Of All this Roman Ambition

i.

When Reyna was five, she wanted to be an emperor.

She would ask her sister to wreath a few flowers from their backyard together and pretend that they were laurels, would sit around in the highest chair in his father's study with a bowl of grapes balanced haphazardly in her chubby legs whilst devouring thick volumes of Roman history.

Her father would see her and chuckle, messing up her black hair and accidentally knocking her laurel's wreath off, and she'd stick out her tongue and tell him that emperors were not to be messed up with, but her smile would always give her away. She couldn't help it.


Reyna wanted to be just like the great Augustus, to protect her people and lead them to glory. She always tried to follow his steps, but it was hard to look dignified and regal when every day you were mocked at and made fun of by your kindergartener friends.

So Reyna would escape from the shrill laughs and the pull of her braids, climbing up into the safety of the highest slide she could find (the one that no one dared to climb) and think, what would Augustus do?

(But sometimes she would lose her composure, and her childish nature would get the best out of her.)

And after looking at the shrieking, laughing kids for some time, she would extend her tiny first out and squint, tilting her head to the side.

Thumbs up, or thumbs down?

She always liked to pretend that she could decide the fate of her enemies (emperors were not something to be messed up with.)

Thumbs down.



ii.

When Reyna was ten, she wanted to be a warrior.

The change began gradually: she eventually stopped sneaking into his father's study (full of dusty, heavy volumes that no longer seemed appealing) and started helping his father out with the (Roman style) weapons he forged.

It was not until her eleventh birthday that she began considering that maybe the glory did not lay in the shoulders of the great leaders, but in the sacrifices of everyday heroes.

So Reyna would ask her sister for sparring lessons and Hylla would always smile, seeing little Reyna dragging the too-heavy sword that left a wobbly trail in the dirt and adjusting the thick shield so it would not fall. She seemed so awkward at first, ducking too slow and attacking too soon, but it was only a matter of time before her genes kicked in (or so would their father say), and seemingly too soon was Hylla defeated by her twelve-year-old sister.

(She was a born warrior, after all, wasn't she? It was bound to happen.)

Spar, duck, roll, defend, attack-

(Reyna always seemed to know exactly what to do).



iii.

When Reyna was thirteen, she wanted to be free.

Not even the death of her (beloved) father neither their stay in Circe's island was enough to change Reyna's ambitions, but the day they were captured by the pirates Reyna began to reconsider as she scrubbed away at floors and spent hours forced to working in the loom.


Reyna finally decided that freedom was mankind's greatest gift, and one that should be owned by everyone.

And, staring grimly into the churning, dirty water of the bucket and the sweep she had in hand, she thought that if freedom was not given to her, she would fight until her very last breath for it.


(She was, after all, an all-knowing warrior and a cautious empress, so she might as well reclaim what was once hers.)


I'll get us out of this, Hylla, she whispered to herself as she turned off the light and closed the door to their small room for what turned out to be the last time.



iv.

When Reyna was fifteen, she wanted to be a strong leader.

She had been chosen praetor after the old ones retired, having decided to settle in for a quieter life in New Rome after things had begun to grow wild with the upcoming war against the ancient gods and titans.

Reyna had been raised on a shield along with Jason Grace after they single-handedly defended camp from an invading attack in the middle of the night whilst on patrol duty.

There had (thankfully) been no accidents that night other than a broken wrist on Jason's part and a sprained ankle from Reyna (which had casually been Jason's fault, too). The senate immediately decided that they were the most qualified persons for the job (much to Octavian's dismay) and it was so announced to them the next morning.

As they stood, both radiating confidence and security, Reyna couldn't help but wonder nervously whether she was up to the job.

(Her pondering was cut short after Jason laced his fingers with hers and flashed her a smile.)

Of course she was.

(Had Reyna kept staring at the cheering crowds, she would have noticed the spiteful thumbs down that Octavian had been presenting to the newly chosen praetors, just like she had done so long ago.)



v.

When Reyna was seventeen, she just wanted to be happy.

She had seen, been through and defeated hell. She had lost a father, escaped slavery and survived two wars, so why couldn't she?

As she stared into the soft amber light, Argentium seemed to possess a glow by himself that seemed to aggrandize the space where Aurum should've been.

Reyna sighed.

There was a knock.

"Come in," Reyna instructed, turning her gaze towards the door.

The door burst open along with a rush of cold wind and a winded-looking Hispanic boy. Leo.

"Did someone order-" he began, his ever-present smile widening, "a repaired metallic dog?"

There was a loud, mechanic sounding bark and then a blur of gold, and Aurum was back in her arms.

"Aurum!" she exclaimed, and petted the dog's head with a mix of surprise and joy. "You're back."

Reyna scanned Aurum for any of the marks and holes that had stopped him from functioning after the war, but there were none. Aurum was as good as new.

Finally, with a smile, she turned to Leo, who suddenly seemed very nervous leaning on the wooden frame of the door.

"I didn't think he had repair," Reyna said, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, well. It was... he had... it took some time." Leo shrugged awkwardly and then smiled. "Ain't nothing that Leo Valdez can't repair!" he announced proudly with a wink, but then his smile turned into something sad when he added, a little later, "You know, you and Aurum and Argentium remind me of Festus and me sometimes."

Reyna had heard something of Festus before, the great mechanic dragon that Leo fixed and that had helped them along in their quest, but had never actually given it much thought.

Before Leo could turn and go, Reyna gathered up her courage and stood up, crossed the room in three long strides with her cape swishing behind her in a purple blur to wrap Leo in a hug.

"Muchísimas gracias," she murmured quietly, and just as soon as she came she was gone, beet red and smiling with Aurum and Argentium trailing behind her, most probably going to the nearest sweet shop.

Leo smiled, closing the door and then running to catch up with her.

(Maybe a happy ending wasn't that impossible after all.)