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Chapter Four
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Friends and Wives
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Earth – 1661 E0. Dies Saturni ad IX Kal Mai CMXXXIII (23 April 180 AD) Earth-0 31 January 1845
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Roman Spain, Galleacia, Trupillo Meridius' farm south of Lucus Augusti
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He was crushing her, but she wouldn't complain.
He was here with her and alive. She couldn't ask for more.
It was then that she felt him tense.
He let her go, pushed her to the side and turned around while his hand went to his gladius.
She wasn't surprised to hear d'Arcy's voice behind her.
- My Master gave you a night to decide what your answer would be. Since you've got a little more time and a few more facts to consider, you have probably reached your own conclusions. But that doesn't change a fact at the reason of my presence here.
He looked Decimus in the eyes.
- Before you say anything know that two days ago, I had to kill a little foursome that was a part of a Legionary Squad coming this way. I doubt they had journeyed from the Danube River to Spain just to see the landscapes. If you want to have a better explanation, I know that Centurion Messala and his eight surviving men are under way to Burdigala. They were in a hurry but they still should be catchable with good horses.
Decimus' hand relaxed but stayed on his gladius.
- Whatever, I need to know your answer. The rest of my journey won't be the same at all once I know your decision. So, did you accept the Emperor's offer?
- What importance? He's no longer there to push my name before the Senate. I'm a nobody and Commodus is Emperor.
- I tend to disagree, Dominus, you are only a nobody and Commodus an Emperor if you refused Marcus' proposal. In case you didn't refuse things are about to change.
- I refuse to throw the Empire into another Civil War.
- But you accept to throw the Empire into the hands and the whims of a man who has probably killed his father and has ordered your family's slaughter after your very discreet execution.
D'Arcy looked at Flavia who was standing behind her husband while looking at d'Arcy.
- I will make a little survey of the county while you reconnect.
He smiled at Flavia.
- I'll be back in a day or two. Meanwhile discuss the situation together and with those within your staff you trust. Your decision could change the Roman's Empire's future.
He bowed at Flavia.
- See you soon, Domina.
His eyes went up to look into Decimus'. For a few seconds they sized each other up.
Without another word, d'Arcy turned around and walked out of the room.
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It had been pure bliss for the both of them.
Luckily for them Primus had slept in and hadn't yet been informed of his father's return.
They probably had a few more minutes to spend together but Decimus' mood was no longer at meandering with his wife. He had other more political preoccupations.
- What do you know about him?
Flavia didn't need to ask her husband who he meant with 'him'.
- You ask me? You were the one who has spent the last years in the Emperor's company. You should know him better than I.
- Never have seen him before today. I would have remembered. Those cold grey eyes froze me to the soul. I have met a few men cut of the same cloth, death and destruction always follow them.
- He probably saved us…
- That's what he says.
- Iulius saw him stopping a group of thirteen men. He had to kill four of them before the others decided to stop insisting. Iulius thinks they were coming this way and he recognizzed Prax amongst them. You know that with Prax leading them Karikal would have let them enter the estate without any suspicion. They would have been able to slaughter us without a problem.
Decimus nodded.
Prax, he knew.
Prax had been Karikal's friend until Karikal's hand was crippled in Syria. Karikal took his general's offer and retired to Spain with a handful of other injured veterans while Prax was offered a position within the Pretorians.
And last time he had heard about the Decurio, he had been part of the Second. The Legion charged with the protection of the family members.
Once more Decimus nodded.
- Iulius is probably right. Prax' presence has only one explanation: he was the key to open our door to the killers sent by Commodus.
- Why send soldiers to kill us?
- Commodus is a conniving snake who's not half as smart as his father -if Marcus Aurelius ever was his father- but he is cunning and sly. He has been raised in Rome by his mother. He knows what to do to survive in Rome's cesspit. Once he learned that I hadn't been killed he knew that I would come to get you. Prax and his men would just have to wait on my arrival before striking. I would have known why they were here the moment I would have seen them but with you in their hands I would have been unable to act.
- But for d'Arcy…
Decimus nodded.
- But for d'Arcy.
There was an enthusiastic howling sound coming from the kitchen.
Decimus collected his wife's clothes and threw them in her direction.
- You should dress, our son is in approach.
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- He made me fly, father. I could see the farm's roofs from above! It was amazing and I couldn't have enough of it. He threw me perhaps a hundred times.
Primus ran to the door, gathered speed and jumped on his parents' bed, made a forward somersault and landed on his feet just in front of his father.
