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‘Back off,’ said Gia, still held prisoner.

‘Claudia Caesaria speaks of law and order, but she killed her brother by the sword.’

‘You are playing a dangerous game, Aquinas,’ said Claudia.

‘Claudia Caesaria speaks of what is right and good, but she is guilty of infamia.’

‘That’s enough,’ Claudia shouted.

‘She is not fit to rule. It is clear to you all. The two previous emperors both died in suspicious circumstances in a short space of time. The body of Decimus may never be recovered. We have only Princess Claudia’s account of how he died. Many of us have questions, and she has no answers. We can no longer ignore it.’

The crowd murmured with interest.

‘My god has spoken, and he has accused the empress.’

‘True or false, her reputation is sullied,’ said one senator.

‘She calls herself empress, but she is no better than the savages.’

‘This is not the way,’ said Pliny the Elder, as he was bustled out of the room. ‘Prejudice and division shall get us nowhere.’

‘Your soul is not yet lost,’ said Rectina, as the guards cuffed her. ‘You can still do the right thing, Marcellus.’

Cassius remained silent, though his expression was hard, a muscle twitching in his cheek.

‘The Senate will never let you get away with it,’ said Damocles.

‘It has been good to see you again, Damocles, but it is time for you to retire,’ said the general.

He thrust his sword forward without hesitation, so quickly that it took Damocles a moment to realize he’d been stabbed. She watched his eyes popping, his face greying, before Aquinas roughly withdrew his weapon, with such force that Damocles slumped down to the ground.

‘No!’ Claudia cried. ‘What are you doing, you maniac?’

It took her right back to the night her brother died: the smell of death, the sound of panicked breaths, the cold animal fear in her heart, the way every tiny sound was amplified, becoming monstrous in contrast with the weighty silence.

She tried to move towards Damocles but was prevented by the guards. His gaze met hers and he reached out his hand to her, too far for her to touch, his fingers curling up before the light left him.

General Aquinas stood up and walked away impassively, wiping his bloodied hand on one of the table napkins.

Damocles, poor Damocles. His last act as consul had been to stand by her, and he had been sacrificed for it.

‘You killed him,’ Claudia gasped, tears streaming before she could stop them.

‘I didn’t think you, of all people, would judge me for that.’

‘Why? Why did you do it?’

‘It is time for a fresh start, and a new consul,’ he said. ‘One who will be willing to follow the script.’

Half of the people at the table now rushed to Damocles, while the others remained in their seats in terror.

‘Does anyone else have any objections?’ said Aquinas.

No one spoke.

‘Then Senator Thelonius will be the new consul,’ said Aquinas.

‘I would be honoured to serve,’ said Thelonius.