Page 21

Claudia gathered a collection of offerings, including the gifts given to her by Marcellus, before returning to the palace temple.

She stood before the figures of the Twelve Harmonious Gods or Dii Consentes: the most powerful deities in the pantheon, arranged into their ceremonial pairs.

Jupiter and Juno. Mars and Venus. Minerva and Neptune. Apollo and Diana. Mercury and Ceres. Vulcan and Vesta.

They weren’t as grand as the statues in the Pantheon but they were brightly painted, each standing in their own alcove, illuminated by pillars with torches on top.

She laid the bundle of offerings at the feet of her goddess.

‘Tomorrow, I will be named empress,’ she said.

The air prickled as the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. The breeze seemed to silence. The shadows shifted.

‘I will it.’

Her body was burning like fire, though her hands were cold.

‘So be it.’

Claudia held her breath, anticipating the appearance of Minerva.

Surely her goddess had some important guidance for her on the eve of the vote, with the future of the world hanging in the balance.

She sensed that the veil was thin, that someone was watching her through it, but Minerva didn’t appear. Seconds stretched into minutes, until Claudia grew cold from waiting.

Her eyes caught on the statue of Jupiter, which seemed to glint unnaturally in the torchlight.

She cleared her throat nervously, her skin prickling again.

Was he really watching her?

The breeze gusted and the atmosphere dampened. The room felt empty and uneventful once more.

Whatever Claudia had sensed, it was not her goddess.

Dispirited and shivering, she crept upstairs, past the guards who lined the staircase and the handmaids who slept on either side of her chambers, all of whom watched her curiously. Claudia had never had more eyes upon her. Privacy, intimacy – it was all the more difficult now.

She and Gia would have to be discreet. Marcellus would surely benefit, if he learned the truth.

Gia waited for her on the other side of a closed door, sitting on the red-canopied bed.

Claudia’s heart surged. It was strange to see someone she loved so much sitting in a place she so hated and feared. This room had been her sanctuary from the world, decorated entirely to her tastes with money as no object, but she had never truly been safe here. The last person to sit on her bed was probably her brother, and now he was…

‘How could you not tell me?’ said Gia.

Claudia froze. ‘Tell you what?’

Her heart throbbed in panic. She’d left for Pompeii in such a hurry, she had no idea what she might’ve left lying around. A circus parade of horrifying possibilities came to mind: dirty robes, old diaries, her terrible attempts at crafts – but it appeared that someone had cleaned her rooms in her absence, probably her handmaids.

‘How could you not tell me…’ Gia paused dramatically. ‘About the other woman in your life?’

She brandished Claudia’s favourite doll, gently shaking it so that her sackcloth head bobbed about.

‘Oh,’ said Claudia, relieved, ‘that’s just Valentina.’

‘Why is she so…’

‘So what?’ said Claudia, hands on her hips.