mouth and began to chew; with a big grin as he continued to take in Gaius, who stood like a statue.
“Very funny coming from someone with a face like yours,” Julius spoke from behind the old soldier, which too sounded as if he had been drinking all day.
Julius stepped out, moving the other man aside so he may stand in the doorway. His hand was placed on the stranger’s shoulder as he looked down at Gaius with a big, uncharacteristic smile that reached from ear to ear.
“Gaius, I would like you to meet an old friend of mine, Legate of the Six Legion, Claudius Augustus Valerius.”
“You said that already,” Valerius mused. “And actually, I have met you once before, lad. Only then you were too young to remember me as you were just a little nip, still suckling on your mother’s breast.”
Gaius’ face hardened, not liking the picture that formed in his head as Valerius knelt down and extended his hand. However, he refused to take it.
“Now don’t be rude, Gaius,” his father spoke.
Gaius hesitated for a moment, but then obeyed his father and reluctantly accepted Valerius’ gesture of friendship. As he took the legate’s wrist, he tried as best he could make sure his grip was tight, but compared to the veteran, he might as well be a bug standing next to a bear.
“Well, we need to fatten him up, put some muscles on him and hair on his chest before we can call him a soldier,” Valerius chuckled as he stood to his feet
“He comes from fine Gallic stock,” Julius added.
“That he does,” Valerius laughed as he tapped Julius’ shoulder, stepping aside as he walked over to his horse.
“Well old friend, I will be waiting out here. Take all the time you need.”
“Are you leaving?” Gaius asked a bit rudely, but neither his father nor Valerius took notice of it.
“Come inside, Gaius. There is something very important that I need to talk to you about.”
“What about my friends?” Gaius asked, sounding more than a bit nervous.
“They can remain out here. Come now.” Julius placed his hand on Gaius’ shoulder and urged him into the house, before closing the door. Both Antony and Julia looked on with concern, but they weren’t leaving as both settled in for the wait.
Gaius watched as his father cleared the table, moving aside several empty wine jugs, before pulling the stool out.
“Sit down, son. There is something that I need to talk to you about.”
“Father?” Gaius spoke nervously, but he did what he was asked as Julius move to the other side of the table and took his normal seat.
“Who is the man outside, father?” Gaius spoke first as Julius interlocked his fingers, looking unsure about how to begin their discussion.
“He is a Roman soldier, commander of the Six Legion, my former legion when I served the Republic. We fought together during the last war and many before, and as I said, he is a dear friend of mine.”
“I do not recall you ever speaking of him before this day,” Gaius noted.
“I know, and that is my fault. Nevertheless, believe me, son, I trust no one more in this world, aside from yourself, than I do Valerius. He is as close to me as blood and, well…” Julius paused as he tipped over one of the wine jugs, seeing that it was empty.
“Why is he here? Is he just visiting then?” Gaius asked, but he knew it wasn’t that simple. Otherwise, his father wouldn’t be acting the way he was.
“No, I asked him to come here some weeks ago. I’ve… I have come to a very difficult decision that concerns you, Gaius.”
“What is it?”
“You see, Gaius…Damn, I wish this was easier to say.”
“Just tell me, please.” Tears were already beginning to form under Gaius’ eyes as he eagerly awaited to hear what troubled his father so much that he held his tongue, afraid to speak.
“I’m dying, Gaius. I don’t know how else to say it.”
Gaius’ eyes opened wide as tears began to fall, rolling down the side of his cheeks. Flashes of his mother’s passing flooded his mind, seeing her so sickly, waiting, and even wishing the gods would take her, just so he didn’t have to see her suffer much longer. He knew what his father said was the truth, his heart told him. He knew for a long time: his father’s difficulties sleeping, his apparent weakness, his headaches and fainting spells, but he prayed to the gods that it would pass. Clearly, Julius knew it would not.
“Why? You can’t be. You just can’t…Why do you say such a terrible thing?” Gaius balled.
“I’m sorry, son. I don’t know how else to tell you. The gods have deemed it fit that my time on the earth comes to its conclusion. I don’t know when, exactly, but I do know it will be sooner than either of us wants it to be. I won’t be able to take care of you, and you’re still too young to take care of yourself. I have to look out for your safety and try to ensure you have a future.”
Julius stood from his stool and walked over to Gaius, dropping down to one knee and tried to look at his son in the eyes, but Gaius turned his head away, not wanting to let his father see him cry.
“There is nothing that can be done. I’m grateful for the time that I was allowed. I should have died a long time ago. It was only by the grace of the gods that I was given this time, to find a woman I loved, and for her to give me a son that I care so much for, even if I’ve failed to express it as I should have.”
Gaius lowered his head as he couldn’t control himself. He wanted to be strong and not cry, but his father’s words ran through him like knives, more painful than anything since his mother’s passing.
“I’m sorry, son, there was so much that I wanted to teach you; I wanted to show you. We’ve had little time, and I fear that I was not always the father whom you needed me to be, not since your mother left this world. However, I won’t leave you alone, not ever. That man outside, Valerius, he will watch over you like you were his own. He will do this because we are close as any two men can be without being brothers by blood. He will teach you everything you need to know; how to survive in this world. He will guide you down the path of honor; you will become a great warrior who will stand for his country, and one day, a long time from now you will lead men who you will pass the knowledge you’ve learned, as Valerius will you.”
Julius placed the palm of his hand on Gaius’ face, turning it towards him, so he could look into his son’s eyes.
“I know you want to stay with me — I can see that in your eyes. However, I will not allow you to watch me die, Gaius. Your destiny lies elsewhere, even if you can’t entirely understand why I am doing this now. Even so, you will understand, someday. You will understand the gift that I’m giving you. You will have a life, a purpose and be able to stand for something greater than ourselves. Will you be strong for me, Gaius?”
He tried to hold back his already flowing tears just for a moment as he looked into his father’s own saddened eyes, and answer him.
He did not want to agree. He did not want to leave him alone to die. He did not want to start down the path that his father and Valerius wanted. Gaius fought to stand and tell his father that he refused what he was saying, and that he would stand by his side until the end. However, as Gaius looked at his father, he could see the pain that he was in, and that, deep down, while he did not want Gaius to leave, he knew it was for the best.
Gaius rubbed his tears from his eyes and wiped his cheeks, before he found the courage to answer.
“I understand, father. I promise I will not let you down.”
“That’s my boy. Now, come, I want to show you something.”
Gaius watched as his father walked over to his bed, which was on the far side of the small house. Gaius soon joined him.
“I know you have seen these before, when I wasn’t around,” Julius confronted Gaius with a grin. “Now I want you to know what they are.”
Gaius sat by his father’s side as he opened the trunk and removed the thin sheet that lay on top of the items inside. Most of the things were ignored, but it was the chest plate with the ivory white wolf that Julius held up.
“This is the crest of the Sixth Legion, the Wolves of Rome,” Julius began as he rubbed his hand across the face of the wolf, which stood in the center of the expensive armor, surrounding by fig leaves of silver, with smaller depictions of wolves running in a pack on each breast.
“I was their chief centurion, and they were my family. I would have done anything to protect them, and they would me. We were defenders of the Republic, willing servants of Rome, but most of all we fought to protect those
