Every Sacred Thing: The Subtle Web, Part Two

[aithne]

*****

Morning did find her vaulting out of Darius's bed and making a dash for her own chamber. After she was done with that, she rinsed out her mouth and sighed. She needed to speak to Pollius this morning. With what she'd found out yesterday, she rather thought that if she could get Aranis better sooner rather than later, it would go better all round.

About an hour later, they were organized and ready to go. The day was bright and clear, the morning air still holding the chill of the night before. Marble gleamed in the sunlight as they walked up the street towards the regent's house, an escort of guards around them.

Diya, beside them, was silent and watchful. She was wearing a simple dress in a fine grey fabric and a beautiful, dove grey palla that one of the merchants yesterday had brought with them. She was officially in deep mourning, and as such would not be required to attend social events just yet.

Livia was grateful. Every day gave them additional time to school Diya in the rituals of nobility.

They reached the regent's house, and it was in much better order than it had been yesterday, though not quite habitable as yet. Livia requested to be informed when Pollius arrived, and a few hours later the man himself walked in.

She shut the two of them into a small reception room, with Darius on the door. "Pollius, I believe that Aranis will no longer be in need of your services, at least for the moment."

Pollius inclined his head. He kept his eyes on Livia, and his thin lips were almost curled in a smile. "As you wish lady, she is your charge. I don't envy you the sleepless nights, though."

Livia shrugged. "I don't sleep well since my husband died, as a rule. I take it without being calmed, she's quite loud?"

"She will be, I think but you never know with mental patients. I suggest a good herbal remedy in her water to make her sleep."

"I'll look into it. I occasionally use some things myself, but they're probably not strong enough," Livia said mildly.

"Probably not. Well lady, I wish you good luck. If you have need of me again, just contact Hagia Sophia."

"I will, thank you." She escorted the mage out of the room, saw him to the door, and went to find Orla. "Reyna and Nareus," she said quietly. "Their employment in this household ends as of right now. Give them a generous amount of gold as severance and show them out."

Orla's smile was thin and sharp. "I will take care of it."

"We'll need a pair of nursemaids for Aranis. They should be women, preferably strong, and willing to clean and feed her. I don't know what she'll be like."

"I have a few women in mind. Not long on the social graces, but they're hard workers. I'll see if I can get them in today."

Livia nodded and Orla bustled away. Her maid was in her element, ordering around a whole new batch of servants. Livia only wished she felt so comfortable with her new role. She turned and went up the stairs, towards the regent's quarters. Darius fell in beside her as she climbed. "Where's Diya?" she asked.

"Trying to decide if she really wants to sleep in the room that was Constans's. She's muttering something about cleansing magics, and I gave her a few things to read. She has two of your house guards with her."

"We need to find her some trustworthy bodyguards of her own," Livia said. "Too bad there aren't more of you in Hagia Sophia, Darius. Maybe I can talk Iraeus out of a couple of his men."

"Might be an idea. So what's next for today?"

They had reached the top of the stairs, and Livia stopped and turned to face Darius. "Attius, I think. Do you know where he lives?"

"In the noble quarter, just behind Constantius's house."

"Close by, then. I'm not sure I want to talk to him. He can't possibly be dealing opium out of there, can he?"

"Depends on who he's selling to. There are nobles who have habits, and they're the ones with the money to indulge them."

Livia smiled. "Shall we go look at his house, then? Let's tell Diya that we're going."

The girl was walking around the chambers that had once been Constans's, muttering and looking at a scroll. When Livia told them that they were going, she waved one hand vaguely. "Have fun. I'm going to try and make sense of this thing."

And so it was that they found a convenient garden across the street from Attius's house, watching people come and go. There were quite a number of people coming and going, most carrying boxes and bags of various foodstuffs. Either Attius was feeding an army today, or he was really, really hungry.

There were a few other people coming and going, well-dressed people who went in, spent about five minutes or so inside, and then came out again. Livia elbowed Darius gently and murmured, "Does that look like what I think it looks like?"

"Customers," he replied with a shrug. "Almost certainly."

"Let's move on. I don't want to be caught here." She rose and stretched, then began to stroll away, Darius at her shoulder.

