Germanous liked to believe that he enjoyed the chilling night whiffs. He loved to think they cooled down his throbbing thoughts fighting for the dominance of his mind, trusting the refreshing breezes will calm the storm and cool it down, separating the ongoing troubles feasting upon the peace of mind he was denied since his birth. He was a fragile offspring, a leaf born with rigorous labor that the wind did not have compassion for its struggling route into the embrace of existence, and did not exempt his grapple for the light from being constantly opposed by the conflicting direction is chose to blow from, nor did it respect his pride in fighting for the glimmer of that light, dimming his endeavors to reach it with constant pitiless gales.
But this did not weaken his resolve. His boat was no grand ship, no matter how much he aspired it to be, yet he kept persisting, floating the sails bearing the dwindling colors of his sigil and crest, tugging at the shaky ropes and threatening him with an illegitimate quality to them, a stolen good for an ongoing yearning for dreams as changeable as the weather he crewed within.
Ambitions were an incessant companion, treacherous at some times blaming this on the trickery and favoritism of fate, for they could never be parted with and abandoned.
Fears were a lifelong constant, born out of these same ambitions and justified by the flicking lure of dreams, they were a necessity even when detested, but they were powerful by their own merit as they ensured pride did not succumb to failure.
Mockery was no threat, it had no presence. When fate moved this taunting pawn, pride and perseverance blocked its move.
However, these last few months were different, not in the feelings they brought but by the intensity with which they plagued his thinking and festered through his senses.
He yearned for uniqueness that did not stray from greatness, whether it was empowering this wish or tainting it, he deem it no different than any other power driving dreams. His peculiar interests, his vastly different views and opinions on art and were not welcome, and did not gain anyone's support. It was equated to dim wittedness but he did not care. Young and longing, he did not change himself. Young and determined, he took the first step and became a governor though a temporary one. Upon reaching this first step, his satisfaction grew into elation that soon dimmed as none respected or was convinced by his visions. The people around him were ordinary, he refused the notion that they were the norm. His infinite mind was ought to be the norm, not the daily content with securing today's supper and wasting an hour in an entertainment meant for diversion.
But nevertheless, the boy was still a boy; a weak stem, a budding rose, easy to pluck and set aside in a vase that despite its luxuriousness waned that rose's colors and scent.
There came months when he deserted the people he wished to rise with and abandoned the duties he eagerly sought with means not so pleasant or virtuous. Choosing the company of a silent yet understanding creature, beautiful yet ferocious, elegant but not weak, speechless but vibrant, compassionate yet fearless. Chiba became his world, one that was viewed very small and secluded by mockery and ill remarks, but never a lonely one.
Then Chiba died, or more precisely was brutally killed. A death befitting the majestic creature.
With that loss, Germanous thought he was to endure his feverish dreams with a truly profound loneliness but in an unanticipated twist, fate revived the heart it was seemingly bent on suffocating into death.
Two blades, one braided by the sun, the other grown from a crimson lily, each imperial in style, august in pride, straight in mien, suave in grace and tyranny alike. Though they were ought to be detested for stealing his truthful friend, their charm outdid the spell of hatred and cast a new one. They renewed the hopes and resolution of a man forced into the seclusion of his mind and fantasies. They awakened the young boy again but with the resolve of a man and the viciousness of a beast. The blond did not escape the bars of his mind, but he reached out of them, twisted their iron grip to suit his wishes and way. The lancer wielding these two spears reminded him of the importance of struggle, of a beauty untarnished even through the most ugly battles. He found an alley, spiritually if not yet mutually. The warrior who showed him the dignity of never giving up, the dignity of fighting again.
He was a witness to a will that defied an unalterable fact; the wasting of life in an unmatched unfair battle, and the judgment passed down on a killer.
Right now, Germanous kept changing seats between those hailed for victors and those reserved for the condemned. His revival plans for renovations and reparations raised him to the status of saints but then his failure and ineptness regarding dealing with those suddenly surging crimes and kills warped him with the same cloak of guilt.
However, he did not just lose a companion at that trial match, he unraveled an important truth that he had believed in before but strengthened his faith in it
Just like that lancer, he will reverse these seats, using one for the sake of the other. He will use the thugs to confirm his abilities and to thwart away any ham intended at him.
