The Lion and the Laurel (Commodus)

Aelia is the sister of Maximus, raised far from the palace, taught restraint, loyalty, and silence. She does not seek power, nor does she understand it in the way Rome does. When she is summoned to the city while Marcus Aurelius still reigns, she believes she has returned only as family - as a sister standing beside a man Rome admires.

Commodus has noticed her long before that moment.

As the emperor's son, he grows up in the shadow of a father who values virtue more than affection. Where Marcus Aurelius sees duty, Commodus feels rejection. Where others see a future ruler, Commodus feels unseen. Aelia becomes something else to him - calm where he is restless, distant where he is desperate, untouched by the games of court. She is not impressed by him. And that is precisely what seals her fate.