As we came closer to the city, the smell of it was becoming harder to ignore. The legionaries set up camp nearby the city gates, while we continued towards our stinky destination. When we passed the main city gates the soldiers on the walls stared and leaned their heads to get a better view. That would never occur in Vetulonia! The city, or better said – the town – was dominated by narrow streets and dark-red stone buildings. The roads, if you could call them that, were quite simplistic – merely a thick layer of pebble stones. I knew the town had a population of twenty thousand people and that there were no sewers nor aqueducts. Hence, the smell.

The people dropped to their knees when they saw their king riding by and I noticed this made him immensely happy. He fed on the attention. After he passed they stood up and looked at us Vetulonians with anger and what I interpreted as disgust. I didn’t let it bother me too much. I knew the memory of Vetulonian conquest was still alive, although it happened ages ago.

Tiberius and the king were chatting the whole way. I couldn’t hear what they were talking about, but it didn’t seem like anything important.

The king’s home, a large castle, was located on an elevated area in the middle of the city. When we came near, we dismounted and servants fetched our horses to the nearby stables. I looked towards the tall, red building. It was impressive in its way. It was of square shape, positioned on an elevated plain surface. A deep ditch filled with brown, filthy water, encircled the plateau. The wide drawbridge that connected the man-made island was of oak wood, painted black. There were enormous towers located at its corners. Between the towers, behind the walls, stood soldiers. They gawked at us with undisciplined curiosity.

The building seemed moist, cold and haunted. It did not belong to our time, that much was sure. It was a relic from another time.

“Welcome to my home, Vetulonians! I’m sure the architecture of my realm is a bit underwhelming for such fine guests... But that will soon change now that I’m in charge! You see, my father didn’t care much for what he called fanciness,” the king grinned.

“I find your home quite beautiful. It has character,” Tiberius lied.

“Thank you for saying so, Lord Tiberius,” the king responded, bowing his head. His captain stood near the king in silence. I got a feeling he was trying hard to suppress a yawn.

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The king then glanced towards Julia and stepped towards her. He took her palm, then bowed and kissed it.

“Please, my lady…,” he mumbled and they started walking towards the red corpse of what was the castle. He held her hand the whole time. I suspected Julia’s blood was boiling and that she wanted to rip his head off, given her past. But she swallowed her anger and played along with his silly theatricals. The king was merely trying to be pleasant, but his gesture put us all off. Vetulonian citizens were treated equally regardless of their genitalia. So the king's gesture came out as unnecessary and patronizing.

We passed the drawbridge and then the open gates and found ourselves in the atrium of the castle. Except for the guards on the walls, there was no one there, something I found odd. The red monstrous walls that surrounded us didn't help with the mood. The ground covered with white pebble stones made the color of the walls stand out even more.

“I imagine you're tired, so I’ll show you to your rooms. There’s fire in the fireplace and a hot bath waiting for you. Some food and some clean clothes as well,” king said, still holding Julia’s hand.

“Thank you, king Orpheus,” answered Tiberius, while we kept quiet.

“We'll dine at dusk and talk business then. I’ll have someone fetch you,” king nodded, not letting go of Julia’s hand. She was becoming fidgety. Her tolerance level dropped. It impressed me that she managed to restrain her repulsion for so long.

“King Orpheus, I am very tired, will you please show us to our rooms?” she asked with a cool and appropriate tone of voice.

“Why, of course! Forgive me, my lady.”

We headed towards the south-west tower and entered the building. Like Lord Cronos’s castle, it was dark and moist and unpleasant. We climbed the narrow circle-stairs to the upper level to our rooms. The king said farewell and let us be. We stood in the hall until we heard the bottom door closing, indicating him leaving the building.

“I wanted to vomit,” Julia whispered with a distinct anger in her voice.

“He didn’t mean anything by it, he’s just ignorant,” Tiberius consoled her.

She sighed and went to one of the rooms, as did we. The chamber was small, but warm. A small desk filled with a few plates with food, a chair, narrow bed and a bear’s skin on the floor. The only light from outside came from a tiny glass window. On the chair lay a folded tunic and dress, both, with an embroidered Vetulonian wolf on its chest.

I ate, took a bath, threw another log onto the fire, urinated in the chamber pot and climbed to bed, naked. Sleep came moments later.