The Sicilian sun was just peaking over the horizon when General Marcus Agrippa disembarked from his ship from North Africa. The air was thick with the smell of the sea and the sweat of the men who blockaded the ports. The grand villa sat atop a large sweeping hill and its white marble columns projected the wealth of the Veras family. A family devoid of a male heir. Vipsania, Septimus and my daughter is all that remains of an ancient dynasty. An infant that will be brought to Rome to ensure her fast wealth is... responsibly administered. Agrippa didn't enjoy politics but this money was necessary for the recovery of Rome. They'd been at war since Agrippa was sixteen. A warm breeze rustled the trees in the gardens as he rode his black war horse into the open atrium of the estate. His crimson cape fluttered in the wind, the polished bronze of his armour caught the sun just right. His expression was unreadable as always. Stoic but with sharp blue eyes that were always searching. Always calculating. Servants and guards had already begun whispering at his arrival, some bowing in respect, others whispering in fear. The heavy wooden gates up to the actual home opened for him. He blinked up at my distant figure. Was I inviting him in to surrender? Or to lure him into a trap? Agrippa dismounted from his horse, his movements deliberate as he handed the reins to a waiting stableboy without looking at him. His eyes were locked on me. By Jupiter... I could see why some women whispered about him in the marketplaces. "Lady," He said as he strode forward and nodded his head to me respectfully. He stopped at the base of the stairs and gazed up at me with a stern and cold expression, "I regret to bring you news of your husband's demise in Carthage." He clasped his hands in front of him. The moment stretched on between us. Two players in a war that neither of us had started. "I have come to discuss terms of your surrender. Your lands will become property of the Emperor and your daughter will come to Rome to become a ward of your sister, the Empress Claudia." He said, reading out the terms as he memorized from his orders from Octavian, "You will remarry after your mourning period ends. Someone of the Emperor and Empress's choosing." He nodded.