- I know now how to turn while flying in order to land on my feet without hurting myself.
He went back to the door, gathered speed once more and let himself fall on the floor to roll in the direction of the window.
He stopped just in front of the window and with a very fast side movement found himself facing his father in what looked very much like a fighter's stance.
- Seems this d'Arcy's a very good teacher.
- And he has the strength of Hercules, father, he's the only man on earth who's able to beat you…
Decimus frowned at his son.
- Aren't you very prompt to dispose of your father? I'm perhaps better than him?
Primus shook his head vehemently.
- Nobody's better than him has said Kari. He says that he has never seen anyone moving faster or hitting as hard as d'Arcy.
He came nearer and began to whisper.
- They all believe he's a demi-god, said Primus in a very low voice. So, do I!
Decimus made great efforts not to laugh at his son.
- There is no such thing as a demi-god, son. The gods don't give a damn about what's happening on Earth and they aren't interested in our women or else your mother would have been kidnapped and ravished by them a long time ago.
Flavia had no choice but to hit her husband on the head. There were stories their son wasn't yet ready to listen to.
Decimus dodged easily and smiled at the satisfied mien he could see on his wife's face.
But Primus wouldn't relent as easily.
- Yesterday during the afternoon training bout with all the boys Karikal cut him in the arm. He didn't even register it, but I saw Kari's gladius cut him just under the round muscles at the outside of the shoulder. It bled for a few seconds and then it stopped. And an hour later when the fight was over, and they all went to the bath to clean up his skin was without any cut. It healed from alone in seconds…
His voice became even more whispered.
- Could he be a God, descended on Earth to avenge the Emperor killed by his own son?
Decimus shook his head and was quite surprised that his headshake was more provoked by his indignation about Commodus being called Marcus' son than by his son's crazy statement about Gods on Earth.
He knew about the rumors that had always run around Rome about Commodus not being Marcus Aurelius' son. A lot of people looking at Marcus' and his daughter Lucilla's intelligence couldn't quite believe that a man like Commodus could really be Marcus' offspring. They all believed that said Commodus was the result of Faustina's fling with a gladiator named Calibnos whose career ended at the height of his Glory during a tavern brawl where he was stabbed rather viciously in the eye.
Some believed that it had been Marcus who had ordered his death and some, and Decimus was amongst those latter, because he knew that Marcus would never have ordered anything like that, that it had been Faustina herself who had assessed that her paramour was talking way too much about things that needed to stay discreetly hidden. And since Faustina couldn't be suspected to love anybody but herself it had been rather easy for Decimus to agree with that last hypothesis.
- I doubt that very much, said Flavia to cover her husband's lengthy silence. Gods don't mess with Humans. At least they haven't done it for a very long time.
- Nevertheless, said Primus, he's no normal man and he's offered to teach me everything a man needs to know to survive.
- You're not yet a man, my son, said Decimus with a proud smile on his lips. To fight like a man, you need to be a man.
- That's exactly what d'Arcy says but he also said that it is by training early that a boy's body becomes a fighter's body.
- And what sort of training does he favor?
- He said running, climbing trees and cliffs and rope walking over water will do for at least a few years. Staff fighting will do quite well too but with the staff he warned me that I'll be injured a lot. And each injury will be a waste of training time.
The boy sighed heavily.
- I don't want to waste training time but how will I be able to defend myself without a weapon?
- A Roman boy begins his weapon training at thirteen, said Flavia. Running and climbing and even rope walking you can do a few hours each day…
She stopped his joyous outcry.
- After you've learned your lessons with your preceptor. Your scholarly education will always come first! If you still have energy after your lessons you will be free to go on with your physical training.
Decimus pointed at the door.
- You still have an hour before your lessons, use that hour to train your running skills. And if your preceptor confirms that you have been a good pupil, I will give you your first lesson in gladius handling this afternoon. Go now, you are wasting training time.
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- What else can you do, General, said Karikal. Commodus is out there, and that cray son of a bitch won't stop as long as you are alive. He's a snake and he needs to be crushed under an honest man's heel.
- It will mean another civil war.
- This one will be easier because Avidius was popular with the troops. Commodus isn't. He's even despised. You know that he thinks that Gladiators are better fighter than Legionaries. Said legionaries will obey in the beginning but that won't last.
- I don't want another civil war.
- And the Empire doesn't need an idiot and a fool at its head. The Empire has always survived civil war…
- It has also survived bad Emperors.
- It could have a good one, no reason to let Commodus settle in.
Decimus looked around them.
- Do you see a Legion around here?
