Chapter 2

Sextus Aquilinus had the document ready the next day and it was full of errors. All of the errors seemed to favour Sextus though. On new papyrus I wrote out, in detail, what I would do. Some were done for no charge and some were at cost. I was very explicit in that I was the one that was to determine what the cost really was. This too was written down.

The ships I drew up were large to the Romans but had a limited tonnage. I could use barges when working in inland waters and turn a better profit. I also wanted to improve ports, shipyards, and rivers. Canals and locks had to be made as did hydro electric projects. If Sextus wanted to use the canals I built then he would have to pay the going rate. There were so many ways to get back at him and all of them were not only legal but ethical.

When I handed the eight page document I said, "This is in my writing. I would be angry if any of it was altered. I would like to talk to your investors when it is convenient for all of you."

Sextus went over the document and I could see that he was angry but held it in. I asked, "Is there something that I said that was not written in the document? Was there something that was not as I originally said it?"

"I do not remember all the things that I have to pay for."

"I remember them well. I am not a Roman. I say my words simply and clearly. You were to support Julian. The gods, as you know, want Julian as your Augustus. What you can offer me is very limited but I want all of it. You may try to get favours for your support when you speak to Julian but remember that you have nothing to offer. You have already sold your support to me. A ship takes a long time to build. If you cannot complete your side of the agreement then I am not under any compulsion to do what I have stated I would."

"Julian is the Augustus already."

"And he will need your continued support. That is the same way you need my continued support."

"Why do you speak like this? Are we not friends?"

"We are businessmen. If you want to say we are friends then we are friends the same way you are friends with the other senators."

"They are my friends, Jón."

"Your definition of a friend is different from mine. Think of me as a person you have business with. In the long run we will both be happier that way." It was difficult to get Sextus out but he did go. I made it abundantly clear that I did not like the man but he did not know what I knew about him yet.

Later that day AsA and I had a private chat. She said, "What is it that you do to my daughter? No woman could be made that happy."

"I have healed myself. I am stronger and quicker than any other man. Men are not usually concerned if their lover is pleased or not. I do care. My body has changed in this regard too so that I can last longer than any other man. Lastly, your daughter and Patricia know that I love them. Having sex is fun for us but usually we make love which is not the same."

"KhAvar says that she gets so excited when you are around that... that she responds very quickly."

"That can be learned. If your daughter or Patricia see me then we make love they will soon feel the urge by just seeing me. This is a well understood fact from my time."

"No woman could get that excited."

"I love your daughter and she loves me. I would not hurt her and I do not think she would harm me."

"She says that you may want other women."

"Mother, my body is young. Even when I am old I know that I can keep my mates happy. I am on a quest to bring the entire world together. To do that I have to travel and meet people. Taking a woman that will be a wife in all but the name is a way of cementing relations."

Asa said, "You have two women that are closely related to two powerful empires. Is that how you will bring the people together?"

"Patricia I loved because of the woman she is. She is the illegitimate daughter of Julian. She would not be in line to inherit other than a gift of gold. I would want her if she were a poor man's daughter. I found KhAvar in the home of a pirate. I was asked to see what I could do to help her when asked by a caring older woman. I fell in love with the girl that was sent off with a dowery and had the misfortune to loose the gift and be taken captive. She just happens to be a young Persian woman."

I looked at her and she finally said, "I do not believe that you knew of her family. You seem honest enough, though you still hide things."

I replied, "We all have something we can hide. You are no different."

"What do you know?" she said quickly.

"I now know that you have a deep dark secret. I do not know what it is and frankly it is your business, not mine. I was just saying that we all have actions and feelings we want to keep hidden."

"So you are going off to find a wife in India and one in China?"

"No, I am not. I will go to both places. I may find a woman that will be interested in me. If she is good enough, I will bring her home so she can enter my family. I will learn from her and she will teach Patricia and KhAvar about her race. They will teach her about the Persians and the Romans. It is also true that I may find nobody that will be good enough."

"You make it sound like this is disagreeable."

"It is far from disagreeable. I have the capacity to love more than one woman and I have the body that can make love to them all too. The women will come to me one way or another. Whether they stay with us or not will have to be decided yet."

"I figured that the gods would be involved. They may have had a hand in KhAvar finding you."

"They might. Look at the great prizes I found. I had to do a great deal to gain their love and keep them safe."

AsA left the room a short time after. I had to attribute her talk to trying to find the best for her daughter. Sharing with Patricia was bad enough but now she understood the reasons for more. She may also think that I was holding her daughter through the use of magic but the only magic I really used was love. The conditioning with sex may be something I would have to reduce but it did make our lovemaking much more stimulating.

