have brought loyal Dahak home with me. I am sure you will become great friends.'
Sickeningly, the thing in the shadows bared needle-like teeth at Gaius Julius and the old Roman knew—he could not say how, but the truth struck at his heart like a well-flung javelin—he had been replaced by a new favorite. The world tilted on its axis, but Gaius had not survived the collapse of the old Republic without a canny mind and a quick tongue.
'Hail Caesar,' Gaius said, his mouth dry as dust. A dreadful pressure seemed to fill the room, pressing in on him from all sides. Without thinking, he knelt, bending his forehead to the floor. As he did so, he caught sight of the Praetorians also kneeling, as did the creature in the shadows. Words hissed from his mouth, unbidden but undeniable. 'Hail Maxian Atreus, Augustus Romanorum, Emperor and God, Protector of the Romans, Master of the World.'
Maxian turned, the fires burning beyond the city glowing against the cloudy, dark sky behind him. His face was in shadow, but Gaius could see a faint, pale light reflecting in the man's eyes. The Emperor stirred, a hand shrugging his cloak into a clean line.
'Yes,' Maxian said, softly, in final, full awareness of himself and the world. 'I am a god.'
