Mark Paren

“reflect the harsher environment of frontier life.” I’m going to try. Thanks for commenting.

Starting from chapter ten, as Marcus ventures into the vast German forests, I intend to gradually transition the narrative style. I’m eager to hear your thoughts on this (I’m not entirely sure if I can pull it off).

The photo is of Jim, the most attractive boy in the school. The photo doesn’t do him justice.

You can depend on it.

The priest isn’t evil, just blinded by his beliefs. There’s hope for all of us. 😉

I understand what you’re saying. This is a young adult story so it doesn’t get explicitly spicy. You might enjoy chapter 18. With a little imagination …

I’m happy that you appreciate the pacing. I intentionally incorporated chapters with varying speeds to maintain reader engagement.

The morning of departure arrived grey and busy, the atrium filled with a disorder Marcus had never once seen it hold, baggage stacked in leather-strapped bundles along the walls, servants moving at a brisker pace than the household's usual measured rhythm, his mother's voice carrying from somewhere near the kitchens issuing instructions to a cook who did not appear to be listening. It did not feel, Marcus thought, like the departure for an evening's banquet, however grand. It felt like the house

The business of empire. Thanks for commenting.

Good point. It’s amazing that so many events we see today have parallels in the histories of the Western and Eastern Roman Empires. I guess it’s true what they say about history…

Marcus is in for new experiences. Teutoburg has its own laws, ancient, silent, and entirely indifferent to the Empire. Thanks for commenting.

Thanks for keeping me honest. I have only one of my high school textbooks and unfortunately it isn’t Latin.

Thank you, I appreciate your encouragement.

Et tu, Brute? You are correct, and I will change it.

Word came from his father, and arrived at breakfast with the same brisk finality his father brought to most decisions concerning his son. Ingomar would dine with them tonight, three days before Marcus was to leave for the frontier. Marcus said little in response beyond a nod, though he spent rather more of that morning than he meant to thinking about it. "Arminius will not attend," his father said, going over the evening's shape at the tablinum table the way he might have reviewed accounts,