I realized I had a line break issue, and I fixed it! Hopefully it'll be less confusing to read now. Sorry this took a while to get posted! Oh and thank you sherlockiansarcasm, for writing the story with me. I realized you aren't getting any credit. :) Cassie Clare owns 'em.
Caesar was most undoubtedly not happy, that much was certain. In fact, the man was livid.
Alec was sure that, after defeating Pompey the Great at the battle of Pharsalus with less than half the amount of men, looking like a hero for pardoning his enemies, and being able to pardon even Brutus, Caesar would finally be content with his work. But no, right after Alec had allowed the skinny little messenger into Caesar's tent the dictator called together his troops and stood before them with an announcement.
"Wonder what it is now," Simon whispered in Alec's ear. Alec shrugged and didn't reply. Unlike Simon, Alec didn't want to be caught talking. As one of his few personal guards, Alec cared what Julius Caesar thought of him. Simon didn't; he came from a family that secretly detested Caesar, but was too afraid to say so and put their son in the army to prove their "loyalty".
"My men." Julius' strong voice rang out around their camp, and Alec was impressed. The anger that had been in the man's voice when he had dismissed the messenger no longer was audible in his tone. The four thousand lucky legionaries who had survived the battle of Pharsalus listened intently. "I know that roughly seventeen thousand died in the last battle we fought. And I know that, though you got to rest while I pardoned the enemies, you are still tired. You work hard, my men, and I appreciate you all for that. But we have another mission, and yet another step before winning this war." Alec knew it was not a war, not really; more of a fight to get Caesar on top of the hierarchy of the world. "My messenger has informed me that Pompey Magnus has escaped and left to talk refuge in Alexandria. We must go after him. Once upon a time, Pompey and I were great friends. He even married my daughter Julia. I must pardon him, as any respectable man would.
"Now, I must get on to the more important reason I am speaking with you all. We are going to the dangerous lands of Egypt, and I need more personal guards than the mere four I have now, though they are the best." Alec found himself nearly blushing at the mention of his talents, but Caesar quickly moved on. "I will be appointing six more of the best men. Come up if your name is mentioned."
A gruff, broad-chested man stepped up next to Julius Caesar. "The newest guards are to be trained by the current guards: Jordan Kyle, Alexander Lightwood, James Carstairs and Raphael Santiago. The newest guards' names are: Simon Lewis, Eric... Er, I can't read your last name. I think it says Loins?" The man scratched his head and went back to reading the last names. Alec didn't hear them, however, because Simon was squealing in his ear.
"Hear that? I'm a guard! I'm talented! Julius Caesar's weird, hairy, burly man thinks I'm talented and named me guard! It's a Saturnalia miracle!" Then Simon covered his mouth, apparently realizing he was making a lot of noise.
"That is all. Rest up; we're leaving for Alexandria tomorrow." The crowd of men slowly dispersed and Alec led Simon near Caesar's tent; where Alec would be posted for a portion of the night.
"This is great!" Alec said happily. "We can guard Caesar into hours of the night not even Pluto would dare stay awake to see, together."
Simon jumped on the balls of his feet and grinned. "I can't believe this. You know what? I don't hate Caesar." Then he froze. "Alec, Caesar thinks I'm worthy to be his guard. What will my mom think?"
"Your mom is safe, back in Rome." Alec rolled his eyes. "There's no way she'll find out unless you tell her when we return home."
Simon sighed. "I sometimes wonder if we ever are going to return home."
"Into your tents, now!" someone yelled from across the camp. "Guards on duty!"
"See you in the morning," Alec said to Simon, trotting over to Caesar's tent. He would run, but his armor weighed him down. That was a downside if being a guard; even when the other soldiers got to rest, you were up and covered in metal.
"This is going to be a long night, but I think James and Raphael are coming to take over earlier tonight," Jordan informed Alec.
"Good, I need to sleep," Alec grumbled.
Jordan laughed bitterly and moved to stand beside Alec. "Don't we all?"
"Alexandria is in sight, sir."
Alec nearly screamed in relief. He'd been positioned outside of Julius' cabin with Raphael, and the galley's rocking was making him seasick. Sleeping seemed to be Alec's only escape from the feeling. Luckily, Alec was spared the duty of being one of the many rowers. He surely would've puked over the side if the rail and humiliated himself if he had done that job. The many perks of being Caesar's bitch, Alec thought.
Thank the gods that a legionary had come to tell Caesar that Alexandria was close. It was encouragement to last the whole way without throwing up on Raphael, who hated Alec enough already.
