How To Tame An Empress (BOOK I)

Chapter 22- Resurfaced Problems

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"A few scouts have caught barbarian tribes along the borders, we fear that they may be planning something against the Empire," Tiberius informed the next morning and I began to feel my once happy mood darkening.

"Barbarian Tribes?" I repeated. "How many of them?" I asked after a moment.

"As of yet, we are uncertain but there is a high possibility that there may be more of them than we expect. Going to war with them without having any idea about that could cause problems for us," He added on, sensing my fouling mood.

"How many centuries... or even legions... Do you think we may need to get rid of the threat?" I rested my cheek against my knuckles as I asked.

"Before we go onto that, I think it may be best if we send some more scouts to look around the area and get a more accurate number of enemies. One of our biggest advantages is that we know these lands better than them, we can prevent a number of deaths with a surprise attack," I hummed at his idea, nodding my approval.

"Get it done as soon as possible. Send as many scouts as you must," Nodding his head, he bowed before standing up straight once more and turned to leave the room.

Before he could though, the door flew open and there stood the worried self of my wife. Standing up, I jumped down the few steps and began walking towards her.

"Stacius," She called, the fear already sparkling in her hazel eyes.

"What is it, flower?" I asked and she breathed out a heavy breath before handing over a parchment paper that I didn't realise she had been gripping onto until now. Sparing her a curious glance, I unravelled the document and read through the contents.

Damn... This is the perfect situation for Ria to grab in order to get away from me.

Do I have to think up another solution to keep her from leaving my sight?

"I need to go see my mother. Even if it is just for a little while, I need to see her-"

Why is she always so desperate to grab onto any given chance to get away from me? Why can't she just want to be with me as much as I want to be with her?... And here I thought, giving her a child would keep her from straying from me.

I never really cared for her family up until now, her mother, especially, was starting to get on my nerves. Julius is probably the only 'okay' one.

"No," I cut her off without a hint of hesitation but I could practically sense her thoughts, the clogs turning in her head, wondering how to go against me. And I loved it.

I'll love putting her in her place again.

And I'll keep loving it, no matter how many times I need to keep doing it, I will always love it. Because this woman was mine and only mine and I'll be glad to keep reminding both her and the rest of the damned world about it.

"Please... I'll take as many guards as I need, or you could come with me, or Julius... Please, I have to see her, Stacius. Do not keep her from me," She clutched onto my clothes, her eyes begging me to listen to her but no, I wouldn't.

"No," I said it without stuttering, stern and clear, easy for anyone to understand. I wasn't going to go back on my word, not this time and not ever.

"Why...?" She started in a breathy whisper. "Why!?" She repeated, screaming this time and slapping my chest. "She is my mother! Give me one good reason why I cannot go to her!?" She glared up at me, fire burning in those eyes of hers.

And what a beautiful fire it was... But like all fires, it has to be put out.

And I'll be the one to do it.

"Because I already said no, I will not change my mind... Your mother is ill, what if you were to catch her illness? I will not risk your life for that," She stared at me, jaw slightly agape and clearly at a loss for words at my silly excuse.

I sort of am too. It was the first thing that popped into my mind so I said it without thinking twice. But still, this isn't the end.

"How could-How could..." She couldn't even get her words out as she took a step away from me, staring at me as if I were a different man from the one she married nearly 3 years ago.

I think I might be a different man too, but that was because of her.

With every day that passed by, I felt myself growing more and more possessive of her and I didn't plan on doing anything about it because I liked it. I loved having control over her.

"If it makes you feel better, I will have Julius go to visit her, she is his mother too, after all," I mumbled, itching the back of my neck as I felt my stomach grumble, signalling that it was time to eat and with that thought in mind, I moved to go to the door.

"No, it does nothing to make me feel better," She hissed out, flabbergasted.

"Well, whatever. I already said no and my no means no... That means that I do not want to hear news from anyone that my wife sneaked out of the palace to go and visit her mother," I paused in my strides to get closer to her.

Walking up to her, I looked down at her as she glared a fierce glare up at me and by the simple look in her eyes, I had already guessed the outcome of this situation.

"Am I understood... Darling?" I quietly muttered out, my hand raising to rest on her cheek but she didn't reply for a while, slapping my hand away and continuing to glare at me, body trembling in anger but she looked so cute instead of fierce.

I almost laughed out loud at her adorable self.

"Shall we go to eat? I'm hungry," I patted my stomach, my hand trailing down from her cheek to her arm until it grasped her hand.

"No! I'm not going to-" She cut herself off, gasping as I pulled her by the hand towards me, her chest pressing against mine as my other hand moved to wrap around her waist.

"Flower, that is enough drama for one day, okay?... We're going to go eat now and then we're going to our chambers," I whispered the last word into her ear and she shivered, her hands clenching onto my clothes.

"I don't want-"

"Do you understand?" I cut her off once more. "We need to give Evan a sibling before he gets bored," I added, stroking her hair away from her shoulder.

Biting down hard on her lip, she slowly raised her head to meet mine and I took the chance to pull her lip out from beneath her teeth, my thumb stroking the softness.

"Flower, I am starting to lose my patience. You know I like quick replies, are you picking a fight with me?" I smirked. Her eyes told me 'yes' but just as I had expected, her lips said otherwise.

"No..." She looked away from me and I chuckled, leaning down to kiss her forehead.

"That's what I thought," I whispered.

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KEYWORDS:

Barbarian Tribes- In Europe there were five major barbarian tribes; The Huns, Franks, Vandals, Saxons, and Visigoths. All of them hated and wanted to destroy Rome.

Legions- As there might have been around half a million soldiers in the Roman army; To keep such a large number of men in order, it was divided up into groups called legions. Each legion had between 4,000 and 6,000 soldiers.

Centuries- A legion was further divided into groups of 80 men called centuries.

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