Heir of Aurelian

In the weeks that followed his meeting with Marcellus, Braulio and his merry band of Vandals had packed up their belongings, and set course for the Sassanid capital of Ctesiphon. When they arrived in the region, the local garrison immediately took notice of their appearance. Hundreds of large, pale-skinned men from the north were not exactly common in this part of the world. Especially when travelling together.

As for the Vandals’ weapons and armor, they left them in their trunks, as to not cause alarm. The moment Braulio rode his horde into the gates of the city, two sentries stopped him and began to question the man in their native tongue.

“Halt, what is your business in this city?”

Naturally, the Vandals did not understand a word that these men were speaking, and because of this, quite the commotion had begun. Braulio hopped off his horse and towered over the swarthy men, who reached out and held onto the hilt of their swords after feeling intimidated.

The Vandal chieftain saw this, and merely scoffed before spitting on the floor in disgust, as if challenging the two weaklings to draw their swords. Feeling slightly humiliated, one of the two men was just about to do so when Mitra jumped in just in the nick of time.

“What do you think you’re doing? These men are guests of the great Prince Narseh. Are you trying to deliberately pick a fight with such venerable figures in the middle of the streets?”

The two sentries immediately kneeled before the Sassanid Princess, who had a livid expression on her beautiful face. The moment that Braulio set eyes upon Mitra, he smiled with a lecherous look on his face before approaching her. Mitra naturally spoke Latin and was quick to speak it to the Vandal chieftain, who she knew did the same.

“I am Princess Mitra of the Sassanid Empire. Our mutual friend has assured me that you are the best men in your field. Come, my brother, require your services!”

The two sentries stood and gawked as Mitra led hundreds of large eastern Germanic men towards Narseh’s villa. Neither of these two sentries were high enough ranked to receive a payout from any of the major players in Sassanid politics, and thus, they decided to just keep their mouth shut about the entire affair.

As for Mitra, she led Braulio into her brother’s Palace where the man was quick to greet his sister and her guests.

“So, these are the men you said will be able to help us with our little problem? I must admit they are rather intimidating, but just because they are frightening to look at, doesn’t mean that they are capable on the battlefield.”

Mitra converted Narseh’s words from his native tongue into Latin, which visibly upset Braulio, who crossed his arms and spoke in the Gothic language with a foul expression on his rugged face.

“Tell this little runt that he does not need to worry. I have killed more men in my life than there are stars in the sky.”

Mitra quickly translated the man’s words, which immediately caused Narseh to have a doubtful expression on his face. However, since his sister had brought these men to his door, they must be capable. Thus, he began to list of the duties of their jobs, as well as their pay.

“I require warriors to help me win an upcoming war with my brother Bahram. I will pay your war band your weight in gold if you can defeat my enemies and help me gain the crown of my people. Your room and board will be taken care of, as I have several inns within the city that can accommodate your forces. However, I expect you to provide your own armor and weapons. I trust that won’t be a problem?”

After having Mitra quickly translate the words, Braulio broke out into a fit of laughter, and slapped Narseh on the back before assuring him that his men were more than already well armed.

“You think we came all this way without arms and armor? You really think little of us, don’t you? Don’t worry, we will kill your enemies, and when we have won your war for you, we expect to be paid handsomely. Now, if that is all, why don’t you show us to our quarters?”

Narseh smiled and agreed to Braulio’s request, where he led the men through the city, and allowed them to pick the rooms they desired in several inns which were located not far from his palace. As for the rest of Braulio’s most elite warriors, they were chosen to stay in the palace itself as protectors of Narseh and his sister.

With the vandals backing Narseh and his faction, it was highly likely that he would be able to defeat Bahram, however, whether he would be able to subdue the other pretenders to the throne, that was another question entirely.

Of course, Narseh was not the only one making preparations for the upcoming war, Bahram was also at work acquiring mercenaries from abroad. However, unlike Mitra, who chose to select a battled hardened group of Germanic warriors. Bahram had acquired his mercenaries from the far east.

Soon enough, men from the fabled land of Serica would step foot in the Sassanid Capital, their goal, to eliminate the Germanic warriors that Narseh had hired, and secure the throne for Bahram. Whether these far easterners would be capable of putting up a threat to the Vandals was a story for another time.

However, when Marcellus finally heard that Mercenaries from Serica had arrived in Ctesiphon, he would have to rethink many of his plans. After all, one of his greatest goals in life was to travel to the land of silk.

In truth, Rome knew little of China, or its current ruling dynasty, only whispers from an era long past. However, these foreign mercenaries might be just the connection to the far east that Marcellus was looking for. Only time would tell whether he would finally be able to accomplish this dream of his.