Fantasy Loyalty is Earned {Sol. x XiaoLu}

[Sol.]

　　　　　　　　　

Face Claim: Dallas Flashman Wade
Credit: angeldustmt.tumblr
Character Name: Lar Macrinius Age: 31
{roleplay with @XiaoLu}
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"It's not my fault! Do you understand me!" The voice echoed through the camp, men surrounded the Camp Prefect as he was held tightly, struggling against the bonds. The Legion Legate stood over, watching the men as they prevented the officer from trying to escape.
"L. Macrinius, you have committed treason against the Empire. As such you will be returning to the Capital City, where you will be judged by the Senate. You have been deceitful and disloyal to your fellow men, and therefore will lose your rank and status, and those of your house will also be punished"

The memory invaded his thoughts, haunted his dreams as he sat in his prison of bars and stone. The lies had started slowly, that the neighbouring countries were to be feared, that they planned to kill their Emperor, rape their woman, kill their children. Lar of house Macrinius had made it his duty to protect the country he held dear, to make sure he was loyal to the Emperor and those of higher rank.
He had joined the ranks as soon as he could, no challenge, no job was too much for him. The last of house Macrinius, he wanted his name, and the name of his house to go down in history.
His father and grandfather had been loyal to the Empire. As such, earning his rank had not been entirely difficult. His reputation grew and he became highly trusted.

All was going well until he had overheard his superiors talking. The army had decimated their neighbouring kingdoms, and the Emperor was planning to invade and take control of as much as possible. They were murdering innocents, they were the ones killing Royalty and murdering children.
Lars realised, they were the ones feared, they were the enemies he had thought he was protecting his Empire from. He tried to explain to as many people as possible, to show that this was wrong, that this shouldn't be how wars were won, attacking weaker nations.
But he was found out, and punished for speaking against the Empire, for putting doubt in the minds of others.

As such, he sat now, wondering what would happen to him. The Legion Legate said he would be sentenced to death, but he expected it to be done there and then. However, when he was sent back to the Capital, dread filled his mind. Was a worse fate planned for him? There was no way to know for sure.
There had to be hope, there had to be a chance to stop his sentence. He had proven his loyalty. But his distrust for the Empire now, for those he once respected and looked up to. Maybe dying was not a bad thing, after all he would rather that than murder innocent women and children, destroy the homes of those who did not deserve it.

All he could do was sit, and wait.

 

[DeerPrince]

credit: Pinterest face claim: no idea
character name: Sabina Caelius age: 18
Sol.
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It had been Sabina's third attempt at escaping within the afternoon, and this time, her poor governess was reaching her breaking point. The young woman weaved her way through the immaculately kept courtyards, the hot Mediterranean sun hitting her olive colored skin, the hard, dusty, and dry ground beneath her sandaled feet. A thin strip of cloth had been tied at the base of her left ankle where the older lady had tied a small bell that had originally signalled Sabina's whereabouts, and it was a bad attempt to thwart her random disappearances, but in the end, its success had only been short lived.

The vast Peristylium was surrounded by white marble columns, rose bushes that were drooping with bright red headed flowers, their curled petals turned towards the dry sun, a statue of an angel placed strategically in the center, sparkling crystal clear water sprouting from its trumpet, smaller little cherubs circling it, nestled amongst the various cropped trees and plants. As a child, she had played hide and seek here with her brothers, but as they had grown older, these times had grown sparser. They were worlds apart, despite being so close together. The fundamental difference between them had been their gender. Sabina and her sister, Aurelia, had been born as females, and her three brothers had been born as a males.

Startled out of her thoughts at the sound of the elderly woman screeching for her, Sabina took off in her dash again, pushing the nostalgia aside. Despite the warmth here in Rome, their house was frozen, locked in an Ice Age. The older they had gotten, the more separated the girl had grown from her brothers and sister, and after her mother passed away, her father had grown quiet too, preferring to spend the majority of his time behind locked doors, nose buried in work.

Rounding a corner too quickly, she nearly crashed into her sister, Aurelia, who was five years older than she. In the eyes of Roman society, her sister was far more successful than Sabina would ever be. Here, a woman's only job was to bear children to her husband, and so far, in step one, Sabina had already failed. She had rejected every marriage proposal so violently, that her father had had no choice but to try and find someone else, and her own sister had gotten married to a neighboring country, Gaul, at the age of nine-teen, and by then, she had already bore a son, and she was currently pregnant with her second child. The second job a woman had in Roman society was to bear sons, which her sister had already succeeded in, and Sabina had absolutely no desire to bear any children. Babies were parasitic, they lived inside you, absorbed your nutrients, depended on your body for nine-months, and after they were born, you had to deal with them for another decade or so. Her own mother had died giving birth to her youngest son. The young woman didn't want to be seen as a broodmare, was it so much to ask to be seen as a person? To want something different? To learn and live like her brothers rather than being seen as a tradable asset to guarantee foreign alliances?