Later that afternoon, Klement came to me and whispered, "Did you know that KhAvar's mother and the other two women can work magic?"

This surprised me but then a few pieces of information fell into place. It was quite possible. Those that could really do magic were rare. Klement had said that he thought that only one in ten thousand had the ability and only some of those could develop to be a mage. The person had to then realise that he or she had a small ability then they had to have a mind that would allow it to grow. AsA or Sapor may have gathered those he found to be with him or they may have come to Sapor of their own volition.

The fact that they were here now could mean a lot. AsA would be my mother-in-law but that did not mean that she would love me. I liked and admired all of the women but they could still have their own agendas.

I heard from Klement that there were occasions where people were swayed by magic or they died quite abruptly. This led me back to Sapor. The man may make a play for a large portion of the Roman empire since so many legions were dead and an new Augustus was taking the reins soon. Sapor was known to have used magic himself but all the mages were weak and male.

"I did not know, Klement. Your words sound very true to me now that you pointed this out."

"Are you safe?"

I smiled and said, "I think so. Don't mention what you told me to anybody else for the moment. I get the feeling that this is not a good thing for a Persian woman to be delving into. You and I are going to have to talk more about magic. People of my time did not believe in magic and that may have been the reason it didn't work very well."

"The mages may just have kept their abilities hidden."

"That could be the case. Magic can be a great tool but it has to be understood and controlled. I do not want a person running around like I have done and making large waves in people's lives."

"I guess you have been doing that. Most of the things you have done are good. I don't think I could... kill as many people as you have."

"It is not easy either. When a man is pushed, he does what he has to do. By the way Klement, do you have a job to do?"

"I have been helping Mithridates sometimes."

"I need to understand magic. Will you help me find out about the subject and write the information down?"

"I will if you ask but I am not good at writing. There is not much to write because they are done by feel."

"Then list what you have heard that mages could do. List what you can do too so we can study this. The information you write will be very valuable."

"I will do that if you wish."

An hour later I found HidA when she was by herself and I walked up to her with a smile. "Hello, HidA. May we talk for a moment?"

"I don't see why not. You are being formal all of a sudden. Is there something wrong?"

"Something may be very right. Klement was one of the mages that tried to capture me. I captured him instead and got him to leave the city so I would not have to kill him."

"That was a good but mages are dangerous."

"They may be but he says that you are a mage too."

"Me?"

"Yes, you. AsA and Mehrnoosh are too. I think you were trying to hide this for some reason. I want to learn about magic. The quickest way I think is to have a tutor. Will you teach me what you know?"

"I cannot teach you this."

"Why not?"

"It... it is not done. It is not good to be known that you can perform magic."

"Klement and I know. I am trying to learn magic. I want to do it my way where we do experiments and measure the results. Will you help me?"

"I cannot. People will know."

"You, Mehrnoosh, AsA, Klement and I will do this. Nobody will know but us. It is easy to just talk and do some experiments."

"You are very strong in your power. Why do you need us?"

"When I came back from the land of the gods, I had the ability to heal myself. I was not told about this and I had to learn on my own. I still do not know much. That is why I want to learn."

"You would get too much power. You..."

"Yes, I could go crazy with the power. That is why we need an organisation that will police those that use magic. You could be one of those."

"But... I am a woman."

"You know my views on women. They are just as capable as men though not always in the same way. Your talent may make you stronger."

I paused and it took HidA a few minutes to say, "I will have to discuss this with the others."

"I hope you do. I gave Klement the job of listing what a magician could do and then another list of what he can do. He is going to investigate for me and I would like all of you to help."

HidA was a little more contemplative now and said with less worry, "I will mention that."

That night I was resting between my ladies when I heard a knock at the door. The girls were quite sated and didn't even know that I was getting up. I went to a small reception room. The man that usually relayed messages for the Augustus and now me stood at attention. He still wanted to bow and then spew paragraphs of flowery phrases but was learning to do without.

"My lord, a messenger from the Augustus is here."

"Send him in."

"Do you wish to dress?"

"It is a soldier and if it isn't then he has to take me the way I am."

"Yes... my lord."

The messenger came in with four other men. He was tired and dirty but had taken some time to get himself cleaned. "My lord, Julian..."

When the titles were over I knew that Julian was in the port of Constanta because he had just left the Danube. He had three legions with him this time but there was little to fight.

