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Claudia looked to Gia.
‘I find that I have grown weary of hiding,’ she answered. ‘Perhaps there is nothing greater to be gained than to live an authentic life, no matter the cost.’
She and Gia exchanged a smile, more secure now, before Claudia turned back to Darius.
‘Were they real?’ she asked. ‘The visions you showed me?’
The prince’s solemn expression deepened, became grave.
‘All of them. This was the only lie. I promise you that. I swear on my life, on the lives of my animals, everything else was true,’ he said.
‘How can I trust you now?’
‘Because you have seen me, the real me,’ he said, holding her gaze firmly. ‘You know who I am now, and what I am running from. I saved your life, and I will do it again, Empress. I will fight with you to the end, in alliance, as we are meant to be.’
Claudia paused, nodding softly as she considered it.
‘So, here it is,’ she said, after a moment. ‘Here is my proposal, to you, and I think you’ll find it quite fair, if you are willing to hear it?’
The prince nodded, his eyes on the ground.
‘You will remain here in Rome until Marcellus and his men have been dealt with. We’ll work together to ensure he doesn’t come to power, thus disrupting whatever dark future your goddess saw. You will return to Persepolis and tell your father we have signed a pax to ensure continued peace, despite our failed engagement. Find another wife to satisfy him, if you wish to live in secrecy. I will not wage a war with you, and you will not wage a war with me… but we shall end our engagement today. We can still bring peace to our people, just not in the way that was chosen for us by our families.’
He stared at his ringed hands, helpless as a boy.
‘Will you agree to these terms?’ she said.
Darius stared off into the distance, his eyes shining with unshed tears. Claudia couldn’t work out what he was thinking.
But after a moment, he nodded solemnly.
‘I am tired of hiding too,’ he said.
She had seen him, and he had seen her.
This time, when he took her hand and kissed it, it was not as a fiancé or a lover but something else.
18. MURDERESS
As Claudia sat down to her cousin’s welcome home hero dinner, she found herself thinking about her late brother, Decimus.
She recalled his final dinner party, on the last night of the world back in Pompeii; how they had sat around a table heaped with rotting food as rocks hammered the roof and fire burned rivers down the hillside, her brother screaming about Jupiter’s cosmic power.
She remembered when he told her that Gia was dead, and how she had ceased to care that the world was ending thereafter, growing numb as slaves whipped senators and eels ate flesh.
Compared to that, this feast was perfectly pleasant and properly civil, with its soft lyre music, its delicate decorations and delectable menu, all organized with great order and class by Damocles and Rectina.
Yet Claudia felt the same sinister, foreboding undercurrent running beneath the surface as the invited guests took their seats, making her cold, her stomach turning in anticipation.
Claudia, Cassius and Darius joined a table of senators, generals and soldiers, while Gia had been relegated to the servants’ table, along with Rectina and the prince’s remaining staff. The servants’ table was almost entirely women, while, at Claudia’s, she was the only one.
Looking around, she noticed Senator Philopappos sitting between Pliny the Elder and another man. He looked anxious too, even ruddier of face than usual, pulling at the collar of his robes.
He met her eye… and looked away.
Her cousin was surrounded by his usual triad of patrons. General Aquinas whispered in his ear, as Claudia took advice from Damocles and Pliny.
Marcellus had his people, and she had hers. It was a bit like a gladiator match, with two competitors preparing for battle, but the fight was one of words and politics: persuasion and manipulation. Marcellus would be the favoured competitor, with a clear advantage, but the night was not yet over. She was not yet ready to give in.