"Watch where you're going!" Someone cried out, causing Sabina to halt, nearly crashing into her sister and her toddling son.

"Sorry," she murmured sheepishly, and her sister only clucked her tongue in disappointment. The same disappointment she saw in her father's eyes.

"You're still running from that poor woman? Don't you think it's time for you to grow up? You're supposed to get married soon and all you've done is go out on your own accord. No man will want a wife like that," Aurelia lectured, her son tugging on the folds of her plum colored toga.

"I don't want to hear it," Sabina mumbled shoving roughly past her. The sisters shared their mother's complexion, the same olive toned skin, the dark waves of hair and the cerulean blue eyes, but the younger girl stood nearly half a head taller, her nose rounder, the set of her chin more stubborn compared to the rounder, softer face of her sister.

Sabina could literally sense the older woman's footsteps, and she mentally winced at the lecture she knew she was going to receive, but where could she hide? The young woman had hide nearly everywhere, with that governess's bloodhound of a nose, Sabina was positive she would be sniffed out within minutes. The only place she hadn't hid in yet was the prison, and she was sure the older woman wouldn't dare look there.

With a last spurt of energy, the young woman dashed through another series of pillared hallways, dark waves of hair streaming behind her. Twisting and turning down the floors, she finally ducked behind a barrel, the prisons so quiet she could hear every drop of water. There was hardly anyone ever down here that her father didn't even bother with a jailer. Kneeling as she tried to catch her breath, Sabina grimaced at the smell, covering her mouth and nose with her hand before looking around at the desolate cells before she finally caught sight of someone.

"Who are you?" She whispered. Perhaps that wasn't the smartest thing to ask, "I didn't know my father had jailed anyone."

 

[Sol.]

Footsteps, footsteps meant people and people meant trouble. The thought of meeting one of his Senior Officers, or worse the Emperor himself was always at the back of his mind in this place. His execution had been set, there was no doubt. Betraying those of a higher rank, committing treason was one of the highest offences. Even for an officer of rank there was no coming back from this.
Lars made sure to hide in the background, not making a noise. The longer he could prevent himself from being executed the better. Even if the darkness of the cell did nothing to actually hide him from the eyes of visitors.

However, as a young woman ran into the prison, the hazel eyes looked on curiously. Until the girl turned and their eyes met.
The sudden question caused him to frown, so nothing had spread yet. Thank the Gods, a moment of respite.
“None of your business. Young ladies should not be in this place, I recommend you leave now.” When she mentioned her father, however Lars stepped further into the shadows.
“Do you think your father would tell you about every little thing he does? You are a woman, there is no need for you to know such uncouth things. Why don't you go sew or walk the gardens? That seems more of a thing for ladies rather than being in these cells.”

It was well known that women should be seen and not heard, and when she said her father it was obvious who she was. Well, who she was related to. They had very similar eyes, very similar features in general actually.
Lars had always been a big believer that women were to remain innocent and pure, even when they were wed they should be exposed to very little of the outside world. War and death were far too traumatizing for creatures so pure. Woman were beautiful, and had to remain like that inside and out.

“I am sure your father would also hate to find out one of his daughters was spending time in the cells. Talking to bad men like me. What is a pretty little thing like you doing in a dangerous place like this?” If he was in here to be executed anyway, he couldn't give a damn about what else he could do to get in trouble. According to his superiors, treason was despicable.
So taunting the Emperors daughters wouldn't cause much more damage.

 

[DeerPrince]

Sabina stared at the man inside the cell, trying to get a better look at whoever was now talking to her. For a moment, they just looked at each other, the pure silence of the whole prison suffocating. It wasn't much of a structure, but everything had started falling apart and were in general disarray or decay from lack of use and neglect. Her father, the Emperor wasn't particularly violent, and as of right now, the Gates of Janus remained closed, symbolizing the widespread peace inside and outside that currently graced Rome. But because of that, it had been years since her father's prisons had held any living creature, considering she could see a bone tucked in the back of another cell, bleached white with age. It probably belonged to some poor soul decades ago. Long gone and forgotten like the rest of his prison. The cold stone floors were wet, the cracks and crevices caked in mold and some weird concoction of slime and the scent of decay was nearly unbearable.The only light that made its way into the dark, dank, musty place was through a tiny crack of a window located at the very top of the prison, and it only offered a weak ray of light. It barely offered any substantial view.

