Chapter 5

  Exhausted after a long but victorious day, Tiberius sank into his chair, but hardly had he closed his eyes when he was disturbed in his peace once again.

  "Sir! Sir!" shouted a loud voice, and not a second later, his personal slave, Teres, burst through the tent entrance. Without waiting for permission. With a slight smile, Tiberius shook his head at his audacity. The boy knew exactly how far he could go without getting into trouble.

  Really cunning.

  Behind Teres, Marcus stumbled into the tent, completely out of breath from his attempt to stop the boy.

  "I'm sorry, sir," he gasped. "The little dwarf is just too fast and agile like an antelope," he added admiringly.

  Teres grinned cheekily at the two of them.

  "Now show me what you have there," the Emperor demanded, feigning anger. Hastily, the slave handed him the two letters and bowed. Tiberius examined them and a broad smile spread across his face as he recognized Livia's handwriting on one of them. He sighed with relief. Finally, a nice change after the events of the last few days. He was just about to open her letter when Teres stopped him.

  "It might be better if you read the other letter first, Your Majesty."

  "Why?" Tiberius furrowed his brow in confusion.

  "Um." Teres cleared his throat awkwardly. "It is possible that it is already several weeks old."

  The emperor's eyes narrowed to slits, and Teres fast ducked his head, as if it were his fault. Quickly, Tiberius broke the seal and skimmed through the letter. His facial expressions shifted from startled to somewhat relieved and then to absolute horror, before he slammed the paper onto the table and tore his hair out while mumbling incomprehensible things. Marcus and Teres looked at him with concern. They had never seen the Emperor so agitated.

  Finally, the general could no longer bear it and took the letter to read it himself. Teres looked over his shoulder, as curious as he was.

  Most esteemed Princeps, Imperator Augustus,

  Forgive us for beginning our report without further ado. However, something of extraordinary enormity has occurred. The Vandals have invaded our beloved land in the south and have already managed to conquer large areas. Fortunately, we were able to assemble an army that is now moving towards Syracus, the last known location of the barbarians. This army, under the leadership of your highly esteemed sister, should be able to eliminate this problem, allowing you to fully concentrate on your victory, which is why we refrained from sending a courier.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  In hope of your soon, glorious return!

  The senators

  When they had finished reading, Teres and Marcus looked at each other. That was absolutely not good. The emperor had by now composed himself enough to get loudly worked up.

  "My sister!" he roared in a fit of rage, slamming his fist on the table so hard that it broke in two. "Those clowns of senators have appointed my beloved sister as a general and sent her into battle in a suicide squad, while they themselves, like the cowards they are, have hidden away in their homes in Rome! God forbid that anything happens to Livia! I could never forgive myself for that, it would kill me!" He snorted. "And the senators right along with them."

  "After all, it was about an army," Marcus tried to calm him down.

  "What kind of army could they possibly have?" Tiberius threw his hands in the air. "There were only a few legions left in Rome, and at least half of them must stay there. The only other possibility would be the Praetorians." He hesitated briefly.

  "And mercenaries," Marcus added quietly. Silently, Tiberius nodded, and the senator had to swallow. They all knew how dangerous the mercenaries were and how quickly they changed their loyalty when they sensed weakness or discovered the chance for more money.

  "What should we do now?" asked Marcus.

  "Break camp, we will return to Rome immediately, replenish our supplies, and then travel to Syracus," ordered Tiberius. Immediately, Marcus rushed out of the tent. Tiberius wanted to follow him, but Teres cleared his throat.

  "What is it?" the Emperor asked impatiently.

  "The letter from your sister," the slave reminded him cautiously.

  "Of course." He shook his head at himself. In his worry, he had completely forgotten about it. He picked it up from the floor, where it had landed after his outburst, and began to read.

  Dearest brother,

  We haven't seen each other in a long time! In the meantime, quite a bit has happened! I'm not sure how much news has reached you, but you should know that during your absence, the Vandals from the south have invaded. And I know you will not approve, oh, what am I saying, you will be downright furious, but I led our troops into battle as a general. Moreover, my dear brother, do not despair, for whether you believe it or not, we have returned victorious from the battle! I hope your anger towards me has passed by the time you return to Rome. I only wanted to protect our country and people, you surely understand that!

  I miss you extraordinarily and hope you return with equally joyful news!

  With love

  Your sister Caja Livia

  Note: I beg you, do not take out your anger on the senators! It was solely my decision to leave, and I urged them to do so, possibly misinterpreting your letter. You surely remember how assertive I can be, so they really didn't have a choice given the difficult situation we were in. Forgive me!

  A great weight lifted from his chest, and he breathed an incredible sigh of relief. She had returned to Rome safely. One thing was certain, when he returned, he would first wring her neck! This untamed girl always managed to drive him to the brink of madness! He couldn't help but grin now that he knew she was okay. This last half hour had given him more fear than the entire battle before.

  On the other hand, he couldn't help but be incredibly proud of his little sister. Not only had she managed to get an entire council of senators to appoint her as a general, but she had also gone into battle against the barbarians and returned home gloriously, or more importantly, safely.

  Happily, he ruffled Teres's hair, who looked at him as if he had lost his mind, and still grinning, he ran out of the tent to hurry his men, for he wanted only one thing: to get to Rome as quickly as possible!