The Plains of Pluto
Copyright© 2025 by Lumpy
Chapter 18
Devnum
For the third time in a short few months, Lucilla made her way into the Imperial Forum in hopes of finally getting the conscription laws passed and the men in training. She couldn’t help but still be angry at most of these men, who’d cost them valuable time they did not have.
As it was, with the time needed for the training, it would be winter before most of these men made it onto the battlefield. Until then, the stakes on the front would get even higher, and goals like retaking the islands invaded by the Egyptians would have to remain only a plan, the people living there forced to endure living under the yoke again.
At least her work to counter the senators’ plan to stop conscription altogether had been successful. The changes in the kinship of the men inside were immediately obvious and striking.
Senator Alypius, who had led the opposition against her conscription law, sat isolated on the far edge of the Roman section. His former allies, Kaeso, Bredei, and the others who had stormed out during her last address, now kept their distance from him and each other, scattered in ones and twos across the benches.
For now, the coalition they’d managed to assemble over this issue was broken. She wasn’t naïve enough to think they would be permanently cowed, of course, but they wouldn’t be causing her problems today.
Lucilla took her position at the central lectern, setting a stack of papers on it, while allowing her gaze to sweep across the senators. Her slow, deliberate stare made it very clear to them who was in charge here.
“Honored Senators, we gather once again to address the defense of our Empire. As before, the burden of conscription weighs heavily on my heart. Heavier than that, however, is the knowledge of how certain members of this body chose to manipulate our citizens rather than lead them. How they valued their personal interests above the security of our nation.”
Lucilla paused, turning specifically toward Alypius. “Senator, you claimed conscription would destroy our economy. You said it would tear families apart. But when you secretly funded pamphlets spreading lies about the scope of service requirements, did you consider how your deception might tear our society apart? And you, Senator Kaeso. Your dramatic exit from our last session was well-choreographed. As was your subsequent meeting with the merchant guilds, where you suggested I planned to seize their assets to fund the war effort. A creative fiction, but one that served only to incite panic. Many of you tried to work behind the scenes, spreading lies and fear among the people, all in defense of your own purses. I don’t know if you hoped these actions would go unnoticed, expected that your self-serving moves would stay hidden in the background, but they did not. We have spoken to many of the people you hoped to influence. The evidence of your machinations has come to light, and they have failed. Your efforts to turn the mob against me revealed your true nature to our citizens. They saw not defenders of their interests, but manipulators serving their own ambitions. While you hid in your villas, I stood before them. While you whispered lies, I spoke the truth.”
She paused again, staring hard at the offending senators, many of whom looked worried about what would happen now that their treachery was exposed.
“And yet, I will not impose on you the same consequences some of you wanted for me. I will not call for your ouster, for your public pillorying, for your head on the block. I am happy to accept the public shame you have earned as consequence enough. Before you think I am sparing you out of some feminine weakness, which more than one of you accused me of, I want to make something very clear. My focus has always been on protecting the Empire, and I will never let personal vindication outweigh the duty placed upon me. For what is coming, I require a unified senate, not one fractured by internal dissension. I also know many would use my taking rightful payment for your betrayals as another sign of tyranny. So, in the name of the unity I need to ensure the Empire fights on and remains free, I absolve you of your ill deeds.”
She stopped again, placed both hands on the lectern’s edge to ensure she had their full attention.
“But understand this; your previous influence is spent. There will not be a second instance of my magnanimity. If any of you turn on your duty again, you will find yourself a shorter man than you are today. And before you think you can succeed next time where you failed this time, and that the profit is worth putting your neck to the block, let me highlight something for you. Your trust is squandered and cannot be easily regained. Those who opposed conscription to protect their wealth have been exposed, and the people have seen you for what you were. Allies you once counted on will now look at you with concern and doubt.”
Stabbing a finger out at the men, she added, “And your own legacy will be put on the line. While the conscription will be fair and equitably applied, there will be one exception. At least one eligible member of every family of someone holding a position in the imperial government will be required to serve. Your sons will serve alongside common citizens, and any injustice you have planned will affect not those who you see as beneath you, but your own blood. I have my family on the front lines. Senator Taenaris’s son was wounded several months ago along the Wistla. Senator Brandubh and Senator Rotri have family members currently in the trenches. And Senator Domhnall lost his brother in one of the early skirmishes against the Eastern invaders. Each of these men has supported their kin, who stepped up and heeded the call to service to the Empire. It is now time for the rest of you to do the same.”
Lucilla placed her hand on the stack of papers she’d set on the lectern.
