We descended the Academy hill back to the main road. From there we had a short walk to the city gates. The road was getting busier as we were approaching the city, so we didn’t talk much. Once we reached the southern city gates we were greeted with a sign LUX, CAPITAL OF VETULONIA. With about hundred and fifty thousand citizens, Lux was the largest Vetulonian settlement. It occupied the left bank of river Volturno, merely a few leagues south of the Northern Forest. It was a marvelous city. Tall and thick gray walls encircled it. The streets were wide and most buildings were of white stone with colorful glass domes on rooftops. Five aqueducts supplied the city with fresh water all the way from the Guard Mountains in the north.
We passed the gates and then the main market filled with stands and screaming traders. After some more walking we finally reached the central avenue. It was a wide, rectangular space encircled by temples, libraries, public baths, inns and artisan shops.
We found an empty table outside the inn called Jolly Soldier. A beautiful girl came out of the building to serve us. Of course Marius immediately tried to charm her with his well-learned “fun fool” act, but it didn’t work. Quite the contrary, he annoyed her. We then ordered and after some time she came back with beers and went back inside.
“To new life!” I almost screamed and raised my mug. Other patrons glanced towards our table and smirked. That made me blush.
“New life!” Otho and Marius repeated, raising their mugs as well, not caring for our nosy tavern neighbors.
“It won’t be easy,” I said with a distant voice, watching people passing by. My words seem to awaken Otho's worries. I looked at him and said:
“What is it? Your father still? It'll be fine. If nothing, Marius here will put his foot up his behind. Right?”
“With pleasure, Otho, just give the order,” Marius chuckled and punched his chest with his right fist. Although Otho face was smiling, he was not happy.
“Come on now, he’s still my father. I love him - he loves me…”
I wanted to say, Are you sure? but was smart enough to keep my mouth shut.
“It will be hard on him as well. He had other plans for me,” Otho sighed. I could see he was about to be engulfed by melancholy, so I tried to cheer him up:
“Seven days from now you’ll be a pledge. Stop your whining, will you?”
But I could see I was not doing a good job. Fortunately some girls from the third Academy who knew Otho arrived to the tavern. They greeted him and he invited them to sit with us, so they did.
One was a beautiful brunette with chestnut brown eyes and full lips named Nicola.
Juliana had black hair and seemed the most chatty of them all. Her dirty green eyes were overwhelming to look at. I could not stare at them for very long.
The third girl was a blonde with elven blue eyes and pale skin. Her name escapes me.
I found the brunette – Nicola – the prettiest.
“So, Otho?! Celebrating your new-gained liberty from the Academy halls, ha? I assume you’ll be joining your father with the family business?” asked Juliana, the one with the piercing green eyes. She had a high pitched voice.
“No,” he replied and blushed. I found his shyness entertaining, especially when compared to his cockiness from earlier.
“What do you mean, no?” Juliana asked. “Will you start YOUR OWN business?” her eyes got wide. She had a high opinion of poor Otho. His father’s shadow was strong.
“No,” he again blushed and waved his hand.
“Now you have my curiosity, citizen,” she mocked the blushing donkey, but in a flirtatious way. Gods, I thought to myself, he could have almost any girl he wanted!
Nicola, the brown haired girl, was sitting next to me. That made me silly-happy and I almost grinned like an idiot because of it, but was able to restrain myself.
“We’re pledges of the Cohort, all three of us,” I announced with a relaxed tone.
“You're what?!” Juliana barked. Her and the blonde were not impressed, but Nicola smiled at me approvingly. That raised my spirits and I smiled back.
“Even you, Otho? But what about your father and, and, and, well, everything! Your father is so successful, but he’s getting old. Don’t you think he’ll be needing your help?” Juliana nagged the poor wretch, waving her hands about.
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“His father is settled for life! He can retire if he wants to and sell the business to the Republic or to whomever. Why should our friend Otho here be a hostage of his success? He is his own person, you know?” I defended Otho. Nicola smiled to me even more and that made me lively.
Marius and the blonde however, were indifferent to our chatter. The two of them debated where to find the best beer in Lux.
Juliana then gave me a nasty look and asked:
“Are you his lawyer?”
“No, better than that, I’m his friend,” I raised my finger, laughing while doing it.
Otho kept staring at the table, but I knew he appreciated my words. He always did. He then lifted his head and said:
“Antonius said it best… It’s my life.”
