Aurelia || SERIES ROMANA I

Chapter 28 ~ Long live the Princeps

20th of September 37 A. D.

Motionless as a statue, he waited under the cover of darkness. Years of practice had sharpened his mind and the uncontrollability had conquered his body. Without his discipline, surpassed only by his ambition, Macro would probably never have made it to prefect of the Praetorians. Now his power was threatened by this young, weak upstart Clement and his disgustingly genuine friendship with Caligula, and Macro had to eliminate that threat now. Otherwise, he would lose everything he had worked so hard for.
Of course, this stupid boy came neither on time nor unobtrusively. At last, he came staggering down the dark alley towards their agreed meeting place. Patiently, Macro waited in the shadows, only coming out of hiding when the boy stood directly in front of him. Surprised, the boy staggered back a step and Macro could only with difficulty exchange his disapproving expression for a friendlier one. Judging by his flag, it was a wonder the stupid boy could walk at all.
"Do you have the poison?" the boy slurred. Cautiously, Macro looked around the dark alley, then reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small vial. Greedily, the boy grabbed it while a cruel smile appeared on his handsome face.
"That conceited peacock has adopted me!" snubbed Gemellus. "I will show him that I am no longer a little child to whom he can give orders at will. He will not even have time to regret that he refused me co-rulership"
"You took care of the whore?" asked Macro quietly. Gemellus chuckled. From the shadows emerged the petite figure of a pretty girl.
"Not only that. I've managed to convince Drusilla to put her brother in touch with one of my good friends during the feast tomorrow so he can finally work out his frustrations," Gemellus boasted. "If he listens to anyone, it's Drusilla. He trusts her blindly and she has only her beloved brother's best interests at heart"
Gemellus interrupted his self-praise to throw up and Macro rolled his eyes. Now he was glad he hadn't pulled back his hood when Gemellus arrived, and his face was hidden in shadow by the fold of his cloak.
"As soon as the princeps slips into sleep, completely spent, I will administer the poison to him," the whore continued impassively, taking the vial from Gemellus before it could fall from his hand. "I have already received the first part of my payment; the rest will be paid after the demise of our beloved princeps"
"Well, if everything is ready: long live the princeps," Macro praised solemnly, bowed slightly to his stupid boy and turned on his heel, while Gemellus threw up noisily again and the whore stroked his curls lovingly. What a pathetic wretch. Macro almost regretted his decision to throw out the far more capable and worthy Caligula. But it was the most elegant and simplest solution to Macro's little Clemens problem. This way he didn't have to painstakingly earn Caligula's trust but could simply install him by a princeps whom he would always have a firm grip on by murdering the previous one. When Caligula fell, no one would stop him from humiliating and wiping out these damned Flavians one by one. Bit by bit, he would take everything that meant anything to the two brothers, starting with the little gold girl. He would have a lot of fun with her and force Vespasian to watch every single second until Macro had finished with her and cut her throat in front of her ambitious cousin. What did Macro care what would become of Rome? He would trade an able princeps for his puppet because it was the only way he could stay in power in this city, and if he could no longer control Gemellus, he would simply reach for the purple himself. Nothing in the world was as important to him as his power, except perhaps his revenge on Titus Flavius Vespasianus.