Caesar and the Princess by Christina Sophie - HTML preview

Caesar and the princess

Chapter one

Liz

l was only seven, l had no idea what was going on. But now l know, my uncle was trading me to keep his kingdom from the dictator Sulla. By rights the kingdom of Avarisca was mine, but he stole it, he killed my mother and maybe plans to kill me as well. l am the avatar, as l just found out today and my uncle has intense hatred of the avatar, he burned the last one to death.

“Here you go” says my uncle.

“What” laughs Sulla sullenly.

“This girl is a great prize, she is the avatar, do you want to keep her, in return l want my kingdom” my uncle requests.

“Well alright, maybe she can win my battles for me, ha” he says. “Come on Liz, were going “so he knows my name, l thought. l refused to go with him.

“NO” l scream.

“You’re going with him, end of discussion” says my uncle.

“No, why should l listen to you, you murderer, you killed my mother” l protest.

“She was a whore, she deserved to die, now go or you will share the same fate as the last avatar” he threatens.

“Fine, but one day l will get my revenge on you for this” l was too young to be even plotting revenge, but the death of my mother had hardened my soul, you could almost say l was no longer innocent.

“Don’t worry, she won’t do you no harm, not when she’s in my care, isn’t that right Liz?” he questions. l don’t answer him, instead l just turn my neck to the side. “Not so tough now, isn’t she?” he asks my uncle.

“No” he says looking down on me as if l were an insect. l feel an anger burning inside me, to be taken away to Rome, I’d rather be dead, but it was my fate for the moment.

“You’d better not try to escape you little brat” threatens Pompey, Sullas right-hand man. His comment makes me very angry, I’m a little brat am l, if you think that l will be a little brat just because you said I’m a little brat l will be a little brat, l thought cheekily. Maybe, just maybe, l thought, going to Rome would be a good thing, l would get away from my evil scheming uncle for good, l would never see that horrible man l detested ever again.

Two months later

l had a good life in Sullas house, l got all the toys l wanted, all the books l wanted to read l read them, you could say l was a happy thriving seven year old. But it wasn’t all as good as it seemed, Sulla tried to rape me once, but l fought him, he threatened to send me back to my evil uncle, but l said to him,

“You want me dead, that’s what will happen if you send me back to my uncle” l threatened him.  The truth was, l was no angel, living in Sullas house l was more spoiled than l had been when my mother was alive. One day Sulla asked me,

“Kill these men for me” he said showing me a list knowing that l could read.

“No” l protested.

“Why don’t you do as l ask little Liz?” he asks. This man made me furious, he tried to rape me.

“Because the avatar must harm no souls at all” was my simple reply.

“Well you won’t get the revenge you wanted if you don’t do this for me” he says.

“I’ll get my revenge, after you’re dead” l said to that.

“Get this girl out of my sight” says Sulla. Sulla is so obsessed with getting me out of his sight, until Julius Caesar comes and makes my day. l sit down and Sulla talks to him. They have a conversation.

“Would you kill me if you could?” Sulla asks.  Caesar replies,

“In an instant” l laugh at this.

“l would kill him too” l say laughing.

“Shut up little brat” says Pompey. After Caesar leaves, l hear Sulla say,

“That boy has a big heart, bring it to me”

“No” l say getting out of my chair.

“What’s the problem now?” asks Sulla.

“You can’t kill the nice man, l will never forgive you if you do”

“Nice man, he wanted to kill me” says Sulla, “l will see him dead, see to it Pompey, and you shut your mouth Liz” he says. 

“I’m going to bed” l say and when Sulla and Pompey are out of sight l escape the house. The guards were such stupid men, they let me out. l run after Caesar.

“Caesar” l scream.  l see Caesar but he doesn’t answer me, Maybe he thinks l will kill him or something. My main objective is to see to it that Caesar isn’t murdered, he is a very brave man, refusing Sulla on pain of death, l like him and l will not see this nice man murdered. Before l even get to him, Pompey  does. He says to Caesar.

“Take this ring, my friend Nicomede’s will take care of you’’ he says giving Caesar the ring.

“How do you know that l can trust you?” asks Caesar.

“You don’t” is Pompey’s reply.  At that moment l knew that l had to escape Sulla and Pompey’s clutches for good, so l follow Caesar.  Caesar must have got a feeling that somebody was following him.

“Why are you following me?” he asks turning around.

“l just” l stumble over words.  “l just want to see you return home safe” l reply.

“Well you can come along if you want” he says and l join him. As we walk l say to him,

“You were brave to stand up to the mean man” l say smiling.

“Mean man, is he horrible to you, l think he’s horrible after all the murdering he’s done” says Caesar. l quite like Caesar, he is very nice.

“He tried to rape me, so yes l do hate him” l reply.

“You’re too young to know hate, you must be precocious” says Caesar.

“Well I’m very educated” l say to this.

“Don’t you have to go back to Sulla” oh no l thought, not this. l feel tears coming up, l feel like crying.

“Don’t let me go back, after l run away, that mean man will do mean things to me” l say holding his legs and crying.

