Aurelia || SERIES ROMANA I

Chapter 106 ~ Insidiae III

With a huge crash, the statue hit the marble floor and burst into a thousand pieces. For a second, Aurelia paused and listened intently inside the villa. When she was sure that the intruders were following her, she jumped over the remains of the once beautiful statue and began to run.
Fluttering, her veil billowed out behind her before silently sliding to the ground a few metres behind the statue and remaining lonely. This had to be enough to mislead the intruders. She had to hold them out until Gaius and her children were safe. Everything else had lost all meaning for her.
Carefully, she untied the straps of her shoes and threw them carelessly on the ground, as if she had lost her shoes while running away. The warm earth muffled the sound of her bare feet and she felt more connected to her surroundings.
When she caught sight of the gazebo, Gaius' wedding gift to her, an idea struck her. Without looking back, she darted through the garden, ignoring the louder voices of her opponents. Her heart raced wildly in her chest.
As soon as she entered the pavilion, the curtains fluttering in the wind robbed her opponents of her view. With a few steps she had reached the statue, pulled her stole over her head and draped it roughly on the statue like a mannequin. As she did so, she made sure that the stone hair in particular was covered by the silk. Then she leaned her whole body against the statue and turned it away from the entrance.
Barefoot and still clad only in her tunic, Aurelia hid behind Gaius' statue. The next moment men rushed into the pavilion and surrounded the statue. There were ten of them. Presumably they had split up at the fork. Hopefully Gaius and the children were already safe. It was only a matter of time before reinforcements would arrive. Clemens knew what to do. Until then, she just had to hang on.
Aurelia held her breath. The blood rushed in her ears. With heavy steps, one of the men broke away from the group and lunged with his sword. The hard metal clanged on the marble and shattered. Stunned, the man stared at his destroyed blade.
Aurelia did not wait for her surprise to dissipate. Light-footed, she pushed off the ground and swung herself over the parapet of the pavilions. A small jolt ran through her body as she landed on the hard earth. But at least she hadn't hurt herself. As quietly as she could, she ran from one tree to the other.
A scream made her blood run cold. The men had discovered her. Cheering, they pursued her, and Aurelia turned with her blade raised. Her lips automatically twisted into a small, polite smile. Puzzled, the men stopped uncertainly, and she tilted her head. What had they expected? That she would go down without a fight? The intruders gave each other puzzled looks and examined her from head to toe. Most of them seemed more agitated than eager to fight. Anger flared in their bodies.
Whispering, the men came closer, reminding Aurelia of much more heavily armed head machos in the playground. All that was missing was a cheap pick-up line and the scene would be almost perfect.
"We have orders to kill you," said the man with the broken sword. As a substitute, he had drawn his dagger, which looked like a toothpick next to the swords of his companions.
Amused, Aurelia raised her eyebrow. Then she calmly wanted to know who would have given such an order. The leader narrowed his eyes to narrow slits and glared angrily at her.
"We will not fall for your Germanic silver tongue, woman," he drove at her gruffly, barking orders at his cronies. Automatically, Aurelia tightened her grip around the hilt of her own sword. Silent and motionless like a statue, Aurelia waited for the first blow, which she parried effortlessly.
Suddenly she was no longer in her gardens, but in the Praetorians' training room. Adrenalin flooded her body and before the eyes of her enemies she transformed into a deadly fighting machine. But new fighters kept coming. There were simply too many of them.
Just when Aurelia thought she could hold out no longer, she heard the familiar sound of hobnailed sandals. With renewed determination, she threw herself into the fight. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Clemens' familiar figure inexorably making its way through the intruders. Unobtrusively, Aurelia moved backwards, forcing her opponents to follow her into the peristyle.
Within moments, Clemens was with her, pushing her firmly behind him onto the moonlit lawn of the portico. Back-to-back, they eyed their opponents, who looked unsettled with a start. Quickly they looked around on all sides, but they were still outnumbered. Clemens' men, who were already standing on the surrounding roofs with bows cocked, did not spot them. The Praetorians were only waiting for a sign from their prefect. Then the intruders would be dead. There were only five of them left.
The intruders' uncertainty that they were now dealing with two combatants subsided as quickly as it had come. They attacked with renewed ferocity and Aurelia felt her arms tiring. She would not be able to fight for much longer. Suddenly everything happened very quickly. She was only a second too slow when her opponent managed to knock the sword out of her hand. Quickly she jumped out of reach of his blade and bumped into Clemens' back. Cursing, the Praetorian prefect pushed her into the pool of water beside him. Aurelia had just enough presence of mind to catch her breath before she broke the surface of the water.
The cool water cleared her mind and her body acted instinctively. Routinely, she used her momentum and began to dive. With a few pulls she had reached the other end of the pool.
In one fluid movement she slid out of the pool, propped herself up on the edge and landed in a crouch on the tiled surround. The noise of battle was now very faint. Struggling for breath, Aurelia quickly looked around on all sides and watched as Clemens knocked the last intruder to the ground with one blow of his sword. They were dead.
