Chapter XXV Trajan
XXV
TRAJAN
It wasn’t yet dawn when the smuggler I’d paid for passage led us to the top deck. We’d been held in the bottom of the hull where the cargo was kept and passed the deck where the oarsmen steadily rowed. They all looked to be free plebs, built hard and strong for life at sea.
I ushered Lela ahead of me up the narrow stairs out into the open air, anxious to get off the ship in case Igniculus sent deathriders out to find us.
“Is that Vulsinii?” I asked, noting the darkness of the wide ocean was on the port side of the ship and distant pinpoints of light glittered from the shore on the starboard side.
“As you requested,” the smuggler said, then added, “Though your payment will take you farther, if you like. We are going to Pisae to deliver our goods.”
Scanning the cliffs, I found the familiar outcropping of cliffs, knowing my grandfather’s palatial home of white stone was not far beyond on a vast lake.
“No. We’ll get off here.”
He nodded and called out to the men manning the sails. One of them called down an opening in the deck for the oarsmen to halt rowing. The ship slowed as one of the sails dropped.
When Lela woke, I’d told her about the ghastly scene that had transpired at Caesar’s palace. I’d not yet had the chance to explain to her where we were going when the door to our hideaway had opened.
She’d left her veil down, her dark, wavy hair lifting in the ocean breeze. My gut clenched at the thought of leaving her behind and returning to Rome, knowing the chances of making it out alive a second time were slim. At least I knew she’d be in good hands this time.
We waited in silence as the ship coasted into the harbor, the docks quiet in the middle of the night. The salty sea called to me, my dragon wanting to swim deep into the ocean. Now wasn’t the time.
The ship didn’t dock since I’d already told them there was no need. The smuggler returned.
“Is this close enough?”
I looked at Grandfather, who was already removing his tunic, readying to shift into half-skin.
“This is fine,” I told our smuggler, whose name I didn’t know. “Thank you for the risk you took.”
“As I said. You paid us well for it. Enemies of Caesar, I imagine?”
“Very much,” I assured him as Grandfather stepped away and began transforming. “When war begins in Rome, we will be fighting him and his regime.”
The smuggler’s attention was over my shoulder as Grandfather sprouted wings and tail, his skin shimmering with blue scales.
“War?” he asked, staring wide-eyed as I unwrapped the toga I’d haphazardly wrapped around myself when we fled.
“It’s coming,” I told him then tossed the toga into the sea.
Lela had stepped back, watching with calm and poise. Unsurprised by the fact we’d be traveling by flight from here, she waited and watched. I transformed in seconds, a rumbling growl erupting as I grew double in size.
Aggression swept through me once the beast had my skin, a natural reaction when I was in either dragon form.
He also didn’t like having Lela in a strange place among strange men.
I stretched out my clawed, scaled arm and she instantly came to me.
No fear at the monster I was, which somehow made her more beautiful to me.
Grandfather took flight, his beating wings blowing Lela’s hair forward as she stepped into my arms. I scooped her off her feet and held her close as I bent my legs then sprang upward into the night. I followed Grandfather close to the swishing surface of the ocean, the salty spray misting us.
Lela’s arms tightened around my neck as she buried her face against my skin, the feel of her a luxury I wouldn’t forget. The sound of crashing waves echoed closer as we came upon the black cliffs then soared over the city.
There were few lights on, only of those awake from a long night or already at work before the sun rose. Not far inland, my grandfather’s home came into view—one of the largest in the city, high on a rocky cliff of the lake.
The last time I’d been here was for a gathering of our allies, the last time with Julian.
It also resulted in the deaths of Phillius and Marcus, two senators who’d been seen reentering the city, which was reported to Caesar.
That night when Julian had killed Ciprian and burned a quarter of Palatine Hill.
Grandfather landed on his terrace first, shifting as he walked through the large open archway into his home.
When Caesar had barred anyone from leaving Rome without his permission, Grandfather had gotten word here to release his servants—local free men and women—from his service.
He’d not known when he’d ever return here under Caesar’s rule.
We’d certainly not thought to be here so soon after our last meeting.
I landed softly, not wanting to jar Lela, then set her on her feet.
The house was dark and quiet and cold beyond the archway.
She looked around, noticing the giant marble statue of Romulus and Remus cradled next to their she-dragon mother.
She stepped closer and stared as I shifted back into a man, much to the begrudging beast inside me.
“The first Sapphirus dragon was born of Remus’s daughter.”
She still stared; the artistry of the sculpture was quite magnificent. The artisan was a free man, a Roman, with great skill. The two human children beneath the wing of their adopted mother, the titan dragon, looked so lifelike.
She didn’t say anything as she reached out and touched the spiked tail of the dragon. The gray light of early morning softened the sky in the east.
“Remus, one of these two brothers suckled and raised by their dragon mother,” I continued.
“Remus was the first black-skinned dragon, as was his daughter. One day, she was flying over the sea and she saw the god Neptune riding a leviathan on the surface. She fell in love with him. They coupled on the sandy shores. Months later, she gave birth to the first blue dragon, his scales the colors of the ocean, like Neptune himself.”
“You say she loved Neptune. But did he love her back?” she asked quietly.
“I don’t know. I doubt it,” I answered honestly. “There are few stories of a god loving a mortal.”
She turned to face me. “There are few stories of gods loving anyone but themselves.”
Frowning, I asked, “Do you truly believe that?”
She didn’t answer but said instead, “My grandmother told me that my gift comes from the goddess Minerva. But I do not believe she gave it out of love.”
“For what purpose then?”
