Chapter XX Trajan
XX
TRAJAN
“It isn’t important, Grandfather,” I told him outside of the senate house. “It’s imperative.”
He studied me, my demeanor grave and serious. A gusty wind passed over us, the sky darkening with an oncoming storm.
“All right then. How do you plan to free him?”
“I’m working on a plan.”
“How did you get in to speak to him at all without being caught?” he whispered as a group of senators passed us.
I waited until they were out of earshot around the corner. “I can’t tell you.”
“Awfully mysterious of you, my boy.”
“I know.”
“You never keep secrets from me.”
I grimaced, saying in a softer tone, “It’s not my secret to tell.” I sighed, thinking of Lela, remembering how calm and brave she was using her magic to get us into the prison to see the Visigoth, Alaric.
Grandfather stared another moment then gripped me by the shoulder. “I trust you, my son. Just be careful.”
“Of course, I—”
I stopped suddenly, recognizing the scent of that bastard Quintus right before he walked around the corner. He caught my gaze and smirked as he sauntered by. A prickle of unease instantly awakened my dragon.
“Just a minute,” I whispered to Grandfather.
Marching quickly up behind Quintus, I said, “You seem to have something you want to say to me.”
Quintus stopped and turned, arrogance painted in every line of his ugly face. “I hadn’t planned to say anything, but Lady Fortuna seemed to guide me right into your path today.” He shrugged. “I was just thinking you have some nerve accusing me of fucking slaves when you’re doing the same.”
“What?” I hissed.
He leaned closer, voice dipping. “I heard what you did. Fucking a slave dressed as a whore in your litter.”
“What are you talking about?” I demanded, taking an aggressive step closer.
“Don’t pretend you don’t know. I overheard Drussus telling his men after he met with Caesar today.
His praetorian caught you with her. The same slave who killed Valerius.
” He chuckled. “But maybe you didn’t even know.
” He studied my expression then laughed harder, while my blood chilled down to my bones.
“Did she fool you into thinking she was just a whore?”
The guard who’d stopped us had reported it to Caesar. The guard knew where I’d gone with her. Lela was in danger. So were we all.
Without saying a word, I turned back and stalked to my grandfather, his expression pinched with concern.
“You should watch who you hire to take to your bed, Tribune,” Quintus yelled after me. “Someone might not believe your idiocy.”
By the time I reached Grandfather and looked back over my shoulder, Quintus was already gone.
“New plan,” I told him. “You’re getting out of the city tonight.”
“What are you talking about?”
“It’s too dangerous to stay now. I’ll explain later. Go home, pack a single bag that is easy to carry. Coin too. We’ll need it for bribing along the way. Tell no one.”
Rather than argue with me the way most men would, he paused only a second longer, seeing all he needed to see in my eyes. He nodded.
“I’ll wait to hear from you at home.”
“No. Go to Horatius’s home instead.”
“Why Horatius?”
Not only was he one of our league of liberators, he was also a Griseo, a gray dragon of the lowest caste. No one would think the elite Sapphirus would ally with a lowly Griseo. At least not Caesar and his sycophants, who only ever thought someone’s worth was based on their hierarchy.
“Because they won’t suspect you’ve gone there if they come looking for you.”
I couldn’t delay another second. I sprinted through the nearest alley, taking the back way toward Palatine Hill.
The wind whipped harder as a rumble of thunder rolled closer, the sky darkening quickly.
By some miracle, I only encountered one other man hauling his cart down the road, and he never looked up, hurrying to find cover before the sky opened.
Upon crossing the threshold into Fausta’s home, the heavy metallic scent of blood coated my tongue. The soft sound of two women crying came from farther in the house. I ran through the corridors, sweat beading my brow as I came to an entryway into a bedchamber.
Two women were on their knees just inside, rocking and whimpering softly. One jerked her head around, sensing me.
“Please don’t kill us,” she begged. “We didn’t do this! Our mistress is dead.”
“And Octavio,” said the other younger girl.
Stepping past them, I took stock of the room, realizing why they hadn’t entered.
The entire room was drenched in blood—carpet and walls.
It was even dripping from the stone ceiling.
Fausta’s head lay near the entrance, her eyes wide and glassy.
Her body lay in the middle of the room along with the bodies of three praetorians.
A scroll with a broken seal—Caesar’s seal of a red dragon flying upward—lay half soaked on the carpet.
