Cautiously, Aurelia moved a little away from Gaius so that she could better look into his magnificent eyes, which gazed lovingly down at her like a night without stars. Light as a feather, her heart fluttered in her chest. Tears welled up in her eyes. Her love for him echoed in every fibre of her body until everything around her faded and her world consisted only of this man she loved so much. With each blink, his expression grew more uncertain. Reassuringly, she gently increased the pressure of her intertwined hands.
"My heart is yours, Gaius. Neither now nor in the future will there ever be another for me," she replied softly. "So yes, I will marry you."
With each word his face brightened more and more. No sooner had she finished than he lifted her up and spun her in circles with joy. Thousands of butterflies danced in her stomach. Never in her life had she been so happy as in that little stolen moment on the terrace bathed in moonlight. When Gaius pressed her against the pillar with his body, she snuggled against him. The warmth of his body drove away the chill of the night. Happily, he studied her face for a long time. At last, his lips settled on hers and the world stopped spinning. Time stood still. There was only him and everything else had lost its meaning.
After what seemed like an eternity, they parted and strolled hand in hand back to the dining room. It was time to announce the news: Rome's most eligible bachelor and its richest heiress were no longer single. Soon Rome would have a new empress.
Suddenly everything was cold and wet. Snorting, she rode up from her sleep and tried desperately to wake up. Immediately she registered the man in her room, who was just setting down an empty bucket next to her bed, clanking.
"Are you crazy?" she snapped angrily at Vespasian. Without an ounce of pity, he looked down on her. Unmoved, he ordered her to dress and appear at the training ground immediately. Before she could hurl an insult at him, he threw a heap of clothes in her face and instructed her to actually wear them. Then he turned on his heel and rushed out of her room. Furious, she sank back onto her pillow. But it was too wet. Frustrated, she jumped out of bed and untangled her clothes. Annoyed, she heaved a sigh. He couldn't possibly be serious. Hastily she dressed, took a longing look at her trousers, which she had hastily thrown over the chair yesterday, gathered the skirts and silently scurried through the dark corridors.
As she stepped through the door out into the courtyard, the blade of a sword suddenly appeared in front of her neck. Surprised, she backed away. Furious, she glared at her attacker.
"Are you completely mad now? You almost beheaded me," she hissed angrily, but Vespasian only put a finger to his lips and Aurelia fell silent in confusion. Then he grabbed her arm and half dragged her to her usual training ground behind the stables. Roughly he let go of her and if not for Vespasian's months of training she would have lost her balance.
"If you are to survive at Gaius' side, you must be vigilant at all times," he began gravely. "Now that he is Princeps, his enemies are lurking everywhere and there will not always be someone there to protect you. Any guard can be stunned or killed and if you cannot fight in your fine clothes, you are dead. For this training you will wear heavier fabrics like wool for better preparation. I will give you thirty seconds to choose your weapons, more than any assassin. So hurry up so that the training can finally begin"
Even though a small part of her knew he was right, Aurelia was seething with anger. While Vespasian counted aloud, she grabbed some knives and quickly fixed them in her sleeves, her shoes and strapped one to her thigh. At the last second, she grabbed a gladius and was able to jump aside just as Vespasian was also about to attack.
Like a hunter, he wheeled around to her and without hesitation slashed at her. With the first blow, her anger dissolved, and all her attention was on her opponent. She dodged, parried, jumped to the side, ducked away, but she did not attack. If she wanted to stand a chance against an experienced warrior like Vespasian, he had to be quite sure of his victory. She threw a couple of knives against the stable wall and after tripping over the skirt of her cursed dress, Vespasian took advantage of her carelessness and playfully struck her on the buttocks with the flat of his sword. Indignant, Aurelia gave him a bitter look, but he only laughed. The bastard wasn't even out of breath. The coarse fabric scratched her skin and was simply far too hot. Hastily, Aurelia backed away, trying not to trip over her hem again. With a grim smile on his face, he came towards her. The sword loosely in his hand. With a lightning-quick movement of his sword, her weapon fell clattering to the ground. Vespasian made a leap and held his blade to her neck.
"Dead," he declared. Aurelia smiled sweetly at him.
"Are you quite sure about that?" she asked, and irritated, he looked down at himself. The tip of her dagger hovered waiting between his two ribs ready to strike right at the heart. Surprised, he returned her gaze. Acknowledging, he nodded, then slowly took his sword from her throat and she casually put the dagger back to her thigh.
Suddenly someone clapped their hands. Aurelia jerked her head up and was surprised to see Gaius leaning against the wall of the barn at a safe distance in the soft light of the rising sun. Next to him stood Clemens, who was leaning forward and whispering something in his emperor's ear. A warm smile spread across Gaius' face.
Aurelia looked questioningly at Vespasian, who was collecting the knives that were scattered all over the training ground. Hesitantly, she stepped up to her spectators.
"Well fought, Aurelia," Clemens praised her appreciatively. Silently she thanked him. Gaius gently pulled her to him and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. Proudly he smiled at her.
"You'll get a real kiss when you've freshened up," he explained softly, and Aurelia rolled her eyes. Grinning, Vespasian joined them. Jokingly, they exchanged a few words about the fight. Then they walked back to the house together, chatting animatedly. Aurelia quickly washed and changed into one of her noble dresses. Relieved, she examined the dirty rags of wool. Sighing, she threw the remains on the floor - they were definitely too dirty for the chair. She would collect everything later and bring it to Lima, a good-natured slave who took care of the laundry.

At breakfast, Aurelia was relieved to find that none of the men disapproved of her new skills. On the contrary, Clemens and Vespasian promised to continue their lessons together in Rome. After Gaius had thanked Vespasian for Aurelia's training, he asked how his friend had come up with the idea of teaching a woman to fight. Vespasian smiled conspiratorially at Aurelia.
"She bugged me until I had no choice but to teach her everything I know," Vespasian replied jokingly and Gaius nodded gravely. Satisfied, he murmured that he was now less worried about his fiancée's safety. Happily, Aurelia smiled up at him. Before she could say anything in reply, the sound of hooves clattering from the courtyard rang out to them in the house. Vespasian jumped up and ran towards the sound. Gaius took Aurelia's hand and pulled her along with him, while Clemens followed them like a third shadow.
"It's Magnus!" exclaimed Vespasian in surprise as they stepped out and Aurelia shielded her eyes to see better. Just then the rider galloped into the courtyard, bringing his exhausted horse to a halt with a curse and jumping clumsily off the poor animal's back. Immediately two slaves rushed over and took care of the horse. Grimly, Magnus stomped up to Vespasian and greeted him with the words, "Sorry to disturb you. But I have an urgent message for the princeps"
Vespasian nodded to his friend and Magnus rummaged in his pocket. Finally, he pulled a letter out of his pocket and handed it to Gaius without another word. Frowning, he broke the seal, unrolled the papyrus and held the sheet so that Aurelia could also read the words. Only one sentence looked menacingly at them: Come back immediately.