Chapter 5: The Return of Claudius (Part 2)
The white sailing ship set sail three days later. Calabis entrusted the affairs of the Acropolis and Ponticabion to Pope and Hebrida, and he and the princess set sail towards Colchis. The craftsmen and oarsmen all employed people from the previous Pontic fleet, and they maintained absolute secrecy. The ship passed quietly by the cliff of the lighthouse island in the bay that Adiana said, and the lighthouse above continued to use large bronze The reflection of the mirror signaled that the Pontic garrison here was also changed. It was arranged by Calabis. The people who changed the defense here were Macmillan's men, who were familiar with everything on the sea.
"This signal says that Pompey's advance fleet is coming, about ten oars." Calabis said on the side of the ship.
Then, he and Adiana saw on the other side of the bay, Macmillan's purple sail fleet sailed out with the sound of the trumpet, splitting the white waves, and sailed towards the direction of Pompey's advance fleet.
"Soon Pompey will get information. His great cause has not yet been completed. There are still powerful pirates on the north shore of the Uxxing Sea." Calabis said with a grin, and then shouted from the deck, "We There is no need to wade through this muddy water, this water area will soon become a battlefield of throwing rocks, let's go around!" All the oarsmen shouted loudly to the sound of drums, and headed straight and diagonally in the direction of the helmsman. .
The sun was rising in the east and the stars were setting. The days spent traveling on the ocean were extremely boring. It was not until the oarsmen on the deck shouted and saw the plants floating in the water that everyone knew that the land of Colchis was approaching. In the bridge room, the curtains were opened. Adiana combed her long hair into a Greek style, wore a dark low-key luxurious loose robe, and her mother's small crown. Her eyebrows flew into her temples, and her chin Slightly raised, calm and elegant like a statue of the goddess of beauty, "move the crown back." Calabis in front of the curtain held the princess's crown with his hand, frowning and adjusting Adiana's crown for a while.
In fact, looking at Calabis' serious look, Adiana was a little impulsive and wanted to ask him if he would miss the queen and daughter. She was very curious about how Calabis viewed his woman, but after this period of time, she learned to behave. There were some words that she thought she shouldn't say after careful consideration, so she stopped talking.
After fiddling with it, Calabis took off the legionary sweatshirt he was originally wearing in front of Adiana, exposing the muscles all over his body, and then put on a white Greek gown and a gray blouse. Then he picked up a razor and shaved off a lot of the beard he had always grown, leaving only the corners of his mouth and chin. Combined with the long hair he grew on the Acropolis, he looked like a Persian royal noble at first glance.
"Be prepared to get off the ship." After Calabis was ready, he said to the somewhat panicked princess. The other party looked suddenly startled, and then nodded repeatedly.
"Pompey was stationed on the outskirts of Stora, which was originally the palace of Agassiz. Adiana, cover your face with a veil. This is the territory of the Agacians. If they find out, they will eat you alive." With Calabis' warning, Adiana put on the veil, sat on the gorgeous sedan chair, carried it on the shoulders of sixteen slaves, and boarded the shore from the ladder bridge on the ship's deck, followed by There were several eunuchs beside the sedan chair. Calabis, dressed in white robes, and the indigo warrior Biduita, led twenty armed servants holding sticks and flags to clear the way. At the dock checkpoint, he The talisman with the legion's seal was handed over to the Pompeian soldiers guarding the gate.
After the soldier saw that the transmission of the talisman was correct, he wanted to reach forward and lift Adiana's veil to see what was going on. Calabis suddenly held his hand down and said angrily: "We are from the other side of the ocean. He is also an honored guest of General Pompey. If my mistress is insulted by you seeing her face, I will kill you immediately and then kill the mistress." The soldier's expression after that was as if he had seen a psychopath. , retracted his hand, and looked at the beetle-shaped gold hoop on Adiana's half-exposed white wrist. She was definitely a young lady, so she rolled her eyes and waved to express her approval.
In front of the palace, Calabis ordered the carriage to stop under the shade of dense trees, and then he carefully observed the trees for a while. Where Pompey was stationed, there were endless streams of water flowing from Asia Minor, West Asia, the Red Sea and the Caucasus. Princes, chiefs, and nobles would come from all directions every day to pay homage to General Gnaeus Pompey, the new leader of power in Asia, but they were blocked and inspected by soldiers guarding the gates all the time.
Today seems to be no exception. Calabis took a deep breath, lifted the curtain of the sedan chair, and said to Adiana: "The critical moment has arrived, you have to calm down Adiana, like a real princess, no, you This is the real thing!”
Adiana, who was behind the veil, looked at Calabis and nodded.
Afterwards, Calabis skillfully avoided all kinds of people and disappeared into the crowd, while Adiana ordered the servants to continue lifting her until she reached the entrance guard at the bottom of the palace steps. When the soldiers came forward to ask, they followed her. The eunuchs hurriedly stepped forward and spread mats and carpets in front of the sedan chair. She calmly stepped on the back of a prostrate eunuch on the ground, stepped out of the sedan chair, and then stretched her slender fingers towards the entrance guard. In front of a person who looked like Pompey's housekeeper slave, the housekeeper slave seemed to be frightened and subconsciously took the princess's hand, "Please send this message to the respected general Pompey, Rome's highest military commander in Asia, Mitte Adiana, the noblewoman of Cappadocia, the daughter of Radati Eubert, took the liberty of visiting. "Adiana, who was surrounded by people, was unveiled and her hair was swaying gracefully.
On the other side, Calabis, who was hiding in a narrow alley, stuck his head out from time to time to look around. He thought that Adiana had entered Pompeii's mansion for quite some time. Sure enough, not long after, several men dressed in cooks' clothes and wearing slave nameplates came from the other side of the street with sweat on their faces. After they passed, Calabis pulled the lone cook directly into the alley. He covered his mouth, then tore off his nameplate and stuffed him with a bag of heavy gold coins. "From now on, you are not a slave. Take this money and work for any noble family. Use these guys to redeem yourself. The rest is enough for you to live the rest of your life!" Then Calabis tore off the lone cook's hundred-knotted clothes, covered himself, pushed him to the other side of the alley, hung a nameplate around his neck, and turned around and walked out.
At the gate of the side door of the palace, several gatekeepers were watching these temporary chefs who could cook oriental cuisine, because the princess of Pontus hoped to taste her favorite dishes in the Sinope Palace at Pompey's dinner, which made Pompey spend a lot of effort to search for chefs in the whole city.
Carapis stood by the side of the door, and waited until the ones in front of him went in, then he slowly walked to a half-bald white-haired slave in charge. The old guy looked at Carapis's appearance and nameplate, and said, "Take off your clothes, take them off completely, and be naked." (To be continued.)