“Don’t worry, l won’t, what’s your name?” he asks.

“Liz” l say letting go of him.

“Well Liz you can come home with me tonight, l will take you with me to Nicomedes, he won’t betray you to Sulla, I’ll make sure of it” he promises. We arrive at Caesars house finally.

Caesar is greeted by his wife,

“Oh Caesar, l thought you were dead” she cries. l minding my own business find myself cornered by a handsome boy about who is about 12.

“So you’re the avatar, what made my father bring you home tonight?” he asks.

“Leave me alone” l say defiantly.

“l don’t think so Avatar” he says.

“The names Liz” l say correcting him.

“Oh, so your names Liz, my bad” he says. He is so handsome, l just want to kiss him.

“Yeah, now your daddy brought me home tonight because we are both going to escape Sulla” l explain.

“What do you need to escape Sulla for?” he asks.

“He is evil, I’d rather see him dead than alive” l say.

“Big words for a seven year old” he says to this.

“What big words?” l ask.

“Dead” he says.

“Oh, l see, I’m not as innocent as l seem” l truthfully say.

“Anyway, my names Gaius” he says as he forgot to introduce himself before.

“Liz” l say to that.

“Well Liz, good luck in escaping Sulla” he says and takes to his room. While he goes l smile at him. Then Caesar says to me,

“Were leaving for Bithynia tomorrow”

Chapter two

Liz

l am enjoying being on the high seas, the wind is going through my hair, it’s like l am living the dream, Caesar is beside me, having a conversation.

“Oh Damn” says Caesar.

“What is it?” l ask innocently.

“Pirates” says the man next to Caesar.

“Don’t worry Caesar I’ll fight them off for you” l say helpfully.

“Really, how?” he asks me.

“I’ll use my air bending skills, those pirates can’t beat me” l say laughing.

“No, we’ll surrender” he says, “If we don’t” he says matter of factly, “We will die” he says and scratches his head.

“What happens if we let them take us?” l ask.

“We’ll all be ransomed” he says.

“What about me, will l be ransomed?” l ask.

“Of course, you’re a princess, and you are supposed to be in the care of Sulla, Sulla would pay a lot to get you back” says Caesar.

“As if that man cares about me” l say with anger.

“Of course he cares, he got you in exchange of a kingdom, you told me what happened remember” questions Caesar.

“Yeah, but what will Sulla do, if he gets me back?” l ask.

“l honestly don’t know” replies Caesar. The pirate ships come closer, soon we are captured.

“Look at this girl, what a prize” the pirate captain says.

“l assure you sir, l am no prize” l say to that.

“You’re that princess that got taken by Sulla, l can’t imagine what Sulla would pay for you” the pirates look at each other.

“What about you sir, what are you worth?” he asks Caesar. The pirate says,

“He must be a patrician he is worth at least 20 talents” Caesar suddenly has an angry look on his face, l don’t know why.

“20 talents, l am worth 50 talents” he screams at them.

“Ooh a temper” says the pirate captain.  “How much is this little one worth?” asks the pirate captain.

“I’d say, about 100 talents” replies the second in command.

“No” l scream.

“The avatar slash princess is sure worth a lot of money, even worth 1000 talents, you are worth a lot missy” he says looking me in the eyes.

“l think she’s worth 1000 talents” says Caesar.

“Caesar don’t say anything drastic” l say tugging at his toga.

“Don’t worry, l will free us” he says reassuringly. 

“l think we’ll be able to get 100 talents for her” says the pirate captain.

“Are you crazy?” l scream. “100 talents is way too much” l protest.

“It isn’t too much for a little girl like you” he talks to me the way you talk to a little kid, which l was at the time.

“Hmm” l say and lick my lips.

We are put aboard the pirates ship. Caesar keeps on looking out of the window for some reason.

“Caesar, all that’s out there is the blue sea, what’s so interesting out there that you want to look at?” l ask.

“I’m counting the islands from here to wherever we’re going” he replies.

“Why would you want to do that?” l ask innocently.

“So l can come back and crucify those pirates and sell their women and children into slavery” he replied.

“Slavery” l say almost laughing. “Slavery is an evil, that no man should endure” l say.

“Well it’s also a way to make money” Caesar explains.

“Well l think slavery is evil” l say and say nothing more.

We finally arrive on this pirate island, Caesar got all that he wanted, he got the women, he even joked with them that he would return and sell them into slavery. But l knew that he was not joking, because he told me what he would do. He even joked with the pirates, but l knew he wasn’t joking. He said to them.

“l will return to crucify the lot of you” he warns.

“Oh Caesar you are the joker” says the pirate captain patting Caesar on the back.

“He’s not joking” l say seriously.

“Nanananer” says the pirate captain mimicking me. “You’d better watch your tongue little girl” he says to me strictly.

“You’re the one that’s going to end up crucified by this man not me” l say.

“Whatever little brat” he says and sneers at me. l hide behind Caesars toga because he scared me. “That’s right little girl, not so tough now aren’t you” he says and l can’t see him until he comes up behind Caesar and sneers at me. l let go of Caesars toga and bend some air at him.

