Tiredness was a trifle word to describe bone crushing pain which they were feeling. A journey of months on ship is a draining process. Fighting against the various odds of salty water and gliding through it demands patience, but finally, a full stop had been put to the sea journey.
Noblemen of Florence expected cool land breeze to pacify their heart but alas! They were now subjected to harsh climate of India! It appeared as if hot blazing sun was sucking their sweat but amidst of it, curtsy of people who came to receive them warned their hearts. Now, after another tiring land journey, they were standing few metres away from their destination, Palace Of Chittaurgarh.
Many curious eyes were bloated with awe and faces held stupendous expressions. People of different land were in different land under the leadership of King Atticus.
King Atticus along with his elder son Augustus, was in India to do some trade as India's silk, jewels and spices were highly appreciated back in Florence . Though the trade was very limited due to long distance but King Atticus shared a very cordial bond with Maharaj Vikram Singh Rajput. They knew each other since Arab introduced them.
Despite being in his late sixties, King Atticus had an aura which screamed power and royalty. In the morning, when Ritha was doing her practice, he was watching it from afar. He was highly impressed after seeing the girl's fighting skills specially the way she flawlessly moved heavy sword.
Now, his son Prince Augustus! A gentleman with acute looks and obtuse feeling. A prince whose head was supposed to wear the crown making it heavier instead, it made his heart immobile with sorrows. A prince who was supposed to wear the necklace of power being the eldest son instead, that necklace was choking him. To sum up, he was a troubled serenity. Heavily troubled one!
Right now, his retina was absorbing and forming images of the beautiful artistic palace but larger fraction of his mind was not addressing them, rather, they were forming images of his son.
Sunrays were glorifying his magnificent blue eyes while his chiseled jaw was locked, not tightly but firmly. Brunette hair was being swooshed around randomly with warm, more like hot breeze. His physical features were intense and immensely beautiful but his heart was marred badly which wasn't very pretty to look at.
With the death of his wife, Prince Augustus formed a cocoon around himself which was tough to break. He was a focused and man of very less words but after his beloved Valentina's death, it was pretty hard to get any emotions out of him. Emotions? Those words were very foreign to him. His body drowned in numbness often compelling him to become one of the stars beside his beloved but one flashing image of his giggling son was more that enough to bring him back to harsh reality.
Soldiers used to shiver in their training under him. He was a very good leader but army wasn't a slap on the wrist for him. One mistake lead to straight four more hours of intense training.
Nobody could look into the Prince's eyes and deny him. It was like signing the death wish and he was very particular about his army. He himself was a master of each form of fighting , be it sword fighting, archery or defence technique . People who had witnessed him in war just shuddered at his image. Once he was in the battlefield, it was like beast has unleashed himself . Riding horse with the speed of wind, his spontaneity was his key factor. Using his mind according to the situation was a bonus added in it.
While his father was busy admiring the girl's strength, he was busy thinking about Rome.Seeing the weak governance of old King Victor, king of Rome, surrounding kingdoms found it a perfect opportunity to win Rome and mark it as their own territory. Main fight was in between kingdom of Sicily and Florence. Both had important place in the history of Italia.Well, there was something else which connected them. It was small Justus , son of Augustus and Valentina. Everyone's heart used to squeeze in pain by seeing the poor boy of two years old who never got to see the face of his mother. Augustus desperately wanted to go back to Florence and hold his son in his arms .
Anyone could see Prince Augustus was a very loving father, an obedient son, responsible brother and most importantly cared for his people. Legally, he was the next heir of the throne of Florence but his brothers were not ready to accept it but they needed to find a permanent solution to this problem because winning Rome was way more important. Their relationship with Sicily came to standstill and the solution which they thought could help them actually added more to the bitterness in already ruined relations.King Atticus of Florence thought that it was a wise decision to marry his eldest son Augustus to Princess of Sicily ,Princess Valentina but it went futile. With death of his beloved daughter, king of Sicily ,Cassius cut all the ties with Florence. He blamed Augustus for his daughter's death.Internal fights, losing his love and seeing his son without a mother was taking a toil over Augustus's mental health. He couldn't find anyone trustworthy enough to share his feelings. His brothers Felix, Linus and Magnus used to hate him with the depth of their heart. It was just his younger brother, Marcus who wasn't hostile towards him. In fact, he loved and considered Augustus's words way more important than his father. But now something was going in his father's mind which could change his life drastically.(Special chapter on Ritha's pregnancy) Heavily pregnant Rithambara was having a tough time managing all her emotions. The random jolts of how Justus would react would fetch an extreme amount of anxiety to her. Augustus had tried to calm her many a times, still, she couldn't come up with the courage to let her son know about pregnancy.The little heartbeat in her stomach was beautifully rhyming with her happiness chord, yet fear was also an addled factor. She looked at her son, sleeping soundly, next to her. Augustus was ecstatic when he found that he was about to have another child and so was Ritha. When happiness settled down, a challenge galloped them. A challenge of breaking down this news to their four year old son, Justus. Her husband had his arms wrapped around Justus's little form and he like their boy, he too was sleeping while slee
