Chapter 617: V Has Come To
Constantinople,
Once the glittering gem of empires, now a shadow of its former self. Where once half a million souls thrived in splendour, to around fifty thousand back during the times of Constantine XI, and now fewer than thirty thousand eke out their existence amid fading glory. As the empire has crumbled, so has the city. Thousands have fled to Antonius’ territories, abandoning a city embroiled in perpetual civil strife.
The burdens of maintaining an army and a cohort of city guards have become insufferable for the populace. Every tenth man dons a helmet rather than a tradesman’s cap, and the tax burden required to sustain such a force has become crushing. Innocentius, ever desperate, sells off the city’s heritage and strategic assets to foreign powers like Genoa and Venice. And General Fabrizio’s men have become little more than bandits ransacking the households of the citizens they are supposed to protect, condoned by a leadership from Germanicus too weak to pay them but too fearful to disband them.
This is a city bereft of hope, a fallen queen mourning in tattered silks, her pearl of great price sold off to finance her ruin. All that remains are the rags left by Lombard profiteers who grew wealthy off her despair.
And now, at this moment, the city is again plunged into another round of internal conflicts, as the national guards of Fabrizio launched a whole day of violent assaults on the Golden Gate.
The Golden Gate was never designed and built to yield against any internal attacks in the first place, but nevertheless it is still the best fortress Maximus’ can find at the current state. The army of Maximus is already in a failing state, he has already received news that his colleagues, the commanders of other armies in other barracks, have been purged around, but Innocentius did not touch the regular soldiers, instead he gave each of them ten copper Stavratons as rewards, and made them continue their service, and deliberately started to spread this news to the soldiers under Maximus through various means.
The soldiers will soon realise from the lures of the senate that it is not them whom the leadership is after, it is their officers and commanders, they do not have any reasons to continue fighting with their lives for their commanders, it is much easier for one to be corrupted by capitals rather than staying pure and following the path that is right.
Maximus is no exception, if it not for his period of service in the Hagia Sophia and got recommended by the formal Ecumenical Patriarch, he would not have gotten here today, but he cannot afford to lose, as he has accumulated some wealth doing trade with the benefits of his rank and married a noble’s daughter. He is not fighting here he hates the treacherous acts of the senate, but instead to protect his family and wealth.
The horn for attacks from the other side is blown again, Maximus dragged himself up as he prepared to fend off another day’s attack from three sides.
His lieutenant came approaching, Maximus can see the fear in his eyes.
"General, when is the reinforcement you promised coming?"
"Wait for it." Maximus replied. "The messenger only left yesterday at day break, we will need to at least fend off this place for another day before the Caesar’s army arrives."
The lieutenant did not reply and left the general back to his soldiers to convey the message. Maximus can sense it, the dismay and fear from his men is fast growing, for there are so much to gain if they abort their leader, but so many to lose if they choose to stay put and fight.
...
"Charge!"
Fabrizio pulled out his blade, confident that this shall be the one and last offensive action he will need to take before reclaiming the Golden Gate.
None of his scouts and sentries have gotten back to him yet regarding the movements of the Caesar – which is a good thing, as it means that the Caesar is yet far from this place. Germanicus and his gang have been infiltrating the defending armies since the start of the battle, trading off the defender’s loyalties bit by bit through various means such as bribing, threatening, promising, luring. By each hour there are defenders giving up their positions going for a run.
If this continues for another week Fabrizio would have taken this gate without any bloodshed, but he does not have the time, for obvious reasons. And then the senate can start to arrest these men who have turned on their general Maximus and confiscate their wealth.
What? You talking about integrity and trust of the senate? Man lets survive through the impending crisis first before we start talking about such trivial matters.
The horns are blown again, the rogues of Fabrizio started charging towards the closed gate climbing the lower sides of the Theodosian walls, exchanging blades with the defenders, unknowingly to Maximus, there are already two sections of defenders who have agreed to let easy on the offenders on two portions of the walls after receiving a huge sum of bribe, if everything goes according to plan, the fate of Maximus is now sealed here. Fabrizio is already starting to divert his attention away, allocating the defences on the walls for the coming siege by the tyrant of Thessaloniki.
...
"I put my trust in you, Mihail," Maximus said, locking eyes with the man slumped against the wall before him. His blade was slick with fresh blood, and his eyes glowed a fierce red, as if lit by an inner fire.
Mihail coughed painfully, grimacing as he lifted his head to meet Maximus’s gaze. "I apologize, General. For people like me, the minor players on the stage of history, we’re just doing our best to avoid being crushed by the tides that sweep us all."
Maximus straightened up, his eyes never leaving Mihail’s. "Didn’t I promise you? Once Caesar Antonius enters the city, prosperity will be ours. We’ll rise from the ashes of despair."
Shaking his head weakly, the dying man countered, "It’s hard to say, General. Hell feels all too near, and the easy way out, the path away from this hellish nightmare, is tempting. Isn’t it human nature to choose the path of least resistance? I suggest that you should run..."
But before that, Maximus’ blade has already came plunging in, slicing the throat of the man, ending his speech.
"I shall never go against my path!" Maximus yelled out with his eyes swollen with rage. "I have decided to go onto this path ever since the day they killed lord Giovanni!"
Suddenly, the Earth tremored beneath the walls, shaking with a violence that seemed to halt time itself. The ongoing clashes between the attackers and defenders of the Golden Gate froze as if stilled by the hand of a deity. Both sides, sensing something momentous on the horizon, rushed to the wall’s opposite side, arrows nocked and bows at the ready, as men of the fields they know very clearly on what the possible cause of the tremor can be. Yet what met their eyes was a sweeping veil of sandstorms, churned up by an abrupt gust of wind and accompanied by the deafening cadence of hooves pounding the earth. Whistles and orders pierced the air, and hearts pounded in collective apprehension. There could be only one force capable of this awe-inspiring approach—only one faction that would dare encroach upon the city from without.
Like a tempest unleashed, a massive cavalry of several hundred knights thundered toward the walls, their speed so breathtaking that those guarding the city had no time to react. They arrived, unstoppable and undeniable, as though they were the rightful heirs to the city—or soon would be.
Pulling up their mounts in a dramatic halt just before the Golden Gate, the knights at the forefront parted like the Red Sea, their banners adorned with the true cross of Chi Rho, the flag of the emblematic red lion, and the regal double-headed eagle in resplendent purple. At the epicentre of this protective ring stood a man swathed in robes of imperial red, a golden laurel crown glinting magnificently in the summer sunlight.
Antonius De Ricci surveyed the archers lining the walls above him, then broke into a triumphant laugh that echoed like the call of destiny. Unsheathing his gleaming blade, he pointed it straight at the gate and roared with the ferocity of a lion.
"Citizens of Rome! I, Antonius De Ricci, the rightful Caesar of the Imperium Romanum, have returned to this eternal city! I bring you peace, protection, and prosperity!"
Whispers swept through the ranks of the soldiers stationed atop the walls, yet no one dared act. The tension was palpable, a taut wire stretched to its limit.
Antonius spread his arms wide, his voice rising in a crescendo of indomitable will. "Soldiers! Defenders of Rome! If there be any among you who wish to kill their Caesar, here I am!"
The words echoed across the courtyard and walls, a clarion call that reverberated in every heart and soul. Maximus, on the other side of the walls, heard it too, he too bursted out in laughter covering his eyes, and jeered his pal now unconscious on the ground. "You see! Look at you, you pathetic creature! What have I told you? What have I told you! You ungrateful bastard!"
No one responded to Maximus of course, but others did respond back to their rightful Caesar.