- There are lots of Legions in Germania and the men all worship you. Go there and take them over. They will follow you, and once you've those, all those who have fought with you will decide. And I'm sure that their decision will be Decimus and not Commodus.
- With a civil war…
- Sometimes it's necessary to lance the boil, general. The Emperor was a good man, probably too good, since Rome is and always was a cesspit. It would have been necessary to clean it up, perhaps even to burn it down. There are lots of things the Empire doesn't do well, with you it could do better.
- I'm a soldier, I have no idea about how to manage an Empire.
- Follow in Trajan's footsteps, treat the Empire like an army and you'll get a lot of good everywhere.
- If it had been so easy the problems would have been eradicated a long time ago. Lots of Emperors had a soldier background.
- And with them the Empire always grew, it's with the others, the manager and courtier type that everything went down the gully. And when in doubt ask d'Arcy, I'm quite sure that he will be of good advice even in management issues. Some creatures are smart and crafty just by essence.
Decimus bent towards his old friend and Centurion.
- He is no God, he hissed in Karikal's ear.
- If you insist I will settle for a half deity, answered he with a smile. You know that he didn't take a horse to make his survey? He ran towards the south.
- He seems to consider that running is a very important skill.
- And what about flying?
- What do you mean?
- Well, I got two of my best scouts to follow him.
He waved Decimus' frown away.
- They didn't follow him, like in shadowing, I'm no fool and I won't risk the lives of good men. They followed his traces an hour after he was gone. They did as I asked and after a dozen of miles, they were no longer able to find them. His traces just disappeared.
- He probably arrived at a road, and they lost his traces because of the stone cover.
- Since when is there a stone road twelve miles around here? You just built one while arriving here? No, his last traces could be found while he climbed to the old Lugh sanctuary. You remember the old Celtic Gods? You remember that these lands had been theirs for centuries. Why wouldn't there still be a trace of them. Why wouldn't them come out to help one of their blood to climb the Throne?
- Both last Emperors came from Iberia.
- But they were offsprings of Roman colonists. You are a son of these lands. You are a son of the Nuata.
- I'm an atheist who has lost any belief in any God a long time ago. War does that to people when what they see day after day that there is only blood and destruction around them.
- It's not important that you believe in the Gods, what's important is that they believe in you. And I'm quite sure that d'Arcy has been sent to kick that lazy ass of ours and force you to embrace your destiny. Marcus Aurelius wanted you as his Heir, for what I remember about him, he was a smart and kind man… Perhaps too kind from time to time but then who's perfect? Better too kind than too vicious. But his very last choice seems to me a very good last one.
- With a civil war on our hands.
- What's the matter? We just have to win it… And look at the last civil wars we got. They all ended with a few thousand Legionaries dead but no real damage to the Empire's infrastructure. Both belligerents knew that whoever wins will inherit of the Empire. They all know that a ruined Empire is a lot less profitable than a preserved one. Soldiers, now, those you can easily replace…
- While we fight against each other we fragilize the borders.
- We've just beaten the Parthians and the Germans, and both of them are not going to be a threat for quite a few decades. Considering our current geopolitical situation and our strategic position with our neighbors, a cynic would pretend that this is a perfect time to launch a little bloody civil war. Maintains the men in shape and gives them a little more of experience.
- You do use quite some fancy smart words around you, Kari, my friend.
- These last days I had the opportunity to speak a lot with a very smart… Man.
He snickered.
- Lots of knowledge about lots of subjects this man had. One would, if one hadn't a good idea about the reason of all this knowledge, wonder who a man with that huge range of information could be.
He smiled at his General.
- Luckily for me I'm not the doubting reassessing everything type of Decurion. I like the easy answers. The 'what else could it be' answers do agree with me, you know.
- What if you are wrong?
Karikal shook his head and smiled at Decimus.
- If I am wrong, I propose to become the priest of a new religion centered around a certain man… I'm quite sure that I wouldn't be disappointed. And at least we would have an immediate answer to a lot of our present questions.
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- He sent those men to kill us, Dec! There is no looking away from that fact. He did send Praetorians to kill your family. And considering who we are looking at, he will never stop, that's a sure thing.
Decimus couldn't help but let a huge howl out of his throat.
- I didn't want to be the Emperor's Heir, Flavia. The only thing I wanted was to come back here in time for the harvest.
- Well, that part is a success, dear husband. We've still a few weeks before we can begin. Meanwhile what will be your answer to d'Arcy?
He looked at his wife and she could see that he was angry.
