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Gia sat in the back, as the prince talked of their future.

‘If we were to marry, you would enjoy all of the same freedoms you do now,’ said Prince Darius. ‘I would not seek to control you or limit your aspirations.’

‘I would not let you,’ said Claudia.

‘Indeed,’ laughed Darius. ‘That is why I like you.’

He was wearing a vest that showed off his muscular arms and his dark eyes were ringed with kohl.

‘What would you expect, from a union between us?’ she asked.

‘Trust, understanding… and, eventually… an heir.’

Claudia turned to him, curiously.

‘You want children?’

‘At least one,’ he said. ‘Don’t all men? Again, it is a condition of inheriting the kingdom, as my father expects.’

She fell quiet.

‘And you?’ he asked.

Claudia had always pictured herself becoming a mother, but it was a reflex – almost as a condition of being a woman. She would have children because that is what women did, and she would love them because that is what mothers did. Part of her wanted to be a better parent than her father, but another part of her feared that she would fall short, somehow.

She and Gia could not have a child together by nature, but if she procreated with the prince, they could be a strange sort of family. She imagined what could be if Darius knew the truth about her and Gia, and if he accepted it gladly. Yet she did not feel comfortable enough to propose the arrangement to him.

‘I would have to think about it some more,’ she said. ‘I am in two minds about it.’

‘You do not feel maternal?’

‘I am eighteen. I wouldn’t like to have a child any time soon, but perhaps… one day, in the future, I would.’

‘One day is good enough for me,’ he said. ‘For now.’

‘If I may say, I don’t get the impression that you are too keen on inheriting the kingdom,’ said Claudia, probing. ‘You speak of fulfilling your father’s will only as an act of duty.’

The prince looked ruffled by the question.

‘I don’t crave power, this is true,’ said Darius, ‘but I know that I am a better man for the job than my brothers. I am fool enough to care about the future of the world, and I feel a responsibility to do the best I can with the privilege I was given.’

‘We have that in common,’ Claudia said.

Another date followed, and another. They ate a picnic in the gardens of a beautiful villa, strolled through an orchard and rode a boat along the Tiber. They visited parks and lakes and fountains, making wishes as they tossed coins into the sparkling waters.

‘We would get married in Rome and holiday in Persia,’ he said, as they travelled down the Appian Way in a litter. ‘It would be a month-long procession, visiting all of the settlements.’

‘I could not leave Rome for so long,’ she said.

She looked to Gia, who was forced to walk alongside as part of the imperial procession.

‘Perhaps two weeks then,’ he said. ‘Emperors are allowed to travel and take vacations.’

‘Emperors, maybe, but I’m sure they would have much to say about an empress taking time away to sunbathe. It is different, being a woman. The people are not as forgiving.’

‘They would not dare speak against you, if I had my way.’

‘I do not need a man to punish my haters for me,’ she said. ‘I can do that myself, if I wish.’