I put out his fire

The rebellion in Gaul came to an end.

Within a few days, Claudius led the legion to rendezvous with Recco and Nero.

In order to celebrate the victory, they held a feast to thank the gods for their protection.

The banquet was held in the tent.

The generals reclined on the couch to eat, and they took off their armor and hung it high.Hare meat is fried brown and sprinkled with clove powder from the East; the chef kills a pregnant cow, sets up a charcoal stand in the middle of the couch, bakes it with herbs and nutmeg, and eats it now, this precious meat It is the main course of the banquet.Slaves sprinkled verbena on the ground to purify the air.

Claudius is lying on the main seat.Wearing a laurel wreath on his head, he tore off a piece of rabbit leg with his thin hands, and ate it like a young bird.

Lei Ke leaned on a cane and limped to his side with a plate of mushrooms stewed with cinnamon.

He was inconvenient to move, stretched out his arms with some difficulty, and put the plate in front of Claudius, causing a lot of movement on the table, and a few chickpeas were vibrated and bounced.

Claudius's small round eyes caught a glimpse of the mushroom, emitting a faint light like rippling water.The firelight of roasting beef illuminated his slightly greedy face.

"This plate of mushrooms was picked from the forest." Lei Ke said, "If I remember correctly, it is your favorite food."

Claudius approached the plate with his nose and took a careful sniff, like a dog approaching a stranger and alertly sniffing.

His reddened nostrils flapped a few times, and he fiddled with the soft stewed mushrooms with his fingers, without taking a bite for a long time.Greedy for life and afraid of death, he is wary of everything that may be harmful.

The corners of Lei Ke's mouth twitched faintly, "I've let the slaves try it, and it's not poisonous."

Claudius relaxed, a smile squeezed out of his sagging face due to aging.His dry and dull lips curled up like two pieces of rusted iron.

He picked up a piece of mushroom and put it in his mouth, his eyes were slightly blurred by the smell.

He chewed and said, "Please don't blame my vigilance, my cousin. You know, Romans die every day from poisonous mushrooms. This expensive and delicious food may cost me my life... ..."

Lei Ke snorted.The crutch under his arm spun, and the legs and feet wrapped in iron boots were like heavy hammers. He walked crookedly towards the side of the banquet.

Nero lay on his side, crushed the steamed chestnuts with a spoon, drizzled a little honey, and ate a spoonful.

The flames of the charcoal fire stand jumped on his distinct eyebrows.His brow bone is high and three-dimensional, and the mature charm bursts from there. His youthful face, just like the first light of the morning light, has begun to show the will of an adult.

He turned his head away secretly, and peeked at Rhodes standing behind him from under the thin and slightly long forehead hair.

Rhodes is not eligible to join the dinner party.He leaned against the corner like a heavy sword, his extremely handsome features were all hidden in the shadow of black hair, like a shadow that came and went without a trace.

His sharp eyes moved slightly, slammed into Nero's dazed gaze, and evoked a shallow but sharp smile at him.

Nero's heart was surging, and he turned his head away nervously, his cheeks flushed and at the same time he felt a humble sense of happiness.

Lei Ke walked over staggeringly, his strong body brought a gust of wind.He passed the noble Nero directly, and limped to Rhodes.

Rhodes raised his eyelids, and his hard figure was reflected in his sharp black eyes.

Lei Ke's stubborn lips moved, and the scar on his forehead was like Shen Feng.

"Although you are a lowly guard, I have to thank you myself," he said gravely. "You saved my life!"

Rhodes smiled meaninglessly.He crossed his arms, and his slightly raised jaw gave a hint of rebelliousness and coldness.

"I am only entrusted by the master." He said casually, "The object of your gratitude should be Lord Domitius, not a humble guard."

Lei Ke glanced at Nero, whose head was buried in his arms, his thick eyebrows frowned, and his expression showed some suspicion.

A slave who knows how to read words greeted him, and brought two glasses of wine with lemon slices for Lei Ke.

Lei Ke handed Rhodes a cup, and Rhodes' hands with folded arms remained motionless.His eyes caught a glimpse of delicious serum, and the light spots in his pupils were like ice edges.

"Sorry, I only drink cheap beer," he said.

Surprise burst out on Lei Ke's weather-beaten face.He was a little dazed, his slightly turbid pupils were blurred for a moment, and at this moment he seemed to be wandering away as if his soul had left.

"You are very similar to a person I knew before..." He said in a daze, the twisted long scar gave him a sense of age, "Just like you, he is also a guard of the royal family, and he also has thick black hair ..."

Rhodes' eyes were lowered, and a dim black light was emitted from the sharp eye slits.His hands encircling his body were vaguely stiff, and his slender and silent body line was like a stroke of black ink falling into a corner.

Lei Ke took a step closer, Iron Blood's face was very firm, like a knife and ax soaked in blood.

His face was stern, and there was a hint of urgency in his voice, as if there was an undercurrent surging: "It is said that he also has a son, and your age is just right..."

"What you said is just old people." Rhodes said heavily, "It has nothing to do with me who was born as an orphan."

Lei Ke's bewildered words were locked on his lips, and the heavy bags under his eyes twitched twice.He said seriously: "I have followed two principles in my life, one is never to stretch my hands to the throne, and the other is never to owe others favors."

Rhode turned his face away, his slightly raised temple hair covering most of his eyebrows.He has been silent, his temperament is a temperament that rejects people thousands of miles away.

"Although I hate to say such things, I must admit..." Lei Ke's face was as firm as a rock, "I owe you a life-related favor."

He raised his neck and drank the wine in the glass, and his robust body swayed back, leaving behind a series of heavy inflection sounds.

