Tale of Rome - Book Two - Chapter 1 (Updated)

[Dance]

Glad to hear. I'm waiting until you get it out on e-reader (aka published)

[Tigellinus]

Be ready....the tale will be resumed shortly....I hope.

I'm quite glad that this is continuing! I shall wait eagerly for this amazing tale!

[Rex Anglorvm]

Chapter Fifty – A truth beyond comprehension?

Aulus watched from his position on the tip of the western woods as ‘his’ Triarii engaged with the pirates and then promptly proceeded to carve them into a variety of lumps of bloodied and uneven flesh.

He made a small mental note for post-battle; by memorizing a few notable individuals and their given features; he would see if he could offer some of these prize men a way out of Romulus’s personal service, and a way into his own personal retinue, after all he was more than a little short of manpower thanks to the malevolent Jason.

The merchant’s eyes swiftly passed over to the north were he saw Romulus’s tall figure elegantly dispatching a squat looking Carthaginian sailor with a few deft flicks of his wrist; a twirling blade in his hand catching the early morning winter light, the sword a horsemen’s length and not that of the standard shortened gladius length, it seemed to be a natural extension to the soldier’s right arm, as he worked his way through the pirates set before him, the assorted sea scum seemed to quail before the cold determination that seemed to emanate from Romulus as he led at the centre of the front rank of his century. Romulus was a patrician, but not of the soft effete type that seemed to dominate much of roman life and the roman senate; no, to Aulus he seemed to be a man from times past, of times when Rome made men for war.

Finally Aulus’s eyes turned to the centre of the press of men that had quickly formed when the trap had been sprung. He now saw the Hastati of Marcianus thick in the action. Instinctively it seemed to him that whereas the men the Triarii were fighting were either dying or trying to run away, the men facing the Hastati were fighting back. Yes, the pirates were taking heavy casualties, but the presence of a man in black and a large tattooed barbarian seemed to give the pirates clustered around them heart; and what was worse were these two men seemed intent on destroying their own personal targets.

Lucius and Andronicus.

Aulus’s heart was in his mouth as he watched his nephew fight the man in black, by the look of grim satisfaction and amused cruelty etched on the man’s features, he must surely be Jason! Aulus watched the sword work of the Thracian as if hypnotised, the man moved as if in a form of dance, his feet skipping over the ground as if they almost kissed its surface, rather than walk upon it , his balance was an easy perfection, more than any acrobat he had seen perform for the worthies of Rome and his blade a spiral of constant movement that simply belied its wielders age.

Aulus had always thought that Romulus was a fine swordsman, if not the best he had ever seen, and he had known that Numerius was almost as equally as gifted,
but this man’s gift was god-sent.

It would only be time before Jason worked his way through Lucius’s guard, at the moment only the benefit of youthful energy was keeping his nephew alive.

His eyes passed quickly over the men fighting each other at the front of the press; desperately seeking some salvation for Lucius his eyes first locked on Andronicus, who was facing an epic challenge of his own, as the huge tattooed barbarian sought to hammer him into the ground with double handed blows from a heavy cavalry sword. Aulus’s gaze then searched achingly for Marcianus, only to find that the centurion was similarly preoccupied with his own hands full fighting off a pirate who somewhat unbelievably was armed with a trident!

Aulus had to do something himself, he roared at his men, his voice and temper matching that of any street tough of the Subura, he drove them onwards with the force of his personality and more than a little financial incentive, ‘charge, charge, move, come on! The man who kills the leader in black will win himself a lifetime of gold! Get there, kill him! Come on!’ Putting his own sword arm into action by flailing all around him, he then used the mighty bulk of his appreciable body weight to slam forward into the nearest pirate, knocking the man clean off his feet and onto his back, Aulus did not hesitate as his moved quickly to stomp on the downed man’s head with the heavy iron-shod sandals of a Triarii, that he had been given by Romulus, he finished the pirate off with a sword thrust to the torso. A crimson jettison of blood arched into the air and over Aulus’s feet, the merchant ignored the hot splash of blood as it quickly congealed between his exposed toes and pushed ever onwards with his men following him with gold lust clear in their eyes.

