Aurelia || SERIES ROMANA I

Chapter 22 ~ The new guy

As soon as her lips settled on his mouth, Gaius lost his footing and began to lose himself in her. Her taste intoxicated him. Her small hands, at first hesitant, then curious, inflamed him. Moaning, he ran his hands through her hair, which felt even softer than he had imagined. Demandingly, he pulled her even closer to him. He only came to his senses when she tampered with his tunic with clumsy fingers.
"Stop it, beautiful," he whispered softly, and her sea-blue eyes looked up at him in confusion.
"I thought you would feel the same as me," she breathlessly breathed. Gaius smiled softly and traced her beautiful features tenderly with his fingertips. She was just so damn perfect it hurt. She deserved better.
"Believe me, my golden Aurelia," he murmured tenderly. "I do. But while my life is so uncertain, I just can't damn you with me. Do you think I don't see from your face that you already know my fate? Do you really think we can change the past you know here and now?"
She glared at him as if he had struck her. Cold clenched into an icy lump in his stomach again. A tear slipped unruly from the corner of her eye and stubbornly made its way down her beautiful cheek. For a long time, she eyed him.
"I don't know, Gaius," she said gloomily. Then she turned on her heel and stormed out of his tent. All warmth disappeared with her. Gaius felt so empty. Slowly he opened his left hand, which he still clenched tightly into a fist. His mother's ring gleamed on his palm, reminding him of Aurelia's eyes at nightfall. Hesitantly, he put it back in its old place. Somehow it felt wrong to wear it after it had sparkled with her eyes on her finger. Why did everything have to be so complicated? But now he knew for sure. His future was so bleak that it frightened Aurelia.
Suddenly the canvas of the tent was folded back. Gaius hoped for a moment Aurelia had changed her mind and returned to him. But instead, Clemens' familiar figure entered and quietly told him he had a visitor. Curious, Gaius instructed that he should be let in. Into the tent stepped the trained figure of his friend Vespasian, who, unlike Gaius, had already fought in several battles for Rome. A smile appeared on Vespasian's handsome face and his brown eyes flashed as he held out his arm to him.
"I see our plan to unobtrusively smuggle my uncle's adopted daughter out of the villa and into Rome has fallen through," his friend's warm voice rang out and Gaius grasped his arm in return of the smile.
"I'm glad you're here," Gaius replied kindly, then withdrew his arm. "Do you think the senate will support me as Tiberius's successor?"
Vespasian tilted his head and his smile twisted into a mischievous grin.
"There is no one better than you, Gaius," Vespasian laughed. "And you know it. Who else should take the place? Your uncle Claudius, that caricature of a man, or that half-child Gemellus?"
In a blur, the grotesque image of his trembling and stuttering uncle in purple appeared in his mind. No one would consider Claudius as long as there were other candidates. But even though his uncle was derided by the rest of his family as a monster and a freak, there was more to the man than his disabilities. As a historian, he was brilliant and, apart from Aurelia, Gaius knew of no other person in the world who could talk about history for hours without getting bored like his uncle. The thought of Aurelia stabbed him in the heart and Gaius ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. He really needed to talk to her.
Vespasian pulled a letter from his coat pocket and handed it over without much fanfare. Frowning, Gaius broke his grandmother's seal and skimmed the letter. Apparently, this creep of a princeps had changed his will shortly before his death. Now Gaius was no longer to succeed him alone but was to share power with that imbecile Gemellus. Smiling, Gaius rolled up the letter. No one would recognise this will. He would see to that. But first he had to speak to Aurelia.
"Well then, I'll take you to meet the rest of your family," Gaius said and started to move. During the short walk, Vespasian brought his friend up to date on events in Rome. No one there knew that the disagreeable ruler Tiberius was dead. Somehow Gaius had to take advantage of this. Again and again, Gaius became involved in conversations with some nobles whose tents they passed.
After a little eternity, they reached the tree in whose shade Vespasius's tent was pitched. Like the other tents of the nobles, the tarpaulin was rolled up so that the spring wind could provide additional refreshment. Vespasius was talking to a friend whom he had probably invited to dinner, but whose name Gaius did not know, while Aurelia was not there. The fat senator's face lit up when he saw Vespasian. Immediately he jumped to his feet, greeted Gaius politely, then pressed a wet kiss to each of Vespasian's cheeks as he inquired about his nephew's well-being. Laughing, Vespasian answered his uncle's every question. The warmth in their eyes gave Gaius a lump in his throat. No one in his family apart from his sisters had ever looked at him with such genuine affection. He had always felt like a horse whose prospective buyer had to consider whether the investment in the racing stable would be worth it in the long run.
Before he saw her, he sensed her. She entered the tent with elegant steps and a polite expression. Without interfering in the men's conversation, she stood next to Vespasius with her eyes downcast. The latter laughed softly when he noticed Vespasian's questioning look.
"My dear boy, this is my daughter Aurelia Vespasia," he said, chuckling. "Aurelia, this is my nephew Titus Flavius Vespasianus"
At the very word nephew, Aurelia abruptly raised her eyes and fixed the young man. Her beautiful sea blue eyes met his hazel ones. She blinked a few times as if to force herself to wake up. Realising she was awake, her lips parted, and a disconcerting gleam entered her eyes. A gentle breeze blew into the tent and played with her long golden hair. She looked as if a long-cherished dream was now coming true so unexpectedly that this moment could overwhelm her at any moment. His stomach contracted painfully, and his insides went numb.
With a surprised smile, Vespasian took her hand, bowed slightly and brought the back of her hand elegantly to her mouth.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, cousin," he murmured, and Aurelia's lips twisted into a radiant smile, making her seem even more beautiful.
"I've heard so much about you, Vespasian," she replied, winking at him confidentially. She had never winked at Gaius before.
Finally, Vespasian let go of her hand and straightened up with a smile. Immediately, Gaius calmly explained that he had some important business to attend to before they continued on to Rome. Nodding in his direction, Vespasius bade him a polite farewell while Aurelia's attention was solely on her cousin. Energetically, he tore himself away from this surprisingly painful sight and returned to his tent without delay. Whether Clemens kept the meddlesome nobles at bay or whether Gaius simply did not notice them, he did not care at all. Alone in his tent, he took a deep breath. Upset, his gaze wandered hurriedly over the furnishings. Enraged, he knocked over an empty fruit bowl, which hit the ground dully. He stared at the bowl in horror. When was the last time he had allowed himself to act out his feelings like this? Slowly he knelt down beside it and lifted it up. Warm tears fell on the softly shimmering gold. Now he had really lost her.
Defiantly, he wiped away the tears and looked at his expressionless reflection. He had known from the beginning that Aurelia would not be allowed to stay in his life. But why did it bother him so much not to be able to take part in her life?
Slowly his breathing calmed down and the trembling subsided. After a while, Clemens stepped silently behind him and said it was time to continue on his way. Gaius rose calmly, adjusted his toga and put the bowl back in its place as a matter of course.
With head held high, he left the tent, strutted happily to his horse and sat relaxed. Warm and comforting, the sun's rays caressed his cheeks and drove away his fears and worries. Now he just had to take the power that lay at his feet and for that he needed a clear head. Confidently, Gaius put spurs to his horse and galloped off towards Rome. It was time to return home.

