Age of Treason Page #8

Or is it the public baths?

Another rendezvous with

that irritating clod Falco?

Darling, if you really did have

to troll the sewers of Rome

to find yourself a savior,

surely you could do yourself

better than that!

-Pertinax, my lord...

-Spare me your hollow honorifics, wife.

I gave you a chance to rise

with me, but you refused.

Something to do with the

(INHALES SHARPLY)

dignitas of your

noble heritage, wasn't it?

Did you really think

that you could stop me?

Huh?

Madness!

-What now?

-Now?

You and your father will come

to the palace, and tomorrow,

you will sit beside me

at the Emperor's feast

with a smile

to charm the gods.

And if I refuse?

(CLICKS TONGUE)

I'll have your father's skin peeled

off his bones one layer at a time.

And you can watch.

Take them!

(LIVELY MUSIC PLAYING)

(ALL CHANTING)

FALCO:
So the Priestess Saleena

and Domitian really are an item.

And maybe Cato finds out about their

plot to do away with Emperor Dad.

That's reason enough

to kill him, I suppose.

And even more to get my nephew

out of here by tonight!

You!

I just came to see,

did Atticus land many hits

on you before he fell?

Not enough to stop me.

But you were right about

that opening by his heart.

Good.

Wait!

Who are you?

You speak like a gladiator

but you come and go

like a freeborn.

I'm Justus from Germania.

Germania? That's just

across the Channel from Britain.

Oh, this Britain, is that

where your people are?

What's left of them after

those Roman butchers invaded.

They killed my family

and enslaved my tribe.

And I swore as their queen

to take revenge

on every Roman I could,

including their emperor

if ever I got the chance.

You were a queen?

All that's left of my reign

is the hate I bear for Rome.

I used to fight

from hate, too.

Hate of the whips,

the shackles.

Hate of everything

that told me I was a slave.

-And then?

-I saw that, in the end,

the haters always lose

in the arena. Hate blinds.

To win, a gladiator cannot let

anything cloud his view.

I gave up my hate to survive.

Let's see that bite I gave you.

You came here because you wanted me,

didn't you, Justus?

It's all right!

You not the first one to say

he's never been with a woman like me.

I have never been

with any woman.

I see.

You're afraid they might break

if you held them?

I know much about how to kill

and nothing about how to love.

You're not afraid of

hurting me, though, are you?

You could always fight back.

-But...

-Oh.

You're the only one I've met in Rome

who I don't want to fight.

You gave me Atticus

and I promised you nothing.

Now let what's left

of the queen in me

offer you something in return.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(PEOPLE CHANTING)

FALCO:
I'd been to

a few wild bashes in my time,

but this Saleena gave the word

"decadence" a whole new meaning.

Your nephew, Falco.

Just think about your nephew.

(WHISPERING FIERCELY)

Come on! Come on! Get out here!

Mama! What do you think

you're doing here?

If that boy needs

a dangerous woman to obey,

I'm here to see he gets one!

I don't suppose any of you've seen a

woman with a mask like mine, have you?

-ALL:
No.

-No? All right.

(ALL MOANING)

(CURIO GASPS IN SURPRISE)

And people say there's no fun

left in religion, eh, Curio?

(GRUNTING IN PAIN)

You see? I didn't break.

I'm still here.

-But you fought well.

-(CHUCKLES)

And if you fight like that in the arena,

I'm not surprised you've never lost.

(DOOR OPENING)

-(WHISPERING) You must go now!

-I paid you to leave us alone!

Then take your money back.

The Praetorians are here. They've

come to take her to the palace. Now!

The palace? Tonight?

She's been bought by

the Emperor's son, Domitian.

She fights before Vespasian

at his banquet tomorrow.

What opponent goes with her?

Right now she goes alone.

Please!

Druida, we can fight them together.

I know ships. You can escape...

-No!

-Please!

You got what you came for,

and now so must I.

Falco.

I came as soon as

Niobe found me.

She said something about

Lady Helena arrested.

When she didn't show up at the temple,

I went to her house.

Gods, I'm a fool.

I was so keen to stay out

of all this, I couldn't see

what was staring me

in the face.

And now, barring a miracle,

Pertinax is gonna crush us all.

Rome is a strange place, Falco.

Least you've learned that

before I'm gone.

Where else could a highborn

like Lady Helena

be kept as much a prisoner

as a slave queen?

What do you mean, a slave queen?

What slave queen?

Druida, the woman gladiator.

I was with her tonight before she

was taken to the palace, too.

You mean there really is

a female gladiator?

Yeah! You should see her

fight, Falco. She's very good.

And you were with her tonight?

It was extraordinary!

That's the right word, isn't it, Falco?

(EXHALES) I'm sure it is.

But what's this about her

being taken to the palace?

She's been bought by Domitian, and she

fights at the Emperor's banquet tomorrow.

But I fear she carries so much hate

she's going to try to kill him, too.

Gods of Olympus!

That's it! Justus!

I could kiss you.

No, thanks. I rather stick

with women for a while.

(ROOSTER CROWING)

It'll be daylight soon, and by then our

one chance to stop all this will be gone.

Quickly.

-(SIGHS) Falco.

-Petro.

You try throwing me

to the lions again,

-and this friendship's over.

-Look...

It's been 15 minutes

and he hasn't moved.

You weren't supposed

to hit him that hard.

Maybe I haven't given up

as much hate as I thought.

Don't panic, Petro!

I'm buying.

It was you I saw.

-Wasn't it?

-Yes, but you missed Justus.

(SIGHS)

How big a club

did he hit me with?

Never mind that now. We've got

more important things to talk about.

Listen, Falco,

about the lions,

I swear I didn't know.

Well, the only question seemed to be

how fast they could dispose of me.

I may not like

what you do, Falco,

but even I know you're not dumb enough

to murder a noble like Cato.

But since we both

know I was set up,

I'm prepared to offer you

the gamble of a lifetime.

Yeah? What are the stakes?

Well, you just might earn the eternal

gratitude of our new emperor.

-Or? -Or invite certain death.

Still willing to listen?

He'll listen.

FALCO:
So here I was,

working like a fiend

to put my head smack in the jaws

of yet another emperor.

And though I knew the lives of

my family hung in the balance,

I had the curious feeling that I

was somehow doing this for Rome.

It's not that I admired

Vespasian,

but the thought of Pertinax taking

over in another bloody coup...

I guess there just

comes a time

when we must take that chance

for the good of everyone,

-even for a man like me.

-(SIGHS)

-Falco, everything's ready, but...

-I know.

A thousand things could go wrong,

and they probably will.

Which is why

I've prepared these.

Now, Niobe, you have become

so indispensable to me

that without you I shall probably get

lost on my way to the next world.

So you are welcome to

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