Very well then, I hope you enjoy *smiles* (Have fun out with your girlfriend)<br/><br/>~~~<br/><br/>Five short years since she had first been married...<br/><br/>Five lovely years since her son had been born...<br/><br/>Five long years since she had called the palace her home...<br/><br/>Well, that was not entirely true. She had visited on holidays and special events of course, but it had been quite some time since she had lived there. The arranged marriage of Lucilla Aurelius and Lucius Verus had caused quite a stir...especially from the princess' younger brother. Commodus had not been pleased in the slightest about this arrangement and since it had been confirmed, the realationship between the heir and their father, the Emperor, had been permanently skewed....<br/><br/>The same could not be said however of his realationship with his sister. They had been rather close their entire lives, but since she had left the palace and his side, he had become ever more persistant in her opinion. Neither of them had expected her to be 'whisked' away so swiftly after the marriage ceremony, but it was her new husbands desire to travel to Alexandria..so that was where they went. Lucilla could not protest any more than Commodus could, she only hoped that her brothers temper would not become worse during her absence. Letters came every week from Rome, bearing his signature and seal. They contained confessions so sweet, and yet at times so dark...Things that were written she did not even allow her husband to see, for she herself did not want to acknowledge them...How these ideas had even come to her brothers mind...she could not explain nor did she try to. The maliscious words, tainted with such immoral lust was too much for Lucilla to bare. He was the future Emperor of Rome, and she truly did love him though not in that manner...but what could she do?<br/><br/>Nothing...so she ignored the comments as if he had not made them. Instead she wrote of life outside of Rome, and how she missed and loved him as well, hoping that he would understand she did not hold the same desires. It never ceased, during each visit he would find some way to get her alone. Guilt her with tearful whispers of lonliness and claims of how his very being trembled in the shadows without her light to guide him...<br/><br/>Commodus could be so stubborn at times...<br/><br/>His eloquence with words made him almost irrisistable, and yet she managed to keep herself steady and away.<br/><br/>A recent war had made it difficult for letters to come through to either sibling. Lucilla had become increasingly worried and Commodus, judging by the writings that did make it through, was growing impatient. The last year had been filled with tragedy...not only the war, but their fathers declining health. Lucilla was uncertain that her brother could handle the Empire in the event of their fathers passing...She was not the only one who expressed uneasiness. The Emperor himself was quite shrill on the topic, as was the Senate, who believed that Commodus would be the end of the Empire entirely. Lucilla however kept her doubts internally, for she was the only beacon of hope for her brother..for if his sister would not believe in him, who else would?<br/><br/>Tragic...<br/><br/>News of her husbands death had travelled quicker than news of her marriage to him. Two months mourning had been allowed to her before she would return home to the palace, to be cared for by her brother and father. As tradition demanded, her son would follow a week behind her, staying in the meantime in the company of his fathers realatives in hopes of keeping the spirit of the deceased with the child. The carriage ride had been lonely without her sons company, and Lucilla's thoughts had dwelled on things that were not so pleasant...How things would change at the palace with her being back. How her son would grow without his father. How her brother would react to having her home for good....<br/><br/>Sighing softly, Lucilla pulled back the sheer curtains of her carriage and smiled out to the people who called to welcome her. The streets were lined with citizens eager to welcome back their beloved princess, and though they came with flowers and cheers of joy, they dressed in black clothing to acknowledge her loss. Lucilla herself wore a gorgeous gown of the darkest silks. A dark veil encrusted with gold and jewels covered her dark hair, and yet despite her mournful attire she appeared as lovely as she always had. Her father had often told her that not even the sting of death could disrupt her beauty...<br/><br/>As the carriage stopped, so did her heart briefly. She was anxious to see Commodus, for as an older sister she had truly missed her brother and desired to see him smiling again...but as a sister as well, she feared and was quite uneasy of the things he had written to her..and she silently prayed that he was not planning to act on any of said thoughts. Stepping out of the carriage she waved elegantly as she ascended the stairs. Members of the Senate walked with her, speaking of her father being delayed in Gaul and him not being able to arrive until later in the week....<br/><br/>Lovely.....<br/><br/>So she would indeed be left to the mercy, of her younger brother...