Heir of Aurelian

Chapter 51 A Race Against Time

Marcellus gazed upon the city of Ravenna with a bitter smile on his face. His army was close to arriving at the gates of the city. The Capital of the Western Roman Empire was a far cry from what it had been in centuries past.

Having been moved from Rome to Ravenna, the current capital only existed because of its secure location. Located in a swamp, it was difficult to lay siege to the city, especially for most of Rome’s enemies.  However, Marcellus was determined to break down the gates, and put an end to the false Emperor Honorius. Because of this, he wasted no time as he gave his soldiers their orders.

“Set up a siege camp, and prepare the battering ram, the catapults, and the ladders. I want an assault on these walls within three days!”

The soldiers beneath Marcellus’ command grumbled as they fulfilled their orders. They had one chance to eliminate Honorius and his sycophantic followers, and they would not stop until they achieved their goals, or died trying.

Marcellus sat beside his highest ranking officers, sighing heavily as he gazed upon the scene of the city. If his mother was still alive, she was being held captive in the Palace dungeons. After all, she was Honorius’ prisoner. He did not dare to think about what torment she had received by Honorius and his men.

Only one thing was certain in the mind of Marcellus’. He  planned to kill every man who took up arms for Honorius. Had the fool not taken his mother prisoner and subjected her to unspeakable torture, then perhaps he would spare the lives of the soldiers. However, they were equally guilty for defending the man and his actions. Thus Marcellus planned to sack the city, and butcher every man who fought for the opposing side._.

—

While Marcellus established his siege camp in the vicinity of Ravenna, Placidia and the guards who had plotted to help Aeliana were on the move. The city was in an uproar. An army of thirty-six thousand men stood outside their gates. They were setting up camp and building siege weapons. With only a few thousand defenders, the inhabitants of the Capital knew they could not last long.

However, it was too late for anyone to flee. Under Olympius’ orders, the garrison dispatched all soldiers to the walls and had sealed all exits. By doing this, the garrison been stretched thin. As a result, they had even reduced the security detail that guarded Aeliana to one man so that the others could protect the walls. This man just so happened to be on the side of the conspirators.

Aeliana had lifeless eyes as she heard the footsteps of a small host of men approach her cell. She had been physically and sexually abused for the past few months by her captors. She had even heard rumors that her son was marching an army to liberate her. However, she had no hope. She did not want her precious baby boy to be risk his life just because of her. If she weren’t such a coward, she would have already bitten her tongue off.

Suddenly a candle lit the area, and a group of men Aeliana was not familiar with approached her cell. Along their side was Placidia, who rushed to the door of the cell and demanded the key from the man who was guarding it.

“The key, now!”

The man did as he was ordered, and gave the young woman the key to the cell’s door, which she quickly used to open it. With a worried expression on her face, Placidia approached Aeliana and wrapped her arms around her. The woman was totally defeated, and despite this, Placidia did her best to lead her to safety.

“Just you wait Aeliana, I’m getting you out of here, and delivering you to your son. With any hope, we can save this city from Marcellus’ wrath.”

Aeliana did not respond to Placidia’s words. In fact, she was so weak that she had to be carried out of the cell by the guards. With sufficient skill in stealth, the deserters, along with Placidia, exited the palace. Apparently Honorius was nowhere to be found in this time of chaos, not that anyone really cared. The true power behind the throne was none other than Olympius.

After leaving the palace, Placidia and her crew decided to wait until nightfall before making any significant moves and were quick to hide themselves from any possible pursuers. They ended up finding a spot in a dark corner of the city. It was not wise to move around the city at the moment. Numerous guards ran around and screamed various things. It was evident that the city’s defenders were panicking about the army that had approached.

“God dammit! Why the hell did our damned emperor have to go and massacre the families of these goths? They should have been on our side!”

Another soldier scolded the man for his comments as the two of them rushed by Placidia’s hiding place, not even aware of the group’s presence.

“Does it really matter now? Get your ass on the wall and prepare for battle. It seems that the enemy has no intentions to negotiate. I heard the messenger that the Magister Militum sent had his head removed!”

The soldiers bantered amongst themselves as they passed by Placidia. And the others. It was only after they were gone that they could sigh in relief. One of the guards who had assisted Placidia in her efforts whispered in a voice so low that the girl nearly missed what he had said.

“It will take Marcellus and his soldiers a few days to construct the siege weapons required to assault the city’s gates. We have no food, no shelter, and we are now fugitives. The moment Honorius learns his prisoner has escaped, he will send men after us. I doubt we will be able to escape the city until the siege truly begins.”

Placidia’s heart shrank as she heard this. She was not an expert on sieges, and did not expect that they would have to wait a few days until the fighting began. She was panicking at this moment as she searched for ideas.

“Well, what the hell are we supposed to do? Winter is near, and we will freeze if we do not find some shelter for the night?”

The group remained silent for some time, pondering about a solution to their problem, until one guard remembered something from his childhood, which he felt was relevant.

“I don’t know if this helps, but I know of an old and abandoned entrance to the Cisterns. I used to play down there as a kid with my friends. If we were to hide there, it should keep us safe for a few days. We would also have all the fresh water we could want. Food is a more difficult issue, but I’m sure we can find something to eat!”

With no better option, the group agreed to the suggestion. They waited until the moon was high above in the sky before carefully gliding past patrols, while making sure that they were not being followed. Unfortunately, things did not always go as planned, and a patrol spotted the group about halfway to their destination.

“You there! Why are you not at your posts? Don’t you see there is an army is at our gates!”

Placidia and the crew froze on the spot as several soldiers approached their position. The leader of the guards who assisted the emperor’s sister tried to bullshit his way through the scenario, unfortunately he was not a very good liar.

“We are just assisting some injured civilians to a safe location.”

While it was clear that Aeliana was injured, there wasn’t a scratch on Placidia, and because of this doubt rose through the minds of the interrogator. However, before he could even react, Placidia gritted her teeth and unsheathed the blade that one of her guards kept on his waist, slashing at the throat of the nearest hostile.

Before the man could react, his neck was cut open, and he quickly collapsed to the floor where he bled out. The other soldiers were too shocked to scream for assistance. Taking advantage of this, those who supported Placidia quickly tackled the patrol, and ended their lives as silently as possible. With a hand over their mouths and a blade to the neck. In a matter of seconds, the Roman patrol was slaughtered in an alleyway. As a result, the leader of the guards, who were allied with Placidia, chewed the girl out.

“What the hell were you thinking? We could have talked our way out of it! The garrison is going to know if one of their patrols goes missing!”

Placidia did not hear a thing the man had said, instead she panted heavily as she gazed towards her blood-stained hands. She had acted entirely on instinct, and in the process, killed a man. She had never killed a man before, hell her heart was too fragile to even harm a rabbit. Yet she had so ruthlessly taken this man’s life. She began to have an existential crisis on the spot.

While Placidia was freaking out about her vicious actions, the guards hid the bodies to the best of their ability. Eventually, the corpses of this patrol would be found, and when that happened, they would lead a trail to where Placidia and the others were hiding. It was now a race against time. Would Honorius be able to find his runaway sister and his missing captive? Or would Marcellus begin the assault and distract the garrison long enough for the group to escape? Only time would tell…