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‘You’re sure she’s not watching in her rooms?’
This was a Roman man, wearing a soldier’s uniform.
‘I am certain. She is going out. They are arranging a chariot for her as we speak.’
This was an accented man, wearing many rings.
It was Darius, she realized.
‘Then now is the time.’
‘Good, because I have been waiting.’
‘Where shall we go?’
‘How about right here?’
‘If we are caught, you must pretend that I am very drunk.’
‘Understood, my prince.’
Claudia heard the rustling of robes.
‘I am just very desperate for affection, you see, and I will accept it from anyone,’ the prince said.
‘Anyone, is it? You are a charmer, aren’t you?’
Cassius.
Darius… and Cassius.
The world turned like a wheel, and Claudia reeled. She sprang up and fled before she could be seen, running to the front of the palace where her chariot was waiting, and tumbled in.
‘Take me to the villa of Senator Philopappos.’
‘Yes, Empress.’
They drove away with the clatter of horseshoes, and Claudia’s mind was ablaze. She was furious – the prince had used her secret to get his way, all while he was guilty of the same. But she was also feeling something else, something less simple to define.
It was as if the world had become fully illuminated and she could see the truth for the first time.
Senators who threw parties for people of the same inclination. A prince who would sleep with a soldier for fun.
Darius. Cassius. Livia. Dido. Even Gia. They were all exploring their desires, in their own way.
Claudia had made herself prisoner in her own mind but she was the gods-damn empress, and she would be prisoner no more.
She was free.
She felt free for the first time in her life.
Claudia vaguely recalled Senator Philopappos as an opponent of her father’s, but she’d had few dealings with him personally. He was known for his generosity during the festival of Saturnalia in December, when he prepared a feast for his staff and waited on his slaves.
He lived in a sprawling, lavish villa on Aventine Hill, surrounded by scrubby trees. It was difficult to see from the nearest road, enveloped in the folds of the sloping land.
As Claudia’s chariot approached, she heard loud music coming from inside, playing a lively song with strong bass drums.
‘Should I wait?’ asked the driver.
