LOVE AND HONOR: The Mad Emperor (BL)

arly January,

raini

ER-P

ble for the

ER-P

his head toward the endles

ing his black hair, tracing c

mps pop

wnpour, his eyes swollen a

of damp earth.

th an invisible force. 'The sk

and to his chest, as if the pres

st the cobblestones, each drop a lonely note i

SH S

dus stood alone in the ra

obles-each too absorbed in their own lives to

, clung to his thin frame. His brown, tattere

chattered. Hi

rying like me

there, welcoming the sky's tears

small, rain-soaked hand, smearing awa

nd began to walk, sploshing the accumul

hts drifted tow

le voice. The way her ey

g his vision. He wiped them away with th

e with you, my

, soft and comforting, a prom

SH

their hands on him, when his mot

yes and wait. Wait f

her always

instead!" She would plead,

hey w

Hair ripped

ver stopped p

l to where he hid, huddle

bruised and bloodied, and offe

, my son. It's

His breath caught as his

whispered

h his sleeve, but the

d the blood off your face befo

, she w

died las

m alone. V

g. "Mother is truly gone," he sniffl

rfaced-one that brough

.. She's in the after

cross his lips, despite the

knees

y betra

old stone wall beside him, fingers trembling.

en, he

n wept

hole, his father's reaction when

care o

if the woman who had died was

clenching into fists. 'Well.

His mother is

descent. An exotic beauty that

ther found o

w the Cornelii fami

ent-just because the family had no suitable

dy p

ives. The

ion, his love curdled into hatred. Ov

l remembered the rage in his father's voice.

ger nev

his father's final, cruel

s a half-ling! Vae! A

eped into his bones, deeper

do you hate

d, though he knew he'd never h

she chose to be

fists. His father would

e Corn

se bloomed i

ll return all th

pushing back the weakness in his

elentless, mirroring t

ugh the city, som

ve with voices,

the chatter of passersby-was muted, swa

med over em

standing still. W

ls where the scent of roasted meats and spic

rowned. '

f the times he and his mother had walked here toget

, eyes drifting shut as

he way she would buy him something sma

e flickered

they feel like

rowled, break

't eaten sin

ing her hand, watching th

on your own now... but I wil

inal

inal

d in his arms, her fin

come to take her away, he migh

his hands. Still filthy

hat had buried h

gers, rain poolin

w tightly he hel

slipped ri

nants of mud from his hands, reve

tung. His nails were j

like

n, ruin

ith fresh tears. It was cold-so cold

inside, h

as if his body couldn't decide

hy

Mother ha

orn the daught

that make me?

ched. His thou

plebeian. Then what am I? W

rtain future pressed d

like d

eone

eas

e me

by the empty streets, lost beneat

ees bu

e, he co

skin, but it was nothing compare

throwing fleetin

e sto

ne c

eling on the wet streets o

id not wee

of wheels and hooves c

ots.

had begun

r cruel or kind

GE T

of rain left behind

y began to lighten, its deep g

d through the damp air

pled through th

l kneeling, l

orgotten where he was,

y pressed i

sea of somber faces. The people around him wer

th

na

spoken in hu

mani

s stif

that name man

been lashing him, the sting of

s father had spoken

s has fina

mother had been too ill to stand, her fevered for

t of that statemen

general. Adored by nob

to be sent east-Antioch, they said-

er ret

amily was bringi

r seemed to

es against the rain-slicke

GE T

t passed, drawn by

ocked onto the w

her expression bordering on madn

was raw, u

GE T

ned, forming a long, winding path toward the Mausoleum

... or a funer

ght of grief-his own and the city's-se

liberate pace matched the

ld was

ad been no grand mourning, no

his mother, and the

s only Lepidus. The man just stood th

d for the daugh

of the social hierarchy. They hav

sted in his gut as he wa

general, had the ent

rest in silence, her existence

GE T

lenched h

sorrow while his own mother's

e're both people! Why i

d is so u

ming the people riding

woman riding a wider and bigger chariot, t

g girl s

his age-no,

ty was s

piercing blue eyes seemed almost too bright, too clea

odde

ran down

GE T

t just her beauty that unnerved him

e a statue-per

GE T

shaking off the

hought. 'I've seen better-my mother

turned away, ready to

ost its bri

.. gone

gods weep

ple murmured as

ords cu

his mother. No one had

se. There were no crowds. No process

e. A hole i

eeling in th

s curled i

hy

e all of this? The mournin

he was p

he was i

is mo

of slave descent. A discarded

world

y unlike anything he had eve

wer decides

s mou

s for

suff

thri

haky, his heart pound

y a whisper, but the weight of the word

mother's death wouldn

wouldn't have suffere

ther wouldn't have look

we

thing that matte

ed him in his track

vo

Melanc

ng

ke a ghostly wail, wrapping aroun

caught. '

ng the crowd, and his

godd

as si

t made his chest ache, as if his very soul want

GE T

e pulled

when the chariot p

tbeat st

MP THU

was even mor

id she sing

e feel

world ha

hung in the a

GE T

MP THU

g, Lepidus took

ano

g the procession, his exhaustion a

rowd blurred into the stead

HUMP

H

*********

DE

-

(ranked fourth in t

city in

statuses/

erial

icians

ts, but those who are very wealthy withou

ians (co

or freewomen-former s

s from the very bottom-manc

their physical strength in

d slaves, known for th

r their brains, they are the old