A man rounded the corner before them, walking towards them. The gold medallion of Hagia Sophia was glittering on his chest, and with a start Livia recognized him. It was Attius.

Oh, dear.

She nodded at him as they approached each other, no more than she would have done to any stranger on the street. Attius stopped, a questioning look on his face. "Livia Neria?"

Livia blinked. "I am. And you are?"

"Attius from Hagia Sophia. Thought I recognized you, but didn't assume you would recognize me. We haven't met formally but I have seen you attending around at social functions." He paused and inclined his head. "I knew your husband, Sextus."

Mildly, Livia replied, "He had a great many friends, and people he worked with. I'm only now truly finding out how many. Something like half the city has rendered their condolences."

"He was well liked and very popular."

How much did she dare say to this man? "He was. I had no idea that he knew as many mages as he did. He left behind a few surprises for me, it seems."

Attius smiled gently. "I do not wish to impede your day, lady, but I do have some things of Sextus that he needed urgently, but after his death I had no idea what to do with them."

Livia raised her eyebrows. "Perhaps I should have a look at them. There is a chance I can make more sense of them."

"Please, if you have the time." He turned and led them into his house. Livia and Darius exchanged a look. This could be a trap. Livia could only hope that this man was who she thought he was, and that he thought he was on their side.

The house was a pleasant, airy place, well kept, and from the direction of the kitchen wafted all sorts of lovely smells. There was food cooking, quite a lot of it if Livia didn't miss her guess. Attius led them to a large sitting room, furnished with a number of low couches. The mage waved her towards one of them, and she sat. She nodded to Darius, who took up a place by the door.

"It smells wonderful in here, by the way. Your cook must have had an inspired morning," she said with a smile.

Attius sat down on another couch. "She always has inspired mornings." He patted his stomach and smiled. "Now lady, if I may be so bold. Does Darius know everything you do?"

Livia froze. Carefully, she responded, "Yes, he does."

There was a canny look in Attius's eyes. "Darius, please set in and close the door. Have a seat with your lover."

Cold washed over Livia. She thought for an instant about protesting, about angrily rejecting his words and blasting him for his presumption. No. It'll just waste time. He knows, and I'll only annoy him if I try to lie. She raised her eyes to meet Darius's, who was looking as if he was having second thoughts about this situation himself, and nodded. He raised his eyebrows, and she nodded again. Finally, Darius inclined his head and closed the door, then came to sit down beside Livia. She had an urge to take his hand--her own hands were freezing cold all of a sudden--but she did not.

Attius spoke again. "This room is protected against a great many spells. We can talk freely. I have reason to believe a great many things about you, like you are actively investigating Sextus's death. Am I right?"

Well, if this is a trap, then we are well and truly stuck. "I am. Trying to find out why he died, and trying to protect both of my daughters."

"Faydren is watching you."

Livia shrugged. "I know. I can't exactly do anything about it at the moment. He suspects that I know at least some of what I do."

"He does. Now the question is, what do I tell him?" Attius smiled, and Livia tried not to bite her lip. "You see, he assigned me to watch you."

Her eyebrows went up. "And you are telling me this, why?"

"Because I think we are working on the same side but different angles."

She gave the mage a wry smile. "I don't want Faydren for an emperor, if that's what you're asking. I think it's quite likely that we're on the same side--if this mess can be said to have sides."

Attius chuckled softly. "Oh, it does. No one wants Faydren or Geras for rulers."

"Except Faydren and Geras, of course. And Geras has my daughter more or less hostage."

He nodded, and his expression sobered. "He does. Which makes me wonder, why are you still playing the game?"

Her voice was quiet but confident. "Because I think I can still make a difference. And because if I stop, I'd probably end up dying anyway. And because my stepdaughter's been forced to be a player on the board."

"Why didn't you run?"

Livia shrugged. "Sextus left this behind for me to finish for him. At first, I had no idea how dangerous it was, and when I learned, I was already committed."

His eyes were intent. "You are going to see this through to the very end?"

I think it's rather too late for me to run now. I'd have to leave Diya behind, and I won't do that. But instead of her true thought, she said, "I don't know yet. I might yet choose to disappear."

