Hi Everyone,
Just another reminder to check here tomorrow for a huge update! Hint: It’s something you’ve all been waiting for. But for now, here’s today’s update. We’re back to some fun snippets from today’s writing.
He turned to look behind him. Behind him marched three cohorts of the XIII Germania, an additional two auxilia repeater cohorts, followed by five alae of cataphracts, on loan from the X Syrian. Behind them came the wagons – two dozen wagons loaded with foodstuffs, documents, medical supplies, etc. Everything an army needed rode with this convoy.
The snow on the hillsides was nearly gone now, the warmth of spring finally reaching the higher elevations. New growth had appeared, and even the horses’ heads lowered occasionally to try and nip at the budding growth. The road, fortunately, was still well maintained, even during the war. They made good progress towards Adrianople.
“You know, I could get used to this.” Constantine said. The relaxing ride, the melting snow, the peacefulness of nature, and the person at the end of the journey. Constantine’s stomach did a flip-flop. His nerves had finally cracked. It’s fortunate I’m not given towards weeping when nervous. He laughed outloud.
“My lord?” asked Tribune Theophilius besides him. The young man had finally been judged ready to lead the escort by Legate Caesar, and the young man had been overly formal and tough on his men the entire trip.
“No worries, Nicephorus. Just stuck in my mind.”
“My apologies, sir.”
“You needn’t apologize, I prize those people who can speak up, tell me what they think and when they think it, if done in a respectful way. That’s how I ran my cohort, my legion, and hopefully, the nation.”
“Of course, sir.” He dropped his horse back a pace or two to shout at some legionnaire who had dropped half a step off the pace.
“Tribune?” Constantine said.
“Yes sir?” He spurred his horse to catch up. Constantine lowered his voice.
“A word of advice. I’m nervous and so are you. You don’t need to scream at them for every little thing if you want them to listen to the big things. Discipline is like standing atop the narrow edge of a sharp sword. Balance properly, or be cut when you need it the most.”
“Yes sir.” the young man hung his head a bit, falling back to mull the thought over. Constantine sighed. About the only person I can actually talk to on this journey, and I’ve just had to give him what probably feels like an Imperial death sentence.
Needless to say, the rest of the ride seemed like the longest ride of his life.
Hope you liked that, Constantine’s chapter is really growing by leaps and bounds.
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Modern Papyrus 