“There is.” His mouth tilted in a smile. “Because killing Valerius was one stone of many that we need to turn for our coup to be successful.”
“Pardon me?” My pulse quickened, needing a moment to process what he said. I blinked quickly, wondering if I’d heard him correctly. “Your…coup?”
“We—myself and others—do not plan to simply kill Caesar. For what would that accomplish? There are many demons in his likeness who will gladly take his place. There’s a list of those who must be disposed of first. And Valerius was on that list.” He sipped his wine. “At the top of mine.”
I stared as the shock settled. “I believe I’d like that glass of wine now.”
He laughed and stood, walking over to the tray. He filled the cup he’d been drinking from then delivered it to me. I gulped several sips before taking a breath.
“Thought so,” he said easily and returned to lift the tray of food.
He carried it over and set it between us on the same chaise. I noted, yet again, that he didn’t make me nervous. Not like other men in thepast. If Trajan had wanted to harm me, he’d had plenty of opportunities and not taken them. Besides, he was now confessing something to me that could get him executed.
“Why would you allow me to hear your secrets? Why would you confess your intentions to… to kill.…”
“To murder the emperor? And all of his faithful followers?” He stared openly, his voice softer than it was earlier. “Because you don’t trust me. And I need you to in order to help me.”
I snorted. “I’ll never trust you,” I said coldly. “I’ll never trust any man again.”
His dragon flared bright in his blue eyes. Such beautiful eyes. It was a sad joke against us humans, that the enemy was so divinely attractive. It shouldn’t be so.
“What if I don’t want any part of killing the emperor?” I asked haughtily. “What if I simply want to find a way out of Rome, to start a new life far away from here?”
“I can help you get out of Rome. Why can you not help me in return? A trade of sorts.” He paused then added more urgently, “And wouldn’t you like to see Caesar and those like him fall?”
Of course I would. “How do I know you will stick to the bargain?”
“Have I tried to harm you yet? Have I turned you in for the ransom?”
I studied him, knowing he was speaking reason but not ready to agree. “And what specifically is it that you want?”
“I’m unsure yet. I’m a little behind in my planning, but I’m sure it’ll come to me soon enough.”
I scoffed, watching him pluck the leg of roasted pheasant from the tray and bite into it. “And I’m supposed to just stay here and wait until you figure it out when the emperor could find and execute me publicly in the arena as you’ve mentioned before.”
“That is true,” he stated, eating his roast fowl as if we weren’t discussing treason over dinner. “But I won’t let that happen to you.”
“You can’t make me any promises,” I snapped. “I just want out of this city.”
“That isn’t true,” he stated coolly, his gaze fixed on me as he wiped his hands on a rag. “That isn’t all you want.”
“How wouldyouknow what I want?”
He tore off a piece of bread from the loaf and wrapped it around a wedge of cheese then handed it to me. The bread smelled divine, so I took his offering and bit into it, even while I brimmed with irritation at him.
“Because the goddess Minerva gave you a powerful gift. She didn’t give it to you only that you might save yourself from dragons like Valerius. She gave it to you for a higher cause.”
My pulse raced. It was so similar to what Bunica had told me once before that I thought her ghost might be speaking through this Roman. I could see her, speaking vehemently to me before her hearth while I wove a new blouse for Kizzy.
“It is your destiny, my child.”
“That makes no sense.” I stopped my needlework and looked up at Bunica, her deep wrinkles more pronounced in the firelight. “My destiny is to marry Jardani. To have a family. To continue our life here in the Carpathian Mountains. How can I possibly have any effect on the greater world?”
Her expression softened and turned sad. She reached across the space between us and gripped my hand in her older one, weathered by time and a long life.
“My dearest child. Lela, hear me now. The gods would not give you a gift of this nature without expecting greatness in return.” Her brown eyes glittered by the firelight. “There is a beast growing larger and more deadly in this world. You must play your part in slaying it.”
We never mentioned Rome in that conversation, but everyone knew there was only one almighty danger encroaching upon our world.
