3 days later, it was a few hours after dawn , the early morning bird chirps was audible, the morning sun risen above the red gate , it warmth grossing over the Palatine as the residents walks through, in rome during Gladius' reign, everybody wakes up early to work, marketers , buyers ,transporters, soldiers, everyone ,including himself, wakes up very early. The palatine hummed with life, horses feet could be heard, greetings all around, the buildings inside the city were huge, shiny, the bricks were sharp ,thick and clean, the architecture of the buildings was of pure art, the infrastructures were astonishing, the walls were huge, thick and immensely designed, it had multiple patterns, they were sculptures at every gaze you take, the sight was wonderful, as the emperor's palace gets closer, everything gets even more embellishing , more gems, at this part some of the walls had designs of gold, silver and more, beautiful huge trees was standing tall, watching over, with different colors of leaves flying down it's hair, there were water fountains, people were walking around breathing in the beauty of Palatine, it was the most beautiful city In rome, and one of the most famous in the world because of the art form of the city , rome had the best architectures, although the kingdom was brutal, it still had beauty ,live , arts and discipline, for all the nobles and important figures in the kingdom all road led to the castle , for the council the Emperor had called, outside the castle were pools, flowers, red gardens ,maidens looking after the gardens, soldiers guarding the castle, at the entrance, half naked maids welcomed the nobles and everybody called to the council , as expected, everyone was curious, inside the castle was silence and stability, unlike the last meeting, this was serious, and important, they were no games or whores or any form of entertainment, and this was rare in the emperor's reign, this made them more curious and somewhat afraid. soon everybody gathered, sited and waits.
The emperor sat on his huge thorn throne as all the nobles, high-command soldiers, lords and the invited members were already sited, the emperor sits alone on his throne, no other chairs beside him, no wife , no kids around. few minutes later, deros walks in and sits with liubastra
"early huh?"
"first impressions" liubastra replied deros
"I see"
"hey does the emperor have no kids?" liubastra asked
"can't even count them, from different maidens, he doesn't need a son to be heir so they are useless to him anyways " deros replied
"woww, that's sad"
" Is it?"
"poor kids right?"
"it's not like they're suffering,they still enjoy royalty , somehow, they are going through soldier training , if they can become the strongest soldier then they can become the emperor, I think it's fair , no special treatment, I don't think he was given any " deros implied
"you would do the same?"
" I'm not saying I won't "
" I see" liubastra replied
"GREETINGS MY NOBLES, SOLDIERS, COMMANDERS , MERCHANTS, I HAVE A VERY GREAT ANNOUNCEMENT TODAY " the emperor began with a loud voice, the crowd became serious
"before we begin , please have some drinks , as I make known to you that Aslron is officially the next emperor " the emperor declared and the crowd cheered (majority pretended to be happy ) , " and we have a new soldier in our hands, replacing orikus , LIUBASTRA , the first woman soldier to assume this position, words have it she might be even be stronger that the great, or not longer so great, deros" the emperor added, the crowd cheered, banging on thier table, for they already heard the story, liubastra stands up and bowed
"really ?, now he's definitely doing too much " deros said
"I really love it here " liubastra expressed
" don't get used to it" deros replied
"my views on you still hasn't changed, lord deros" a man walking by their side mentioned
"oh....thank you lord philemon " deros replied
"my pleasure, also pleased to finally meet you liubastra ", philemon said as he offered to kiss her hand, and she accepted, he kissed her hand and walked away
" that's...new, nobody greets like that around here, such gentleness " liubastra pointed out
" yeah that's lord philemon, wise crook, spends most of his time in Greece, so no surprise"
"GREECE ? enemy nat-"
"yeah yeah, just listen, you'd understand soon enough " deros interrupted liubastra.
"Now I assume you all are well soaked in drink,you'd need it for this announcement , trust me.....I will make the big announcement now...." said the emperor , the crowd became silent and suspenseful, "....we will officially invade Greece " declared, the emperor , the crowd was shocked and stunned and started murmuring, "some of you already knew this, we have been making plans for more than 3 years now and we're officially ready, I know some of you are scared shitless , 'Greece is too strong, 'we won't be able to fight them " the emperor said sarcastically and continued "this is a guaranteed win, there's no chance for failure, my wise friend here, lord philemon have made plans and now I will allow him speak " the emperor concluded , as he sits and gestured philemon to rise, "my lords , my name is philemon akleayon, the lost and found brother of rome who managed to become a kingsman in Greece-"
"greece?" the crowd started murmuring and arguing out of surprise
"SILENCE, I ordered him to speak, this man is the key to our victory you low lives " the emperor snapped, everywhere suddenly became quite
" thank you my lord, as I was saying , I was taking as a slave to Greece, many years ago when greece conquered rome, I managed to work my way out to be a free man, i became rich and paved my way to the citadel with my wealth and wisdom" philemon explained , everybody was surprised, and stunned and impressed, greece's citadel was very famous in thier world, it was a tourist attraction, it was believed to be one of the most beautiful place in that time , it was a place everybody wanted to be
"I eventually became a friend to the king , Hector and was named a kingsman from there" philemon continued
"while all of these was happening, I never abandoned rome, I was always in contact from the time i became rich , i was rome's inside man, after many years in Greece , I now understand every single thing and every body , I understand the politics and even how the kingdom works, I know now the king's weakness , so in the past years , the emperor, some other figures and I deviced a plan of attack, and it is certain to work , greece reign has come to and end , they won't only lose their reputation as the biggest strongest kingdom , they will no longer be a place called Greece, we will take full charge of the kingdom " philemon added, the whole crowd in awe
" thank you lord philemon, now we won't tell the plan, you all just have to follow orders and play your parts, no mistake will be forgiven , time for you to introduce yourself..." everything slowed down a bit".....SER DORIAN " the emperor introduced , ser dorian walks out of the crowd and bowed " thank you my kin- ...emperor for the chance to introduce myself , my name is Dorian of thessaly, a great greece wanderer, I have wandered the-"
"ohhh just shut up and get to it, do you think we care who you are?" ASLRON furiously interrupted, all the time dorian has been a little nervous and frightened, he has heard a lot about the Romans, "ye..yes, sorry , so i-"
"just shut up dorian , I'll take it from here " philemon halted and offered , "why would a Greek want to help the Romans, they are sworn enemies " liubastra asked deros
"why else do you think?....it's greed , like philemon said , he studied everybody in Greece and figured out who to use, he knew this dorian fellow was greedy so he gave him this offer and dorian did not disappoint " deros replied
"what a shame, betraying your own kingdom for wealth, that's why everybody here despises him"
"aside from the fact that he's greek?" deros posed
"yes, they obviously don't trust him " liubastra responded,
"this great man here before us is the centre of our plan, we can't tell you the plan like the emperor said , just be ready for whatsoever is to come, doctor meohis, how's it going with the antidote ?" philemon asked
"going well my lord" doctor meohis replied, "lord deros, have you found your attacking crew?"
