Queen of Kings - Maria Dahvana Headley [94]
The moat was too wide for anything to leap across, and the newly constructed imperial box—the pulvinar—was situated high up on the Palatine Hill, to offer the optimal views of the chariot races, venatio, and gladiatorial games, which had been held here since the founding of Rome. The rape of the Sabine women had been held here, too, according to legend, though this was an event to which no tickets had been sold. The ground had a bloody history, but Augustus and Agrippa had taken precautions to ensure the emperor’s safety. All around the imperial box were seated Agrippa’s soldiers garbed as common men. Thousands of them had been called to order here tonight, and all of them had the same orders. Protect the emperor.
The emperor glanced back at Chrysate. She was too striking to display publicly without proclamations that she was the emperor’s new mistress. He had her face covered in a sheer black veil, but he could see her eyes through it even now. Green as the sea but lit from below with something yellow. He congratulated himself on her presence. The shade would bait the trap, along with the children. He gave Selene a pat on the shoulder, feeling slightly guilty for bringing her here. She was a girl and should not see such things, particularly after the scare she’d had with the serpent, but she was necessary.
Under Augustus’s hand, Selene leaned forward in her seat, trying to contain her emotions. What had she seen in the emperor’s rooms? The vision blurred in her memory. A serpent with her mother’s face. The physician had come and dosed her with something that slowed her mind.
When she woke, the bouquet of flowers Chrysate had given her was there waiting, though she knew she’d dropped it in the emperor’s bedchamber. Now Chrysate sat beside her, her only friend. Augustus had denied Selene, sworn that she had not seen the thing she knew she had. Only Chrysate believed her. She felt a sob rising in her throat as she looked down at the arena floor. The thought of animals reminded her of home, that was all. She did not miss her family. How could she? They had abandoned her to this. Beside her, Chrysate smiled and took Selene’s fingers in hers.
“There is nothing to fear,” she told the girl. “I will protect you.”
Something inside Selene told her to trust the woman.
Chrysate glanced at the emperor and smiled at him. A calculated smile. She watched as he smiled nervously back at her, his crooked teeth showing.
She considered the other witches. The Northerner sat beside her, clearly ill. Chrysate had heard her coughing all the way down the corridor of the Palatine, and the old woman’s skin was sallow and feverish. Nevertheless, she sat with her spine straight, her strange silver eyes watchful. She should not be hard to kill, should she become a nuisance tonight. Chrysate was prepared. The snake charmer, on the other hand, was a stronger foe. Perhaps he was on her side, however. Or could be bought. His tribe was known to practice sorcery for hire. She leaned toward the man.
“I may need you,” she said.
“As I may need you,” he replied, his jaw tight. “She will not be taken easily.”
The wind informed Usem that the queen had arrived, and though he could not see her yet, he knew that he soon would. He regretted this already. A sleek, copper-patterned viper slithered itself about the Psylli’s two arms, its body thick as a limb. He glanced over at the Northern witch. The Romans had taken her distaff from her, but he could see it now, well concealed against her side, hidden in the folds of her garments. He suspected that he was the only one who knew it was there and that he was also the only one who knew that her wrists were not actually bound. The wind had whispered all these things into his ear. He was not sorry that the seiðkona had her weapon, however. They would need whatever they had. He planned to kill Cleopatra himself. He did not trust anyone else to do it.
He touched