Was that disappointment in his eyes? "As you wish, then. At least, we may be able to cooperate until that day."

She gave him a canny look. "I assume, since you know so much else, that you know the angles I've been working. What are yours?"

"Same as yours, the rat creatures. I thought they were the key, and they were up until Zaran died."

Livia shook her head. "I don't know if the rats know yet that Magentius is dead."

"They knew nearly at the same time we all did. They were waiting on Zaran to return."

She shifted, a move that brought her just a little closer to Darius. She glanced at him and saw that he'd retreated behind the stone facade that was all she'd seen of him when she'd first met him. She asked Attius, "What are they doing now?"

He gave her a sharp smile. "They were going to dump the toxin and kill the whole city, but I have doped the opium that I give them and they are currently very relaxed."

"How long can you keep them like that?"

"A while but not real long, They will get used to it being at that high a level. After a few days, they will start to build tolerance to it. A week, at most."

Livia thought about it, then shook her head. "And they're probably not relaxed enough that we can remove the poison from their possession without making a fuss."

"Probably not, hence why I need your help or if you are going to leave the city, now is the time to go."

She raised her eyebrows. "What do you need from me?"

Attius learned forward a bit. "I need your friend Iraeus to do some rat killing."

"I can likely talk him into something like that." She sighed. "Damn, the timing's rotten here, though. Another week and here would be another way."

He sat up, startlement crossing his face. "You have another way?"

"It requires time we don't have. But there's a cure for the rat people. It just doesn't exist in any quantity at the moment."

Startlement had settled into an intent look on Attius's face. "How quickly can you make it?"

Livia looked at Darius. He said, "The first batch should be ready in seven to ten days."

She nodded. "Like I said, not enough time."

"But maybe enough, if I can help."

She gave him a speculative look. "I've been told you're handy with the potions."

"Yes, I have been known to dabble in a great many things. I just need to know who and where you are working on it."

Livia's face took on an unhappy cast. "A friend I cannot betray even to another ally is working on it." Behind the unhappiness, her mind was working. I can perhaps get something from him this way that I cannot otherwise. Confirmation.

"Then we will have to go with the second option. Iraeus and the slaughter of hundreds of them." He had a dark look on his face. "We don't have many options."

Carefully, Livia said, "Then I would need to have you answer a question for me, honestly. A piece of surety for the safety of my friend."

Attius gave her a speculative look. "I will as best I can, if I know the answer."

Her voice was quiet. "My question is, who are you?"

He just looked at her. She folded her arms, frowning. Finally, he replied, "Someone who has reason to want Faydren and Geras dead, just like you."

That's not good enough, and you know it. Lukas's name whispered in the wrong quarters will get him, and me, killed. I need something from you that's just as dangerous. "A name for a name," she said, quietly.

He sighed. "Attius by day. Hadrius whenever I can."

Livia smiled. "Then it is good to meet you, Hadrius. Julia still speaks highly of you. My friend who is working on the potion is Lukas, the Athena priest who lives outside of the walls."

"Lukas, he is probably one of the best. We should be able to do it quickly."

"I'll need to take you with me to introduce you. He would recognize you as yourself, but not as Attius."

"That I can understand, but I can't be gone for that many days in a row. Anyway we can get him in here, without getting him killed? Unless you want to assume this role."

I've got enough trouble with the ones I'm already playing. "I've got my own role to play that I can't be absent from for any length of time." Livia gave a heavy sigh. "I may be able to talk to Constantine about him. It would tip my hand though, and I trust Constantine these days about as far as I can spit him."

"No, Constantine is as bad as the rest."

"I don't have a good reason for him being lifting the ban on pagan priests in the city, unfortunately. Unless we can give Lukas a good disguise that won't wear off unexpectedly, and I can talk him into wearing it, I'm not sure we can do this. Lukas is--stubborn."

Attius--or Hadrius--shook his head. "Lukas was always stubborn. He could have stayed in the city. Constantine the first gave him a way out."

Livia's eyes widened. Beside her, Darius shifted, looking uncomfortable. Livia asked, "Did he? What way was that?"

