Page 15

‘But you are much changed, of course!’ he added. ‘You’re just as enchanting as the soldiers said you were. You know, the men dreamed of you every night? Prayed to you. The thought of your great beauty kept them alive, in so many ways.’

‘You should stop talking,’ said Gia. ‘Immediately.’

‘It’s a compliment, isn’t it?’

‘Is it a compliment if I stick my sword up your arse?’ said Gia.

Marcellus inched further away from her.

‘You were right,’ he said, looking to Claudia. ‘Your friend here is quite spirited.’

‘I’m going to ask again: what are you doing here, Marcellus? Why are you in my father’s room, as if you own the place?’

‘They came for me. They brought me here.’

He gazed at her like a child who was in trouble but didn’t understand why, though he was a grown man in his mid-twenties.

‘Who is they?’ she asked.

‘They said you and Decimus were probably dead, based on the news coming out of Naples.’

‘Who?’ she demanded, raising her voice. ‘Who told you that?’

‘Senators Tacitus and Thelonius, and General Aquinas. They found me holidaying in Greece and brought me here, to meet my destiny.’

There it was, just as Claudia had feared. The Senate had chosen their ruler, and it wasn’t her.

‘I thought you were a soldier,’ she said.

‘I was… honourably discharged, six months past,’ he said, airily and without explanation. ‘I’ve been searching for a new vocation ever since. As the closest male relative of the emperor, I am being called to rule, to be the hero Rome needs.’

‘I am already here,’ Claudia said, firmly.

‘Which senators are supporting your claim?’ he asked.

Claudia couldn’t quite get a read on Marcellus. On one hand, he seemed naïve, possibly even dim, but he had a canniness about him too.

‘It shouldn’t matter,’ she said, defensively. ‘I am the heir, just as my brother was… But I have the support of Pliny.’

This appeared to have the desired effect, stunning him into silence. Pliny the Elder was a well-known military commander.

Damocles appeared at the door, bowing to Marcellus.

‘Apologies for the interruption, but we didn’t have a chance to finish our conversation,’ he said. ‘And it is rather urgent. You see, the Senate has asked you both to appear at the Curia Julia tomorrow morning, to make your case.’

‘What case?’ said Claudia.

‘Your proposal, as emperor… or empress. They will pledge support for their preferred princeps.’

Claudia blinked at him, mind racing.

‘The Senate is keen, of course, to preserve stability,’ he said. ‘We’ve lost two emperors in the same year, within the space of a few days. It wouldn’t serve the empire for them to back another unpopular leader.’

‘Naturally,’ said Marcellus, nodding rather too hard.

Claudia already knew she would be unpopular, simply by the fact of being a woman, and by the look on Damocles’s face, this was all a charade, in any case. The Senate clearly didn’t expect her to win the requisite number of votes but by humouring her, they hoped to contain any potential influence she might have.

‘If Decimus was standing here, would you expect him to prove his worth?’ she said. ‘So why should I?’