hear what the consensus was for Commodus's presence in the camp. If Falco had been awakened at all by his presence, then the cruel and rather paranoid senator would have demanded that Commodus be followed. Somehow, Ursa imagined that if Commodus had stayed near the camp at all, then he wouldn't be able to keep very quiet. If Commodus could be associated with one fatal flaw, it was impatience. He wouldn't be able to bide his time for very long if he knew that the enemy was sleeping and unarmed.
"Murderer! Intruder! Senator Falco is dead!", the three began shouting. "The emperor is in the encampment, find him!"
Ursa gasped. She didn't think Commodus capable of something like murder. She moved to the left behind the wooden boxes and barrells. She watched as the three men bolted from the tent and gathered their fellow soldiers to frantically search for the young Caesar. Ursa felt herself smile. Murder was never acceptable, but Commodus had to have been defending his own life. He was incredibly brave, especially in the face of adversity. She moved a little closer to the tent and whispered a little loudly for him. The rest of the men seemed to be focused on the central part of the camp. The troops began to spread out towards the edge of the camp and search more closely. Ursa gulped. She needed to move away from the tent and get back towards the gates. Perhaps the three had been right, perhaps Commodus had tried to get back to the palace. Although, she had been waiting by the gate and surely would have seen him if he had tried to get back. She frowned. There was no time for her to try and think about where he was at the moment. If she stayed any longer then she might as well have run herself through, Gaius was not going to keep captives except perhaps Lucilla. Even so, Ursa shuddered at thinking that Lucilla would soon meet the same end as the majority of the royal family.
"You! What are you doing there? Stand up and don't move!", a voice behind her suddenly yelled. Ursa turned around. She looked up at the enormous legionaire standing over her. She gulped and tried to bolt past him. The man snarled and gripped both her shoulders. "Stay still, prisoner!"
"Did you find him?", the first soldier from earlier said as he walked up behind the two. The legionaire holding Ursa turned and jerked her harshly.
"No, sir. Just this girl.", the soldier replied.
"She might be a spy. Bring her, we'll talk to senator Gaius.", the first said as he turned and walked towards the centre of the camp once more. Ursa tried to fight and shake the man away from her furiously. The man kept a firm grip on the young girl as he followed the other legionaire.
Commodus looked at Lucilla in sheer shock and fear. "You did what?", he whispered.
"I killed our father.", she admitted softly.
"Why?", Commodus demanded angrily. It didn't matter whether or not anyone else could hear him at the moment.
"Father was talking about killing Maximus's family. I heard him as he was filling out the document. I'm not sure what happened to it, but I kept him from signing it.", she explained.
"How on earth did you kill him? The surgeons said that it was natural, that he faded in his sleep.", Commodus stammered.
"I confronted him about the document. He began to threaten to have me exiled, so I hit him as harshly as I could. He fell over and didn't get back up.", Lucilla said between tears. "I didn't mean to kill him! Senator Gaius came in a moment after I had tried to rouse him, but I couldn't wake him. Gaius promised to keep it a secret if I would help him assume the throne. I didn't think he would want me to harm you! After all, father was planning to give the throne over to Maximus, he just never had the opportunity to do it."
"I wouldn't be so sure of either of those. Father did complete the document you speak of, and I was asked to sign it. I should have read through it first, but regret isn't going to fix what's been done.", he muttered. "That aside, Lucilla, you couldn't have killed father. You have a good force behind your arm, but it isn't enough to kill anyone even a decrepit old man."
"But he wasn't moving! I'm sure that he was dead!", Lucilla exclaimed as she began to cry loudly. Commodus took her shoulders in either hands.
"Peace, sister!", he whispered urgently. "We cannot be discovered, both of us will die and then so will Lucius." She sniffed and looked up at him. "Something about this doesn't seem right. Hold still, I'll try to disarm the lock on these shackles. We can deal with the rest of this at home. I do not think you are guilty of his blood, Lucilla. I have faith in you as well." Commodus pulled the skeleton key from a pocket and tried it. The locks clicked open, freeing his sister. The two smiled at each other for a moment. The men outside began to yell for the soldiers to look for the emperor. Both tensed and turned towards the door of the tent. Commodus moved to hide with his sister when he suddenly heard a familiar voice.
"Let me go! Help!", Ursa screamed. Commodus felt a sharp pain in his chest and a bitter taste in the back of his mouth. The soldiers had taken Ursa captive. He had to fight them no matter what he needed to sacrifice. He sighed and looked at Lucilla once more. He leaned forward and kissed her cheek before hurrying towards the tent door. It was time to truly test his strength and courage.