Greeks and Romans: A Medieval Journey

Chapter 8 ~ An Unexpected Visitor

“Well, he sure left in a hurry,” Kendra said.
“Where will we be staying in this facility?” Tiberius asked.
“I’m not sure, but the sooner we go check out the holding, the sooner you will be able to rest,” Kendra replied.
“Very well. You lead and I will follow.”
She then started walking around the building, expecting the prisoners to follow. They did, and the remainder of the next two hours was spent exploring the new keep.
Surprisingly, Kendra and her companions found Laura and the rest of the prisoners in the top floor suite made for the wardens. They were all sleeping as if someone had gone in there with a jar full of sleeping gas and it had broken.
Deciding it was probably pointless waiting for them to awaken, Kendra and the three prisoners went into the suite beside the one Laura was in. They talked for a while, to catch Tiberius up on the events leading to his rescue and then drifted off to sleep one by one.
When Kendra woke up, only her mother was awake already. Laura asked, “Kendra honey, um... who is this?” She motioned to Tiberius’s sleeping form.
“Oh, do you mean Tiberius? He’s Sethon’s grandfather. You know, the commander. Apparently he was captured by the Greeks before the village was attacked. Heru was his replacement.”
“Um... that’s a lot to believe. Are you sure Sethon and Tiberius were lying?”
“Well, I don’t see any reason why they should lie. Do you?” Kendra asked.
“What if—” Kendra stopped her mother mid sentence, for she had seen something Laura hadn’t noticed: Sethon’s keen, focused eyes staring at her.
“What have you heard? Have you been spying on us?” she roared.
“P-please. I haven’t heard anything. Please don’t kill me.”
“I’m not going to kill you for spying. Just tell me what you heard. If you didn’t hear anything, then what were you doing staring at me?” Kendra asked.
“I-I thought you were pretty. If that is such a crime, then kill me right now.”
“Sethon,” Kendra replied with surprising patience, “flattery won’t work either. Tell me what you know!”
“Just that you don’t believe me about my grandfather. Tell me, is that so hard to believe? Could you just trust me for once without second-guessing everything I have to say?” he asked.
“Maybe I have just had too much tragedy in my life to want to believe someone could have had more. Remember long ago when you were talking with your general and commander and I walked in on your conversation? If I recall correctly, you were discussing whether or not to tell me something. Now I want to know what that was.”
“I can’t say without the commander and general present.”
“Are you sure about that? I think I can persuade you otherwise,” Kendra replied.
“Please, I think Octavius should say,” Sethon said without fear.
“Very well. Mother, can you wake him? We can take the two of them into the other room for a nice little chat.” Kendra then stalked off into the questioning chamber they had discovered in the keep earlier. Sethon reluctantly followed.
A few minutes later Laura dragged Octavius into the room and shut the door behind her. Kendra yelled in his ear and the deep sleeper grey-haired person named Octavius woke up with a start.
“Wha—what’s the fuss. Am—am I late for work again, Eliana?”
“Who’s Eliana? Your wife? A slave you’re fond of?” Asked Kendra.
“What? Who’s that? Oh, Kendra. It’s you. Is there something you need me to do?” The prisoner asked.
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. I need you to explain to me what you, Heru, and Sethon were talking about so long ago before I interrupted you.”
“I had evidence that your father was alive, and we were discussing whether or not to tell you. You already found out though, so it doesn’t matter now. Also, Eliana is my wife. She is the most beautiful woman in all the land and I love her. I may never get to see her again because of you.”
“I apologize for that. So, you were talking about whether or not to tell me about my father being alive all that time ago. Are you absolutely positive there wasn’t anything else I should know about?”
“Yes, there wasn’t anything else. Oh, and when are we going to go see Jason? I’m getting anxious.”
“Fine. We’ll leave now. Wake the others and we’ll be on our way.” With that, Kendra shoved both Sethon and Octavius into the room containing the sleeping prisoners.
The next few minutes were filled with the sounds of grunting prisoners. No one wanted to leave the comfortable suite for another long walk in the forest.
“Is everyone ready?” asked Kendra. Everyone nodded. “Good, then let’s go tell Kyros we are ready to leave.” The prisoners and Laura then followed her out of the keep and towards the capital hall.
When they arrived at the capital hall, Kyros was waiting for them. “Where on in Zeus's name have you been? I have been waiting all morning for you to show up! What could possibly have taken so long?” Kyros asked angrily.
“You don’t need to yell, as I was merely interrogating a few prisoners and it took longer than I thought. Can we go now?”
“Yes, but there is a slight change of plan.”
“And what is that?” Kendra asked.
“I will be going with you, along with my personal bodyguard.”
“But—fine.”
“Great, we leave in a few minutes, so make sure you’re ready.”