There was no way to tell who killed who or how. One of the praetorians had been decapitated as well. There were so many lacerations on their bodies, blood painting everything.
“Lela!” I called, my chest tight with anguish, my heart racing with fear. My dragon pushed against my skin, growling deep in my belly, both of us overwhelmed with fury and terror that she was hurt and taken by someone who may have survived.
“Lela!” My voice was a dangerous boom, the two servants in the corridor crying out and covering their ears.
A crack of lightning and rumble of thunder vibrated over the house as rain began to pour outside.
I inhaled a deep breath, scenting her over the stink of blood and early rot. That’s when I noticed the distinct shape of bloody footprints leading across the carpet to the changing screen. Leaping over the bodies and across the room, I knocked the screen aside.
Lela leaned back against the wall, her arms crossed, covered in blood and trembling. Her sapphire eyes shot to mine.
“I killed them all.”
“Yes, darling,” I praised her, hauling her against my chest and holding her close. “Just as you should have. Are you hurt?”
“No,” she said emphatically. “I feel wonderful.”
“You’re shaking,” I whispered, pulling back and gripping her shoulders so I could look at her.
“Aftereffects of the magic, I think. It was quite … powerful this time.”
I glanced at the blood-soaked room behind me. “Yes, I see that. I’m taking you out of here now.”
She nodded, then I scooped her up into my arms. She cradled her head against my chest, my dragon’s purr a steady thrum.
Stepping over the bodies, I stopped before the servants in the corridor.
“Take Fausta and Octavio to your courtyard. Wrap them in shrouds and give them the burial rite they deserve. But wait until two hours after sunset to burn the pyres.”
By then, we’d be gone.
“The praetorians will see the fire and come.”
“Indeed, they will.” I nodded. “Give your mistress the burial she deserves or they will take her head and desecrate her body. But wait until the time I told you.”
Stalking from the room, I hoped the servants would heed my instructions.
One of them was Bellona, the one Koska convinced to spill her mistress’s secrets.
And that was simply to impress a lover. I knew that she would give my name up under threat of torture.
I only needed the time to get Lela and Grandfather out of the city first.
Carrying Lela to the terrace, I looked up into the slate gray sky, torrents of rain pounding to the earth. I smiled to the heavens, knowing Jupiter was on my side. He’d sent a storm to cover us.
Lela had not said a word, shivering in my arms. I set her gently on a bench and removed my blue toga I’d worn to the senate house. Wrapping it around her like a blanket, I lifted her back into my arms, now naked.
“Hold on, Lela,” I whispered, closing my eyes and focusing to let the dragon slip his leash a bit.
Within seconds, the beast bulged and grew, wings, horns, and tail sprouting. I couldn’t help the instinct to lift my snout to the sky and open my mouth to taste the rain.
Water was a special friend to the Sapphirus dragon. Seas and oceans were our playgrounds. The gods had blessed us with the rain to hide our escape. There were only two deathriders visible in the storm, and their shadows were high above the clouds.
Lela reached her arms around my neck and laid her head to my chest. “I’m ready.”
Without hesitation, I leaped over the balcony and beat my wings, keeping us low to the rooftops.
No one was outside in this kind of storm.
I purred my satisfaction that my mate was safe in my arms and the fates were watching over us.
I only needed them to help us a few hours more, until I could get her safely out of Rome.
Coasting with the winds, the rain beating down on my back and wings, I flew over the remaining few houses until we were right over my olive grove. I landed there, my wings breaking a few branches on the way down.
Remaining in the cover of the trees, I sniffed the air, breathing deep to discover if there were any men inside my home waiting for me. Quintus seemed to think I was oblivious to the fact that I’d hired Lela, thinking her merely a prostitute, not knowing her true identity.
I could pretend my innocence, but if they caught her here, it would be over. We’d have to fight our way out of the city, and my chances were slim in fighting Caesar’s men by myself.
I smelled nothing but baking bread on the far side of the house. Still in half-skin, I crept up the stone steps, still using all of my senses to detect any danger.
I heard and smelled nothing but what I should. Once inside my bedchamber, I remained perfectly still, holding Lela, ready to leap off my terrace balcony if there was an ambush waiting for me.
Still nothing.
When I was confident there was no one inside my house but my servants on the far side, I carried Lela into my bath chamber and set her down on the ledge.
“Wait here.”