Night had fallen on the camp and Porcia sat in her own solitude, trying to recover from the blow of loosing her father all over again. Brutus watched with some concern, she was still slightly unbalanced. Hours later, he saw Porcia finally fall into an uneasy sleep and found that he had been joined by her brother.

“Brutus, thank you for making sure my sister is safe.” He stiffly thanked him, and Brutus only nodded.

“It was a small thing to do, and largely selfish.” Brutus stated, casting the thanks aside. The young Cato roughly coughed and then asked politely,

“Would you like to join me in my tent for some wine, Brutus?” Brutus could not refuse and followed the younger man into the tent. After they had been given the wine, they took a seat and the younger Cato, who seldom resembled his father, put a sterner look on his face,

“I understand you and my father did not part well.” Cato said rhetorically, Brutus made no reply, “Yet, I understand you still wish to marry my sister. To be quite honest, I am not a good a politician as you, but as a blunt man I would move you to stop pursuing her. I have obligations to Porcia and my father, and if you continue your pursuit, Porcia will remain as disconsolate as she is.” Brutus attempted not to scoff and replied crassly, for he was tired,

“You are saying foolish things. I’ve seen more years than you by a long shot. The fact Porcia and I will soon be married has little to do with her mental health. The passing of her father has been difficult on her and all the trouble that she has run into did not help her.” Cato felt his anger rise at this, he was now the head of the Cato family and would not be spoken to so childishly.

“You do realize if she chooses to marry you, she will always remember how it could never happen unless her father was deceased.”

“That is a lie! A vulgar lie, Cato and you know it. Porcia and I have been in love for more years than I can count. It is only just that we would marry after so long a wait.”

“Porcia is a more intelligent woman than to be moved by love alone, for some reason she sees strength in you that does not exist. You are no more than a glorified pretender, some pompous and wealthy senator who has extorted from the poor, played the part of a psuedo-stoic, and somehow taken her love as well.” The line had been crossed and Brutus had no patience left for the younger man,

“There is nothing valid in what you say! I will deny all counts, save the one that has her love.”

“We must at least come to some truce. Leave Porcia alone for sometime; let her recover from the grief of our father’s loss. If she has not moved on from you and this silly school girl crush, then I will let you marry her.” Brutus only snorted at this and reluctantly agreed,

“This is satisfactory, but you will have to explain yourself to her.” Brutus stormed out of the tent and went to sleep so he could rise early and leave as swiftly as possible for Rome.