The Praetorian 03 - A Hunter and His Legion by Edward Crichton

Author:Edward Crichton
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Alternate History, Alternative History, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Science Fiction, Space Fleet, Adventure, Military, Time Travel
ISBN: 1493716247
Published: 2013-09-22T07:00:00+00:00

Part Three

IX

Northward

Northern Britannia

January, 48 A.D.

It was hard to believe that less than a year had gone by since I’d sent Bordeaux in search of Wang and Vincent, initiating my plan to kidnap Agrippina’s son Nero and place Vespasian on the throne. It seemed like a lifetime ago, two even, but with the passing of the New Year, I was reminded that it had only been a matter of months, nine to be exact.

Almost a term of pregnancy.

And it had all seemed so simple then. Stage a coup and put a competent ruler on the throne that was supposed to be there, albeit thirty years earlier than expected, although that part hadn’t concerned me. Rome was an empire ruled by emperors who were supposed to rule for a long time, and Vespasian would need all he could get to put his house back in order after Agrippina had spent the past four years dismantling it.

It was a tall order but I’d had complete faith in the man.

But the following nine months had been filled with failure after failure, something I wasn’t used to. Sure I’d failed with the ladies a number of times in my younger days and had bombed exams because I’d forgotten to – or had been distracted from – studying, but never had I outright failed so many times when I’d set out to succeed. Agrippina had outplayed me at every turn, and while I was happy to still be alive, I was sick of losing.

I wasn’t going to lose again, whether at Agrippina’s hands or anyone else’s.

Never again, and the past two weeks – maybe three –since leaving the Isle of Mona had given me plenty of time to prepare for the future.

We’d followed the western coast of modern day Northern England, keeping the soon-to-be-named Irish Sea on our left, possibly finding ourselves about as far north as modern day Carlisle, in a place Wang had called Cumbria. It had been a tedious trip, one filled with plenty of time to think alone, ponder our situation, and dream of the orb, which now seemed to invade my thoughts every minute of every day.

It was a divisive topic of thought in my mind. A part of me continued to fear its influence, but a growing sensation had taken hold of me that actively considered finding the orb and… experimenting with it. There had to be a way to use it more tactically than how it had already been used. It was just a matter of finding out how.

My only worry was that my former friends would try to stop me, as I was sure they plotted to do every day since leaving Anglesey. I could sense their future betrayal looming, but they dared not move against me when I had fifteen hundred legionnaires at my back. Even with all their advanced weaponry, they wouldn’t stand a chance against so many.

And I still had Penelope, the only person besides Felix who would never let me down.

I smiled as I

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