"He only had to say that he wasn't a pagan cleric and he could have stayed. Constantine even told him he could still practice, if he would conform to that simple rule." The mage shrugged. "He refused and then nearly got killed."

Livia stared at Attius. "Are you telling me that that whole bloody situation was due to Lukas being pigheaded?"

There was no smile on his lips now. "Yes. Julia was declared a heretic and many of Lukas's followers were put to death. Including Darius's parents, if he didn't tell you that."

In a clipped voice, Livia said, "No. He did not." She glanced at Darius, who shrugged and looked away from her. I had no idea what I was taking him into when we first went to see Lukas. He doesn't seem to blame Lukas, at least on the surface.

Attius spread his hands. "But to answer your question, if I can look like Attius, I can make Lukas look like just about anybody."

She took a deep breath. "Well. If you're up for a trip out to the desert, we can at least talk to him. I might be able to talk him into doing it."

"Lukas's weakness is people. If his pride gets in the way of him saving hundreds, you might be able to convince him."

She nodded, and thought about how she could approach the priest. "True. And if he doesn't, well, there's always Iraeus as a backup plan."

"Yes, not the best of options but at least an option," Attius said.

"The last resort." She pressed her lips together. "It takes some time to get to the camp. Usually, we go out before the gates close and spend the night."

Attius leaned forward. "I would say tomorrow but I don't think it can wait that long. Tonight would be better."

"I don't have anything other than a visit to see my younger daughter tonight. I can see her earlier, and then go."

He nodded. "Tonight then. I will not be in any form you know, but you will recognize me by the purple staff." He gestured to a staff, intricately carved out of purple wood, topped with the head of some legendary creature. Livia thought it might be a dragon, but she'd have to get closer to see it.

She asked, "Is that--the shape-changing thing--how you've managed to find out so much about me?"

Attius smiled. "Good eye. Yes, it is."

"I wondered. What will you be telling Faydren, by the way?"

"That you are a slip of a girl without a brain."

Livia sighed. There are days that I wish that my best disguise wasn't to appear to be an idiot. It's not particularly flattering, and it's getting harder to play. "I've been trying to convince him of the same thing. Geras, as well, but I think Geras suspects that I might actually have a mind."

Attius said, "He does. He was speaking highly of you the night Constans died."

Sharply, Livia asked, "He was? What was he saying?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh, that you were very capable and easy to look at. He thought that certain people may have underestimated your abilities. Then all hell broke loose, with guards running all over, shouting about Constans being dead."

Livia's hands clenched. "You were with him when Constans died?"

"Yes, for about an hour before until about ten minutes after."

She bit back a curse. She took a moment to control her voice, and said, simply, "Well, then. As if my skin weren't already crawling enough. Geras was my first suspect for the one holding Magentius's sword. I'll have to look elsewhere for the blame."

He shook his head. "It wasn't him. I was with him. Bastard that he is, he didn't do this. Probably knew though."

"Very likely. It's too bad. A whole city full of nobility, half of whom had one reason or another to want Constans dead."

Attius frowned. "Constans wasn't the bad guy. Magentius was."

I wonder, she thought. "He wasn't the bad guy, but whenever you have a regent or an emperor, you have at least a half a dozen plots to remove them from power forcibly. Constans wasn't particularly popular among the nobility."

"No, he wasn't." The mage shifted. "So tonight then, unless you have other questions?"

"Tonight it is. We'll see you before sunset."

He smiled briefly. "Good day Livia, Darius."

Livia rose, and Darius followed her lead. "Good day," she said, and turned and walked out.

Back out on the street, Livia let out a long breath. "For a minute there, I thought we were dead."

Darius remarked mildly, "Me, too. But any confrontation you can walk away from is a good one. What's next? Home?"

Livia's jangled nerves wished that home were on the agenda, but she knew better. "Statilla next," she said. "We're out, and didn't you say she lives near here?"

The big mage nodded. "This way, then."

A few streets over, on the edge of the noble quarter, they stepped under the shade of a tree, as if to stop and rest. "It's that one, in the middle," Darius said in a low voice. They watched the house for a bit. Unlike Attius's place, there was nobody going in or out of Statilla's house. As a matter of fact, a few people going by made a sign against evil eyes and scurried until they were out of sight.

