“Claudius.” She said the name with disdain in between bouts of tears. “Our uncle has murdered Gnaeus and taken my son hostage, saying that he will adopt him as his own to make him emperor one day. He plans to give him a new name. Nero he says. But he has forced me out of his home. I am not allowed to see my own son. Claudius has gone mad with power. Mad! He’s always been a scoundrel, but something has changed him. Broken his mind. I’m afraid he may hurt my son!”
I looked at Vincent, and we both realized another piece of the puzzle had clicked into place, hopefully the last. Claudius must have the orb in his possession. That would explain his odd behavior.
Caligula tried to console her. “Sister. Do not worry. I will take care of it. Tell me. Are you expected back in Rome?”
“Yes. I told Claudius I was visiting Mother and our sisters in Arretium. I’m expected home in a few days.”
“Did you come with anyone?”
“Yes. Two bodyguards.”
Caligula looked at Vincent. “This seems like something well suited to your skills.”
“Caesar,” Nisus interrupted, raising a finger, “perhaps we should think about…”
Caligula snapped his head and glared at the senior centurion. Nisus lowered his hand, and glanced awkwardly around the table, shutting up.
Vincent nodded. “Indeed, Caesar. It would be the perfect cover to sneak us inside the walls of Rome. We can easily accomplish our task with only two of us, and it would prove far less dangerous to go in this way.”
Galba huffed to himself, not really caring how much danger we had to deal with. He may have been a good general, but definitely a sore loser.
“Very good, Vincent,” Caligula went on. “You have read my mind. Agrippina, we will discuss the plans tomorrow. For now…”
“No. Brother. I need to speak privately with the men accompanying me, at least one of them.” She looked at each us in turn, pausing on Helena only to offer her a sneer, before stopping on me.
Aw, shit.
“That one,” she said, pointing at me. “With the pretty face. I will talk to him before we go over anything.”
Santino coughed and I couldn’t help but glance at Helena before looking at the table. I hoped Agrippina would shift her attention elsewhere, but she must have noticed our exchange, and a smile crossed her face. A mean looking one. She walked over and put her hand on my arm.
“Fine,” Caligula responded, giving me a look any good brother would give another man. “You may use my magistrate’s tent, just to the right.”
She gave him a smile, before looking up at me. “Come. Let us discuss things. It won’t take long.”
She yanked on my arm to lead me from the tent, but my right foot caught on the toe of my left boot when I tried to follow. Nearly tripping to the floor, I barely kept myself from falling.
This day just got worse.
***
I knew the magistrate was on duty elsewhere, so I expected the tent would be empty, but that thought didn’t offer much comfort. Opening the flap for Agrippina, I followed her in. She took in her surroundings in a glance, before finding a chair and placing it near a table.
She patted it. “Sit. Please. Make yourself comfortable.”
“Okay…” I said, dragging out the word.
I dusted off the chair before taking a seat, facing the table only a few feet away. Finding a piece of fruit, Agrippina began to eat it before sitting on the edge of the table. She folded her left leg over her right, forcing the slit of her dress to reveal more than just her leg, but also the side of her ample posterior. Leaning forward, exposing not just cleavage, but practically the whole show, she rested her elbows on her knees and continued to gnaw away. Slowly.
As she ate, she remained silent, but looked me up and down like a piece of meat. Her inspection made me feel only slightly more uncomfortable than I already was. I squirmed in my chair like a job applicant waiting for an interview. Apparently satisfied at what she saw, she hummed an approving noise, leaned back in a straighter posture, and shifted her clothing, exposing even more skin on her other leg.
“Did you enjoy my little performance back in the tent?” She asked nonchalantly.
I coughed. “Excuse me?”
“Oh, don’t play coy with me,” she said, tossing her piece of fruit over her shoulder. “I know you saw right through my act. I am very good at reading people, and I saw how you looked at me when I first walked in. You looked as though you knew me, but I never forget a face, especially not one so perfect as yours. I was at your little demonstration a few months ago, but that hardly means you know me.”
I coughed again and shifted in my chair. She must have been that pregnant woman I noticed in the stands that I thought looked familiar. The one who winked at me.
“I’m sorry,” I said, trying not to sound like a prepubescent boy, “but I’m not sure what you’re talking about. I thought we were here to discuss your son.”
“We are. I just wanted to make sure we understood one another. That performance was for my brother’s clever, but unimaginative benefit, not to mention the lackeys he surrounds himself with, besides you, of course. In you, I saw trouble. Someone who might challenge me. That’s why I felt the need to speak to you alone. To appeal to you in another way, besides that of a grieving mother. Something maybe a little more… personal?”
“What do you mean?” I asked cautiously.
“My son has indeed been kidnapped, and I am truly frightened for his safety,” she said, her voice shifting into the grieving mother spectrum again. “I want you to know that if you save him, I will be yours to command. Anything and everything I am capable of doing, I will do for you.”
She capitalized her last point by slipping off the table, and straddling me. She had to pull her clothing well up over her hips, so as not to get caught in it, and to make matters worse, she also snatched my hands and placed them on her bare hips.
“Anything, and everything,” she said, pumping her chest out so that her breasts nearly brushed against my face. “You will be the envy of all Rome. Trust me.”
Stunned by her very forward actions, not to mention instinctually curious, I didn’t immediately react when she grabbed my head and pressed her mouth to mine. There was nothing I could do. I was stuck in a seductive trap worthy of any black widow scenario. Two seconds later, as soon as she slid one of her hands along my groin, I quickly jumped to my feet, and pulled away from her.
Wiping my mouth out of shock, I backed up towards the exit in case I had to flee for my life.
“There is no need for that, Agrippina. I will gladly help you and your son if the emperor so wishes it. You have no need to do… that… again.”
My leap from the chair had knocked her to the ground, and now she looked up at me as she propped herself up on her knees. Her look was pure sex and seduction. She wiped her mouth as well, finishing the motion by licking her fingers. I had to wince.
“Is it that Amazon in the tent? I saw the way she looked at you.” She smiled. “She is very beautiful indeed. Perhaps I could arrange for the three of us, together, to…”
“That won’t be necessary, thank you,” I said quickly, although the thought stiffened more than just my resolve to get out of here.
“I could always have her… removed. If you so wish.”
“What? No. No, of course not. Leave her out of this.”
She looked at my coyly before jerking her head to the side innocently.
“As you wish,” she said, rising to her feet, not wasting any effort to contain her dignity, not that she had much left anyway. “Now. We shall tell my brother the news.”
I nodded, and held the tent flap open for her to exit. Wiping my mouth again, just in case, I followed behind her. Entering the praetorium, all heads turned to face us. Most wore neutral expressions, except for Helena’s. I hadn’t seen her this angry since the day she had nearly beaten that legionnaire to death on the training
