Augustus Road

"Their horses are neither beautiful nor good at running. They can only ride straight forward or turn straight to the right." - Tacitus' description of Germany in "Germania" cavalry

————————————————————————

The whole scene froze. Adiana was lying on the hall. Her eyes were staring blankly at the statue of Minerva above through her hair. The goddess's eyes seemed to be looking down at her, and her hands hung naturally. Off to the side, the locket rolled on the floor. Little Nicole and Karabis stood next to her, watching this surprising scene.

"Father, what did she drink just now?"

Calabis squatted down and stroked Nico's hair, "What she drank just now was highly toxic poison. She thought she would die quickly. But this princess named Adiana was poisoned very early. The poison is called power and ambition.”

Soon, Adiana's face turned blue and she began to retching. She thought that toxins were beginning to spread in the blood and organs. She struggled to get up, holding on to the gold-plated base of the statue of the goddess Minerva, so that she could Let her feel more relaxed and die in a more elegant manner, "Calabis, considering our relationship as master and servant, please don't insult my body." Then her breathing became rapid, her face flushed, and she kept Saying "I'm going to die".

Until she saw Calabis sitting down cross-legged, looking at her miserable posture, and still eating masa pie, she became angry, her chest heaved, her eyes stared at this bastard, but she couldn't say anything. The words seemed to be condemning this unjust person.

"This is the third time you have been foolish, Princess."

When Calabis said this, the princess realized that the venom in the pendant had been replaced by the amphora, but she still asked, "What did you put in it?"

"It's just an ordinary mint water." Calabis finished speaking and stretched out his hand towards Adiana. "I have to tell you, Adiana, the Bronze Shield Army has been severely damaged and annihilated by us. Your father is almost at the end of his rope. Yes, you If you want to hate me, I don't blame you, but it won't be too late until the dust settles. You also used poison and castration to force me to kill Orbisius, but now it's even. "

"But there is still a treasury in the hands of that slave girl Stratonis. She was with Menander, the commander of the Bronze Shield Army. Didn't you find her dirty body when you were cleaning the battlefield?" As he said, Adi Anna saw through Calabis's mind and knew that Stratonis and Menander must have escaped, so she whispered, "I can join forces with you about the six thousand talents, but I want half."

"Impossible. These six thousand talents of gold and silver have been taken away by those two bastard men and women to flatter Pompey."

The princess's tone became sarcastic again, "I told you on the white sailboat that we can kill that bastard and seize a small part of this wealth before Pompey or your commander of the Thirteenth Legion comes. Give it to your subordinates, and we will take the lion's share, and then we can be together. With so much money, we will become the king and queen who rule the world. "

"Will you be my queen?"

"Yes, because Amphora, your abilities are a little beyond my expectations of you. I think it is better to marry you than to marry an idiot like Charnus or Malcha, but I want to share our The empire's right to rule." When the princess said this, she was not shy at all, as if she was discussing a deal in a market in a small Black Sea town, and she held Calabis's hand without hesitation.

Calabis laughed, "It's a pity that the Pontic Empire is almost gone now, and I don't want to marry you. I don't want to die inexplicably on my bed one day. But we can still cooperate. , As long as you can only get a thousand talents, it’s not bad. Think about it, it’s enough for you to bribe the Roman Senate, and it’s enough for you to rule a kingdom as big as Bosporus.”

"Deal!" Adiana rolled her maroon eyes and agreed to this secondary plan: If she can really get this wealth, it will be enough to maintain a fleet of three hundred ships. "Speaking of this, you now Your military exploits only lifted the siege of the Acropolis, but if you want to completely defeat Pontus, you need the support of the navy. "

"I don't have a navy, Malca's fleet has been destroyed, Pompey and Petheneus have not moved yet - in the current situation, whoever wants to have a fleet will have the upper hand." Calabis He made a judgment.

Adiana rolled her eyes again and said, "We might as well wait for the opportunity."

"What are you waiting for?"

"Waiting for your Thirteenth Legion, and even Pompey will send you a fleet." The princess smiled mysteriously and said: "After the Bronze Shield Army was destroyed, my father only had Archelaus' New Model Army under his command. The strength of the army Insufficient. The key to victory or defeat naturally lies in Achilles' fleet, but whether it is Pompey or your legion commander Petheneus, it is not easy to defeat Achilles. The Roman fleet will definitely stay here for a long time. Time, and we have the advantage of the master on this battlefield, when the time comes..."

"You mean, we use some small means to achieve our goals in this war?"

"Amphorae, I regret it. I should have let you stay with me in the first place. Then the Pontus Empire would have been yours and mine." Adiana sighed a little, and Calabis nodded politely, and then the two of them They all laughed and held their hands tighter.

"Is there a sand table?"

Calabis asked Nicole to move the multi-tube oil lamp closer and arrange the sand table and papyrus sketches. Adiana rested her chin in her hands, stared at it for a while, and gestured with her slender fingers: "We crossed Cimmerian before. When we entered the Strait, the useless Triali's Eighth Army was always following our tail, but did not dare to engage in battle. It is probably still wandering in Colchis now. But if Pompey solves Petra, Triali will be there. It must be the vanguard of his army. There will be frequent storms in the ocean in spring and summer, so he can only let the fleet choose the shortest and most convenient distance."

“In other words, there are two roads in Pompeii, one is by land from Colchis via the Cimmerian Strait, and the other is from the port of Stora in Colchis and directly by sea to Ponticabion. "

"Hey, Your Excellency, Legion Envoy, now it's your turn to decide what to do."

"I don't care how Pompey's team comes. I'm only responsible for making sure that he can neither get up nor stay here at Ponticabion." Calabis laughed sinisterly, and Adiana liked her ears very much. The expression of the clay pot made her feel great pleasure.

At this moment, there was a noise behind them. Little Nicole called out that her mother was coming. Karabis turned around and saw Helenputina standing at the door of the temple, with El Capa behind her holding a javelin. Seeing the bloody heads, the Queen looked at the two men in a daze with a complicated expression.

"Don't talk to me!" Seeing Calabis, Helenputina didn't know how to face him, so she could only drop these words abruptly and turn around to leave. (To be continued.)