What the lancer displayed though viewed gracefully and courageously, was a cruel beastly deed that Germanous was not averted to.
Germanous left his coach, and headed to where he kept the fake lance that lacked every finery honoring the real one. He found it laughably suitable for him to hold to a fake replica reminding him of his perilous barely stable position. For the time being, it was fine and acceptable. Even proper for a man in his opulent yet trippy shoes.
He looked at the distastefully added slogan of those barbaric outlaws veiling their crimes beneath the honorable name of rebellion.
The more he looked at the carving, the more his mind raced back toward a displeasing incident that took place at the old deserted justice palace. He held the carving close to his eyes, a sword with the two rounded hollow edges representing a reversed scale, Were the two swords equal in length, they would have resembled a cross.
Not only did these despicable thugs stole the shine of rebellion, they had the audacity to believe in justifying it with the wrath of a goddess.
How simple it was to see but carefully needed to be discerned.
The doors to his chamber room opened quietly but still disturbingly, stealing the blond's joy with his yet unproven discovery. His features relaxed a little when he saw it was only Laurentius, though it was very unexpected and unlike the man, but his quick to change expressions furrowed once again when he noticed the man was not wearing his usual graying white attire, donned in a simpler clothes though still dark, and hiding his face with a hood he quickly discarded when seeing Germanous.
Adding to his surprise was the shallow scar on the man's neck.
"How did you get that cut?"
The lad asked before uttering any welcoming or questioning the counselor's new fashion choices, his eyes immediately drawn to the scar reddening the mortifyingly pale skin. In the same way, the counselor eyes were drawn instantly to the governor's eyes inspecting the fake spear.
"Do you intend to keep this to yourself?"
Laurentius commented, a hidden warning advice. Germanous, knowing his uncle held no suspicions toward him, replied with a contemplative sigh.
"I just thought of something and the scar on your neck distracted me… but maybe not far enough…"
"It was a stupid squabble."
"I do not believe you."
The governor smiled, and his counselor did not object; he was not good at lying, and he listened with arched eyebrows for his nephew's reasons for disbelieving him.
"Uncle, you do not get yourselves into unjustified battles, let alone stupid squabbles, you have nothing to squabble over. Also, no one can leave a trace on you even with your permission."
Laurentius refrained from commenting on the first half, it did not add any value to the way he perceived himself but the last part while worded for admiration, was not intended for it.
"I am not invincible."
The long haired man briefly replied, stating a truth hunting every man but despite this, the young blond was not totally convinced but he dropped the matter for now. There was a more urgent topic he desired to bring but was a little hesitant to, allowing Laurentius to steer the conversation though luckily to the same destination.
"I paid a visit to the ancient canal that underwent demolition few years back."
Germanous did not need an additional hint to recognize what canal the counselor was speaking of. What surprised him was that the man had actually went there by himself, even after Caecilius claimed he had investigated the area thoroughly.
"And what did you find that was missed by the esteemed ambassador's eyes?"
The blond questioned with mockery, but Laurentius's answer wiped the boy's smug smile.
"This gang had chosen quite an impactful insignia."
The governor straightened his back, relieved that his guess was matching his uncle's astute perception but he preferred to remain silent. Not out of fear of looking foolish, but out of the need to escape certain details.
"You know very well where that demolished canal used to lead to and what became of that place."
"It was destroyed along the bridge leading to it."
The blonde replied sternly, but the counselor was not in there to stir the past and aim accusations, he came to share the same theory the governor seemed to have reached by himself in secrecy away from prying eyes and eavesdropping ears.
"The horizontal sword symbolizes a ruthless scale, while the…"
"While the vertically crossing swords allude to a down – up cross."
Laurentius nodded silently, as the smug smile returned to blond's face.
"They seek an unforgiving justice, brought by the punishment we excel at. They are rebelling against it, seeking to abolish it, along with the people supporting it."
"Indeed."
"They even hollowed the scales, emphasizing their justice will be blind as the judgments was pass."
