Page 48 of Firebird
Trajan froze, his dark eyes instantly sparking bright blue with his dragon, the air sizzling with the energy before a shift. “I’d kill him if he touched my sisters.”
“Trajan,” I said in the cool timbre I would use on the battlefield.
His gaze snapped to mine. Immediately, he came back to himself, closing his eyes and blowing out a breath.
Gaius put a hand on his grandson’s shoulder. “Need to control thattemper, my boy. We must all be very careful. The emperor may act the monster, but he is cunning and perceptive.” He patted him. “No wayward looks or flares of temper. And certainly never allow your anger to bring out your beast.”
One of the many laws enacted since my uncle’s reign was that shifting into half-skin or dragon in Rome was illegal. Only military personnel had the legal right to shift into dragon form in order to leave the city to join their campaign.
“Perhaps Junia and Marilla should leave the city for a while,” said Trajan.
“They’re visiting their great-aunt in Ravenna at the moment,” added Gaius.
“That’s not far enough.” Trajan’s mood had soured quickly.
“It wouldn’t matter,” I said, surveying the crowds in the forum. “If Caesar finds offense, he’ll do everything necessary to make that person pay. So we simply won’t offend him.”
“Until we take off his head,” murmured Trajan.
“The senate is powerless,” Gaius stated flatly, a sense of somber finality in his tone. “I’m glad my own father isn’t alive to see what it’s become.”
He heaved out a sigh, his gaze sweeping across the forum to the Wall of Traitors.
“When I was a young boy, in my grandfather’s time,” he continued, “we were a proud state, content within our boundaries. We didn’t murder indiscriminately. Even slaves had the right to earn their freedom and find a better life. But now”—he shook his head—“Rome is no better than the rotting heads mounted above our city.”
He waved a hand to the corpse in half-skin that had been staked to a wall near the hall of justice. A noble of the Amethystus house, his purple scales were so dark they were almost black.
“We’d never find a criminal punished in such a shameful, morbid way. If a man was sentenced to death, he was at least allowed his dignityor to fight for his life in the gladiator pits. Now, all Igniculus wants is blood and rot. The city reeks of it.”
There was no telling what the Roman had done to be staked through the hands and feet and chest, exposed to the elements and jeers of onlookers. No one looked at him now, his tongue swollen and hanging grotesquely from his gaping mouth, a pool of blood nearly black in the cobblestones at his feet. A man leading a steer past him didn’t even turn his way.
“True, Gaius,” I agreed, holding Gaius’s hard gaze. “And that is why our plan is so important. You say the senate is powerless, but this is only fornow. It will not be forever. We need those of you who stand against the emperor to remain in office.”
He sniffed. “Even if we have to vote against our own conscience to protect our loved ones from the emperor’s wrath.”
“Even so,” I agreed. “Trust me. I’ve been leading campaigns for too long, murdering clans who weren’t even our enemies but only trying to make a life in their own lands. I’ve given countless slaves to Rome to appease my uncle when itgallsme,” I spat, my gut tightening at the truth of it. “When the tide turns—and it will—we will need loyalists to give their honest votes on new laws to come. Righteous laws for a new Rome.”
Trajan crossed his arms, huffing out a breath. “The picture you create seems impossible, Julian. He isn’t just well guarded. He’s surrounded by sycophants and powerful men who agree with his laws. Who agree with wielding power by the sword and claw.”
“They may not all agree with him,” I offered. “They may be pretending, just like I am, just like you are.”
Gauis grunted assent. “We won’t know who is truly on our side until we strike.”
I was well aware that killing Caesar alone would be much like cutting the head off a hydra. There were plenty more to take his place in a heartbeat. We had to take many more down with him, once we could determine who truly supported Igniculus and his tyrannical Rome.
“The timing must be right,” I said calmly. “The plan must be solid before we strike. I don’t want any of Caesar’s followers fleeing to other provinces and gathering their armies.”
“Perhaps Caesar should be our final target, rather than our first,” said Gaius thoughtfully.
I stared at him, taking in this strategy. “That’s an idea. Weaken him by removing his allies first.”
“Caesar has no allies.” Trajan watched the dwindling crowds. “He has only lapdogs seeking his favor and brutal men who relish the playground of blood and sex he provides.”
“True enough,” I agreed. “His new pet Ciprian grates me to no end.”
“Ciprian Seneca?” Gaius asked.
“Yes. Do you know his family well?”