I asked questions and they were answered quickly as if the man knew the questions ahead of time. I also read the letter Julian sent me. He seemed quite pleased that he had to fight so little and could not wait to catch up on all the interesting events he missed while fighting a civil war.

I got the men a place to wash up then a bed. My girls and I were going to be evicted from the suite and we would have to find another room for ourselves.

More sleep was out of the question though I had little so far. There was a lot to get in order and little time to do it. I picked out a good guest room for us but it was nowhere as large or flashy. The cooks and the cleaners could sleep until five but they too would have to get up early and start to prepare.

When I went to wake up my ladies, I was pulled into bed but it took a moment until they found out that I had clothes on. Patricia said, "You going to take those off? We need you."

"I would love to but your father will be here today."

"When!"

"Around noon give or take a few hours. He still has an army to quarter."

"I have so much to do."

"Let's start by moving our things down the hall. This bed does not belong to us."

We looked at KhAvar and she looked a bit apprehensive. Patricia said, "You do not have to worry. It's my father." It was something she knew very well but still did not feel complacent with.

"But he is the Augustus."

"This is not the affairs of state. This is family. We have to get this place cleaned out. We have to clean the new room and they we have to clean ourselves. I want to fix my hair and yours too. Maybe we can get our nails done if there is time."

"You said he was family."

"He is but we still have to look good. Let's go."

The city and the palace were in an uproar. Everybody wanted to make a good impression on the new Augustus. Meals had to be prepared but this time I made sure the more exotic dishes were not made. Julian did not like this sort of food.

Laundry, sweeping, cleaning and the gathering of flowers became major operations. I did what I could for the girls and even worked on painting their toenails. The two talked over my head about this being a proper job for me. I simpered like a slave and they kept up the act.

The girls were excited and watched from the walls. The boats were not seen by eleven. I pulled them from AsA and Afrasiab long enough to quiet them down without spoiling their hair, nails or clothing. We came back in forty-five minutes and AsA looked closely at each of the girls. They were more serine now and I too felt better.

"You did a good job Jón. I wish you were around when I was a girl."

"There are still some good men out there. You just have to find them and then train them."

"Did you really paint their toes?"

"Yes I did. Everybody was busy but I like doing nice things for my family."

"Yes, yes I think you do."

I was the first to see the masts in the distance. There were a lot of them and they were all coming from the north. The curvature of the earth said that for every hundred metres the masts would raise on centimetre. I made a guess at the mast size and told them my estimate. I had time to take the girls back for the second stage in relaxation.

The population was out in force and lined the cleaned roads that led to the palace. I had to fight the senators to get to the front of the line even after I said that Patricia belonged there as his daughter. I pulled KhAvar with us along with her mother and friends.

A boat load of guards got off first then came Julian and his higher echelon officers. The guard passed our position and then stopped. Julian came to us and Patricia had to break ranks and cry as she hugged her father.

She recovered fairly quickly because Roman women were supposed to be stronger than that and a public display like that was unseemly. Julian kissed his daughter though and helped her get back beside me.

I looked for one steam driven vessel but I did not see it. There were some important people on that ship too.

I said, "Welcome to Constantinople Flavius Claudius Julianus, Augustus of the Roman people."

"Welcome to you too, Jón." He turned to smile at his daughter then at KhAvar and said, "Is this your other woman, KhAvar?"

"Yes she is. She wants to show you her painted toes that I spent all morning colouring."

Julian backed up and looked at the ground and said, "You did a good job Jón."

"Thank you. The girls thought I could make a living doing this for the ladies."

"Maybe you could. Who are these other lovely ladies beside you? You are not taking more women are you?"

"No, I have no time for that. I want you to meet AsA. She is KhAvar's mother."

I then introduced the two older women then Afrasiab as the Persian emissary. This took but a moment and Julian pulled us with him as he walked down the line of senators and their families. It took a long time to get to the palace even with some chariots readied for him.

I saw him look far above the walls and see a lot of kites. Most of them had a flaming figure painted on them. He had seen kites before but never this large.

The procession did not end at the gates. Julian now had to greet those that were within the walls. He came in the opening in the wall that I made with the sword. He looked up at the perfectly cut stone for minutes but neither said nor asked anything.

After a long time, Julian and his officers were free of the crowds. He looked tired and I just led him to his suite and pointed to a hot bath. It was ready and he smiled at me in appreciation. We gave him some time to recover and relax because the next few days would be hectic. Some of the more comely female slaves that had bathed Constantius, now bathed the new Augustus. His own guards still had to be in attendance because high ranking figures still died when they let their guard down.