Livia raised her eyebrow at Darius. "Any idea what we're going to walk into in there?"

"She's a bit eccentric. Other than that, could be anything."

She sighed, gathering her courage. "Well, I'll just have to tread carefully, then. I don't know what she does and doesn't know." She adjusted her palla to shade her face, and then crossed the street towards the house. Darius followed.

She knocked, and a few moments later the door was answered by an older gentlemen, who peered at them a bit nearsightedly. With the opening of the door came a warm wind, laden with moisture, and Livia could see tendrils of mist curling out towards the street.

The man who had opened the door said, "You must have the wrong house, lady."

Livia shook her head. "Statilla, of Hagia Sophia, lives here, correct?"

He gave her a doubtful look. "Yes, but she hardly ever has visitors."

"My name is Livia Neria. I believe she knew my husband Sextus. I won't take much of her time."

He shrugged, a bit helplessly, as if to say, I warned them. "As you wish, lady. Please come in. "

There were more plants in one place than Livia, a child of the desert, had ever imagined could exist. Darius had to stoop most of the way to the inner courtyard that they were led to, and even Livia had to duck under plants and hanging vines. They emerged into the sunshine of the inner courtyard, which was filled with even more plants. In a small clearing was Statilla, looking much as she had in Livia's dream. Her hair was wild, grey streaked heavily with brown, and she wore an oddly mismatched set of clothing--a long, formal peplos, no palla whatsoever, bare feet, and no jewelry. She was standing with her eyes closed, her face turned to the sun. her arms outstretched.

The older gentleman disappeared into the undergrowth without a sound. Livia cleared her throat quietly. She didn't know what disturbing the mage's meditation might do.

Statilla turned and opened her eyes. They were a startling shade of blue-green, easily the prettiest thing about her, and they did not at all reflect her age. "Love, very deep, born of unusual circumstances. How can I help you?"

Livia flushed, and glanced at Darius. He was looking at the mage, a stunned expression in his eyes. I think I'm not going to ask. "Statilla, my name is Livia. I believe you knew my husband Sextus. I am clearing up some of the things he left behind, and I believe he was working with you on something."

She smiled, a bit impishly. "Oh he was, yes very much so. Beautiful boy, he was." Her voice dropped, and sorrow entered it.

"What was it, can you tell me?"

Statilla folded her hands together. "Certainly. He needed a plant extract for some potion he was working on."

Livia tilted her head. "Ah. Nothing else, then?"

"Many things. He had me grow a great many plants to help him." She gestured widely, at the plants all around her. "Things to paint his face, things to make you sleepy, even things to stop a heart."

She took a step forward. "Ah. Did he ever tell you what he wanted these things for?"

The wild-haired mage shook her head. "No, not a lot. But I knew. Geras was back. He didn't run in time." Statilla sighed, the look in her eyes distant. "No, my poor little boy. He didn't make it." She gave Livia a sharp look. "Can you?"

Livia gave her a half-smile. "I don't know, but I'm going to give it a good run."

"Good, well you are one less again today. High odds for my niece."

What on earth is she talking about? "Your niece. Diya?"

Statilla's gaze abruptly cleared, and Livia took a surprised breath as she felt the impact of the mage's presence. It was as if she'd been speaking from a long way away, and had suddenly stepped into the room. "You, by marriage. Sextus was my nephew--great nephew, but still."

That explained that. "Ah. I had no idea you were a member of the family."

"No one they talk about. Only Sextus came to visit." Her eyes went vague once more. "How do you think his daughter has the gift? Both of them."

Livia nodded. "I was wondering. Optata's beginning to show the signs. I had figured out that there must be mage blood in his family."

Statilla's smile was rueful. "That would be me."

"Too many secrets. I would have liked to have met you before he died."

The mage shrugged, then glanced upwards at the sun. "I always wanted to, but one thing or the other got in the way."

At her shoulder, Darius shifted and then poked her gently in the small of his back. "One less, she said?" he murmured.

