Chapter 1

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She was a Roman. Aurora Lestos was a roman, living in Britain. Perhaps not the most suitable thing in the world. Her father was a roman officer and she had moved here to Baden Fort along with her father and sister, when he was stationed here. The purpose of them being here, or the purpose of her father being here, was to observe Arthur Castus. Rumors in Rome had begun to spread among the roman nobles, parliament, and of course the military force that Arthur Castus was perhaps too much like his father and his dear friend Pelagius. Not that the pope actually cared what happened in Britain, but Arthur would return some day and the pope wanted to know if Arthur would be trouble. The mission had been assigned to her father, a rather unknown officer, but still a member of the noble house.

Aurora's first thoughts when she had heard the news of their new home, was actually excitement. She had never been fond of Rome, never regarded it as home. She didn't like the stiffness that was so common in the Roman world. All the rules and expectations, she never could last a day without breaking one of them. She was nothing like her sister, her sister was the ultimate woman. Virtuous, beautiful and perhaps a little meek. Even so, she loved her sister and adored her.

This was the reason they had come to Britain and Aurora had had so many ideas and fantasies when she thought about their new home. But she had been disappointed when they arrived. All the things she had imagined doing she wasn't allowed to do. Her father wanted her to "retain the roman lifestyle" as he so nicely put it. And the woads, who were the native inhabitants of Britain, made it difficult for anyone to be outside the wall, so she couldn't even take a ride.

There was, of course, more to the story. Aurora didn't feel welcomed in her new home. She didn't expect to be welcomed by the woads of course, but she always felt a sense of hostility from even the locals of Baden Fort. Her conclusion was that no one liked her because she was roman. Though the townspeople she couldn't be quite sure about in this because she wasn't allowed to run around free in the town, so she wasn't able to get to know anyone. So she and her sister, Sarah, spent most of their time reading and sewing, much to Aurora's dismay.

The people she spent the most time with were those who she thought hated her the most. When her family had arrived at the fort they hadn't exactly been greeted with open arms. Arthur had been surprised by seeing her father and wasn't very happy with being supervised, even though her father hadn't mentioned that as his reason for being there. But she thought Arthur had guessed as much.

Arthur was however always very kind to her and her sister. She thought he actually appreciated having someone from home to talk to. But as was mentioned before, the people she spent most of her time with, even though that wasn't much, were the Sarmation knights. They were, she thought, the people who disliked her the most. Her family always dined with Arthur and his knights and every single time she felt negativity radiate from them. Not that she could blame them, even she didn't like Rome that much and she was a roman. She couldn't imagine anyone who wasn't obliged to like Rome actually liking it. Her father of course did not make it easier for them. He was the typical roman officer and, well, the Sarmation knights weren't very fond of anything roman except for Arthur.

Aurora and her family had almost lived a year in Britain, always doing the same thing every day, never meeting anyone. And she was starting to get- no, she was sick of it. But one day she woke up as all the other days. She followed the usual routines, took a bath, read for her sister, mended some old clothes... then she heard a knock on the door. She immediately knew something was wrong and when she opened the door to see the face of Arthur she knew what had happened.

"My lady", Arthur began before Aurora stopped him and gestured with her body to Sarah who was siting at the window.

"Sarah," Aurora said, making eye contact with her sister. "I am just going to talk with Arthur". Sarah nodded her head in response and continued to read her book while Aurora stepped outside into the corridor with Arthur.

"My lady Aurora", Arthur began again, and Aurora prepared herself for what was to come. Arthur looked at her as if he was afraid she would break.

"It is alright, My lord. You can say it." Arthur looked once more into her eyes and took her hand.

"My lady...your father has fallen."

Then the tears came.