After the incident on the borders of Italia, and the village that was slaughtered, Marcellus heavily reprimanded the Foederati for their actions, seizing their plunder for himself. However, that was the most that he could do to punish them. The truth of the matter was he needed them to win his war with Honorius, and to repel Alaric from the Empire’s borders after he had crowned himself emperor.

Without the support of the Foederati, Marcellus had an abysmal army, and could not compete with the many threats that faced Rome. However, by stealing their plunder, the foederati grew disgruntled, with only Sarus keeping their loyalties in check. Sarus himself was not bothered by the slaughter of the village, however, he had sworn his loyalty to Marcellus for the time being, and truthfully, he was slightly intimidated by the man.

Marcellus had promised the Gothic Foederati money, land, and, more importantly, vengeance. To Sarus, those things mattered far more than the paltry sum they had gained from one small town. Thus, he had used every tactic he could think of to prevent his warriors from deserting in the time following the border fiasco.

Since then Marcellus and his army had marched into Italia unopposed, forcing every village they came across to pay tribute in the form of food and other supplies. There was not much of a Roman Army left at this point, at least not under Honorius’ control. The remaining Roman forces were all in the hands of Constantine, and he was too busy with an uprising in Hispania to bother threatening the Italian Peninsula at this point.

Honorius and what little forces he had were holed up in Ravenna, believing they could outlast Marcellus and his army, and force the man to surrender by threatening his mother. However, little did Honorius know that would not work on the man.

Marcellus was smart enough to realize that his mother was already dead. Even if he surrendered himself to the mercy of the Emperor, she would not be spared. Honorius would kill the woman in front of him just to make him suffer in his last moments. Thus, all he could do was to a march on the capital and avenge the woman. He did not know that Placidia was in the middle of figuring out how to break Aeliana out from her cell.

—_.

Placidia sat within a room, with several guards watching over her. Since her brief spat with her brother, she had been confined to her room for most of the day. Only making appearances at meal time. This was a response to Honorius’ paranoia, who now believed his own sister had turned against him. He would not allow her to cripple his operations, and had thus kept her under house arrest in Ravenna.

As a result, she had nothing to do but spend her hours thinking of the best way on how to escape, with Aeliana in tow. The longer the woman stayed in the cold, damp, and dark dungeons, the worse she would be. She had already lost the will to live and was wasting away. Because of this, Placidia knew she had to act quickly if she were to save the woman’s life.

Little did Placidia know that the guards who were assigned to watch over her were paranoid in their own right. Word that both Alaric and the Gothic Foederati had joined forces with Marcellus, and that the man was leading a large army to Ravenna.

This was only half true, but the fear that such a massive force of Goths was being commanded by the man who was now widely recognized as Western Rome’s greatest general had caused many in the city to go mad with fear.  The men were conversing by themselves on the best course of action, unaware that the girl they were guarding was eavesdropping.

“I’m telling you, we should take anything of value from the palace and flee the city. If an army of sixty thousand goths march on Ravenna, led by the infamous Goth-Slayer, we will not be enough to defend the city. They will sack us, and then they will brutally execute anyone who still works for Honorius!”

However, another man in the group was a bit more level-headed and immediately countered this claim with some solid logic and reasoning.

“You’re just being paranoid. Ravenna is built in a swamp and is a fortress in its own right. Even if there were a hundred thousand goths in the rebel army, they still won’t be able to break through our defenses. They are barbarians! They have no siege weapons!”

This was rather solid logic except for one major important detail, which the third guard quickly spoke about.

“I’m pretty sure Marcellus knows how to build siege weapons. If he teaches the barbarians to do so, then we will surely lose the city. I mean, they might be crude, but a siege weapon is a siege weapon.”

It was at this moment that the once level-headed man had broken out into a cold sweat. The panic had just now begun to affect his mind. He looked around to see if they were being watched before leaning in and whispering to the other guards.

“What the hell are we going to do? If we stay here, we are as good as dead!”

Before anyone could speak up with a solution, a young and feminine voice filled the air.

“I know what to do!”

Such a sudden interruption caused the guards to shudder as they turned around and witnessed the adolescent girl, Galla Placidia, staring at them with a friendly smile. The men immediately became cautious as they witnessed the Emperor’s sister who they were supposed to be watching listening in on them. Just when the leader of them was about to rebuke the girl, one of the other guards spoke up.

“What do you know?”

Seeing that the bait had been bitten by the three fools in front of her, Galla Placidia did not hesitate to whisper treason into their ears.

“You know Marcellus is only coming to Rome because the Emperor has kidnapped his mother and is threatening her life, right? If you were to work together to free the woman and deliver her safely to Marcellus, he will reward you for your efforts.

At the very least, he will spare your lives. However, if he lays siege to this city, and Aeliana is killed by my brother, you can be assured that the men in my brother’s army will be hunted down and executed in the most creatively violent ways that Marcellus can think of. And I assure you, Marcellus is an educated and creative man.”

The three guards looked at each other with complicated expressions. What the girl was suggesting was high treason, and if they got caught, they would surely lose their heads. However, the alternative was far worse.

If the three of them sat by and did nothing as Marcellus laid siege to the city, then undoubtedly Honorius would kill the man’s mother as a show of force. Such a thing would clearly enrage the rebel general, resulting in a complete and utter lack of mercy when his barbarian soldiers finally breached the city’s defenses.

At that point, they would be lucky if they got off easy with a crucifixion. The three of them shuddered as they thought about what horrors awaited them should they remain loyal to Honorius. After thinking about it for some time, the leader of the three guards nodded his head before speaking up to Placidia.

“What do you need us to do?”

Placidia wore a pretty smile as she heard the men agree to her suggestion. Now that the men who were supposed to watch her were on her side, she could move more easily in the shadows. She quickly laid out a plan for the men gathered.

“Right now, we need to embed at least one of you, or someone who can be trusted in the detail that protects Aeliana’s cell. She is a high-profile prisoner, and she is protected well, especially now that my brother suspects my treachery.

Once we have a man on the inside, we just need to wait until Marcellus lays siege to the city. When the rebel army arrives, chaos will ensue, giving us a brief period to free the woman before my brother tries to use her as a bargaining chip for Marcellus’ surrender.

We use our man on the inside to free her, where the rest of you will then lead her out of the city, and towards Marcellus’ army, where you will hand her over in exchange for mercy to you and your families. “

The three men thought about the girl’s words for some time before agreeing with them. They still had several weeks before Marcellus and his army arrived at Ravenna. Given the desperate situation, it would not be difficult for one of them to infiltrate the security detail that guarded Aeliana. The leader of the guards nodded his head once more before responding to Placidia’s plan.

“It’s the best chance we’ve got. Very well, we will work with you to free the prisoner and help her escape the city. Hopefully, with his mother secured, Marcellus will be more lenient to the people in the city, once he takes it.”

Placidia wore a pretty smile as she thanked the men for their assistance.

“Thank you… With this, we can save the city. In the meantime, act natural. We don’t want my brother suspecting our plans.”

With this a plan was in motion to save Aeliana, and with it the people of the city of Ravenna, for if she died, Marcellus might unleash the gothic horde beneath his command on the city, and its inhabitants resulting in a slaughter.