From all three directions, Jason could now see and feel the weight of the Romans begin to grind the pirates into the frozen ground all around him. The only men giving as good as they got where now fighting in a tight knot around the Thracian.

Jason was running out of time, the toying with his quarry would need to abruptly stop, he needed to get serious with the boy and perhaps maybe he could still perform one more miracle and escape the vice like grip of the ever encroaching Romans.

With a roll of his neck and a cruel smile on his lips, Jason feinted to Lucius’s left and as the soldier went to meet his blade, the Thracian deftly moved his own sword away at a slight angle that flicked the gladius clean out of the roman’s hand to land on the icy ground between them, watching with an amused expression on his face, he saw the look of abject failure rather than fear that crossed the features of the Roman, he had failed to avenge his father; whereas Jason was soon about to avenge the death of a son.

With a snarl the young roman launched himself bodily at the pirate leader, but with a mixture of ease and contempt, Jason swayed his own body out of the way in one fluid motion and watched as Lucius crashed to the ground next to him, winded by his own landing , his helmet flying off his head and landing with a metallic thud on the frozen earth .....Lucius was now at the Thracian’s mercy. Jason’s sword flicked out to the throat of the young roman ready to send him to the underworld, but then surprisingly it hovered there pressing hard into the roman’s throat, a look of puzzlement on the pirate’s features.

Nearby the titanic struggle between Erhard and Andronicus was almost over, both men now covered in cuts, bruises, scratches, gouges and bite marks; a duel that started with the sword, had quickly degenerated into a brawl between the fist, the knee, the elbow, the head and the teeth. Andronicus finding a hidden reserve of strength from somewhere deep inside launched a final mighty blow from his hammer like right fist that hit the German with a loud crack on the left temple, sending him crumpling to the ground, at last the Greek was able to take his eyes from the fallen giant at his feet, and through painfully cracked ribs Andronicus took a deep breath of crisp wintry air and looked at the scene all around him; pirates dead and dying and Romans left standing triumphant, that was all he could see.

Then through bloodied and painfully closing eyes Andronicus saw a cluster of still defiant pirates fighting to his left, his blurred vision just picking out his friend, lying prone on the ground, and just a length of iron away from death. He screamed his defiance at Jason, hoping to distract the man from his quarry, ’Thracian pig! Come and fight a true Greek!’

Andronicus ‘s surge of adrenalin gave him the strength he needed to push through the men all around him, with even those few pirates that remained between him and their leader quickly seeking to get themselves away from the massive physique of the maddened onrushing Hellene.

Just for a second Jason turned to look at the Greek, a harsh laugh echoing from his throat, as the eyes of the big legionary looked on in horror as Jason dramatically turned his back on him and drove his sword with a dramatic flourish downwards into….

….the frozen earth only an inch away from Lucius’ head.

The cold-hearted visage of the Thracian had disappeared only to be replaced with a strange look of recognition; the usually demonic eyes of the Thracian softened for an instant….. Just as a heartbeat later he was run through the chest by a swift movement from Lucius who had rolled to his knees and then drove hard upwards; the Roman had rolled over onto his side and had grabbed his fallen gladius when Jason had hesitated.

Lucius looked up at the man in black, a strange smile was etched on the face of the Thracian. Jason sunk to his knees and then mouthed the words ‘caught your old uncle out there, eh boy?!’ The Thracian then eased himself to the ground, as all around him the last of his men dropped their weapons, the last of the fight driven out of them with their leader’s imminent demise.

Lucius dropped to his own knees beside Jason, the words spoken by the pirate leader slowly registering in his mind, the young Roman scowled at the face of the Thracian and spat out the only question that mattered ‘what do you mean!?’