"Thank you." Caesar then emerged from his cabin with the legionary behind him. "Follow me, you two." Raphael and Alec obeyed instantly. They walked side by side a few steps behind Caesar. "We will sail into the harbor. I will take my personal guards and go directly to the palace to meet with Ptolemy XIII. Guards!"
The nine other men Alec worked with immediately moved to stand behind Caesar. "Theodotus, you will be leading the men to make camp," Caesar called out. Alec heard a muffled 'yes, sir' in response. The boat sailed toward their destination.
Standing next to Caesar, Alec felt rather small. Not, of course, physically: he was almost a head taller and was more muscled. But Caesar carried himself like someone with the height and strength of a giant. He had a confidence that Alec, a tall and rather awkward eighteen year old, did not possess.
Alec looked up sharply when the ship came to an abrupt halt. Ropes were thrown down to the ground, sails were furled, and men got their few possessions and prepared to leave. Alec looked around at the many other ships going through the same routine, and was in awe at the power his leader commanded. Gaius Julius Caesar was a man to admire.
A plank was lowered onto the ground and Caesar motioned for his guards to follow him. After moving Simon so he was in the correct position, Alec fell into step behind his leader.
"I want you all to wait until Theodotus is ready to move. He will lead you to set up camp, and if all goes well I will return to you by dusk," Julius Caesar called. He grabbed his horse- the eleven horses for Julius and his guards had been stowed on another ship- and Alec mounted a black horse he'd never seen before. I'll call her Shadow, he thought with amusement at his own sentimentality. The horses were not to be named, except Caesar's white horse named Victory. So Alec took great pleasure in naming them all.
"Umbra," Alec muttered to the horse. "It suits you." Apparently the horse didn't understand him, because Alec didn't get a response.
"Follow me; I know the way to the palace. We'll have to be let in by guards, but I have no doubt King Ptolemy will welcome us," Caesar called to his ten guards.
Alec's hand subconsciously moved to his sword sheathed by his side; this was dangerous. With one wrong move, one offense to Egypt, and the Egyptian guards could easily shoot down Caesar and his ten guards. But Alec knew that if Caesar marched his whole army to the doorstep of Ptolemy's palace just to be safe, it could be seen as a declaration of a battle and they could be met with Egyptian soldiers. It was pretty much disaster either way.
The trek to the palace nearly took until mid-afternoon and Alec knew there was no way they'd return to the camp by dusk. Once they arrived, though, Alec knew the long ride had been worth it. The palace had two, huge main buildings and a few smaller ones around them. Alec shrunk at the size of them; he'd never seen such grand architecture. Guards lined the outskirts of the palace yard and it was obvious they had already known they were coming. This didn't faze Caesar, and he rode his horse up to the grand entrance.
"Welcome, Gaius Julius Caesar, to our humble palace," one of the guards said as he opened the giant wooden door.
Julius didn't say anything, he just rode up the steps and into the palace. Alec followed him like the rest of the guards. After crossing through the stony glare of two jackals outside of the palace, the small party entered. Columns painted w incredible skill lined the space, and dark hallways branched off into the depths of the palace. Eerie shadows, cast by torches along the wall, flickered on the face of a stern boy who must have been the pharaoh. The boy had two men standing by his side, though they did not seem like guards.
"We will take your horses, sirs," said a young Egyptian Alec assumed was a servant. She was speaking choppy Latin. Alec nodded and dismounted, and he walked over with the other guards. Simon followed him.
"Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII," Caesar greeted, bowing deeply. "It is a pleasure to be in Alexandria."
"And it is a pleasure to have you here, Gaius Julius Caesar," Pharaoh Ptolemy said stiffly. His Latin, like the servants, was slow and obviously unused. Alec looked up at him. He was wearing a headdress and plenty of jewelry. If what Alec had heard about Egyptians was true, the jewelry was most likely real gold and the thinness of his linen cloth symbolized his wealth. The pharaoh was sitting in a high throne engraved with hieroglyphs and surrounded by servants. He was chubby and short, seemingly harmless, but something about the look in his eyes made Alec feel unsettled. He knew the rumor; Ptolemy XIII had kicked his own sister out of the city so he could rule for himself. "What is it that brings you?"
"I have come searching for Gnaeus Pompius Magnus," Caesar announced. Ptolemy didn't look surprised. "Do you or any of your entourage know of his location?"
Ptolemy nodded. "You'll be pleased to know we have seen Pompey Magnus."
"Oh?" Alec had worked for Caesar long enough to know that expression; it was when he knew he had won.
"Yes," the chubby young Pharaoh replied. "We had him executed only last night."
Caesar's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. A split second later, two men entered the room through one of the hallways Alec had noticed. "Julius Caesar, sir, is Ptolemy Magnus' execution not good news for you?"