- I don't want to be Emperor, he said. I even wanted to quit as a General. Being a farmer was the only dream I ever had.
- You didn't end up Marcus' best General by accident, Decimus. You could have stopped your military career after your five years as a Tribun. The fact that you went on is proof enough that you did like being what you were.
He took a long breath.
- I did, indeed, but everything changed with that ugly last German campaign, love. We've destroyed dozens of villages, killed thousands of Germans, Celts and Quadi and they went on and on sending more. With my last battle we killed twenty thousand of them and captured twice that much. There were blood rivulets flowing down the hills.
- For the Germans I refuse to weep! Nobody forced them to come and try and conquer us, Dec! They invaded us because they thought that, aftere Avidius attempt, we would be weak and easy preys. Thousands of Roman citizens died when they came over the Danubius but you and your Roman Legions stopped them and pushed them back. And now you have shown them that if Roman soldiers can be killed, Roman Legions cannot be beaten.
- Well, that's not totally true. Just ask Marcus Licinus Crassus and his seven Legions! There were Roman Legions which have been beaten quite decisively.
- Crassus was a filthy rich mob boss who believed that money and ambition could replace skill and experience. You are skilled and experienced, and should you have to fight against Commodus I know who's going to win.
- Commodus will win because he has the Legions and I have half a squad of crippled veterans.
- That's only true because you haven't yet begun to recruit. Do what's necessary and all the Legates of all the Legions who have one time or another fought under your command will come out and support you.
- Commodus is the legitimate Heir.
- Commodus is the bastard son of a Retiarus and a slut who called herself Empress, countered Flavia viciously. Now that your precious Marcus Aurelius is dead and he's above feeling shame, you can all stop to pretend that Commodus is anything but a filthy bastard.
Decimus looked at his wife and was quite amazed by her words.
- How would you know; you never even came to Rome.
- Crippled Veterans with free time are the worse blabbermouths you can imagine and their numerous friends who come to visit are even worse. My table has always been open for out of luck veterans, so, I know everything about Rome's gossip.
- There has never been the hint of a proof.
- And it is perhaps slander, said Flavia while shooting lightnings at her husband, but that is no longer of importance. There is only one truth left: her son has ordered his men to kill me and your son. We can no longer play along the rules of propriety. It's her or us and I will use every weapon I can get to see her and her son gutted in the streets! I will perhaps die in the near future, but I won't die without having fought back!
Decimus nodded for quite a long time.
- We could hide… I'm quite sure that d'Arcy could help us to find a safe place. At least for you.
- I'm sure too, said Flavia. But I'm even more sure that Commodus won't stop sending killers until after he has seen our heads on a platter. And even if I can't be sure that it won't end exactly like that, I still won't just lay down and await the butcher's knife.
Decimus frowned at his wife.
- Are you trying to influence me?
- No, I'm trying to make you understand that you no longer have a choice. I'm alive and Primus is alive. Without d'Arcy your buddy Prax would have killed us. You owe us the protection you swore to give us when you married me. And I see only one way to grant us the promised safety. And that's with Commodus' head somewhere on a pike on the forum in Rome.
- I was about to refuse, whispered he finally.
- Which says that you and Commodus are both fools. But since Commodus took the decision out of your hands, that is no longer a problem. Since he had been craving for power for years, he was sure that you would accept and therefore he decided to kill his father and ordered your execution. It's no longer up to you, husband. The door to the Throne has been opened by Commodus and the only way for us to survive is you putting your lazy ass on it.
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- … putting your lazy ass on it.
There was a whoop in the background.
- I won this one, said IT. I knew it that he would have refused. All those honest military types always think themselves too unexperienced to take over political posts.
- Not all military types, protested d'Arcy.
- You never were honest and you did it too! You are only your son's or Napoleon's multitasking special agent. You do rule but always in the name of somebody else. But whatever, I just won!
IT whooped again.
- Thanks, buddy, it's always good to know that your pals are the 'discreet not strutting around' sort.
- I am what I am, and I am very satisfied to have been right. Shows that I'm slowly getting better at judging people. It hasn't been always easy. I remember my beginnings spying on the Nazis. Man did I made mistakes… Luckily it was never my decisions in the end.
- Well, we shouldn't have any very difficult decision to make here, sighed d'Arcy. Are you ready?
- I was born ready. What's more important: my 'bots in Rome and Vindobona, are ready, and this night will be a night full of artistic creations and anarchic pamphlets. And not two of them will look like the other. I'm quite sure our dear Commodus will love waking up tomorrow.
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