The Thracian gave a weak cough and then a smile crossed his features ‘is it not obvious boy, I could have killed you, but I didn’t, why eh? I’ll tell you why, the eyes, you have your mother’s eyes boy…my sister….your mother…my eyes too come to think of it…look at them if you don’t believe me! Numerius was her love….I did not know…I’m your uncle boy! You’re features, they’re a mirror image of my sister’s….’

Lucius was stunned, he was sure a look of horror must be stamped on his face, but when he looked closely at Jason he did see a resemblance, he realised that he had been to consumed with hatred to notice it during the fighting, and when his helmet had come off, Jason had hesitated, fatally. The man was his Uncle!

‘Listen boy I don’t have much time, I’ve given enough death to know my own, your mother Lucius…. your mother is alive and well in Carthage….. years ago I raided the mine where she had been enslaved. You will find her in the house of the two stars….’

Jason’a death rattle echoed over the wintry battlefield.

The pirate scourge was dead….and Lucius’s mother was alive…in the capital city of Rome’s greatest enemy.

End of Book 1 of a Tale or Rome

Please add to the Gilded Hall (serials) thanks.

[Shankbot de Bodemloze]

W-what? Was not expecting that bombshell!

Please please please right a part 2?

[McScottish]

All I can say is... Write more!

[Rex Anglorvm]

Glad to hear. I'm waiting until you get it out on e-reader (aka published)

I am seriously considering doing this, and thank you for considering it worthy enough to publish. If I did go ahead with it I would like to donate a good proportion (say 50%) of any earnings (if there are any!) that I would make from any publication to TWC (25%) and to Help for Heroes (25%) (that's a British charity for wounded ex-serviceman). However my big stumbling block is that I am very old, and thus technically inept when it comes to the formatting!

The other problem is time, I never seem to have enough of it to actaully get around to do any formatting!

I'm quite glad that this is continuing! I shall wait eagerly for this amazing tale!

Thank you Tig, I have been away from the boards for far too long I know.

W-what? Was not expecting that bombshell!

Please please please right a part 2?

I really really do hope that I will be able to write a part two, I have really enjoyed creating these characters and have been surprised and happy that people found the story worth reading!

All I can say is... Write more!

Thanks my friend, and I say to you in return, your writing is superb, please finish some of your stories, you are easily one of the best writers on this site.

[Scottish King]

Good job on that! Did not see that coming. Cant wait for part two!

[Rex Anglorvm]

Good job on that! Did not see that coming. Cant wait for part two!

You may have to wait a while for a second book in the series...

You can always check out my latest updates elsewhere?!

[Scottish King]

I will. Added to the Guilded Hall.

[Rex Anglorvm]

Part 2 of a Tale Of Rome.....starting soon.

[Shankbot de Bodemloze]

Rex, is that really you?

[McScottish]

Part 2 of a Tale Of Rome.....starting soon.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! *Falls off of chair*

I look forward to it.

[Rex Anglorvm]

Rex, is that really you?

Indeed it is I young Shankbot, I will soon be returning to the fold.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! *Falls off of chair*

I look forward to it.

It has been rather a long wait I know, but at last I feel the bug has bitten and I am ready to churn out lots more incomprehensible rubbish once more....you have been warned!

[Scottish King]

Glad to see that the King is back.

[Rex Anglorvm]

Book Two of a Tale of Rome

Chapter One – A guilty secret

The Verres Family Villa, the Subura - January 217 BC

Lucius sat with his head in his hands pondering on how the fates could have given him such a twisted and cruel punishment and an out of reach gift at the same time, a father maimed and almost lost; a mother thought lost, and perhaps permanently out of reach in the enemy’s capital city. He had been slowing sipping his wine for most of the evening, his goblet still half full even though he had nursed it for at least three hours. He sighed aloud and thought on all that had occurred to his family since his ‘uncle’ had come into his life.

