The Death of Antinous || bxb ✔︎

HOC EST BELLUM

Drums and firelight. Frankincense and wine. Students marched down the pebbled path of the hillside to make an offering at the temple to the god of war.

With his back to the wall, Antinous tiptoed in the opposite direction to their sleeping quarters. He dragged a hand along the stucco walls, fingertips skipping over its bumps and ridges. It felt like centuries ago that he had done the same with his wooden sword in Claudiopolis. How different his life was now. Back home friendship was as simple as a game of dice and now it wasn't a game at all but a hard fought battle.

Remus said his sleeping quarters were six doors down from Antinous' rooms. Silently he counted the doorframes, looking over his shoulder to make sure no one had followed him.

He reached the varnished door and stood there a moment before softly knocking. There was no answer. He was about to knock again when Remus opened the door. He had taken a bath. He wore a fresh tunic, his feathery mane resting damp on his narrow shoulders. He still wore the copper bracelet. It was unclear to Antinous if he had put it back on after his bath or if he was so attached to the gift, he bathed with it.

He stepped inside the room. Remus was pleased to see him. He smiled wide enough that Antinous could view his incisors. They kissed on the cheek. The young Roman smelled sweetly of lavender oil.

His rooms were much more lavish than those belonging to Antinous. A tapestry of the Vestal Virgins hung on the wall. The desk and chair were carved with rosettes and he had a large trunk filled with clothes, marble trinkets and scrolls.

Antinous did not spot the jug of wine Remus had stolen but he did spy two silver goblets on the desk. Remus motioned for him to join him on the bed. Even his blanket was luxurious, made of Egyptian wool and stitched with yellow thread. Antinous stroked it and Remus placed a hand on top of his.

"Nobody saw you come up here, did they?"

He shook his head.

"You told Decimus that you would climb down the rocks to the temple?"

He nodded.

"Good." Remus lifted his hand and tucked a curl behind Antinous' small shell-shaped ear.

The rocky bluffs, known as Nerio's Spear, was a favourite passageway of the students. The headmaster forbid them from climbing the rocks but Decimus, younger than most teachers, still retained a boyish sense of adventure. He let them climb rocks, trees and if they fell, he would mend their wounds in secret. Remus thought it prudent to make up this story and tell Decimus, in case someone wondered where they were.

They could hear the chanting outside. Smell the thick fog of incense wafting through the window.

Antinous walked around the room, the fabric of his tunic shifting between his long bronze legs. He peered out the window, his face in profile downcast as he picked up a figurine of Rome's she-wolf on the windowsill.

"You know, you're the most beautiful boy in this school. Maybe all of Rome."

"I thought you hated me."

"I do." He leaned back on one elbow.

Antinous laughed at his candour.

Chanting intensified to a wail. Worshippers mourned the death of soldiers lost to the rebellion in Britannia. Three thousand men were dispatched and less than a thousand returned. Hadrian later commissioned a wall that would separate the Romans from the barbarians.

Students led a braying goat adorned with roses to the temple to be sacrificed.

"The gods are never satisfied. All the offerings in the world won't stop them from punishing us."