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Yazdegerd stood within the palace of Constantinople. He was furious. Not only had Marcellus made an attempt on his life, but the man had not reacted to the trap that was set for him. Normally a monarch would demand the military buildup on the border be withdrawn, or at the very least respond in kind.

In fact, that was swarthy serpent’s plan. If Marcellus showed an equal sign of hostility at the border, he could declare war, and justify his actions by saying the Western Romans were amassing troops in preperation for an invasion. .

Yet despite this, the eastern roman scouts reported that the western roman empire maintained the same rate of military buildup in its provinces as they had established prior to recent events. They even continued to fearlessly send merchant caravans into Constantinople, as if they had not shamelessly made an attempt on the eastern roman regent’s life.

Meanwhile, Yazdegerd’s aggressive actions came at a cost. The people of the east were becoming increasingly concerned, and perhaps even rebellious, after witnessing large numbers of Persian troops enter their borders, and occupy the western border.

Though Yazdegerd assured the people of Constantinople that his forces were merely acting in accordance to the previous emperor’s wishes, and were protecting the empire against the threat of the military dictatorship that existed underneath Marcellus’ control. The reality was, that few bought this lie, and with each passing day, the eastern romans looked towards their western sibling with a sense of endearment.

In the eyes of many, the very existence of western Rome hung in the balance, and yet, under Marcellus’ reign, the west had begun a rapid expansion of their military, increased crop yields, and stabilized their failing economy. If this continued, the West could perhaps survive its imminent collapse.

After frothing at the mouth of Marcellus’ actions, Yazdegerd was approached by his magister militum. The young man named Durio handed over a report in his hands which Yazdegerd skimmed over before scoffing in displeasure.

“You must be joking? That bastard tries to kill me, and now he demands that I stay true to my word and deliver the previously agreed upon payment? He must be mad!”

Durio looked uncomfortable as he heard these words, so much so that Yazdegerd glared at him with fury in his black eyes before yelling at the man.

“What is it? Spit it out already!”

The young general could only scratch the back of his head in discomfort as he expressed his true thoughts, knowing fully well that Yazdegerd would react poorly.

“It’s just that you also tried to kill him. I suppose from his perspective, the two of you are even after you both failed in your assassination attempts…”

The Persian King’s face grew so flushed with anger that Durio half expected the man to defenestrate him, and thus he took some measures to avoid such a horrific fate. Mainly moving away from the window.

In the end, Yazdegerd through a hissy fit by tossing the crumpled message towards Durio’s head, while failing miserably to hit his target. He could only scream and yell at the eastern roman general, knowing with certainty that he himself was no match in a competition of strength and endurance.

“You fool! How can we possibly be fucking even? He killed all my men! Meanwhile, my scouts report that he returned home with practically all his soldiers in tow! That filthy bastard, I will have his head for playing such games with me!”

Durio took the verbal thrashing like a man, never bowing his head to the regent. Instead he narrowed his gaze before reminding Yazdegerd of his place.

“With all due respect, regent… If you were to take a moment to calm down and think things through then you would realize that in the eyes of outsiders, it is awfully suspicious that only you survived the attack. Perhaps a cunning man like Marcellus could make use of this fact, and drag your name through the mud as if you are nothing more than a mere coward.

After all, those men who died protecting you were some of Constantinople’s finest. Even I have a hard time believing that you were the sole survivor of that attack without abandoning your troops. So I suggest you treat me with more respect, unless you want me investigating the incident.”

Yazdegerd was forced to swallow his anger, as he gazed upon the intimidating sight of the roman general. It was true that he had abandoned his men to die, simply so he could buy himself enough time to escape, and even then he barely survived. However, to admit such a thing would be political suicide, and would put an end to his grand ambitions. Because of this, he merely snarled like a beast and asked Durio what options he had left.

“What am I supposed to do? He demands payment, as was agreed upon by multiple witnesses, and signed by my hand. If I can’t prove he tried to have me killed, then I will be forced to pay a king’s ransom to the west!”

Durio’s eyes did not shift from his gaze, which was directly centered upon Yazdegerd. He had enough of the man’s irrational behavior and decided to tell him what needed to be done.

“You have no choice but to pay, Marcellus. You are the sole survivor of the attack on your life, and you have no concrete proof about that Marcellus or the western roman empire are behind it.”

Upon hearing the words concrete proof, Yazdegerd gained a brilliant idea in his petty mind and quickly voiced it to his magister militum.

“No proof? Perhaps we can get the Gepids to turn on Marcellus. Whatever he offered them, we can surely offer more!”

However, Durio’s reaction was far from comforting. The man sighed heavily and shook his head before explaining to Yazdegerd that this scheme he just concocted was well and truly pointless.

“The Gepid King is dead, as is everyone who participated in the battle, even the riders who came after you were slain by our own cavalry. If Marcellus did as you claim, then he thoroughly cleaned up his tracks.

If we knew who he used to negotiate with the Gepids we might be able to get them to turn on him, however it is doubtful that he would send someone he had not thoroughly vetted to broker this deal with the Gepid king. You have no choice but to pay the agreed-upon amount.

If you don’t, he can use it as cassus belli, and attack us when his armies are properly prepared. Unlike you, he tends to spend quite a bit of the money he has on the military. The simple fact is, the western roman troops are better armed, and trained then our men. If Marcellus were to increase the size of his army, to match ours, it would be an absolute slaughter.”

The look on Yazdegerd’s face was priceless when he finally realized that he had been set into checkmate by his rival to the west. He could only pull his own hair out in fury as he was forced to comply with Marcellus’ demands and think of another scheme on how to put the man down. One thing was certain, so long as Yazdegerd remained in control of the eastern roman emprie, war between the two halves of Rome would always be an ever present threat.