His lips curved upwards after looking at those cushy aqua blue eyes. Certainly, painter had used an occult shade of blue to paint those enchanting eyes because he could feel himself going in an unending trance.He titillated his hands over the portrait of young lady's waist brunettes locks. Her fair, smooth pink skin was invoking sordid thoughts within his mind and he could just imagine, what it would feel like to touch her in real. Even before he could fathom his words, he ended up speaking it out loud, " what a beautiful portrait of this beauty! "Adger, ruler of Britannia ( Britain), could see that shining fascination in his son's eyes and to say the least, it was dangerous.He warned him, " this portrait doesn't even justify half her beauty but it's futile to even think of her. She's daughter of most powerful Rex, Augustus. "' Not even half her beauty? 'That certainly caught
Rithambara's heart squeezed in pain seeing her little boy curled up emptied stomach on the bed. His midnight, curly hair was falling on forehead while his lips were a bit pouted. Tear stained cheeks were telling the saga of his cries and she could feel her own eyes watering. Every royal member had had the dinner and it was only her and Abhi who couldn't gulp down even a single morsel. One in anger and other in pain.Keeping the dinner plate on the table, she went on Abhi's bed and caressed his cheeks. She flared her soft hands through his hair and kisses his eyes which were closed. How innocent he looked in sleep! No matter what, at the end, he was her youngest and apple of her eyes. Though she loved Justus and Eirene equally, Abhi had inherited her features and he reminded her so much of her Indian backgrounds. Though he never wore Dhoti or Indian attires apart from festivals , she knew he was the most handsome Indian Prince.Two years back when she had go
' Filthy daughter of traitors.'Such harsh words stabbed her porcelainheart and her eyes welled up with fat tears but, she refrained them from falling down. Closing eyelids, she tried to pacify the flaring anger shooting through her body. She adored Abhi but his snobbish nature always agitated her. She was about to snarl a harsh comment but, a sudden, sharp cry compelled her to look at the youngest Prince. A smirk appeared on her lips when she found Queen Rithambara twisting Abhi's ear.Meanwhile Rithambara was highly infuriated with her son's behavior. Few minutes back, she was worried as he hadn't returned back to palace for afternoon meal but, after hearing such painful words from Abhi's mouth made her heart bleed. She felt as if it was a stab on her ethics and morals. She had no knowledge of source which had encrypted such hurtful words in his mind. She had never used words like 'filth' yet, her n
Laying in arms of her husband, with unorganized thoughts, raw emotions was the best feeling ever for her. She was enjoying warmth radiating from Augustus's chest and a dazzling smile from him contributed to the peaceful ambience. Occasions like this were very rare where she forgot her responsibilities to savour something so special. On most of the days, more like nights, he was out on trade or pacifying kingdom's matters but tonight, it was a leisure feast for both under dim light cascading from chandelier hung on the roof of their luxurious room.Soaked rose and Jasmine petals were fragmenting the room and accompanied the aroma of love. Ah! That heavenly feeling of Augustus running hands through her hair like playing with violin cord was all she ever wanted. She came out of reverie when Augustus suddenly flipped her on the cozy bed and covered her with his body. Soon, she was a slithering mess under his pleasant tortures. She intervened her hands with him
Tiny footsteps were hurrying through the corridors without any care of the yellings behind him. He was huffing and puffing but definitely not willing to lose. His wavy mid night black hair were bouncing, at times, covering his little face.He was fighting tooth and nail but the compact metal sword in his hand was making his forehead break into sweats. The sharp shine of the sword had attracted him in the very first glance but his mother never allowed him to touch it and even had hidden it. Sister Eirene, brother Justus, everyone had their small, slightly curved, metallic and shining sword but he had none. The very thought used to make him frown. Neither his cries nor his pleas of holding had worked on Rithambara but after all, he found it. He giggled loudly when his little brain pictured the morning incident. His mother thought that he was asleep in cot when she hid that shining, fascinating thing under the thick mattres
Aqua blue eyes shone with mirth at her father's intelligent move of removing opponent's queen in chess. Light breeze was sweeping her brunette hair in irregular pattern. A hearty, victorious giggle filled in the surrounding space and soft, yet, delighted voice chirped in, " Father! We will win. " Augustus removed his eyes from chess and looked at his replica and laughed along with her. His heart swelled with happiness looking at his daughter, Eirene whose smile was charming enough to make morning birds sing. This six summers old young lady owned every inch of his heart.Just like her name, her persona radiated peace. He spoke with same enthusiasm as his daughter's, " Yes, Eirene. Seems so. " Princess Eirene giggled and clapped her hands which was interrupted by her mother's voice, " Daughter, we shouldn't celebrate early. Seems like your father's king is out, summoning our win. "
Thanks to everyone who kept patience by reading and voting chapter by chapter. ❤Augustus was numb.' Maybe he's speaking the truth. Maybe he should die. 'Negative thoughts fogged his rational thinking while a tear spilled out of his eyes. It was Cassius who was handcuffed but it felt as if it was his soul and mind which was grappled with guilt.Aurelius had his jaws clenched and he knew very well that what that old man was trying to do. He was manipulating Augutsus. Therefore, he shook his shoulder with force and for the first time, addressed him with his name, " Augutstus! Remember, a calm sea doesn't make a skilled sailor. Life is throwing adversities because you're strong enough to handle it. Don't think about this dog! You've to look after Justus and Highness Rithambara. You can't just die. "Augustus revived a bit of his sense hearing to Aurelius's words. H
I thought it'll be the last chapter but Bruh! It's longer than I thought ! Here's the chapter! Next one will be soon if I get votes. When King Cassius arrived in Frosinone after defeating Naples, he was pleasantly shocked. It was army of Florence, his dear son in law. He smirked thinking about poor Augustus as soldiers were laying dead smudged in red liquid.' Did any one of the small neighborhouring state killed half of his army? 'Crown of Rome started shimmering in his mind. He was thrilled by it and his army men paraded further with relaxed attitude but oh man! How wrong they were! ( P. S. - chapter 63 Madder root strategy) In the middle of everything, Sicilians didn't understand what actually happened but as they were crossing the sea of dead bodies, they started falling down. A deep, deadly cut was made on the