Germanous enjoyed the conversation, he never got bored of showing his analytic skills and surprising people who considered him an idiot. But up till this point, nothing of substantial value was unveiled and it had to be the long haired man to bring that subject the blond had to discuss despite his reluctance.
"That old palace of justice was destroyed during an up rise for the unjust trial of the old virtuous Agrippa."
Germanous, though still a kid at that time, turned his back like a child refusing to hear a scary story but Laurentius had a point he needed to demonstrate.
"The man paused a threat with the rights he called for, he amounted an acceptable popularity among the slaves and lower classes for a poorly acted crime, he was trialed and crucified. "
"I remember that day, it is not a moment to be forgotten, it is an lifelong sentence always present to be abhorred"
"You know how people rioted and protested but where ruthlessly stopped."
"Why not use the word kill? Is it because it was my father's doing? And I am now carrying the unjust cross he erected, nailed to it the same to that a deceased mad man?!"
Germanous turned with an abrupt movement at the counselor who was not fazed by the youngster's shift of mood.
"You could not word the truth of the matter any better, but I find this near impossible for you to accept the sacrifice."
Laurentius commented, not to applaud the governor's persistence and bravery. The nephew could only comprehend meaning of belittlement or cowardice whether meant or not. He faced his uncle, demanding in an authoritative tone:
"So what do you have to offer?"
"I believe I have found their hiding place, their sigil was not that cunning after all."
"The abandoned demolished palace of justice?"
"It is connected with the canal. Deserted for it is ruined, forgotten for it is feared."
This was true; after that man's preaching and pleas for a change in laws and the way of the Romans life, he was crucified and vilified, diagnosed with the madness of desiring change. The citizens were not pleased but had to be silenced before things grew out of control especially after few unnecessary causality lost to hastiness and panic, so Marcus silenced the riot forever, burning the evidence of that unjust crime and abhorrent incident.
What irritated Germanous the most was that even with that brutal display of power, his father was still a hero of war after he immaculately deflected a nearing invasion,
being bestowed the wisdom of a leader and the bravery of a warrior, erasing the unsightly event with another bath of blood, but since it was the blood of foreign enemies, it was drunk to the same citizens' minds satisfaction.
He never knew how he could govern such people.
"And what is the plan? We have to work faster than Caecilius."
It took less than a second for the blond to return to his calculated self.
Laurentius stared at his nephew, never failing to see his contradicting nature that no longer brought him surprises, albeit in very rare occasions but he could understand the youngster's motive, so he suggested.
"We keep the matter a secret for now, telling only trusted people. It is unwise to keep the Roman convoy in the dark for long, I will see to the right time and opportunity. Meanwhile, we have to plan a secretive ambush as these people since they are afraid of direct attacks yet an alarming battalion will send them fleeing away, and that far from what they deserve."
Laurentius summed his intentions as if he was reporting a battle status. He was not waiting the governor's approval, merely giving him the details out of respect. He was the fighter who walked the ground and not mounted the clouds. He was content with his advice and strategy and once Germanous nodded in approval, he turned to see to his work when he was stopped.
"You seem so certain of our guess. This is unlike you."
"I never guess, I have already confirmed the fact."
The governor's red eyes twitched in further irritation at being kept out of the light but Laurentius always had the rightful excuse, which Germanous himself had just throw on the table.
"I did not need you to fret over the matter, be taken with joy, and alarm Caecilius into taking some stupid decision like a parade of the army."
Germanous had no words to deflect the accusation with, so he tightened his stance and spoke.
"I demand one thing."
The blond arrogantly asked. He might have cracked the thugs code but he was still responsible for the scale their crimes expanded across.
"I want the Celtic lancer to clear his name."
"I see no problem with this."
The long haired man answered knowing the governor will not take no for an answer, and the man was a capable fighter, closely associated with the governor's favoritism so there was no harm in clearing both their names.
A soldier barged in, shaking and sweating as if he had just crossed a desert without food or water, denied the shade of a single tree. Germanous got annoyed by the manner with which the soldier barged into the privacy of his rooms, but the man even paled out more when he spotted Laurentius. It was not the thrill of seeing a real oasis, but a real ghost.
"Counselor, you are alive!"