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Poison. She had consumed poison.

Gia was trying to break free again, shouting in horror as she realized what had happened.

‘Take the others to the dungeon for now,’ said Aquinas. ‘We will need slaves to fight in the arenas, so the people will not riot.’

‘Yes, sir,’ said Cassius.

He was posing as one of them, and neither Marcellus nor the general seemed to recognize him.

Cassius grabbed Gia by the arm. She looked to him, then back to Claudia in helplessness.

Her frightened eyes were like two bolts through Claudia’s heart.

Maybe Cassius had a plan, or maybe he was doing what he promised the spirit of their mother: that he would get Gia out and take her far away from this palace of death. Either way, Claudia understood.

Claudia and Gia gazed into each other’s eyes one last time as she was pulled away, before Claudia could speak a word.

It was biting, that she would die in the same way she had killed her father, but not unexpected. There was a certain amusing irony to it that comforted her in the final moments, as her organs bled and her skin itched and her body felt to turn inside out.

History moved in circles; its patterns were ever repeating. There would be other emperors, other revolutions, other uprisings and coups. She was just a speck in time, like the prince had told her.

‘Gia,’ she said, and this was the empress’s last word.

19. ESCAPE THE UNDERWORLD

When Claudia regained consciousness, she was still seated at the table in the palace triclinium, as if for dinner, yet she was alone.

There wasn’t a guard, not a servant, not a slave to be seen. Not even a torch was illuminated.

‘Hello?’

Her voice echoed.

The dark was darker than it ought to be. There was no tone to it. No moon. And yet, Claudia found that she could see everything clearly. The darkness was made of glittering purples, greys and blues, swirling together to paint the palace at night, familiar and yet strange.

Claudia realized that she was bound to the chair by lengths of white fabric, but they were loose – loose enough that she could free herself. She removed them and stood up, looking around cautiously.

The table had been cleared of its feast; the candles extinguished. Everyone had gone. She and the palace had been abandoned. It was unnaturally quiet and still, as if time had stopped.

Perhaps Rome had fallen.

As Claudia walked on, she saw that she was wearing a simple white chiton, belted at the waist. She wasn’t wearing sandals; her bare feet were cold on the dark, stony ground.

‘Hello?’ she called again.

Hello, hello, hello.

Her voice echoed into infinity, bouncing around her.

It was silent but for her bare footsteps, which was strange for a palace teeming with people at every hour of night.

Her head was heavy. Her soul was cold. She couldn’t quite remember what had happened. How had she arrived here? Where was everyone else? The knowledge was just out of reach. Her memories were clouded and muddled.

Everything was effervescent, gloomy, shimmering, tilted.

She wasn’t right, wasn’t where she was meant to be… She couldn’t get warm, hugging herself as she explored.

Confused, she wandered the halls in search of a living person but she was still terribly alone in the vastness of the empty palace.