Livia nodded to him. "You mentioned something--one less?"

Statilla's hands seemed to each out of their own accord, finding the large leaves of a nearby plant and tracing the green veins inside the leaf. "Yes, of the old ones," she said softly. "We were three, now we are but two."

She took a sharp breath. "Which one died?"

The mage's eyes were on the leaf, and she seemed to be speaking to it, not Livia. "Her heart failed. My fault, I knew how. But I never thought it would be used against her. But she chose to spell the wrong person. Collita died in her sleep."

Livia took a half-step backward and felt Darius's hand on her back, steadying her. She swallowed. "Oh, no. Why did her heart fail?"

"They say old age. No, she tried to go against Geras by casting some spell. He poisoned her, I would bet. Digitalis."

Ah, no, no Collita, I'm so sorry. "That is very, very bad news indeed."

Statilla shrugged, her hands still on the leaf, though still now. "Very bad, but not unseen. Those who go against him seem to end up dead."

"They do. She had a hope of success, and it failed."

"Too blunt, always her downfall." Statilla's voice held heavy sorrow, and still she was not looking at Livia. "Knew too many things, said too much to too many. Faydren she knew better than most. Carried him in the womb, he would never admit it. Only secret she had left." She finally raised her eyes to Livia's, and she winced at the sharp pain she saw in them. "Now that's gone, too."

She blinked, surprised. "Why wouldn't he admit that she was his mother?"

The mage shook her head, then raked her fingers through one side of her hair. "Noble birth, but born out of wedlock. Hated them all for what he couldn't have. What his father couldn't claim."

His father. Who was his father? "It turned him bitter, it seems."

"Very. The house of Constantine was four brothers, not three."

Livia suddenly understood She'd wondered about a connection between Geras and Faydren, but she hadn't thought that old Constantine might have sired a bastard in his time--and with a powerful mage. "And Faydren could never claim the name. No wonder he's doing what he's doing now."

"Light in the dark." The mage's voice was quiet, but she was looking at Livia intently. "She sees again. Now you have the wedge. Geras and Faydren. Use it wisely."

An intense rush of understanding went through Livia, leaving her breathless. Geras just killed Faydren's mother. That was a mistake he may not live long enough to regret. She took a long breath, steadying herself. "I'll do my very best."

Statilla had gone suddenly vague once more. "Come back anytime. I can use the company."

"I will. Gods willing, I might even bring my daughters to meet you one day. Optata, at least, would love it here. She loves plants and gardens." She looked around, thinking of just how much her younger daughter would love this place, the hours she would spend running through the plants, lying dreaming in the undergrowth.

The mage smiled. "Good, it would be nice to pass on the place to someone. I vote with Julia. Good luck."

It was obviously a dismissal. Livia bowed and took her leave, Darius following close behind her. Once they were out on the street, the door closed behind them, the big mage shook his head. "Now what?"

Livia's smile was merciless. "Now," she said, "now we frame a guilty man."

*****

"What do you think?"

"I think you have a large chance of starting a civil war all by yourself," Darius said, a note of wonderment in his voice. "Too many variables, and you're counting on Faydren to contain himself."

Livia was perched on a chair with one of her feet tucked under her. They were in Darius's chamber, having fetched Diya from the regent's house and settled her into the workroom. When the girl got obsessed with something, she wasn't easily distracted, and right now she was very interested indeed in cleansing spells. Darius was sitting across from her, a worried look on his face.

"I know. But we have got to get Geras and Faydren apart, and if this kills Geras, so much the better. Geras on his own, Faydren on his own, both of these things are able to be handled. The two of them together? No, I don't think so."

"You're going to plant evidence, but what? And when?"

Livia grinned. "Do you think I buried Zaran without searching him first? He had a vial of digitalis on him. Plant it somewhere in his house, let rumor get back to Faydren, Faydren puts things together and things explode. As for when, the funeral is the day after tomorrow, and fortunately I'm the guardian of a girl who's lost both her father and her betrothed in less than a month. A hysterical fit in the middle of the funeral will be quite believable, and give us an excuse to get away. I, of course, am welcome in Constantius's house any time I want to be."