“Ooh, the girl has some attitude” he says laughing.

“That’s right” l say. “And if you’re not careful l will bend some more air at you” l say cheekily.

“He he” he says and sneers again at me, so that l hide behind Caesars toga again.

“Good” he says and spits.

Chapter 3

Somehow Caesar gets an army and returns to crucify and sell those women and kids into slavery. He says to polygamous.

“Yeah you’d better make that deep” he was making the pirates make their own cross, which l thought was very cruel of him.

“Course l will Caesar” he says in reply.

“You’ll be the last to die” he says. “l will make sure that you don’t get your legs broken, and that way you will die longer, unlike your little friends over here” he says. Well l thought. l had to admit that polygamous did deserve it, after all that sneering he did at me, yes polygamous wasn’t a kind man, at least he wasn’t kind to me.

“Caesar that’s harsh” l joke.

“Yes it is very harsh” he says.

“l heard that Sulla died, is this true?” l ask.

“Yes it is true” says Caesar.

“Yay” l say and hug his legs.

“Why is that so yay?” he asks.

“Because he was a very bad man” l reply.  “And now you are free to return to Rome” l say. “Can you get another army?” l ask innocently. “l want to defeat that uncle of mine” l explain.

“One day” he promises getting down to my height, “l will get a huge army and defeat him and then you can rule Avarisca rightfully” he says.

“Really” l question.

“Yes” he says and he takes me into his arms and hugs me. Now l am assured that maybe my life will be normal again. But l will be sorry to see Caesar go when the time comes. l am adopted two months later into Caesars home. l am now his kid, his responsibility. Now l have the perfect life, without Sulla or my uncle. Me and Caesars daughter Julia become great friends, we talked out all our problems together, l bitched about my evil uncle Ramolus and how he wanted me dead and all that. l also became friends with Gaius, l knew he loved me, l could see it in his eyes. His eyes were pale blue and he had pale hair worn in the same hairstyle as his father. Of course 13 years passed and Caesar became Consul. You know that idiot Pompey that called me a little brat in the beginning of the story, he married Julia, one of my best friends, but nobody was more of a friend than Caesar.

Chapter 4

Caesar eventually got Gaul out of Pompey by giving him Julia. Anyway l went to Gaul with Caesar, l have to say he grew old in Gaul, and more colder. You could see it in his eyes , he grew old but he was still handsome. l would say in about his first year at Gaul, his daughter Julia died, she died in childbirth , l was very sad to hear this, l cried for days and days, l never got over Julia dying. Neither did Caesar.  Gaius came along to Gaul as well, l was glad of that, l wonder if l could get un adopted so that l could marry him. And then we could live happily ever after, but no l thought, he was a roman, he wants to become great like his daddy, l thought so then in that moment l knew that l could not marry him.

“My father’s given me an army” Gaius says. l am proud of him.

“Good work Gaius, how did you convince him to do it?” l ask.

“All in a days work” he says and l kiss him. Now we are a couple, we refuse to be separated.

“Now we can defeat my uncle” l say happily, my arms around him.

“That will come later” he says and lets go of me. l get very disappointed, when will Caesar finally defeat the Gaul’s, l asked myself. When will my mother’s death be avenged, l thought quietly.

He is now looking at his maps , trying to decipher how to defeat the Gaul’s.

“You know that l hate my uncle” l say trying to get to my point.

“Sorry lovely Liz, but my father gave me an army to defeat Gaul’s not Avarices” he says to that.

“Hmm, give me a hug” l say smiling and we hug lovingly, l cannot describe the love we share for each other, it is unbreakable, an unbreakable bond. 

“l have to convince my father, to conquer Avarisca” he says.

“You will” l say and kiss him. So Gaius had his way we went to Avarisca to defeat the small city, we’ll l thought it was small anyway.

“How we going to defeat the Avarices?” l ask sternly.

“That what I’m trying to work out Liz” he replies looking at his maps.

“l say we starve them into submission” l say bravely.

“You’d let your own people starve?” asks Gaius.

“Fine, we’ll work out some other way to get into the city” l say.

“No” says Gaius. “We’ll do as you said, starve them out” Two  months later the city is starved into submissions and l get the revenge l wanted, or so it seemed so. We enter the city,

“l need to visit a spiritual place” l say to Gaius.

“What for?” he asks.

“Guidance and direction” was my simple reply.

“Oh, do you know of any spiritual places around here?” he asks.

“There is one” l reply.

“Where?” he asks.

“I’ll lead you to it” l say, l lead us into a cave and l decide to meditate. But little did l know that my evil uncle had followed us here.

“Now don’t try to escape, we are all air benders here” l turnaround from where l am sitting and recognise his evil voice.

“Liz, your uncle” says Gaius in a concerned voice.

“Yes that’s right, l am this girls uncle and there’s no escaping” he says with an evil crackling.

“What do you want?” l ask getting up.

“Its simple, you marry me or you marry him, it’s your choice” he sa