I’m met with a roar of assent.
“Good. My cousin Antony works hard to give you the violence and bloodshed you crave.
I know you’re sad that we lost our beloved lion. I want to promise you that you’ll still have your bread and your circuses. Tonight I have a special treat for you. Tonight, you will bear witness to our own brand of justice.”
I gesture to Noah. He rises from his feet and enters the tunnel, dragging out Alec. Alec’s awake now, his head flailing in all directions as he takes in the blood-soaked arena, the baying crowd, and me.
I point to Alec. “This man is a rapist. He thinks he’s entitled to the bodies of women without their consent. He tried to rape me, your Imperator.”
People are on their feet again, bashing the tables with their fists, stomping the concrete, roaring their outrage. It’s addictive, their righteous anger. It burns in my veins like a drug. They may be my subjects, but I want to please them, I want to give them what they want.
And they want blood.
“But most importantly, he tried this on my closest friend.” I stare out into the crowd, pausing to meet as many eyes as I can. Men who may take lives but who do so with honor growl their disgust. Women glare back at me, hissing their own stories of abuse. Too many women in this audience have been hurt at the hands of men like Alec.
Tonight is for them.
“We are family,” I say. “All of us. When you sign your name to the Triumvirate’s ledger books, you receive the protection of this family. Tonight, I want you to know exactly what that protection offers. And I want anyone out there thinking of hurting my family to see what happens when you cross me.”
I take Antony’s arm and allow him to lead me off the podium. The crowd gasps as I step down into the arena. Imperators rarely touch the blood-soaked sand. We like to remain remote, above it all.
But not tonight.
Tonight I want to be close enough tosmellhis fear.
Noah kicks Alec. He trips over the shackles binding his ankles, and topples forward to land facedown in the sand. Noah reaches down and grabs a fistful of hair, yanking Alec’s head back so he stares into my eyes.
“Bow before your queen,” Noah roars, the mask muffling his words so that only Alec and I can hear them.
Tears stream down Alec’s cheeks, mingling with the blood. I look down my nose at him, and my body hums with power. “You’re a weed, Alec LeMarque. You grow through everything, choking away all that’s beautiful. If the gardener wants a beautiful garden, she must pull out the weeds and burn them, and scatter the ashes back into the earth to feed new growth.”
I nod to Antony on the gangway above. He signals to his people. Two men wheel out a large bronze sculpture of a bull. As soon as the crowd sees the bull, they go absolutelywild. They rush from their seats, their bodies slamming against the wire fence around the arena, desperate for a front-row seat to the spectacle. They cry and chant and roar with bloodlust.
It’s been a long, long time since they’ve seen the brazen bull.
This punishment is reserved for only the worst offenders, for those who threaten the sanctity of the Triumvirate itself. Many of the people here tonight know of the bull only as a rumor, as a myth told by our veteran soldiers to frighten new recruits into loyalty.
It hasn’t been used in my lifetime.
Until now.
It takes Antony’s men a long time to get the bull into the center of the arena – even on wheels, the bronze effigy is heavy and ungainly. Once the brakes are set and the bull locked in place, the men busy themselves stacking wood underneath it.
Two more men disappear backstage and return carrying a leather armchair with beautifully carved arms. They set it down in front of the fire, and I sink into the cushion, my fingers curling around the carvings. Noah and Yara stand behind me. Noah’s fingers tangle in my hair. The men bring me a drink, which I sip while we wait.
All the time I watch Alec’s face, dim with fear and confusion. I savor every moment of his distress.
With Brutus, I robbed myself of my rightful vengeance. He died too quickly, too painlessly, because I would not lose the chance to put him down by proselytizing like a comic book supervillain. But a little pomp and circumstance feels right for Alec. I turn my head to meet George’s gaze. She’s still on the balcony with Gabriel, still watching with an intense expression.
Antony nudges me. “The fire is ready now.”
I rise to my feet. The crowd falls silent.
The door in the bull’s side is so heavy I need both hands to swing it open, revealing the hollow chamber inside – just large enough for a man. The exterior of the bull has been shined so I can see my reflection in it, but the inside is a gaping black maw.
I address the crowd, but my eyes never leave Alec’s face.
“Perillos of Athens invented this device. It’s called the brazen bull. The story goes that when he presented the bull to Falaris, the tyrant requested Perillos demonstrate its workings. Perillos climbed inside to demonstrate where the victim would lay, and Falaris slammed the door down on him and lit the fire beneath.”