Tertius had pulled in his kites and anxiously said, "Where is my father? I thought he would be with... the Augustus."

"I did not have time to ask but your father is not a high ranking officer. We will just have to wait."

"Do you think he was hurt?"

I put my hand on the young man that was actually a bit taller than me. "He is all right. I asked about him last night."

He smiled for a second then his face clouded and a tear came to his eye. He said, "They may have killed my mother."

"Your mother was very healthy. If there was a chance then she would recover."

Patricia was nearby and put her arm around the boy not much younger than she was and said, "Trust in Woden. He may have needed her in Asgard but he may have wanted her here too."

I didn't like this sort of platitude. Promising something that could not be given and no way for somebody to know the truth. This was also part and parcel of the way a religion operated. It did give solace to those that needed it and a way for a grieving person to think that there was some plan in the leaving of a loved one.

The meal was still lavish. I had to be the one that set out the seating. The senators could not be snubbed even though some of them were traitors to their country. My family, Asa and Afrasiab would sit near Julian but at different table. This would show that I was not as important but I had a plan. We would converse loud enough for everybody to hear and this would be our way of letting the senators know how weak their position really was.

Julian emerged from his room looking good and I told him of my plan. He did not like it. "You should eat beside me to show people that I think the most of you."

"We can do that at later times but my father and Lucius should be honoured too."

During the meal some people came into the room and I excused myself and went over to greet them. Tertius came with me because he had seen one of the guests. I welcomed Clovis first and some of his men. With them were Lucius, and some of his men. Tertius greeted them too and did so in German for Clovis' benefit.

I counted heads and said, "I saved room so you could eat with us."

When we were sated, Julian started to tell some of the stories of his campaign. At various points he would stop and get somebody else to speak about this particular facet. The men also talked about how well Julian fought but this was the Roman way of doing things.

Clovis was introduced and he had to talk about his part in the fighting. I found that a great many men had picked the Patricia up and dragged her across the land and put her into the waters that fed the Danube. A narrow barge was constructed though some of it was prefabbed. This was the actual fighting portion because it carried many barrels of powder, shot and shells along with a multitude of cannon. The barge sat low in the water because we had two ballast tanks that allowed it to be extra stable when fighting.

There were only a few times it was used because news of its ability spread quickly and it was hard to fight against it. Attack craft sent against it were cut to shreds. Land based attack could only be large rocks, flaming oil or large heavy spears thrown by siege machines.

Clovis spoke from his feet so all could hear which is the way most Germans spoke when talking of fighting. "After the first battle we had nothing to do. The Augustus sent calvary ahead of us and any time there was a trap we got word of it first and used mortars on them. If we have another campaign like this I am going to ride a horse so I can get in on the fighting. I never got scratched and I don't think my armour got touched."

Lucius was the captain of the Patricia. He had to speak too. "I at least did not have to wear armour. I was in a room with glass walls. In the narrow sections of the river we used the telescopes and got our share and more of Constantius' men but all at a distance. I too would like to ride a horse in battle but I think we did more harm to the enemy than a thousand calvary. No city opposed us though one town was held by Constantius' supporters. My good friend Clovis spoke to them with his cannon and they opened the doors to us."

One of Clovis men said, "Yes, because we put a hole in their wall fifty paces wide."

The mutual admiration society was in full swing but usually Julian was the target and he enjoyed this. I was brought into the discussion many times but I tried to get the talk put off until tomorrow. One war was enough for one meal.

The meal never really ended though most of the food was taken away. The provocations for the war were then given sadly.

Lucius spoke of the deaths of his sons and even daughters. I was relieved to hear that Licinia was still alive though scarred. Her left hand had to be amputated. Many of my extended family had died or been wounded because they had risen up to fight the Romans. Some of my property was destroyed because the Romans were after booty. Anything that was iron that was not nailed down was taken. Usually it was dropped later as they were pursued.

I had thought that the Romans had only come to raid but the numbers showed that they were planning on staying. It was the fact that our people were so well armed that tipped the balance.

Julian usually liked his wine but today he drank in moderation. We left to find a smaller venue. When he could get rid of more of his guests he called for me. I brought my people and family with me because they had lots to say too.

Julian asked me, "What happened in Antioch, Jón?"

"I was preparing to fight the legion and made some new explosives." I turned to Clovis and said, "The type I used was more powerful than your powder. I made tonnes of it and spread it around the city so that the attackers would set it off without me being there. Because of this battle, I had tried my hardest to evacuate the city. Some people are just too hard headed to leave and hid when I sent people out to remove them.