Out of the corner of her eye, Aurelia perceived a movement. Jerking her head around, she just caught a glimpse of a scrap of cloth disappearing around the corner of a door inside her villa. Questioningly, she turned to Clemens, who was staring at the open door in confusion. Imperceptibly, he nodded to Aurelia. New strength coursed through her body and without hesitation Aurelia followed the intruder inside her home.
Heart racing and dagger drawn, Aurelia crept through the barren corridors, quickly realising that she had never been in this part of the palace before. Uncertain, she looked over her shoulder, but she could neither see nor hear Clemens.
At the end of the inconspicuous corridor, a door stood open. Involuntarily, Aurelia's hand tightened around the hilt of her dagger. Cautiously, she entered the room and was surprised to find it empty. The once bright paint was already peeling from the walls. Where was she? What was this room? Why did her intruder want her to come here?
"I was hoping you'd outlive those idiots," purred a voice to her right and Aurelia wheeled around. With a bang, the door fell into the lock. Stunned, Aurelia stared into the hate-filled eyes of a woman, and it took her a moment to recognise her without her expensive clothes, elaborate hairstyle and lush make-up. Standing before her, dagger drawn, was Ennia, grinning contentedly in her face. From her unadorned and bloodshot eyes spoke sheer madness.
"I have waited so many years for this moment," Ennia whispered, taking a deep breath. "Look around you. This is all that is left of my life. An empty, desolate space. I was rich. I was beautiful. I was powerful. But then you came along and took it all away. Tell me, Aurelia, have you thought of me even once in all these years and wondered what has become of me?"
Truthfully, Aurelia shook her head and Ennia laughed bitterly. When she had calmed down after a few seconds, she continued coldly, "Of course not. For that, not a moment went by that I wasn't reminded of you. You are the reason why my life is in ruins. Every single moment of my life I am reminded of what you took from me, and I hate you for it with every single fibre in my body. For years I planned everything and now here you are in front of me. Still radiantly beautiful. Alone. Defenceless. What is it they say? Those who are loved by the gods die young. Sometimes you just have to give the gods a bit of a run for their money."
Giggling, Ennia rushed forward with her dagger drawn and Aurelia managed to jump out of the way at the last second. At the same moment the door was broken open and Clemens rushed into the room. Immediately he lunged at Ennia. Her dagger fell clattering to the floor and Aurelia breathed a sigh of relief. Routinely, Clemens pressed the maddened woman to the floor. Over her head, Clemens smiled reassuringly at Aurelia, then suddenly his face contorted in pain. A tremor ran through his body and Ennia took the opportunity to push him off and jump up. She did not get far. Surprised, she looked at her chest, where Aurelia's dagger was. Grinning maniacally, Ennia's dying eyes bored into hers, then the woman slid to the ground. She was dead.
The next moment Aurelia was at her friend's side, pressing her hands to his stomach. Ennia had plunged her dagger straight into his kidney through a tiny gap in his breastplate and Clemens was losing far too much blood too quickly. A strange smell emanated from the wound. Poison. This false snake had drenched its blades in poison.
Helplessly, Aurelia pressed her hands to the open wound and prayed that he would hold on. Softly he whispered her name. Immediately she averted her eyes from his injury and looked deep into his eyes. His skin was even paler than usual.
"The N stood for Naevia. Ennia Naevia," he murmured, and it took Aurelia a second to comprehend his thoughts. He was talking about the letters he had found in the murdered doctor's house. So Ennia was also behind this attack. Aurelia nodded quickly and Clemens put his hand on hers. Examining it, he looked down at himself and gave her a wry smile.
"I always knew that one day I would give my life for you," he explained softly, and Aurelia swallowed her tears. The grip of his hand tightened as his life drained from his body between her fingers. Calmly he continued, "Some things are worth dying for. There is no better death for me than that in service to Rome and you are Rome, Aurelia."
Moved, Aurelia started to speak, but Clemens shook his head powerlessly. His breathing was intermittent and his whole body trembled. The poison had almost reached his heart.
"Promise me that you will take care of my children," he said with difficulty, and only when she had promised him did he give up his struggle. His hand slipped from her fingers and fell powerlessly beside him. With a shattering finality, his head hit the floor. His gaze broke. Marcus Clemens Arrecinus had fallen.
Stunned, Aurelia stared at the man who had stood behind her all these years, watching her back. She could not believe that he should be gone. Frozen, she remained in her position on the cold floor, refusing to trust her senses. Blood was still pouring from his lifeless body and spreading everywhere. The dusty floor, her torn tunic, her bare skin - his blood covered everything with a layer of red. His body grew cold under her fingers. But she could neither speak nor move. She could not even cry, for then she would have to admit to herself that he was lost forever. She only had to believe in it firmly enough, then in the next moment he would impatiently shake off her hands and jump up. She just had to keep the wound closed so the doctors could help him. She just had to be strong. For him.
Suddenly warm hands settled on her rigid body and his familiar scent rose to her nose. Searchingly, his hands ran over her body and after finding with relief that she was unharmed, he gently pulled her into his warm arms. As soon as her hands lost contact with Clemens, her body began to tremble. His voice sounded muffled and from further away, so that she could not understand his soothing words. Crying, Aurelia collapsed in her husband's arms.