Eventually, they did.
“It is with great humility and honor that I take this seat of consulship. I vow to uphold all of the decrees we hold sacred. I vow to support all that will keep Rome pure and whole.”
More applause erupted as he roved his gaze over the room, nodding to each house. I finally looked over my shoulder toward the Chrysocolla section where Quintus seethed with anger. While he stood and applauded like everyone else—lest he be heckled as a sore loser—there was venom in his dragon-slitted eyes.
Facing forward while Grandfather launched into his first speech as the new consul, I knew Quintus would hate me even more so now. If he was in Caesar’s pocket, I’d need to be wary of him.
The emperor might not publicly show his disappointment in the choice for the new consul seat, but he would certainly pay his puppets to keep a keen eye out for betrayal.
According to the whispers, he was already doing that. None of this frightened me. We were nearer to our goal than we’d ever been before. Julian’s actions may have delayed and changed our tactics, but everything was falling into place.
While Grandfather spoke of honor and duty and justice to a captive audience, my mind wandered back home, wondering how Lela was faring. How was she feeling today after such a violent and life-altering night? And did she know that her actions allowed me to take this step today in the senate without bringing suspicion on me or Grandfather?
It was the gods’ doing, for certain. They were with us.
As long as no one ever found out she was hiding in my house, we would be safe.
IXLELA
The linen fabric was a pale cobalt-gray, like the sky right before a storm. It was rough and draped in unflattering folds, and was probably the coarsest, cheapest fabric I’d ever worn. It waswonderful.
“Does it fit all right?” asked Koska from farther away in the bedchamber.
I tied a loose ropelike belt around my waist and stepped from behind the screen.
“It’s perfect.”
He blinked, frowning. “It’s not what you’re used to, but—”
“Trust me.” I stopped him. “It’s perfect.”
I wanted separation from everything I’d been here in Rome. This rough, homespun fabric made me feel disconnected from the person I was in Valerius’s household. I was beginning anew, and I relished the sensation.
He cleared his throat and nodded to the satchel tied with a leather string he’d set on a chair.
“I brought a few other things I thought you might need. Tribune Tiberius only said you came with nothing.”
I sat upon a stool and opened the sack in my lap. I pulled out a wood-carved comb, a few pins made from brass, a second tunic of the same material in beige, a pair of undergarments, and a linen bandeau to bind my breasts.
I couldn’t help a small laugh of pleasure escaping my lips.
“Something amiss?” asked Koska.
“No. Nothing at all. Thank you, Koska.”
How could I possibly explain to him that I’d been forbidden to wear undergarments for the past many years?
“It’s strange,” I said, marveling at the small pile in my lap. “These clothes of a plebeian make me feel richer and freer than I ever have.”
He was quiet a moment. “Ever?”
A flash of a memory came to mind. A warm spring day with clear blue skies above. Me and my sisters rehearsing a dance. Kizzy kept faltering on the steps. Kostanya fussed at her in frustration. “A dancing donkey could do better.” Then Malina fell to the grass laughing. Then so did we all. The pain of remembering them pricked tears behind my eyes.
“No. Perhaps not ever.” I stood, holding the garments, brush, and hairpins. “But I thank you for them.”
“If there is anything else you need, simply relay it to the tribune, and I will get it for you.”
“Can I ask you a question?”
