Aurelia || SERIES ROMANA I

Chapter 36 ~ Initium

It had been hours now that they had been negotiating the terms of their marriage, but Gaius just couldn't shake the feeling that Vespasius had grave misgivings. Perhaps he should have first given his fiancée the opportunity to speak with her adoptive father before contacting him as head of his family. Of course, Vespasius did not show his concern for his daughter, nor did he deny Gaius' desire to marry her - after all, Gaius was the most powerful man in the state and Vespasius' nephews in particular benefited from his demands. Of course, he would see to Vespasian's admission to the senate and an appropriate province for Sabinus and would continue to promote their carriages. If Aurelia's suspicions about Macro were confirmed, he would offer Clement the post of praetorian prefect. In hindsight, it would have been smarter to marry Aurelia straight away rather than adopt her into a semi-suitable family first. But at the time, not only her future, but above all his, had been much darker and more uncertain. Back then he hadn't wanted to drag her into his world and hadn't noticed that she was already in the middle of it. Somehow this woman had managed to become his world.
Conveniently, Aurelia's inheritance was frozen in a state account and could only be transferred after a marriage was concluded. Briefly they toyed with the idea of simply transferring the money to a state treasury, but that would leave Aurelia dependent on him for all time. If something were to happen to him - which was unlikely in his position, but not impossible - his wife would be left empty-handed. So, they decided to leave their inheritance in the account so that no one would be able to take it. Gaius had enough money himself.

At some point, Vespasius' stomach growled so loudly that they interrupted the negotiations, which had been satisfactory for both of them so far and attended to the needs of their bodies. On the way back, Gaius ran into his grandmother. Actually, he had expected her to ask him first about the negotiation with Vespasius, but she remained silent and eyed him anxiously.
"Were Aurelia and Sabinus not successful?" he asked calmly. Her face lost its colour. Sluggishly she shook her head. Her expression closed up.
"No, in fact they were very successful," she replied expressionlessly. "I just wonder how we can use this knowledge for our own purposes. Can you read through the transcript Caenis made of what they said?"
Curious, Gaius nodded and followed his grandmother into the library. Without comment, she handed him some wax tablets, which he began to skim at the same time. Incredulous, he read through the words again and again as soon as he reached the end of the tablets.
"She really did it," he murmured softly, and a small, proud smile played around his mouth. His avia nodded gravely.
"Aurelia sees in Gemellus the possibility of getting to Macro," she explained thoughtfully. "I am of the opinion that Macro will eliminate Gemellus immediately if he has the slightest suspicion of us. What do you think, my dear?"
"I cannot take action against Gemellus without a trial," he reasoned aloud. "We need more than the testimony of a whore authenticated by my fiancée and her cousin. People will say we falsified the evidence"
She agreed with him and only then inquired about the negotiations, which he described truthfully. Satisfied, she smiled.
"Then you should resume them slowly" she advised him. "Perhaps you can conclude them already today"
Nodding briefly, he turned and hurriedly left the library. His hope to meet Aurelia on the way to or even in his grandmother's study was disappointed. Vespasius sat alone at the table with a wine goblet in his right hand. Although he had had to wait for Gaius, he was as polite and courteous as ever.

In the ninth hour of the day, they had been able to come to a satisfactory agreement on all important points, so that only the matter of Gemellus still affected Gaius' good mood. Because Drusilla was still unofficially under arrest in his palace, he was in no hurry to return to this place with his curious sisters, whose questions he dreaded. But even more he dreaded the thought of Drusilla conspiring with Macro and Gemellus against him. Of his sisters, she had always understood him best. Could he have been wrong about her? Had he only imagined this sibling closeness between them?
Depressed, he strolled through the narrow corridors of the villa and Vespasius' words rushed past him unheard. Somehow, they reached the atrium and there they parted ways. Vespasius returned inside the house to Antonia, Gaius stepped out into the street and made his way to his palace. He had to face his sisters now. Clemens emerged from the shadows at his side.
Furious, Agrippina braced her arms at her sides while Julia crossed hers stubbornly in front of her chest.
"Did you really think that just because you are now Rome's first man, you could just disappear for days without a word and when you just as suddenly reappear out of nowhere, we would rejoice without question?" hissed Agrippina angrily. But Gaius only rolled his eyes. Pregnant women were always more stressful than usual. While his mother had been pregnant with Julia, he had avoided her as best he could on their journey through the East.
"I had my reasons," he explained irritably, trying to push past them. His sisters only glowered at him. Frustrated, he ran his hand through his hair. He looked around uneasily, but apart from Clemens, not another soul seemed to be following the conversation. Calmly, he promised to explain everything to them later. Drusilla's statement was more important right now than his other sisters' concern. He might have guessed that they would not be satisfied with the quickly scribbled lines he had hastily written before his departure.
After a brief exchange of glances, they reluctantly stepped aside, and he entered Drusilla's chambers. Motionless, she lay in her bed. She stared at the ceiling with empty eyes. Only when he sat down beside her on the edge of the bed did she return his gaze.
"Are you here to punish me?" she croaked in a rough voice, and he shook his head. Abruptly, life returned to her body, and she sat up with a jerk. With difficulty she asked him why he had come then. Gaius calmly reached for the cup that was on her bedside table and handed it to her. Greedily she emptied it. Slowly she put it down and examined it attentively.
"I'm here because I want to hear your side of the story, sister," he admitted. Uncertainly, she pushed one of her loose strands of hair out of her face. She closed her eyes for a moment, took a deep breath and began to tell in a low voice how Gemellus had spoken to her. The boy made clear to her every little change in Gaius' behaviour. It was mainly inanities like his blindness to all the seductive glances that women and men alike gave him, or moments of inattention at feasts and games that made one think the Princeps was in another faraway place in his mind. Through Gemellus, Drusilla began to observe her brother, who hosted ever more ostentatious games, plays and feasts, but at the same time buried himself deeper and deeper in his duties and responsibilities. He avoided Aurelia's name as well as any memories of her. Not for a moment did she avoid his gaze. In her amber eyes he saw nothing but sincerity.
"The longer I watched you, the more I saw you suffer. You've already suffered your whole life, brother. I just wanted to help you forget some of your burden even for a few moments," she concluded, sinking into herself. She closed her eyes, breathing with effort, but she could not hide from him the trembling that gripped her body more and more violently. Gently, Gaius placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I believe you, sister," he said quietly. Immediately Drusilla fell around his neck in relief. The trembling of her body slowly subsided. After a while he pushed her for sure, smiled brightly at her and said, "Put on something decent! I want you to attend my party tonight"
Serenely, he strolled out of the room, brushed off the annoying questions of his sisters waiting outside the room and strode to his chambers without haste. There was still so much to prepare before his fiancée could step over the threshold of his palace for the first time.
After giving all the necessary orders, he sank down on the hard bench of the sweat room and allowed himself a moment of rest.