Jason, how could it be possible, how could he be related to such a man? It wasn’t real it just couldn’t be, the man had been a monster, a killer from the bowls of Hades, a man who had defiled a temple, slain innocents, tortured people for his own twisted games and finally maimed Lucius’s father and almost killed Lucius himself. And now a month later Lucius was still struggling to come to terms with it all. Nothing seemed to make sense, since the struggle in the snow and the ice, a dark mood had wrapped itself around his mind, it felt as if a fog had entered his brain, it refused to lift or allow him to think clearly on what his next action should be. If only he could somehow marshal his thoughts and show some of the grit and tenacity of his father. But he just couldn’t shake off the sombre mood that despoiled his brain and twisted itself around in his stomach. At least he had been allowed to overwinter with his family, as his century was back once more on the field of Mars after its experiences of the winter busily recruiting to fill empty ranks, it was also true that a few discretely placed sestertii from Aulus in the right palms had helped secure this respite.

Numerius had fought his way through to a miraculous recovery and somehow had survived his injuries, the Gods must have given him the strength to survive it all, for surely no mortal man could have made it through unaided; blinded in one eye, hobbled by the severing of an ankle tendon and the worst of all injuries for an old soldier, the loss of his sword hand. Yet he had survived all the blood loss and then the rampant fever that had gripped him and now even was making his first faltering steps unaided apart from the use of a study wooden crutch of course.

Through all this his uncle Aulus had fussed like a mother hen, ensuring that Numerius didn’t overdo it or put his miraculous recovery at risk, Lucius knew that his father was still pushing himself in the family gymnasium, determined to get back to his small villa and farm in Capua and put all the damage right done by Jason. Unbeknown to Numerius, Aulus as you would expect had already paid a team of workmen to repair the physical damage done to the property and see to the proper burial of the slaves and freemen who had refused to abandon Numerius when Jason’s pirates had attacked.

Over the last month, Aulus had been his usual industrious self, recruiting men to replace those of his personal bodyguard lost in the fighting, around a dozen of whom he had prized from the ranks of senator Romulus Decius pet centuries, Romulus had driven a hard bargain though, as apart from a hefty severance fee for Romulus’s veterans, young Brutus Tigellinus had also been part of the exchange, he had left a week earlier to join the household of the senator to learn the ways of a young patrician, seemingly the senator had a fondness for the young orphan after witnessing the determination and courage of the boy in the most trying of circumstances. Although sad to see Brutus leave, he knew that the lad would have a wonderful opportunity that seldom comes the way of the plebeian, a chance to move into the patrician classes of Rome, besides Lucius knew that Aulus really didn’t see himself as the fatherly type. Still the boy was a noticeable absence, as he had been the only one capable of putting a smile on Lucius face with his clownish antics and youthful bravado.

But what really plagued Lucius was the secret. Guilt was eating him up inside.

He still hadn’t said a word to his father or uncle about Jason’s claims. How could he have when Numerius had been so ill and all of the Verres family had been consumed by a deep hatred for the man, including himself, he still hated him, dead or not, family or not. And after all, perhaps he had been lying, but why lie, what was the point? Perhaps the Thracian had been mistaken, that was always a possibility.

Deep down in the pit of his stomach, Lucius knew that Jason hadn’t lied.

After Jason had died, Lucius had sat staring at the body, noticing the resemblances that they shared. The eyes, cheekbones and the mouth, he knew the Thracian was right.

And he knew that he had to tell his father that his mother still lived.

And Lucius wanted to find her.

[AltThrax]

starting soon.

[Rex Anglorvm]

I know a tad late...

[Alwyn]

A great start for Book Two! It sounds like Lucius has a dangerous mission ahead of him.

[Rex Anglorvm]

I did ponder about kicking off with an action chapter, but thought after such a long gap (years I know!) between the last book and this then I needed to have a scene tying the plot ends of the last book togther.

[Tigellinus]

Rex.

Is this what I think it is?

Has it returned?

Will read very shortly! Awesome to have you back and continuing this amazing piece of writing!

Kind regards,

Tigellinus