New Rome

4. Feud

Agrippa was lounging on a beanbag, his lanky limbs stretched out – a beer in hand. Wylo was on the sofa behind him and they were both yelling at the screen. Guy cocked his head to the side, he'd never seen Wylo watch Amen channels before. They were watching sports and Wylo was very into it. Neither of them had heard him and Sejanus enter.

"Go for his legs!" Wylo screamed suddenly whilst Agrippa yelled, 'what are you doing?!', followed by a string of expletives at the players thousands of miles away.

Wylo noticed them first.

"Agrippa's teaching me the game." She offered by way of explanation, grinning at them. Guy kissed her cheek in greeting.

"Greetings, my lady." Sejanus inclined his head formally.

"I fancy another beer, you guys want one too?" Wylo rose from the sofa and headed for the cooled cabinet. She was an enthusiast of old literature and steadfastly always spoke with the Earth tongue. Her mother hated it, she called it coarse. Guy liked it – it was different and suited her perfectly.

Agrippa got up from his beanbag to envelop his older brother in a hug. Guy was startled to see the changes two years had made. Agrippa was now much taller than him, a beanpole at 6,4 with scratchy cheeks and no trace of the acne that had once plagued him. Looking at them both, the assumption would be that Agrippa was the elder of the two (at least until he spoke).

"You judge ill in running away from school," Guy scolded, but he couldn't help the warmth in his eyes. He'd missed the young truant. Agrippa rubbed the back of his neck, his expression sheepish.

"My soul yearned to be free from the classroom." 

Wylo snorted, catching Agrippa's words. She handed Sejanus and Guy their beers and they all sat down on the sofa, Agrippa returning to the beanbag at their feet.

"More like there's an exam you're avoiding."

Agrippa widened his eyes, effecting a look of injury. Smiling, Wylo arched a brow – challenging him to contradict her.

"Geology." He admitted, breaking into an impish grin. "School is a waste of time. I want to go to the front instead."

"No, you don't." Guy cut in sharply.

67 years ago, the Amens had invited Claye and his people - refugees from the Big Freeze - to settle on their planet. The contract had been formed with a binding clause – the humans had to join the Amens in their war against the Katvars. Claye had been Graesen's father and still the war raged on.

"To be a soldier would be glorious."

"Silence."

"Father took you – when you were younger than I am–" 

"Foul!" Wylo shouted suddenly gesturing at the TV. Guy was fairly certain that nothing had actually happened in the game, but she'd successfully stolen Agrippa's attention.

Sejanus didn't pay attention to the game, his gaze remained on his friend's face – scrutinising. Guy never mentioned his time at the front. He'd been thirteen when his stepfather had taken him – that being the average age of a foot soldier. 

General Kai, Guy and Agrippa's stepfather, had sent Guy home before he'd completed the season. It had caused a huge argument between Graesen and Kai - the worst the family had seen. The result had seen Kai losing his command in the army and being banished to the Rurals, where he still resided indefinitely. Still... none of Guy's siblings had been sent to the front after that.