Page 175

Gia frowned at him.

‘But I guess we’re doing this thing,’ he added. ‘Woo hoo!’

‘I am very sadly unable to participate in whatever this is, due to prior commitments,’ said the physician. ‘But I wish you the very best.’

He hurried away, grabbing all the scrolls he could carry. Celadus moved to guard the door.

‘Should I disguise myself as a soldier too?’ Claudia asked.

‘Do not take this the wrong way,’ said Gia, ‘but I’m not sure you would be very convincing.’

Claudia pulled the sheet off the hospital cot, wrapping it around herself like a palla, to resemble one of the palace servants.

‘Better?’

‘Yes, but are you sure?’ said Gia. ‘You almost died.’

‘Not almost,’ said Claudia, gravely. ‘I did die. I have crossed the underworld to return.’

She gave her a look that said I will tell you everything later.

‘That is why I am so sure that this is what we must do. This is why I have been returned; to fight in Minerva’s war for her.’

The gathered group gazed around at each other uncertainly.

‘I will rest when it is done, and the war is won. Until then, we fight. As long as I am conscious, I will fight for Rome.’ She drew a deep breath. ‘Now. Let’s go and find my dear cousin.’

Claudia’s soldiers marched in formation around her, using their stolen shields to create a wall that concealed her from view. She hoped no one would look too closely as they paraded through the palace in search of her cousin, but she knew they would not remain unnoticed for long.

When stopped and questioned, Cassius was once again ready to take centre stage.

’We’ve been ordered to join the search for Marcellus.’ He gestured slightly in Claudia’s direction, as she bowed her covered head. ‘This servant says she has seen him in the gardens.’

‘Very well,’ said the officer, waving them on.

Room by room, they hunted for Marcellus, and though the imperial buildings were full of soldiers who behaved as if they were right at home, gathering in groups to drink and gamble and discuss future war plans, the new emperor was nowhere to be seen.

‘No sign of him,’ Gia whispered. ‘Maybe he really has fled.’

‘It wouldn’t be the worst choice he ever made,’ said Dom.

‘I couldn’t blame him,’ agreed Cassius.

They paused at a window, looking down on the courtyard.

‘If he did, he must’ve escaped on foot. His chariot and his driver are still parked outside,’ said Claudia, pointing it out.

They continued on through the palace, choosing the quietest corridors and halls, concealing themselves between rows of pillars or busts or in the folds of drapes, all the while attempting to appear inconspicuous.

In Claudia’s throne room, now bustling with decorated military figures and drunken senators alike, speeches were being written by sweating scribes and flags were being sewn by harried servants and wax seals were being printed on stacks of scrolls for the Archive, and none of it involved Marcellus in any shape or form.

It was clear the principate was a mere military installation, and the emperor just a figurehead. They would drag him out for festivals and official events but he was just a standing man, a seat filler, a foreman of the appropriate birthright. All the same, they needed him. They could not prop a scarecrow in front of a crowd in the Forum and employ a ventriloquist to speak through it. They needed a living man of esteem to sit on the throne and serve their regime. Marcellus was just a convenient pawn.

In the atrium, where they joined a group of naval officers celebrating a victory in the Aegean Sea, Claudia glimpsed General Aquinas talking to a group of commanders – men of higher military rank.

With horror, she saw that he was holding the prince’s lotus necklace, the one his goddess had given him. He dangled it between his fingers, inspecting it thoughtfully.

‘The rest of his party has fled or been captured,’ said one man.