Soldier of Rome: The Centurion (The Artorian Chronicles) Read Free Page B

any retribution the divines may have exercised against him in the next life. His enemies are powerless against him in both life and death. I do not hold such an advantage against the Fates.”
    “So you wish to become a goddess,” Claudius surmised, exhaling loudly. “Well, you certainly don’t lack for ambition, Grandmother.” He looked like he immediately regretted his words, though the Empress dowager did not take offense, for her grandson was correct.
    “My son does not believe in the deification of monarchs, though he allowed the Senate to make Augustus a god for political stability,” Livia replied. “He would not allow himself to be cast as the one who attempted to deny the beloved Augustus his divinity. Tiberius will make no such concessions for his dear old mother. So I must look to another.”
    “You think I can influence Gaius Caligula to make you a goddess?” Claudius asked.  “I admit that he always acts as if he is fond of me as his uncle…” Livia’s laughter cut him short and he sat up quickly, startled.
    “Oh , you are a fool after all!” Livia mused, tossing the other, much larger, scroll at her grandson. “No, if Gaius Caligula does indeed succeed my son as emperor, I suspect that he will not sit on the throne for long. But I will still need you if I am ever to reach the divine and see my beloved Augustus again.”
    “Of course,” Claudius replied. “Not sure what a fool like me can accomplish, but if it is in my power, Augustus will take you by the hand and lead you into paradise.”  As he spoke he started to unroll the scroll before realizing it was an entire book. “What is this?”
    “Prophecies of the Divine Sybil, kept out of the official texts by order of Augustus. Mark well the dates, for the Sybil has never been wrong on such important matters. In fifteen, perhaps sixteen years’ time, your destiny will be revealed to you.”
     
    That evening Claudius sat in his study, reading the book Livia had given him. His wife had already moved out of the house. Claudius was divorcing her on grounds of infidelity, seeing as how she was now pregnant with a child that could not possibly be his. There was also the issue of her being suspected in the murder conspiracy involving her sister-in-law’s death. Still, the issues with her were the least of his worries. As he read, the effects of the wine from earlier suddenly evaporated. His eyes grew wide as he read the prophecies set forth by Sybil, Rome’s holiest of oracles.
    “No,” he gasped. “It cannot be!”

Chapter II: An Uneasy Peace
     
    Fortress of the Twentieth Legion, Valeria, Cologne, Germania
    ***
    “The frost is off the ground,” Calvinus observed as he eyed the cool spring morning. The Legion’s Master Centurion leaned on the dew-stained rampart of the front gate as he watched the city of Cologne coming to life in the light of the rising sun. Markets were opening, with merchants noisily setting up their wares as a section of legionaries marched towards the gate having finished their nighttime patrol of the city.
    “A nd with no spring campaign planned, we need to keep the men duly occupied,” replied Lucius Apronius, the Commanding Legate.
    Training for the annual Legion Champion tournament would keep some of the lads busy as they sought to dethrone the young soldier who held that honor. For Optio Titus Artorius Justus, the pressure of defending his title did not weigh on him like it would others. For starters, he was not required to take part in the tournament itself. Rather, the competition would take place without him, with a tournament winner being named. That legionary would then face Artorius, the defending champion, a week later in a single bout.
    The previous spring had been the f irst time Artorius had defended his title since the Third Cohort returned from its garrison duty at Lugdunum. The match had been anticlimactic, with the Optio dispatching his opponent in less than a minute.
    “You know everyone