“What division are you young lads be joining?” Juliana asked, now with a less hostile voice.
“Me and Antonius Diplomacy, Marius Army,” Otho answered. He stopped blushing and at last appeared confident again. Marius then once again fist-punched his chest, like a true barbarian. Then he started explaining to the blonde that we've outgrown wars and what a shame that was. She laughed.
Soon Juliana hijacked Otho and tried to change his mind about joining the Cohort. I had no idea why she took it so personally. But that gave me a nice chance to talk to Nicola. Her brown eyes and full lips enchanted me and I felt dizzy. Well... Perhaps it was the beer.
“So, Diplomacy? That’s impressive, it’s an important division,” she said with a soft voice.
“I am looking forward to it. I always wanted to visit all the distant places in Helena. It’s exhilarating, being on the move, I suppose. When you don’t have a permanent place you call home, everywhere becomes home.”
“I don't know about that. A traveler can only be a traveler if they have a home,” she smirked.
“Hm,” I frowned. “I haven’t thought about it that way.”
“I wish I could join you,” she said with a gloomy tone.
“You could always apply to the Cohort.”
“No, I can’t. My mother is quite ill and I have to take care of her. I’m all she has, so…”
Her words made me ashamed of my childish enthusiasm about my imminent future.
“I’m sorry to hear it… Listen, if you give me your address, I swear to you, I’ll write to you all the time when I’ll be on the move. So in a way you’ll be traveling with me.”
My words moved her and she gave me the prettiest smile I had ever seen.
We kept drinking till late in the night. Then we decided to go to the public baths. At that time of the day – well night – they were more or less empty, so we would have them all for ourselves. So we went. Otho, flushed with denarii, paid the entrance fees.
We took off our clothes in the booths and wrapped our hips with a cloth. The baths were composed of two pools, one indoor and one outdoor. We picked the latter as it was a warm night. Once in the water we dropped the cloths and swam around naked. The cool water felt good – gentle thick matter was brushing every inch of my skin.
Again we grouped up. Otho and Juliana were still talking about the Cohort, which I found hilarious. I sensed Juliana wanted to be intimate with Otho, but he kept going on about his father, his business, the Cohort... Poor clueless bastard! Not far from them, in a dark corner, Marius and blonde were kissing. They soon disappeared somewhere. Nicola and I swam to the far side of the pool. There she said:
“Thank you for today, you made me feel good about things. You have a way of cheering people up.”
“By doing what?” I genuinely asked.
“By being you. I don’t know, there’s something about you, Antonius. A certain boyish charm. It seems to me that you don’t take life’s hardships as serious as others. And I don’t mean that in a bad way. It’s as if... You don’t let hardships define you. So many people are quite the opposite.”
“Everything, life, this world, absolutely everything – is a jump off a cliff to an ocean beneath. Might as well experience it in fullness.”
I wasn’t quite certain what I was talking about, as I was drunk, but she didn’t mind my philosophical babbling.
“I agree,” she said and leaned in to kiss me. Gods, she was an incredible kisser! It made my head spin. We started touching each other and then she said:
“Let’s go to one of the back rooms.”
I sighed.
“I can’t. I do want to, but I can’t. In time I want to get knighted and that means I can’t father children. If I do, I’ll be stuck as a pledge. And I haven’t drunk the Tea of Darkness yet. I’m sorry.”
“I understand,” she smiled and kissed me on the cheek.
We turned around and placed our hands on the side of the pool, floating and admiring the glorious night sky.
“Do you think any of them will fall again anytime soon?” she pointed to the stars.
“I don’t think so. It doesn’t happen that often.”
“I know I sound awful by saying it... But sometimes I do wish something grandiose would happen, even if something horrible. Nothing ever happens! I am young, yet I feel as an old woman. And life force that sustains us keeps dripping away, drop by drop, until one day I'll have nothing left. I shake at the thought of my whole life being like it is now.”
“We all long for an adventure. But don’t wish for ill things. The reality of such events is terrifying.”
“My uncle was visiting last month. He and my mom kept talking about The League and how it grows stronger every day. He thinks it will come to war. What do you think?”
“I don’t know. They are growing stronger and they have the numbers we can’t compete with. Nobody can. They do present themselves as a benevolent entity, yet they’re everything but that.”
“I hope war will erupt! That way at least something will happen in my lifetime.”
I was about to scold her when I noticed a flock of crows flying across the bright yellow full moon. It felt to me as a bad omen.