Why had she knowingly hidden in this place? It seemed like the man in the cell had a brooding and dark mood to match the whole atmosphere. Sabina bristled at his next comment. Why was it so hard for men to get it through their thick skulls that some women just happened to not like sewing. Or perhaps, in her case, were completely inept at it. She had desperately tried, but no matter how much effort she put in, the young woman was never able to sit still for long periods of time and beyond that, she ended up with bruises and scabs from pricking herself, hardly the hands fit for a lady. Not that Sabina really cared. The only "lady-like" hobby she had was her love for music and her adoration for the Lyre. It had been the only thing she had managed to sit down with for more than an hour's time to the relief of her governess.

"If you don't want me to ask you why you're down here, then don't assume you can dictate what I can or can't do," Sabina shot back, albeit quietly, since she was still hiding from the old hag. "And for your information, not that it matters, I already took a stroll through the gardens." More like a run. She had torn her way through the gardens in her escape.

Raising a thin eyebrow, Sabina crossed her slender arms, her posture and body language instantly changing as she stood up. Perhaps it was the stubborn set of her full lips or the way her she stood, her hips tilted. "I'm sure this would be one of the less surprising things he's heard about. I'm a girl," the brunette girl accented, cerulean blue eyes sharp and unwavering, "he won't ever notice me. His attention is turned towards all my brothers, this is nothing to him." Her father would never notice her fully for the person she was because in their society, she didn't have much value. She was just another girl.

Anyway, the things that interested her were all traditionally masculine. Things would have been so much easier if she had just been born a boy. Then, she would have had a chance to pursue the same studies like her brothers, learn philosophy, literature, Greek and Roman arts, sword fighting, archery, acting. She could read and do whatever she wanted, yet, she was nothing more than a caged bird here, fluttering uselessly against her limitations, her song choked. The only thing about her that resembled femininity was her appearance, but appearances were deceiving and that was what so many men couldn't understand. Just because she looked like every other female didn't necessarily mean she was every other female. Perhaps, just perhaps, as obscure and insane as this idea sounded, she could have her own thoughts and opinions as well as her own interests. Perhaps she didn't want to become a wife or a mother.

 

[Sol.]

Of all the places he could meet the most annoying individual. Lar could think of nothing more tedious than having to listen to this young woman rant.

He had never cared for the gossip and prattle of women, always gushing about their latest tea parties or their friends. Why could they not be silent and obedient? Like all woman should be.

However, it did not mean he could not enjoy the view. Though women were irritating to talk to, they were fine to look at, and this young thing was no different. As she prattled he took a slow look down her body, enjoying the slender figure of the other. Though he was not trying to make it obvious, he was not really hiding the fact that he was openly ignoring her small rant.

“That makes sense, your brothers are very important men, deserving of their status. Well, I would say so until I found out I was fighting a cause not worth it. I imagine they are just like your father, lying brutes who want nothing more to have their appetite for power sated. Not that you would understand the goings on, should you not be somewhere else carrying a son for your husband or what not.” The Emperors daughter must have a plush life with a rich well-to-do husband that would provide.

Not needing to go to war, to go to work. The spoilt young woman was interesting though. The fact she spoke so bitterly about her father said enough. No daughter should speak that way about the man who raised her. Even though the Emperor was a tyrant he was a man of importance that commanded respect, even if he did not deserve the respect in return.

“Besides, what is the use of a woman if you cannot tell her what to do. No one is going to wish for a snake tongue, even if the wielder has a pretty face. Stick to being a pretty little girl and get out of here. You may break a nail lingering in such an uncouth shit hole.” Another smirk graced the features of the older gentleman. It was nice to have someone different to talk to, then the guards that droned on and on about the punishment this traitor was going to receive. He knew the crime, he had punished many himself for the exact same reason, months and years ago when he longed to serve and protect the Emperor. Oh how times had changed, and what he would do to escape these bars and get away from this awful country. The country where people could rot for all he gave a damn. There was no one to help him or look out for him anymore.

“Or you could stay and give me something pretty to look at.” He gave her a wink at that. The royalty were so lucky with their looks, sometimes it could really make you jealous, or at least tempt you to stare longer than you were allowed to.

“You could come closer girly, give me something pretty to look at.”