At the fifth hour of the day, he finally reached the forum, jumped off his horse and ran into the Senate. As soon as he entered the hall, all the heads of the senators present turned towards him. After a few hurried steps, he stopped, exhausted. A graceful silence descended on the room. Struggling to catch his breath, Gaius let a tear roll from his left eye, then he held up the signet ring of the princeps and announced: "Honourable senators of Rome, I have rushed from Misenum to tell you the sad news: The great princeps Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus is dead."
Exclamations of deepest grief and sobbing were immediately heard among the ranks of the senators. Gaius humbly sank to his knees, raised his head and both hands theatrically to the sky. Suddenly those present fell silent and feasted on his spectacle.
"May the gods guide us in these difficult times we now face," he exclaimed. Savouring the silence, he rose and walked with firm steps towards the consul. Right next to the curule seat he stopped. After handing the consul the ring of the princeps, he turned to the expectantly waiting senators, wiped away another tear and said in a firm voice: "My great-uncle, before he died, when he was no longer with himself, changed his will. In it he asks you, senators, to divide the power of the princeps between my dear kinsman Gemellus and myself. But even the best men of our state have not been able to divide our beautiful country between them without violence, or to rule together peacefully. In times like these, we need a leader. Gemellus is not yet ready to carry this burden and would plunge us all into ruin. Therefore, for the good of us all and the good of our entire state, I beg you to allow me, the son of the great Germanicus, to take the place of my great uncle, that I may fill it as worthily as my father would have done and Tiberius never could."
No sooner did he close his mouth than the deeply moved senators erupted in loud cheers that lasted for several minutes. Modestly, Gaius stepped behind the last row of benches, since he himself had not yet held office and was therefore not a member of the Senate. This gesture of respect for the venerable traditions of the institution the senators enthusiastically shouted his name and after a while the consul raised his hand. Immediately silence returned. Significantly, he nodded to Gaius, then turned to the assembled members and conducted the vote. Not a single one voted against or abstained.
"Come forward, Gaius Julius Caesar!" the consul asked, and majestically Gaius strode towards the consul to the applause of the senate. Directly in front of him, he knelt down and humbly looked up at the consul.
"Do you accept the result of the senate and the office of princeps?" the man with his senatorial toga asked seriously. With a firm voice, Gaius expressed his agreement. The consul gave him a quick sign. Gaius extended his hand to him, and the consul solemnly placed the ring of the princeps on his finger.
"Rise, princeps"
Immediately Gaius stood up. The consul stepped back in front of the rest of the senators of Rome.
"We, the senators of Rome," the consul announced. "Bow before our princeps: Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, pontifex maximus, tribunicia potestate, consul, imperator, pater patriae. Long live the princeps"
Synchronously, the heads of the entire hall bowed before him and the people in the forum who had been excitedly watching the proceedings did likewise. They all repeated the consul's last words. He had made it. He had indeed survived and now had dominion over the entire globe. Satisfied, Gaius smiled at his subjects.