Heir of Aurelian

Mitra sat with a bored expression within the war room of her elder brother Narseh. Though she felt some pity for the death of her other brother Bahram, the man had always been a creep. His infatuation with his own sister had. caused Mitra to commonly avoid the man like the plague, and now that he was dead, she did not quite know how to feel about it.

As for Narseh, he was busy coordinating efforts with his faction to find a solution to his eldest brother Shapur's rise in power. With the defeat of Bahram, the majority of his backers had fled to Shapur's side. After all, the man was a renowned military leader and had a penchant for vengeance against the man who had killed his father. Who just so happened to be the current ruler of the Roman Empire.

To the Sassanid Empire, it was a matter of pride to avenge Yazdegerd I, and because of this, Shapur and Bahram who were both in favor of such policy were the two most popular candidates to win the throne, that is prior to Bahram's untimely demise.

However, Narseh viewed conflict with the Roman Empire to be nothing more than another disastrous defeat. And though he mourned for his father's death, he did not wish to share the man's fate, nor lead their entire house to ruin over a matter as petty as vengeance.

Yazdegerd had backed the eastern Roman Empire against Marcellus' regime, and failed to win the war. In fact, Narseh was quite concerned with many of the tools that Marcellus had introduced to the battlefield, and thus, remained cautious in his future dealings with Rome.

At the moment, though, the Persian Prince was more concerned with his eldest brother, and how to take the Sassanid crown from him. Thus, as Mitra played with her nails in the corner of the room, he was listening to his backers, who were bickering over how best to proceed.

"By now, Shapur's armies are three times our own. If he wanted to, he could storm this palace and eliminate all of us. We need to do something about this. I say we hire more vandals as mercenaries! Then we will be able to compete with Shapur and his brigands!"

The moment this advisor spoke these words, another retaliated with an even louder shout.

"And what, pray tell, do you expect to pay these mercenaries with? In case you have not yet noticed, our finances are on the brink of total collapse. If we do not get a sudden inflow of silver and gold soon, we won't even be able to afford the current mercenaries we have on retainer. Use your brain for once!"

The discussion was becoming more and more heated until a message ran into the room. The man had an anxious expression on his face, and was panting as if he had just run a marathon.

"Sire! Sire! I will bring good news. A Ghassanid merchant is waiting in your courtyard. He says he brings wares from the Roman Empire and is willing to trade them exclusively with you."

This brought a sudden silence about the room, where Narseh quickly gazed over towards the messanger with suspicion in his eyes.

"A Ghassanid merchant? I thought they were a vassal of the eastern Roman Empire? What could they possibly want with us?"

However, before the messenger could answer his question, Mitra made a long and exasperated sigh before speaking her mind.

"That was before the eastern half of the Empire was annexed by Marcellus. Everyone knows that Rome's current dictator has not done much to gain the favor of those he considers being barbarians.

In fact, I have heard rumors that the Ghassanid Kingdom is seeking to break away from Rome's influence entirely. Now could be the perfect time to recruit the Arabs to our cause, especially if they are willing to bring us Roman goods to us without having to directly purchase them from Rome itself."

Upon hearing Mitra's words, the entire room nodded their heads in agreement with them, thus convincing Narseh to permit entry to this travelling merchant. Before long, the messenger came running back with the merchant in tow.

The man was as swarthy as Narseh himself, and yet there was a very callous look on Narseh's face, as if this Arab man was nothing more than a barbarian, while he himself was a proud Persian. As if expecting this response, the merchant bowed his head before introducing himself.

"My name is Jafnah. I am a humble merchant from the Ghassanid Kingdom. I bring with me wares from across the Roman Empire at a discounted price, too. I heard that there is a market for illicit Roman Goods in Ctesiphon, especially those who were not directly purchased from Rome itself. As such, I have come to pay respects to the Prince who will one day be King of all of Persia, and in doing so, I hope to help you gain the capital to beat your rivals."

Despite Jafnah's flattering words, Narseh was still suspicious of the man, and thus was quick to inquire about the man's goods, and reasoning for selling them exclusively to him.

"Just what do you have to sell, and why do you seek to make my your exclusive dealer within the Sassanid Empire?"

Jafnah immediately smiled, revealing several missing teeth as he explained his reasoning to the Persian Prince.

"The Ghassanid Kingdom is currently at a loss for what to do. Emperor Marcellus shows no signs of accepting our King's fealty and instead spits on our traditions as being primitive and barbaric. He shows no respect for his vassals, and thus we have begun to wonder why we should even bother currying his favor.

However, we have heard tales of a wise, and noble Prince in Persia, who is currently battling for the throne against his family. I assure you I am only the first of many who will seek to take advantage of the current crisis in Ctesiphon, however, I am also the only one with a reliable distribution network that reaches even the far ends of the Roman Empire.

If you buy my goods for the price I offer, and sell them for a premium among your own populace, you and I will both make a decent amount of money. I can also ensure that nobody else from the Ghassanid Kingdom will be able to follow my example. As my family has a long history of ties with the Romans, we have effectively cornered the market for Roman luxury goods.

It is in my family's best interest to help a man like yourself ascend to the throne of Persia, and in doing so, establish ties with the mighty Sassanid Empire."

Though Narseh did not fully trust Jafnah's words, the opportunity was too valuable to give up, and thus with a begrudging sigh, he decided to take a chance on the Ghassanid merchant.

"Very well, I look forward to doing business with you."

Jafnah simply smiled, and bowed his head once more before responding with a single comment.

"Likewise..."