Power

When I open my eyes, I find myself inside a tent. It takes some time for me to remember what had happened and when I do, I was startled and my eyes start tearing up. Then I see a man standing by the fire. When I stand up, I realise my head hurts. Afraid, I step back.

Then, he notices me.

"Oh you're awake?" He says, smiling viciously.

"Where am I? Where's mother?" I asked, voice shaking.

"You're in the Aureline camp. Your mother? I don't know. Dead, probably."

"W-why? Why did you do that?" I ask desperately. "You didn't have to kill my friend or my mother. You did not even have to do that to Syracuse. What did we even do?"

"Well... why not?" He says with a straight face, which sent a shiver through my spine.

But soon that fear transformed into anger, into rage.

"JUST WHY? WHY WOULD YOU EVER DO THAT?! I LOOKED UP TO YOU!!!"

And then, out of nowhere, a slap arrives into my face.

"Shut up, kid. Well, I'm going to amuse your answer. Why? Because Sulla needed to reward his army. It isn't easy to march from Aurelia to Syracuse. Additionally, he needed provisions for the return trip. What better place than your temples and fields? In the meantime he also made Syracuse a full Aureline province. What better way to gather popularity for his political career? Everything else is a consequence to that."

Then he pauses and looks at my eyes and adds. "Oh well, but you won't understand a word I said, will you?" And he laughs.

But I did understand what he meant, and I hated him for it.

"I hate you." I whisper.

"I HATE YOU!" I shout. "I am going to kill you. All of you. I will take revenge!" I shouted.

The legionarie then punches me in the jaw. I fell to the ground and my mouth filled with blood.

"Consider yourself lucky to be alive. Come. Eat something. I will have you meet your new master soon. You have to look presentable at least."

My new master?

He doesn't give me time to process or to grief my family. His slap, his words, my new reality all stupefie me and I forgot about everything around me.

I eat. Bread and blood. Pain and grief.

I eat through tears and grit my teeth together.

My childhood is over.

...

We leave the tent and the soldier, whose name I do not know yet made me follow him from behind.

All around me, legionnaries go about their daily duties. I can see the happiness in their faces though, their dark satisfaction after a job well done and a sufficient reward like Syracuse was.

Some of them turn and even salute my kidnapper. Who is he anyway?

The more we walk towards the centre, the more I get confused. Just who is he anyway?

Step after step, we reach the central tent. It was the biggest tent around and it is heavily guarded. At the entrance, there are two heavily armored legionnaires and several others around it.

The principal streets seem to use the tent as the centre in the form of the cross. From what I understand, the Aureline camp is square shaped with a cross in the middle.

And that's exactly where we are at this moment. We walks towards the entrance and the two legionnaries immediately cleare way.

Once inside, the first thing I see were some golden, delicate cups. Then, I see what looks like Syracusan vases which made my blood boil. The tent is orderly and well-organized. I could see maps and tablets. Around, there are aids ready to help. They are probably slaves but I can't tell the difference.

My kidnapper bows his head and proclaims confidently:

"Ave, Imperator."

After that, he take me by the shoulder and forces me to kneel. I kneel and see the man in the centre turn towards us.

It was him.

Marcus Lucretius Sulla.

His name had been etched into my memory ever since I saw him on that balcony.

His face is cold and calculating. Those grey eyes piercing my soul, making me feel judged and afraid. He is pale. Pale but had a reddish nuance on his face which makes him seem more human, more touchable. But the more you looked at him, the more you understood he is anything but.

That aquiline face, with a broad forehead and a tight jaw. Same as most Aureline commanders I had seen.

There was something about him though. He is tall and lean. But the strangest thing about him is that I feel like I should listen to him. I MUST listen to what he says. Mabye it's the eyes. Mabye the confidence. I'm not sure.

Those blonde hair, cut short in military style only made him stand out more. He is everything I imagined an Aureline General to be.

"Decius!"

So his name is Decius.

"How did the siege go? Haha!"

"My Imperator, it went just like you predicted. I blocked the gate outside when you gave the signal and they were crippled. We faced little resistance since you had thoroughly taken care if the ones inside already. It went quite smooth. I daresay easy hahahaha!"

Sulla laughed and said:

"Only Decius Draxan could say easy so confidently!"

"I only followed your orders, Imperator. I also brought you a present." He says, pointing at me with his thumb.

I was lost in the conversation so when he pointed at me, I jump back to reality.

"I found him after we got inside the gates. Two legionnaries had kidnapped him. I believe I saved him, in a way. I leave him in your competent hands hahahaha! He looks well fed and tall for his age." He continued.

Sulla stares at me for just a single moment and then ordered the slaves to take care of me. As if I'm the most insignificant being in the world. In front of that coldness, I didn't find the courage in me to say anything.

All my feelings... My rage, my grief, my desperation got closed and bottled away.

I feel weak and insignificant. A nobody.

I never want to feel like this again. But this will be a first of many, won't it?