"So you'll plant the evidence then. Then let Faydren know?"

"Maybe through Neera. Maybe let him work it out himself. Either way, we'll see what happens." Livia took a deep breath. "I think I see what Constantine's game is."

Darius raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"I think he's finishing the job that his father started--systematically taking down every source of power in the Empire that doesn't stem from the regents. His father broke the pagan temples. He's going to pull down Hagia Sophia. He probably killed Constans, and at this point I wouldn't be surprised to find out that he was behind Geras returning to town." She shook her head. "I think he wants absolute power. I honestly can't decide if I approve, or not."

"You're a child of the Empire, and of the nobility," he said quietly.

"From the moment I was born, I was taught that the Senate might take care of the day to day workings of the Empire, but the emperor was the figurehead, the one exemplary man we all look to. His power is supposed to be more or less absolute."

"You have your doubts now?" he asked.

Livia nodded. "I do. I don't know what Constantine wants to do with the power, and that scares me. I don't know why he's trying to get rid of the only real checks to imperial power that we have, and that scares me too. And there's another thing, as well. There is a route to power I could take, where I could take what Constantine has and hold it, at least for a few years."

"His son?"

"Yes." Her smile held no happiness in it. "Kill Constantine, his son becomes the emperor, and I can influence the son to my own liking. But do I really want that? There are things I could do, things I could make better, but...it's an empire. What would I do with it?"

He chuckled. "You'd figure something out, I'm sure. You usually do."

Silence fell between them, and in the quiet Livia remembered something that made her blush and look away. Then she frowned and looked back over at Darius. "You didn't tell me about your parents and Lukas."

He folded his arms. "It didn't matter. It's years ago by now. I miss them, but they died for something they believed in, and it meant that I ended up where I needed to be. Besides, if you knew, you probably would have been more reluctant to go out there, and we need him. There are a number of things we don't talk about between ourselves, Livia. That was simply one of them."

"And the rest?" Her voice was unexpectedly raw.

"Ask Statilla. She certainly seems to know."

Livia was lost for words. "Darius, I--" She stuttered to a halt. What am I afraid of? she asked herself. Am I afraid he doesn't return my feelings?

Or am I afraid that he does?

Finally, she took a breath. "She was right, for me at least." She looked up at him, her hands twisting together. "I love you, Darius. I didn't set out to fall in love, I didn't expect to, but somehow I've managed it." She dropped her gaze once more to the floor. "I don't know how you feel about me, but there it is, out in the open."

She heard him move, rise from his chair, and then she was being lifted to her feet and held tightly. She was laughing and crying all at once as Darius lifted her off of her feet, kissed her, and set her back down again. "I thought you knew," he said. "Of course I love you, Livia."

Livia leaned against him, the tears that had fallen to her cheeks soaking into his shirt. "It makes it harder, in some ways," she said quietly. "Knowing that I'm probably going to have to marry for power or protection. Be glad you were not born a woman, Darius. Too many pacts are sealed with your body."

He kissed her forehead, and then her lips. "It's part of the human condition," he said gently. "We all sell ourselves, or are sold without our consent. All we can do is enjoy what we have while we have it."

She captured his mouth with hers again, and kissed him quite thoroughly. When they were through, parting breathlessly, Livia murmured, "I wonder how much time we have before sunset?"

Darius glanced out the window. "Not enough, I think. Pity. Tonight, though."

Livia grinned, kissed him, and then slipped out of his arms. "Tonight. After we try to talk one very stubborn priest into giving up his pride for a few days."

"You always have to choose the hard tasks, don't you?" Darius was laughing now, and she joined him, a silly grin spreading itself across her face.

After they parted, she to make some arrangements to have Diya guarded that night and he to do a few things in preparation for the evening's journey out to Lukas's camp, she caught herself reflecting, thinking how much and how little could change in just a few words. Oh, she was still scared, still grieving, still fully knowing that she could not marry the man she had fallen in love with, still knowing that one day, perhaps soon, what was between them would have to become a pleasant memory and they would have to take up the roles they played for the outside world in truth.

But it is not today. Not now.

That fierce thought buoyed her through the rest of the afternoon.