Heir of Aurelian

Weeks passed, and Sigefrida sat with Marcellus in a room while the man enjoyed a glass of wine. The barbarian beauty was visibly pregnant and could obviously not drink alcohol without fear of complications. Thus, she had a glass of distilled water in her hands. With a confident smirk on his face, the Roman Emperor asked the most prominent question in his mind.

"So tell me, how goes our efforts to keep the Sassanid Empire destabilized? There are no unforeseen factors, are there?"

A slight scoff emerged from Sigefrida's lips as she responded to the question with a hint of stoicism in her voice.

"As things currently stand, the Sassanid Empire is embroiled in a succession crisis. One that will not be resolved for some time. I have gone to great lengths to recruit an unlikely agent of chaos, and even I am surprised that she said yes."

This statement caught Marcellus by surprise as he gazed upon his woman with a confused expression on his voice. She had not informed him of her efforts to recruit one of the Sassanid Princesses to their cause, nor would he ever guess that the barbarian beauty would have succeeded in this effort. Thus, he could only ask for clarification on what she meant by the last part of her response.

"What do you mean by that? Who have you recruited to help us?"

For the first time since this conversation began a smirk appeared on Sigefrida's face. She was actually quite proud of her efforts, and it showed on her face.

"Princess Mitra. Apparently, the woman had the foresight to see how her father's war with you was going to end. She tried to convince him to leave the campaign to the eastern romans, but utterly failed to do so.

Because of this, she is quite bitter about his death. However, it would appear she holds little anger towards you, and is instead angry at the man himself for voluntarily walking into his death even after being killed.

Surprisingly, she has proven to be quite useful in learning about the true ambitions that in the hearts of Yazdegerd's successors. In fact, she has proven her ability by exploiting these ambitions in a way that has turned this matter of succession from one of petty squabbles to bloody conflict.

As we speak, the first prince Shapur is gathering forces to attack his younger brother Bahram. While Bahram is scheming in the shadows to eliminate Shapur. While these two knuckleheads fight among themselves, their younger brother Narse is preparing to take advantage of their conflict.

Needless to say, their cousins are also watching and scheming, waiting for the moment to strike. With a venomous tongue, this little girl has managed to poison each and every one of the successors, as a well as their backers, into fighting against one another in what appears will be a battle royale to determine who is the next King."

Upon hearing this, Marcellus' mind instantly drifted into a state of paranoia as he questioned his concubine, and master of whispers about something that suddenly became very important to him.

"What have your promised her? Surely she is not aiding us out of the good of her heart!"

Sigefrida furrowed her brows when she heard this. She knew exactly what Mitra wanted, and was avoiding answering this question for a multitude of reasons. However, Marcellus has asked, and she was not one to keep secrets from the man who held the key to her heart. Thus, she spoke just enough of the truth to keep him happy.

"I won't hide it from you. She did ask for something. Something I don't intend to give her. All she wanted in exchange for her service was to meet with you in person. I don't know her reasoning, but I suspect it is a matter of vengeance.

Despite going to great lengths to confirm her intent, I can't find a shred of evidence that she means you harm. However, I can feel it in the depths of my soul. Her intentions towards meeting you are sinister."

Marcellus closely observed Sigefrida's expression and could tell there was more to this story than she was letting on. After all, he had known the woman most of his life, and it was easy enough for him to know when she was hiding things from him. As a result, he glared at her fiercely before interrogating the Suebi vixen.

"Sigefrida, what aren't you telling me?"

After looking away in guilt for a split moment, Sigefrida sighed heavily before informing the man of things she could not verify.

"It's nothing concrete. However, from what the rumors say Princess Mitra is a great beauty, whose looks are so enamoring that she has even caught the fancy of her own brother Bahram. Any woman who is capable of seducing her own flesh and blood is not to be trifled with. I'm afraid even if she did not mean you harm, by simply meeting her, you might lose control of yourself and your ambitions."

In response to this, Marcellus merely scoffed and took another sip of his wine. No matter how beautiful Mitra was, he had no intention of getting involved with the woman, and he was quick to express this belief.

"I don't care if she is Venus incarnate, I have no intentions of taking another woman as my lover. I had a hard enough time falling for Placidia when I had you by my side. Some Persian whore isn't going to be enough to change my mind. However, if you are certain that my resolve will waver in her presence, then I will refer to your judgement.

Keep stringing the whore along until she has lived out her usefulness, then get rid of her. I have a hard time believing her reasons for wanting to see me in person are anything but malicious. I killed the woman's father. There is no forgiving such a thing."

Sigefrida merely smiled pleasantly before resting her head on her man's shoulder. It was not the most comfortable thing in the world, considering the man wore his armor every fucking hour of the day. However, it was enough to be in his presence.

Thus, the couple continued to sit by and discuss lesser matters of importance as they enjoyed their time together. As for the Sassanid Princess Mitra, she would continue to play her part, though whether Sigefrida would actually be able to prevent her from seeing Marcellus was a tale for another time.