"When the legion came, the soldiers tried hard to find me and found all of the families that didn't want to leave along with the slaves and servants of the rich. They were held in that arena for questioning. The general asked them about my whereabouts and they could not answer. I was actually hiding under the seats at the time. The general got angry because he could not catch me. I had inflicted a lot of casualties on his men. He took out his anger on the innocents."

I had paused and Julian asked, "What happened then?"

"Woden spoke to me and demanded that I leave the city. He too was not pleased with the slaughter of innocents. I climbed the mountain and started to descend the other side of the plateau when Thor's hammer fell. Even at that distance I had to hold onto a tree or be flung about. Rock fell from the sky a long time and it was good that I had my armour on.

"I staggered back to Antioch and saw a ring of flames extending far from the city. The city itself was flattened. I heard that Constantius was caught in this but he was saved by being under water when the shockwave and then the flames came his way. As it was, almost all of his guards died."

Julian asked questions for a few minutes but I could see that he already had reports. "Tell me about Aldúlfr?"

"Constantius used mages to find KhAvar, MehrAk. He then tried to find me with them. Constantius had made the head mage, Felix, the pope for political reasons. He was the strongest mage I have met. My people were being crucified, MehrAk was murdered and KhAvar was next. I had been severely beaten and lost an eye and had many broken bones. I had found a way to fight and it involved my ability to heal. The mages kept me from using this weapon.

"Aldúlfr came to me then when he was needed most. He destroyed my enemies. Aldúlfr took us to the palace and told everybody that you were his choice for Augustus."

Julian thought for a moment and asked, "My cousin?"

"Your cousin escaped when Aldúlfr appeared. It was the crowd that found him and his guards."

Julian said, "You will have to tell me the details later."

"The details will take weeks to tell you. I was thinking of writing a book on what has been done here."

"You can make books very quickly. Your fame should spread."

"It is not my fame that I want," I lied. "The story of Woden and his help for mankind is what I am trying to write." Notoriety was beneficial to promote my causes.

Clovis was quiet seeing that he was but a king. He said to me, "We brought some copies of your third book with us. There are not too many because you said you want to check them first with some others."

"Thank you, Father."

I was cross-examined by almost all of the newcomers until all of the details came out about my trip down the Danube and my efforts to drum up support for Julian. The run-in with the pirates was known but the details were sketchy. Mithridates was not here so I had to talk about the attack myself. I tried to keep the specifics to myself because I had not finished with some of the pirates yet or their Roman masters.

The discussion about Sapor was brought in next and I talked about my time with him. I was not ashamed to say that I gave some stingers to the king but they were not many.

As soon as I could I introduced AsA once more and let her talk. It did not take long for her to get used to her audience. She talked at length about how I appeared from the Persian perspective. She mentioned that I was a disturbing influence but that over a period of time I showed them that I was not there to harm their people but to help them.

Afrasiab was then asked to say what he knew. He said what he believed his king felt and what he was commanded to say and do. He put a good coating on it when he talked about how Sapor was not disposing of the Roman slaves, but getting them to tutor the Persian youth.

Julian asked him, "What are the peace terms you were mentioning earlier?"

"Armenia will be a test of friendship for the Roman and the Parthian Empires. Taxes and public works will be administered by a group composed of people elected by the Roman and the Parthian people. Rome may not demand military levies from this land but neither may my king. If this works out then we will look at a closer cooperation with the Roman Empire."

"What about trade and commerce?"

"They are free to trade but there will be port taxes the same as Rome now has but the gold will be used to improve the ports."

"Jón," Julian said, "what do you think of this?"

"I am one of those that helped draught this plan. It gets Rome out of the war without losing face. The same is true of the Persians. The mountains to the north and east will be a natural barrier to the Huns. I have mentioned before that the Huns will carve out an empire larger than the Persians and some of this will come from those lands now controlled by the Romans and the Persians. Much of what is now called Germania will fall to the Huns too. When the time comes, I think that the three of you should band together against a common enemy and restrict them to lands in the east."

"Armenia is a rich province and we will lose a lot of taxes."

"So will the Persian Empire. The gold will still be collected but it will now go to the people of that region. In time the province will be very rich. At the same time trade will flourish. King Sapor will build some ships to travel east. They will bring back the spices that Romans enjoy. The quantity will be so much that the price will fall. Persia will be the middlemen now but do so in a way to get much of the trade that goes in that direction."