Chapter 599: Dream
Chapter 599: Dream
Arthur walked alongside Sir Percival, the tempramental Round Table knight, while his trusted knight, Sir Gawain, alongside hundreds of Britannian knights, could be seen gathered on one side of the hill.
When Emery came into view, Julian gave the order to all Roman soldiers to sheathe their swords. He too did the same, before approaching Emery and grabbing his shoulders.
“My brother! You are finally here!” Julian said with a jubilant expression.
“What is going on here, Julian?” Emery glanced at the gathered soldiers and raised his eyebrows.
“Don’t worry, it was just a slight miscommunication. It’s my fault. I shouldn’t speak to your friend that way.”
The warm conversation between Emery and the new Roman legatus quickly diffused the tense situation and broke the ice between them. Although most of the soldiers stayed quiet, the enmity in their glares lessened. At least, the situation was stable enough for them to have a meaningful discussion without either side trying to kill each other.
Julian walked towards Arthur and said.
“The great king Arthur and his knights, your honorable deeds were heard to Rome, we hope to be a good friends to you and the Briton”
The meeting went smoothly and Julian promised to be a good neighbor and host to them.
Meanwhile, the royalty of the former Cantiaci kingdom were no longer seen, as they were given a strip of land near the Italian border, where they could live as nobles.
“They flee all the way out there… They are too afraid of the great wizard Merlin, I heard” Julian laughed, joking about the fall of a kingdom as casually as he would talk about the weather.
However, Arthur and the rest of the knights were still eyeing Julian warily. Some looked upon Emery, a wordless plea for counsel from a kingdom’s renowned wizard. The ice between the two may have been partially defrosted, but they still could not treat each other without some degree of caution. It was to be expected, even with everything Emery and Julian did, their kingdoms were still enemies.
Realizing the uncomfortable situation, Julian stood up and addressed everyone there.
“For as long as I am in charge of this place, I can guarantee no Roman soldiers who harmed any Briton citizen will go unpunished.”
Emery assured Arthur Julian will hold his words true, and the Briton left the place peacefully.
However, as soon as the Britons left, Julian’s interest towards them waned as well. He quickly grabbed Emery by the shoulders, looked around in case there were witnesses left nearby and said.
“Brother, you are currently in my house, but we do not have much time. Let us talk.”
Julian brought him to the new refurbished Cantiaci palace that turned into the Roman headquarters.
The black symbols that once graced the halls were no more, in its place, various Roman paraphernalia, banners and carved statues could be seen.
As they walked around, Emery noticed a massive world map created from a flattened patch of animal skin, a few statues of the Roman deities and symbols made of blocks of gold and marble. Every so often, they would pass a woman walking around the palace half-naked, serving drinks and fruits to anyone passing by. Emery could count at least twelve of them; his brief spirit reading told him that there were much more.
“My brother… My home is your home.” Julian said.
After their last meeting, because of his big contribution in the war against the slave rebellion Spartacus, Julian obtained the promotion he so desired. Now, he was a Legatus, trusted to lead a legion of 5000 soldiers and one of the 500 senators of Rome.
Emery, however, had no interest in judging the Roman way of doing things. What he came here for, was answers.
“Julian, be honest with me, do the Romans have any intentions to invade Briton?” Emery asked after he was sure no one was around to listen in.
Julian looked at him with an easy smile and said “intention? Definitely! Rome wishes to rule the whole world!” As he heard the answer, Emery narrowed his eyes and looked at his friend with a cautious glare, to which Julian responded.
“Don’t worry, though, there are still too many Gaull territories to conquer… I reckon the fastest they would lay eyes on Briton land would be around 10 or 20 years…”
“That aside, you can trust me, brother! I am purely here just to show the Roman strength and to make trades with the Britons… Actually, you know what, this is a punishment for me because I suddenly left my post for a few months… As a result, you can say that now I am being exiled to the northernmost Roman post!”
An exile was one of the more severe punishments, and thus, Emery was left speechless, unsure how to react to the information. However, Julian remained calm, adding this exile would serve him well, as they both would have to leave for a year to the academy.
“I have prepared things to make sure no trouble will come to me or this post after we get recalled”
The two spent some time talking on the balcony, when they looked at the skies beyond, they realized the night was already upon them.
“Emery… about earlier…don’t get me wrong. I really think the best choice for Briton is to surrender to Rome”
The statement startled him, but Julian quickly explained.
“I heard the story about what happened in the battle of Camelot, evil walking corpses aside, Briton only has 10.000 men, while Rome has 28 legions, including the 400 auxiliaries. There are almost 500.000 fighting men”‘
The difference in numbers was staggering, but Emery was neither worried or surprised. In a real war, there were numerous factors that would affect its outcome, such as the understanding of the land, the leadership, and the timing of the war. Hence, there was no reason to give the soldiers much thought.
However, what Julian said next surprised him.
“Emery… Imagine the world united with one rule, one vision… wouldn’t it be a better one? It would certainly advance faster!”
He stopped for a second and continued.
“The Romans have the most advanced thinkers in all studies. All surrendered kingdoms were being given the same Roman education, you should see how much evolved the conquered kingdom now! Do you get it..? We should stop thinking about individuals and start thinking about advancing our world as a whole.”
Julian seemed to be very energetic as he stood up. Above the clear evening skies, beautiful stars dotted the skies like a sea of gleaming diamonds.
“For me, the first thing I will do is to rule Rome. Then I’ll lead the Romans to rule the world! With it, we shall challenge the Nephilims and make our world escape from this damn lower realm situation! This is what we should aim for, Emery! What do you think?”
Emery had seen inklings of Julian’s grandiose dream since the first year of their studies in the academy, but it appeared this time he was fully committed to make it into reality.
The roman looked at him and said, “Help me achieve this Emery, I definitely can’t do this without you”.
On one hand, Emery could understand the merits of such a plan. With it, the world may be brought closer to advancement. However, Emery was not sure whether uniting the world under one banner would bring about the vision Julian had.
Emery had seen what Arthur and his round table strived for and he had seen other kingdoms come and go. The Danes, the Egypts and many more kingdoms with their own colors, vision and desires, even the common folk. Although the vision Julian presented was nothing short of grand, he was unsure if that would be the better choice for the world.
Julian’s confidence remained despite Emery’s disbelief. “Haha! Did you know, she thought you wouldn’t be easily convinced too! But in time, I will show you…”
“She?” Emery asked, confused.
Before Emery was able to ask further, Julian said.
“Who else? She has been helping me for the last few months. This Briton exile post thing was also her idea… ahh, here she came!”
Afterwards, a familiar scene of roaring thunder came from the night sky. A beautiful shining bird wreathed in electricity landed with a loud shriek.
From atop the shining bird, a girl jumped down with a soft thud and greeted him.
It was no other than Klea.
Of course, with the last conversation they had and what happened afterwards, Emery couldn’t help but feel anxious seeing her again.
However, Klea looked at him indifferently and with a smile as she said.
“You boys are partying here and I am not invited?” Klea asked Julian with a mischievous grin.
What surprised him next was that as soon as Klea closed, Julian walked toward her, bowed and gave a kiss her on her arm.
“Of course this party was not complete without the presence of such beauty”.