Heir of Aurelian

Chapter 28 Assuming Control

Gaius Licinius Ordius gazed upon the fat old thug with a look of disdain across his scarred face. Under normal circumstances, he would simply ignore Bettos’s criminal activities, as the man had significant control over the town’s resources. However, things were different this time.

The woman he was trying to force to accompany him and his band of thugs was no mere slave, but the personal property of a man that Ordius deeply feared and respected. Thus he held his sword at the ready, prepared to engage in mortal conflict with the band of thugs if it meant saving the town from Marcellus’ wrath.

“I will give you one final warning Betto, stay your hand or you will lose it! I am not afraid to fight to the death for this woman’s safety!”

Sigefrida gazed towards the young man, who had stood up for her with a complicated expression on her pretty lips. The soldier’s voice and appeared seemed familiar, but she could not quite identify him. However, before she could come to a conclusion, the fat and bald man named Betto broke out into laughter as he pulled out a dagger and held it to Sigefrida’s neck.

“You think I am afraid of you? This woman is my hostage. If you dare to take one step closer, I will cut her throat!”

When Ordius saw such a shameless action, he gritted his teeth in frustration. He did not expect the man to be so foolish. If he did not save Sigefrida from this unscrupulous merchant and his band of thugs, then he knew the entire town would bleed. He had no other option but to try and reason with the man.

“Betto, you fool! Do you have any idea whose woman that is?”

Betto merely smirked when he heard this before rebuking the brave soldier._.

“It doesn’t matter if she is the Dux’s bitch, so long as she is within this town, if I want her, nobody can stop me!”

Ordius was about to challenge the man’s claim when a voice interrupted him. Although this voice sounded calm on the surface, there was a hint of fury contained deep within its pronunciation.

“Oh really? Are you challenging my authority as the Dux of Castra Regina? You are quite bold to take my slave hostage. I swear to you that should you harm a hair on that woman’s head, I will personally flay the flesh from your bones.”

The bald fat man immediately gazed over at the man who spoke these words. To his surprise, the new Dux had arrived in person. The man stood behind Ordius clad in his armor, with his helmet removed and clutched under his arm. There was a stern expression on his face as he gazed upon Betto with a hint of disdain in his eyes. Before Betto could respond to the general’s claim, Marcellus snapped his fingers and gave out his orders to the nearby garrison.

“Shield Wall!”

Though the Roman Soldiers of the limitanei were initially hesitant to interfere on behalf of the slave. However, the moment their new general gave the order, they quickly followed their instructions. While they may not be the elites of the roman army, they still had spears, and shields which they quickly surrounded Beto and his group of thugs with.

The ugly fat man was practically sweating blood as he gazed upon the Roman soldiers, who now surrounded him with no way out. Though he deeply desired to partake of the flesh that belonged to this barbarian beauty, ultimately he was forced to release her, where the woman quickly fled to her master’s arms.

Ordius immediately sighed in relief when he saw that the situation had been handled without bloodshed. However, before he could truly catch his breath, a shocking order was declared by the new Dux.

“Kill them!”

The soldiers who composed of Marcellus’ army gazed upon their new general with wary expressions. If they killed Betto now, there was now way they would be able to import the grain necessary to feed their families when winter came.

After all, Betto was a black market dealer who imported food and resold it at exorbitant prices. However, despite these immoral actions, the people of Castra Regina relied on his products for survival during the harsher seasons. When Betto saw the unwillingness of the Roman soldiers to take his life, he broke out into a fit of laughter before condemning Marcellus as a fool in front of the whole town.

“You see! You may hold the title of Dux, but the people in this town rely on me to feed them. Without me, many of these soldiers of yours will starve when winter comes. I can do whatever I want in this town and nobody can stop me!”

Marcellus glared at his soldiers with a furious expression. Refusing to follow his orders was a death sentence. Normally, he would have all these men flogged before being beaten to death for insubordination. He was about to assert his dominance over the soldiers when Ordius interrupted him. Ordius tried to convince Marcellus to be reasonable, no matter how much he despised Betto the man was needed for the town’s survival.

“Sir, with all due respect, you should be lenient. He didn’t harm your girl, and what he said is true.”

When Marcellus finally gazed upon the face of the man who stepped forward to defend his slave, he had a hard time believing his eyes. However, once he realized this man’s identity, a wicked grin curled itself upon his lips before making his intention clear.

“Ordius, since when have you ever known me to be merciful?”

After saying this, Marcellus intimidated his men into action. He gazed upon the soldiers of the limitanei and issued his decree.

“If you refuse to follow my orders, I will have to resort to the ancient right of decimation. Choose now to live as soldiers under my command, or find yourselves beaten to death by your brothers in arms!”

Decimation was an ancient ritual that had fallen out of practice centuries ago. By now, it was extremely uncommon. Despite this, such action was still fully within Marcellus’ ability to abuse. The practice of decimation was usually used as a punishment for a unit who had deserted from the field of battle. Though it could also be enacted upon a rebellious troop.

The moment the Roman soldiers heard they would be forced to endure decimation, they immediately found their resolve to do as commanded. Without a second of hesitation, the soldiers thrust their spears forward and into the bodies of Betto and his thugs.

The confidant smirk on the fat man’s face immediately vanished when a spear head protruded through the back of his heart. Replaced entirely with an expression of disbelief. Had he really been killed over such a petty matter?

Such were the last thoughts of the unscrupulous merchant known as Betto. The moment he fell to the ground as a lifeless corpse, the villagers who had gathered to witness the scene jeered towards their new Dux.

“You bastard! You have killed us all!”

“How am I supposed to feed my children when winter comes?”

However, despite the fury of the mob, Marcellus immediately calmed their growing wrath as he assured them they would not starve.

“People of Castra Regina, I do not know how the previous Dux of this land handled his affairs, but I promise you that under my leadership, no man, woman, or child who lives within the confines of my territory shall starve.

Even if I have to resort to buying grain from other villages, I will ensure that you are all well fed by the time winter comes. Men like this are scum of the earth who have bled this village dry. You are all better out without them!”

Though the people knew Betto had been sucking the marrow from their bones, they had no choice but to pay the hefty price if they wished to survive. However, this new Dux claimed he would ensure they were well fed. If he could not live up to his claims, there would certainly be riots.

For now, the people of Castra Regina placed their trust in the man, as they calmed their wrath and returned to their homes. They would like to see just how the new Dux performed before they resorted to violence. As for Marcellus, he gazed towards Ordius, who was sweating like a pig in heat, and smiled at the man before greeting him.

“I never thought I would have run into you here, of all places. You have changed…”

Ordius bowed his head with respect to the General before responding to the man.

“I have you to thank for that. If you had not punished me so severely, I would probably be a corpse by now or worse… a slave. Much has changed in the years since I served beneath your command, I must say it is an honor to follow you once more, General…”

Marcellus gazed into the distance towards the city of Rome as he wrapped his arm around Sigefrida’s shoulders. He nodded his head before uttering the words in his mind.

“Much has changed indeed…”

With this, Marcellus had uprooted a criminal element of his town and had displayed his authority as the Dux of the region. In the coming days, he would work to restore the town to its former glory while building his army.

If there was one thing Marcellus could be thankful for about this new position was the fact that he had absolute control over the region. Perhaps here on the edges of the world, he could build an army that even the mighty legions of the principate would admire.