"I'm on it my lord" deros replied to philemon
"ON IT?!, what?, deros I can't help but notice you slackness in your line of duty lately" the emperor said angrily
"I never had a crew and you know I have to carefully pick soilders who can fit in my crew-"
"you're just very proud and picky , we have no time for that, take liubastra's crew with you " the emperor proposed
"what?, no, come on-"
"THAT'S AN ORDER, don't get on my nerves deros" the emperor declared, interrupting deros,
" of course my lord, my apologies" deros said
"great , so-"
"wait, so deros knew about this plan and I was left out ?", aslron pressed, interrupting philemon
"well, at the time, deros was the next emperor " philemon answered
" I can't accept that you had this big preparation behind my back" aslron reacted
"behind your back?, you're not even emperor yet "
"shut up deros, emperor, how's this fair to me as your right hand soldier, I follow every order without failure,i carry out all my tasks with utmost value and perfection I should be aware of something like this", aslron proclaimed
"listen aslron, every soldier follows order without failure or I have thier head but you don't see them crying about not being aware of the plan" the emperor said, sighed and continued "but I understand, you should be aware -"
"I'll just tell you the truth aslron, from one soldier to the other, we didn't tell you because we didn't want you whining about lysandra, she's now the queen of greece , and your leg might get shakey ", deros broadcasted, suspending the emperor, aslron was shocked and furious, threw his axe towards deros, deros quickly ducked and it hit a man behind deros on the chest, blood started spilling everywhere, everybody was shocked
the emperor exhaled and spoke "you see what your stupid anger has brought, you just killed a noble ,he's probably contributing greatly to our wealth" the emperor exclaimed and continued
"take his body outside and burn it , if his family makes any noise, you know what to do with them, we don't need distractions now, as for you aslron , lock yourself in of those prisons in the Palatine, don't make me do it myself, your information will be passed to you, we'll let you know when we need you, now go, thank your luck I'm in a good mood today" the emperor snarled, aslron furiously walked out
"deros, you know better than interrupting me and saying stupid things, I'm really In a good mood today, that is one way to die" the emperor added
"I'm sorry my lord" deros replied
"is he always that angry ?"
"no, he was actually a nice, pretty boy until his lover betrayed him, allegedly,if you're waiting for the story then I'm sorry I can't tell you that" deros responded to Liubastra, "why?, is it a secret?"
"secret?" deros said scoffed and continued
"I just don't have the energy"
"I wasn't asking for it anyways, you little shit"
"uhhh it kind of looked like it, your face lightened up a little, waiting for the gist" deros replied and laughed
"deros and his new crew are to sneak into greece, it would be easy since most of the soldiers would be absent, the king, his son , the commander and the commander's son too, would be out seeking glory apparently" philemon said, he and the emperor laughed then he continued
"sneak in, blend in and wait for orders , everybody else knows their role in this"
"understood, my lord" deros replied
"does this mean you'd be working with orustus ?" liubastra probed
"it seems that way, that might be a problem " deros replied
"don't worry, I'll keep an eye on him for you" liubastra offered
"I didn't ask for that but that will be helpful " deros replied
"thank you?"
"don't sweat yourself, he's your soldier, it's your job to keep an eye on him anyways, for his own safety " deros stated
"ohhh look at you , doesn't seem like you'd need the eye" liubastra responded back
" I don't mind him trying , I just need to focus on my job right now, I can't fail so I need no distractions, so your eye might be useful "
" is that a thank you?"
"noo , JUST LISTEN " deros quickly ends the conversation
"that'd be all, you are all dismissed " emperor concluded, the crowd was murmuring, some confused, some impressed, some mad because they were left out on the plan , other curious about the plan, they all walked out, on thier way out, liubastra asked deros
" so you're aware of the plan?"
"obviously " deros answered
" do you mind telling me"
" yes I do, it's confidential "
"look if I'm going to be part of it, it's better I understand the situation"
" what's there to understand ?, we're invading greece, just....follow orders " "sometimes I wonder who's more arrogant, you or aslron " liubastra interjected as she attempted to walk away from him, deros was speechless for a second, he wanted to let her go, but he stopped her
" wait, wait, fine, since you'll be going with me, it's better you understand everything, it was made a secret because of Idiots that might ruin it but I doubt you're one of them, so....dorian the wanderer is very big and reliable in Greece, his discoveries are top notch, he's even famous, so his job here is to convince the king and the kingsmen that he has a new discovery.....", he kept explaining to her as they both walked out.