“To spite man. And punish them. To show that women have power too.”
There was no mistaking the cynical lilt of her voice.
“I believe,” I told her in a gentle tone, “that some gods play tricks and some have favorites. I also believe they have the capacity for love, but perhaps their immortality prevents them from knowing it at the same level humankind and dragonkind experience love.”
She tilted her head, brow pursing. “What level is that?”
“We know the cost of giving our love.” My chest tightened at the emotion welling inside and thickening my throat. “Because we can die and so can those we love, we risk the heartbreak of loving someone. We also risk death.”
“Why is that?” she whispered, her breathing quickening.
I beheld her beauty as the first golden rays of the sun peeked above the horizon.
“For I know,” I confessed softly, “that I would risk my life for someone I loved.”
She gulped hard and held my gaze, her brow pinched. She didn’t want to hear the rest of what I held in my heart. It would only be a burden to her, for she couldn’t offer it back to me.
“Perhaps,” she said, “that’s why the gods don’t bestow their love on mortals.”
“Perhaps,” I agreed as the distinct sound of Grandfather’s footsteps returned to us.
He marched out onto the terrace and handed a satchel and a length of rope to Lela. She shouldered the satchel then examined the rope in both hands.
“What’s this for?”
“I assumed you’d be going on dragonback from here.” He arched a brow. “It’s too far in half-skin.”
Lela’s mouth opened with surprise. “Me? On your back? As a dragon?”
“Yes.” I smiled. “You’ll be perfectly safe, I promise.”
“I don’t think I can do that.” She shook her head, trying to hand the rope back to Grandfather.
He chuckled. “You’ll be fine.”
Then she snapped at me, “And where are we going? I thought we would stay the night here.”
“That’s not possible. Caesar knows about this place. He’ll have deathriders here by the end of the day. If not sooner.” I glanced up at the sky. “Another reason is that we need to fly hard and fast. They’ll not be able to track us if our scent is washed away by the sea wind.”
“Indeed,” Grandfather told me. “I’ll go by water to the mainland and by half-skin over Pannonia.”
“We aren’t going to Pannonia to where your sisters are?” she asked.
“No. Grandfather will get Junia and Marilla, then they will meet us in Britannia.”
“Britannia? That’s a world away.”
“Not for a dragon,” I assured her.
“Why there?”
“I know you will be safe there with some friends.” Something halted my tongue in telling her more about where we were going. I was beginning to suspect something, but I could be wrong. I couldn’t get her hopes up if I was.
Her frown deepened, not quite satisfied with my answer.
“I promise. You’ll be safe there, far from Rome.”
She looked down at the rope in her hands. “We’ll fly the whole way?”
“It’s safest,” I told her. “We can go fast. We’ll stop in Hispania to rest along the way.”
Determination in her gaze, she gave me a stiff nod. “Is there enough room for you to shift here?”
“Over on the far side where the terrace is wider, yes.”
“Good luck, my son,” said Grandfather, squeezing my shoulder with affection.
“And to you. Get the girls to safety quickly. If you can’t come to Britannia, go farther north to Germania.”
Caesar had few strongholds on Germania. It would be the safest place for fugitives to hide.
“I’ll protect them. I promise.” He gave Lela a polite bow. “Farewell, lovely Lela. Take care of him.” He gestured to me then walked to the edge of the terrace, already shifting.
Lela smiled, seemingly unaffected by our nudity or our quick transformations from man to half-skin and back again. She was remarkably unbothered or shocked as most humans were. Of course, she’d lived among our kind for many years. However, she was a little frightened of riding dragonback.
She watched my grandfather shift into half-skin and take flight. “Will he be safe?”
“He may be old, but he is very smart and still quite strong.”
“What did he mean, he’d go by water to the coast?”
Grandfather then continued to transform, his body elongating, wings expanding until he was the giant, pale blue dragon I hadn’t seen in years. Then he disappeared beyond the tree line.
“Sapphirus dragons are magnificent swimmers,” I told her. “He’ll go faster beneath the ocean.”
She turned to me. “You’d travel faster without me then.”
I scoffed. “I wouldn’t go anywhere without you.” Then I took her hand. “Come over here.”
Guiding her to the widest part of the terrace, which Grandfather had built and ensured was big enough to hold a dragon, I nudged her closer to the entrance of the house.
“Stand under the archway while I transform,” I told her, taking the rope and tying it around her waist, double knotting the rope and leaving the ends loose.
“Once I’ve shifted, you’ll be able to crawl onto my back.
There are spikes all along my neck to my shoulder.
Tie these ends in a double knot like I’ve done here around two spikes. ”
She stared down at the knot. “Show me again.”
I demonstrated two more times until she seemed satisfied. Then she marched under the archway.
Stepping to the center of the terrace, I faced her.
“What if I fall?” she asked. “What if the ropes don’t hold?”
“I’ll catch you, darling. Don’t worry.”
Tension wound her body tight as she watched me transform again.
The sharp pain that accompanied the stretching of skin and realignment of bones was gone in a blink as I let the dragon take full hold.
My humanity shrank inward into the beast until he held full reign and all I felt was power and adoration.
Stretching my neck to the sky, I opened my jaws and roared with triumph, finally free of the man’s vessel. To gaze upon my mate.
“Oh, my,” she spoke to me.
She liked my form, thought me glorious. As she should. I was magnificent. I would protect her from the world’s evils.
She was more lovely than all the gold across the kingdoms. I crouched onto my belly to get a closer look. She was not fearful as other men have been. She knew I was mighty. She knew that I was hers. And that she was mine.