Forbidden

It was the year 346 and the Emperor of Rome was Januarius Avitus, his wife Caecilia Avitus. Emperor Januarius fathered four children; the first born being the general of the Roman army, Caius Avitus, who was fawned over by women and scared of by men with his charming good looks yet fierce battle skills. The youngest were a pair, twins; Mariana and Sabina. Mariana had a head full of thick, waved raven hair and the widest eyes ever to be seen. Her smile dazzled at every angle, yet the smile hid mischievous things that were done by her with the accompany of her twin. Sabina's brown eyes matched her brown hair, the longest hair in the Empire, in fact. Her skin was lighter compared to the rest, but beautiful nonetheless. Though none of Januarius and Caecilia's children's beauty compared to that of the second-born. Aeliana was indeed the fairest of all of the Roman Empire, her beauty rumoured to be that of the gods. Her gaze was the brightest of blues, a mirrored image of the oceans. Her high cheekbones and olive face framed by an abundance of golden-brown hair. Her body was wanted by many; the men for pleasure and wiving, the women in pure surges of jealousy. Yet all Aeliana wanted to do was be independent, and that is what fueled the hesitation in answering her brother Caius' second in command, Terentius Marcius.

Terentius Marcius was most definitely not homely. He had a muscular body, though that was not much of a great thing when you were in the army as every soldier did. His eyes were a beautiful blue and his face was rather handsome in the eyes of Aeliana Avitus. She noticed, though, that his complexion was almost always made of anger or frustration, and this is what separated him from the likes of her kind brother, Caius. The face was not a priority to Aeliana, though. His ways and words were the cause of such a low perception of Terentius. Every time he spoke to her, he ordered her, and this was surprising due to the fact that she was of a higher rank than he. Aeliana had once bruised her arm from the grip of his own hands as he pulled her closer to him and away from any other men. Not only were his actions towards her ridiculously rude, but his words were almost painful to hear by the way he condescended not only the people held dear to her, but herself as well! She had been told by Terentius one day that her only way with the world was her beauty and that she could never amount to anything. A slap in the face seemed appropriate to her, but his hands were too fast for her own and he caught them before they hit his skin.

So when Terentius requested to sit at the side of Aeliana for the feast of her mother's birthday, she had been startled. "You should be honoured." her mother Caecilia had barked at her, which had done no affect to Aeliana as she had become immune to it. She walked towards her brother as he waited for the arrival of Terentius and placed her hand on his shoulder, startling him. "You mustn't scare me that way, Aeliana, as you know that I am quite easily scared." Aeliana only laughed, her laughter like bells to the ears of Terentius. He entered their palace, shook Caius' hand in a brotherly manner, and stood closely to Aeliana. She noted that his brows were still permanently furrowed, and bit her lip fiercely to stop herself from laughing at her own foolish thought. "My, Princess Aeliana. You look more beautiful every day." he smirked obnoxiously as if he was of high importance and took her hand in his, pressing it to his lips. "Thank-you, Terentius. Will you be so kind as to escort me to dinner?" she offered politely and smiled quite stunningly as he obediently took her arm and looped it through his, walking towards the dining rooms with Caius in a lead.

Terentius watched as Caius left for the kitchens to check on the feast and pulled out a tall wooden chair for Aeliana and seated her kindly before taking his own seat. Pushing her chair in, she almost gasped before he covered her mouth and pressed his lips to her ear. "You'll cooperate nicely this evening, will you not, Princess?" he spat the final word devilishly into her ear, returning to his normal spot as Aeliana's father walked into the room. "Father!" she began, standing abruptly but being scolded by Terentius' rough hands grabbing at her wrists. Terentius also stood in the presence of the Emperor, bowing his head ridiculously low. "Ah, Terentius. Empress Caecilia and I were ecstatic to hear of your attendance, kind sir." this made Aeliana scoff at the lies of the people around her. Terentius laughed cheerfully and took his seat again as the Emperor sat at the end of the table. "Emperor Januarius, I am so grateful to be attending the feast of the Empress' birthday. I was also very eager to have the ability to sit and speak with your daughter-" "Mariana? Sabina?" the Emperor sounded hopeful, unaware of the second-in-command's plans for that evening. Aeliana was almost offended at her father's ignorance to her presence and being, but ignored it for she knew that her mother, who had just entered, would set him straight.