Only then did Rhodes' tense legs relax.Lei Ke's questioning of his identity made him feel like an enemy.

He paused, then raised his head slowly, the hair on both sides of his temples swayed back like water ripples, revealing his beautiful eyes as calm as black rocks.

Nero, who was lying on the couch, disappeared.

Rhodes was immediately horrified.A layer of cold sweat floated on his forehead like ice floes, and he appeared from a dark corner almost like the light of a knife slashing past.

At this time, a female slave hurried over and handed him a papyrus note.

Rhode smoothed the wrinkles with his fingertips.The Latin on the note is very neat and round:

"I'm under the tree outside the tent. 』

With a dark face, Rhodes threw the note into the brazier, and walked out of the tent with a cold sword.

The bright silver moon was split into pieces like broken mirrors by the bare branches, and the dust reflected as silver grains was suspended, giving it a hazy texture.

Nero leaned against a tree with fallen leaves.He had shed his chainmail shirt and put on a soft ochre-red cloak.His youthful and slightly melancholy face was blushing a little shyly at this moment.In the cold silver moonlight and the desolate streets, he is like a warm color that is incompatible.

There was a faint bitter taste of the flames of war in the air, and a bleak moonlight shone through Nero's silver hair.

"Are you hungry..." He whispered, with a nervous expression, "May I invite you to eat something on the street?"

Rhodes' grip on the hilt of the sword was relaxed at this moment.

So the two walked into the potholed streets of Gaul.

The war ended, and the suffering Gaul regained a little life.Small shops along the street lit their lampshades, and the warm yellow candles floated like fireflies. Women with clay pots on their heads went home with flour, and the shops began to close.At this time, the voices of the people are gradually thinning out, the night light is quiet, and the hot steam of the rice smells from the restaurant, which has some ordinary and demure meaning.

Taking advantage of the chaos of the dinner party to sneak out of the barracks, there is a thrill of a tryst with a lover.

They walked in the moonlight, and the shadows blended together, like a pair of traveling companions who loved each other.

The distance was too close, and Rhode's angular hand inadvertently bumped into the back of Nero's hand.Nero was secretly delighted that he didn't dare to say it.

"What do you want to eat?" Nero asked expectantly.His deep-set eye sockets are all illuminated, and his golden-brown pupils are as clear as spring water. It turns out that his dark prey is just a phantom floating outside of purity.

"As long as it's hot," Rhodes said.

The two stepped on gravel and dirt all the way, no matter where they went.Wherever Luo Xing went, he turned into a secluded alley and walked into a simple and deserted restaurant.

All he wanted was a bowl of light cereal.

The moonlight slipped in through the cracks in the curtains, dancing on Rhodes' eyebrows and eyes.He didn't bother to take care of his hair. His black hair was long enough to reach his back, and he casually brushed it behind his ears, and it turned out to be feminine and beautiful like a woman.

Nero paid for him and sat quietly opposite.

Rhodes ate cleanly, as sharply as when he swung his sword.Everything is simple, he does not put any honey or herbs, and the tasteless and plain oats are enough to fill him up.

His fingers wrapped under leather gloves were very slender, holding a milky white wooden spoon at this moment, with an elegant temperament.

The yellowish candlelight danced and draped in Rhodes' hair.A fierce person can also have a soft beauty like a pregnant pearl.

Nero raised the corners of his lips suddenly.

An ordinary warmth shot up from the tip of his heart out of thin air, along the bones and flesh, slowly soaked into his limbs and bones, and then returned to the tip of his heart with a hotter temperature.It was an emotion similar to that of a hot spring.Just watching Rhodes eat, he can feel the warmth in his heart.

"I'm so happy..." He said with emotion.

Rhodes glanced at him in surprise, and said casually, "The war is over."

Nero touched his hand, and his face was as light red as the morning light in the sky.

"My hands are not as cold as they used to be..." He muttered to himself as if he had come to his senses.

Rhodes dropped the spoon, quickly grabbed his white hand, and wrapped it in his hot hand.

At this moment Nero could feel his heart pounding against his chest.

Rhodes let go of him, nodded with a smile and said, "It's indeed a little warmer than that time on the boat."

Nero blushed and didn't dare to speak anymore, and Rhodes kept eating and didn't say any more.

In the silence of not speaking to each other, there can be strange happiness.

……

When the two returned to the barracks, the feast for worshiping the gods was still going on.The female slave holds a harp in her arms and plays classical music from the Greek era.

Claudius was lying on his side, beating the beat with enjoyment on his face, and two blushes appeared on his pointed and thin face.He was already slightly drunk, and the crown of laurels hung askew on his head.The quelling of the rebellion was a great relief to him.

Suddenly, a soldier rushed in from outside the tent in a panic.

His face was covered with sweat, and his steps were chaotic as if he were walking on ice skates.He staggered, and even bumped into Nero who had just come back, and knelt down in front of the emperor's feet, his knees hitting the ground like a sound.

The originally happy camp was cleaned up because of this unexpected guest.

Rhodes stood behind Nero, tensing his body vigilantly.

Claudius narrowed his small eyes and asked lazily, "What's wrong?"

The soldier wiped his sweat and said: "The queen falsely reported that you were killed in battle, and you married a nobleman just yesterday... Now the city of Rome is full of troops..."

Nero took a breath.

Claudius bounced up as if struck by lightning.The blush from his drunkenness faded instantly like evaporation, and his face suddenly turned pale.His hunchback stood tall, trembling like a faint earthquake.

His skinny face twitched convulsively, "...then am I still the emperor now?" he asked uselessly.