Alec looked up at the velvety voice and was completely stopped in his tracks by what he saw. The man was gorgeous.
His tan, muscled chest was bare, like most of the Egyptian men's, and he was wearing a thin and colorful linen skirt that hit mid-calf. It was held up by a belt, though it hung a little lower than his companion's. A few amulets hung from his neck, and rings and bracelets decorated his arms and hands. The man's kohl-covered eyes stared at Caesar directly.
Caesar didn't answer right away, but when he did his voice was strained. "I-I did want to see Pompey here, but I appreciate you, Your Majesty, for...killing him."
The beautiful man nodded. "I knew it." Alec was very impressed with his speech. His Latin flowed and he spoke it as if he had been his whole life. He turned to the shorter blonde man next to him. "Didn't I say so, Ragnor?" Ragnor replied in Egyptian and the man turned back to Ptolemy. "I advised you not to kill Pompey, sir, but you went ahead and killed him anyways. It shows you that you must start treating your Lector Priests with the respect we deserve-"
"That's enough, Priest Bane. You heard Caesar- he doesn't mind," one of the men beside the pharaoh said. Bane, Alec thought to himself. That's his name.
Priest Bane's smug expression changed to one that looked thoroughly peeved. "Sir, I-" he froze and Alec blushed. The Priest was staring right at him with his mouth agape. Then he closed his mouth and looked away. "Alright, sir. I apologize for even bringing it up."
"That's fine, I forgive you for your mistake," Ptolemy said in his childlike bossy tone. "Is there any reason why you and Priest Fell are even in this room?"
"Well," the man who Magnus had addressed as 'Ragnor'-his name must've been Ragnor Fell-said, "Magnus and I were just leaving the palace. Someone has requested a curse spell from us."
Magnus grinned and his green eyes shone, "Do you need our assistance, Your Majesty?"
Ptolemy XIII nodded. "Yes, but it can wait. Be back before dusk." Alec's heart sunk. I'll be long gone before then. "But first: bring over that bowl." Magnus gave him a questioning glance and grabbed said bowl from a guard. "Uncover the lid."
Alec nearly passed out. Inside of the bowl was Gnaeus Pompius Magnus' severed head. Magnus lurched back with a look of horror on his face and shoved the bowl at Caesar.
Julius Caesar took the bowl and showed it to his guards. Then Alec heard Simon's breathing.
"By the gods, by the gods, Alec his head-"
"Just breathe, Simon. It's okay." Alec rubbed circles into Simon's back and kept talking to him. "Stay with me, Simon."
At that point everyone was staring at them. Alec flushed from the attention. "H-he isn't used to decapitation, sir," Alec told Caesar in a shaky voice. "Please, don't punish him."
Caesar sighed and growled, "Take him elsewhere, Alexander."
"Yes, sir," Alec nodded, leading Simon over to the horses.
Simeon's breathing slowed, and he let go of Alec, "That was horrible." Alec agreed.
"Thank you, Ptolemy, your guard can take this back now," Caesar's annoyance was clear in his tone. He gave the head to the guard and Ptolemy nodded to Magnus and Ragnor, allowing them to leave.
The two Lector Priests walked towards the exit and it seemed everyone in the room but Alec forgot they had even been talking. Alec's eyes followed Magnus as he made his way out the door, but he wasn't sure whether or not he was seeing things when Magnus turned around and winked at him.
"We will be staying here for the night and going back to the camp in the morning," Caesar told his guards. "Or rather, I will get going with my six newest guards to head back to camp tomorrow. You all," Caesar pointed at Alec, Jordan, Raphael, and James, "better get comfy, because we'll be staying for quite a while."
Alec didn't know what Caesar was up to, because as far as he knew the man had only wanted to stay to capture and pardon Pompey.
A few servants walked over and one of them said something in Egyptian. "They will show you to your sleeping quarters," Caesar translated. "Your rooms will be near mine, but there is no need for you to guard me when the Egyptians have royal guards to do the work."
The servants started walking towards a hallway and Caesar's guards robotically followed them. Alec wondered what they looked like to the Egyptians. Probably mindless attack dogs who bow to Caesar's every word, Alec thought bitterly.
The servants stopped at the beginning of a short corridor. The guards marched into it and Alec pulled Simon into one of the rooms.
"I don't trust these guys," Simon hissed.
"Me either," Alec nodded. He certainly didn't like Ptolemy; Magnus was a different story. "We'll sleep in shifts just in case."
Alec took first shift, so he flopped onto his bed and watched Simon curl up and go to sleep.
I don't know what Caesar is doing here, but I hope he gets it done quickly, Alec thought. Magnus may be...nice, but this is dangerous.
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