“Before we proceed to the vote, I have something to share. This declaration arrived this morning, signed by over three thousand citizens of Devnum, organized by Master Ercán. Many of you know him from his large glass works on the north end of town. What you may not know is that he lost two of his sons over the last year! One in a fight near the Wisla at the beginning of the war and another in Greece just a few months ago. Let me read you their words.”
Lifting the paper up, she began, “We, the citizens of the Britannic Empire, recognizing the dire threat we face, stand united in the defense of our homes, our families, and our future. We did not surrender to the Carthaginians and we will not surrender now. We urge our leaders to take the actions necessary to ensure our survival and that our way of life continues. We acknowledge that all who live under the banner of the Empire share in its fortunes, and thus, all must bear their share of its burdens. Because of this, we declare our full support for the Conscription Act as proposed by Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Lucilla, and repudiate any attempts to stop these efforts in the name of profit or position. Furthermore, we affirm that no single class, nor any privileged few, should be exempt from the duty of defending Britannia. We accept that our sons, our brothers, and our fathers must take up arms to protect our homelands and wish for the burden to be shared by all. We ask that the sons of senators and merchants stand with the sons of factory workers and stable hands. We sign this declaration not as separate peoples of Rome, Caledonia, and Ulaid, but as one Empire, united in its purpose. Let all who oppose this measure be remembered as those who would have Britannia fall.”
She set the declaration down and added, “The signatures include Master Naso, who lost his eldest in the defense of port Vikhavn, the widow of Tribune Gartnait, who fell in the trenches facing the Eastern hordes, and Shipwright Lucan, whose son was on Maleth when it fell.”
Senator Kaeso raised his hand. “Your Majesty, if I might...”
“You may not,” she said, pulling the bulk of the pages from her stack. “This is a list of every Britannian family that has lost someone in the current war. This only includes Britannians, and not those of our allies. This also isn’t every person lost, just the families that have lost someone. Would you care to guess how many names appear on these pages?”
She looked from man to man, waiting for an answer. Not one said a word.
“Over twenty-one thousand. And do you know how many of those names belong to senatorial families?” She let the question hang. “Two. Only two of your number have known this sacrifice, and they are among the bill’s supporters. Those who yelled loudest about tyranny and the suffering caused by conscription are all among families who have given nothing.”
“Your Majesty,” Senator Alypius stood. “I’ve always supported the principle of conscription. My concerns were merely about implementation...”
“Really? I have here a pamphlet that I know you paid to have produced. It seems pretty clear that ‘Conscription represents nothing less than Imperial slavery, a violation of citizens and the beginning of tyranny.’ Are you suggesting this means something other than the words say? Do you have some clever spin to put on it that changes its very clear and plain meaning?”
Alypius sank back into his seat, his face reddening as the other senators edged further away from him.
“I thought not. Now, to the bill. You have all read it several times and clearly know what is in it, so I see no point in going over its provisions again. I will say that of all the members of the Western Alliance, we will be the last to enact this provision. All of our allies have already put nearly identical measures in place. Maybe it is because they are closer to the danger and, therefore, unable to stick their heads in the sand like you have, or maybe it’s simply because they are more well-reasoned than our venerable leadership. Either way, I will not have Britannia lead from behind. If we want to continue being Primate of the West, then we must earn that right. So does anyone object to skipping the reading of the bill and moving directly to a vote?”
None of the men had a counter to that.
“I hoped not. Those in favor of the Conscription Act, raise your hands.”
Hands rose across the chamber, first from her supporters, then from the uncertain middle, and finally, with obvious reluctance, from those who had opposed her most strongly. Even Alypius, after a moment’s hesitation, raised his hand.
“The vote is recorded as unanimous. My office will provide detailed implementation guidelines by day’s end,” she said, gathering her papers before pausing as she turned to leave the chambers. “And senators, remember this moment. Remember how close you came to choosing personal interest over that of the Empire. I certainly will.”
Factorium
He had not worked this hard in a long time, not since he was marching with the legions, before he became a praetorian. He had probably lost a good one and a half libra and put on twice as much of that in muscle. Claudius shook his head after pushing the crate into place, wiping the sweat from his brow, his calloused hands rough against his skin. Claudius gave a small smirk.
Even his hands had changed.
The summer heat bore down on the train yard outside of the factory warehouse, making the air inside thick and stifling. The large fans powered by the steam engines helped, but it was still stifling.
He adjusted his ill-fitting worker’s uniform, missing his much preferred praetorian uniform.
He had been here for over a week, watching the rail yard and warehouses that all of the smuggled goods he’d traced had come through. He’d tried the docks first, but the shipments had been widely scattered, with each seeming to come from a different berth in Devnum with no pattern to be found among the teams who loaded them.
Which led him to go one step back, following the path of goods from the factory to their holding warehouse, where they were shipped from.