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Gia had seen her kiss the prince. Now she was out drinking with someone who desired her, going to a secret party where Sapphic sisters met for forbidden pleasure. It was a mess.

Claudia wasn’t sure if she had the right to be upset but she had never been so jealous.

She dressed herself in the least ostentatious clothes she owned, hastily, haphazardly, mumbling to herself as she did. She tied back her hair, to try and disguise herself, removing her jewels and make-up.

She would find out which senator they meant and go to the party. She would find Gia herself and put things right.

But the longer it took her to get ready, the more her confidence waned. Wouldn’t she look a fool, showing up to a place where she wasn’t invited? What right did she have to show her face? What if she went all that way just for Gia to reject her?

A thousand small fears filled her mind.

Nonetheless, she pulled on her sandals and a dull grey palla, pulling it up over her head to disguise her hair, then she left her room, sternly ordering her guards not to follow as she blazed through the building.

‘Is there something I can help with, Empress?’ said Damocles, popping up at her elbow.

She didn’t entirely trust him, but she didn’t entirely care either. She was tired of creeping around and denying herself, particularly now she knew there were senators throwing parties for her kind. If Damocles chose to stir the pot, then she would handle it. She would handle him.

‘I will need a chariot,’ she said, ‘and a driver. Someone known for their discretion.’

‘It is rather late, Empress,’ he said.

‘I can tell the time. Some things cannot wait until daylight.’

‘Is this connected to what you told me earlier? If so, I really must advise against it. It would not be safe.’

‘No, this is a personal matter.’

‘May I ask to where you’re travelling?’

‘There is a senator here in Rome, known for throwing parties of a certain nature,’ she said. ‘Have you heard of him?’

‘What sort of nature? That hardly narrows it down.’

‘The kind…’ She could hardly spit the words out, even though Damocles had heard the same rumours as everyone else. ‘The kind attended by a certain persuasion… those who stay with their own kind.’

Damocles blinked at her. ‘That would be rather inadvisable, given the circumstances. Are you sure you wish to stoke that fire?’

‘There is someone there I must talk to, urgently.’

She didn’t admit that it was Gia.

Damocles stroked his pointed beard with one hand.

‘I may have heard of it, but I’ve never received an invite.’

‘I need to know who he is. Nothing insidious. He has done nothing wrong. He shall not know you gave his name.’

‘Senator Philopappos. People call him… Pappa.’

‘He has children?’

‘No,’ said Damocles, thoughtfully. ‘I don’t think that’s the kind of papa they mean.’

He bustled off to organize her ride, telling her to meet him outside. As she crossed a courtyard, Claudia heard the rustle of a bush and pulled up sharply, fearing General Aquinas might jump out.

Muffled voices grew louder, forcing her to hide.

Concealed behind a pillar, she watched two figures moving behind a trellis that obscured them, barely visible through the gaps in the wood, threaded with vines and leaves.