“Don’t worry, I will be ready for our little expedition,” Kendra said sarcastically. She was beginning not to like Kyros very much.
“I will see you in a few.” Kyros left.
“Great Athena! I am really starting not to like that guy. Is anyone else starting not to like that guy? Okay... now I’m rambling. I’m really starting not to like that guy.”
“I can see that,” replied Octavius, rolling his eyes.
“Don’t you roll your eyes at me,” Kendra said in a drama queen voice that sounded all too... her. Everyone laughed.
About an hour later Kyros returned with two big, buff guards in blue suits with the emblem of Corinth engraved on the shields they were carrying. “We are ready to head out to our little meeting place. Let us go. Now.”
“Sure, let us go but you shouldn't be the one giving orders around here. That is my job.”
“Very well. Your Majesty, if I should be so bold as to ask when we are to leave,” said the little squirm in an irritatingly formal voice that sounded as fake as he was.
“If you were so bold as to ask I would tell you that I was ready to leave a long time ago but alas, you weren't,” replied Kendra just as formally.
“Then I apologize for the inconvenience, Your Majesty, as I had not ment it to take as long as it did for my men to get ready.”
“Do not blame your men for your failure. Come, let us not delay any longer than we already have.”
“I agree with that completely,” said Kyros. He then followed Kendra out the door.
It was some time before Kyros, Kendra, and the prisoners arrived at the meeting place. When they finally did arrive, however, Jason had not shown up yet. Although he did arrive half an hour later, followed by an old man with a bushy beard.
As soon as Jason came Kyros started asking questions. Eventually after the fifth or so question, Kendra intervened. “Kyros, he does not have to answer any question you throw at him. Now Jason, who was the person following me?”
“The very same person who Octavius guessed.” Kendra let out her held breath. So that means...
“My father is alive?” Kendra asked. “My father is alive!” She turned to the old guy with the bushy beard. “Father?” Kendra asked like a little child. It was a rare moment.
“Yes, I am your father.”
“If you were alive then why did you never try to contact us? You could have at least come to my adulthood ceremony.”
“I am truly sorry for that. At the time I was busy getting away from the Roman army.”
“What!” exclaimed Kendra. “What do you mean you were busy getting away from the Roman army? How did you come into contact with them after you escaped the slave ship?”
“I will tell you the story...” Tyro clears his throat and prepares to begin. “All those years ago, when I was still on the nauseating slave ship, I was chained together with the other four council members hand and foot and suddenly I heard gunfire. Later I found out it was to scare the slave masters into submission, and that is exactly what happened. The people who rescued us took us to their small town in one of the small islands off the island of Greece. Soon after, however, the Roman army decided to attack their peaceful town. We prepared to defend it with our lives but when the time came we were outnumbered ten to one. The townsfolk, rescued slaves, and I all fled to sea. We only just got back from our very long sea voyage.”
“Wow...” Kendra was speechless. “I guess that explains why you weren’t able to contact us.”
“One question: why are you not at home and why are you hanging out with these Roman scum?”
“That’s two questions, father. Still, you should know what happened.” Kendra paused, making sure those around her were listening. “Our house burned down earlier this year and Mother was blamed. When the Romans came to collect her for slavery, they made the mistake of sending only their commander. I stopped their plan by capturing him. There were a few bumps in the road after that and pretty soon I had collected quite a few Roman prisoners. We made our way to Corinth, and here we stand,” Kendra finished.
“So which one was the commander?” Tyro asked.
“Heru.” Kendra pointed to him as she spoke. “Although,” she added, “he is actually quite nice once you get to know him.”
“Is that so? Wow, I always thought nice people don’t try to force someone into slavery just because their house burned down,” Tyro said sarcastically.
Heru looked ashamed and replied, “I did not know then that some Greeks could possibly respect someone of another background. That changed once I met Kendra, and she is one of the first people I know that treats others less fortunate than her as equals. For example, she could have killed my friend Sethon when he attacked her but instead she spared him, as she did me. Kendra could have killed any one of us at any given time, but instead she sought to become our friend. That is one of the reasons why I respect her so much.”
“Wow daughter, you managed to receive the respect of a Roman commander. That must have taken some doing,” replied Tyro.
“Father, don't be rude. Heru has been very kind, and his only interest is to keep his men alive and well.”
“I am sure he has been, and I must apologize for my behavior. It is just that I am not that trusting of Romans.”
“I can understand that, sir. It was the same way when my men and I found out Kendra was Greek,” Heru replied.
“What, you didn't know from the beginning?” Tyro questioned.
“Of course not. Your daughter kept as much from us as possible, and the only reason we know now is because she decided to tell us,” replied the Commander. After some thought he added, “With a little pestering, that is.”
“Good for you, Kendra,” laughed Tyro. “You were taught well.”
“I had a good teacher,” replied Kendra, joining in the fun.