Hundreds of adult Thessalian horses were guided by the Roman soldiers to the large open field. The the merchants and the aediles were negotiating loudly, trying to get a good price for their deals. Those horses were not for the cavalry, but for the chariot races of the upcoming important festival.

“Hundreds of them! That’s three times more than their previous purchase! I wonder what kind of race they are going to held this time.” The merchants were all happy with their bags full of coins.

The aediles and his servants examine the horses carefully. Rejecting any imperfect and wounded horses. They then select the strong ones, guiding those horses to an underground path.

Chlorus was curious, those horses were not for cavalry? That was some large spending. Thessalian horses were expensive, the best ones were normally reserved for cavalry. Using them for entertainment purpose simply was a lucrative act. But the Three Elders were the ones who suggested the purchase. Nero simply agreed without any question asked.

But why sending those selected horses to the underground path? Where did that path going to? Under the great Roman temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus Heliopolitanus, Zeus, the King of all Gods.

Chlorus felt the urge to investigate further, he walked down to the examination area. As he walked across the servants, they stood up and gave him a salute. He simply nodded to them. To his surprise, the Empress Sporus and her handmaids were among the aediles and the servants. He bowed down immediately when she noticed him.

“Ah! General Chlorus! What brought you here?” Sporus asked.

“Good day, your Highness. I am here to make sure things are done properly, your Highness. The treasury had spend more than our military budget, I wonder if we could move the horses to our cavalry after the race.” Chlorus replied, “What brought you here, Your highness? Are the aediles and the servants failed to do their job?”

Sporus taken a deep breath, lightly she waved her fan, “Well, well. I had a traumatic experience of people trying to embarrass our Emperor in a gladiator game.”

“I’m sorry, your Highness!”

“No, you probably didn’t know about this because you weren’t here back then. I have to make sure the aediles did their job properly. There mustn’t be any cheating on the chariot race, since our Emperor is going to perform as one of the contestant.”

Chlorus glanced at her handmaids who were talking to some men behind them. They pulled out a bag of gold and handed them to those men. Those men looked like foreigners, they wore a short tunic with fasciae, a protective leather straps worn by chariot racers.

Are they trying to bribe the racers?

“Oh, and don’t worry, General. I believe the Elders will make some good arrangement for all the Thessalians after the race. After all, we had spend a tons on them.” Said Sporus with a smile.

Chlorus noticed that the scar on her cheek had disappeared. There weren’t anything suspicious about that. She was the Empress, of course she had the access to the best creams and medicine to heal that wound to perfection.

After the handmaids had completed her tasks, she gave a nod to the Empress, “Excuse me, General Chlorus. I have to head back to the palace now. Just want to let you know that I appreciates your effort and care for the cavalry of our great empire.”

“It is my duty, your Highness.” He kept his head low while Sporus and her handmaids left the area.

Bribing the racers for the game which the Emperor is going to participate? That’s just a trick to win the game and claim the blessing of Zeus. That’s not something worth investigating.

But where they took those horses to? I’ve never been to the underground area of the grand temple. I never even heard that there’s an underground space that could house such number or horses!

After they left, Chlorus continued to walk towards the opening of the tunnel, following the servants who guided the horses. An eerie cold breeze led him into that dark tunnel. The servants simply guided the horses to a point in the middle. And they returned back to the ground for more horses.

One by one, the horses entered that chill dark tunnel by themselves. Curious of where the tunnel lead the animals to, he followed along, until the air suffocated him. He felt dizzy, almost breathless, he was not sure what had happened to him. He heard thousands of screaming, but there wasn’t any sound. It was like a wave of screaming bypassing his ears, penetrating to his soul. A scream of horror. An unknown fear lingers all over his body.

“General Chlorus.”

A sudden tap to his shoulder, he responded with a turn and his hands on the hilt of his sword, ready to pull it out from the scabbard.

“Hector?” He was surprised by that man he saw, that muscular body with Syracusean armour, but he wore a full Roman helmet that covered his whole face.

I remember him! That short muscular guy use to be Apollodorus’s best trained warrior. But what’s with his voice?

He was the one who first defended Lord Amiran from the Roman soldiers that day. I wasn’t allowed to go back after I let Lady Arete escape.

If he’s alive, then where’s Arctus and Peatrus? Where are all other Syracusean soldiers?

“Hector!” Chlorus held his arms and was about to hug him. He avoided the hug by moving one step behind. Chlorus tried to look at him closer, he saw his eyes.

No, he… he is not Hector! Who is he?

“General Chlorus, what had brought you here?” The Three Elders came to them from the tunnel side. They lightly bowed to greet him.

“Ah, the wise ones. We have large grass fields, plenty of hays and fresh water streams near the west gate. But I wonder why the servants brought the Thessalians to the underground.” Asked Chlorus.

“Of course.” The Three replied with a smile. “The great festival is near, and we had opened our gates to foreigners. We do not want them to know about our secret.” They explained.

“Secret?” Chlorus was confused.

“Yes, a secret!” They replied, “Don’t worry, general. These Thessalians, they will become stronger than Bucephalas when they are ready. And of course, they will be yours after the festival. Your invincible cavalry.”

Chlorus was out of idea on how to question them further. They were the imperial advisors after all. Best not to dig any further. He was still dizzy and those screaming still lingering his mind. Although he wished that the person was Hector, he felt and sound like a stranger to him. His intuition called him to leave that tunnel as soon as possible.

“Very well, I shall not worry about them since they will be in good care of the wise ones.” Chlorus bowed to them, and left the tunnel, back to the ground.