Edward Crichton - To Crown a Caesar

Good.

I removed the knife and saw her second wound was at least at the second degree burn stage. It had to hurt like hell. She’d have trouble sitting for at least a few weeks, and I only wish I could be there to see her suffer.

I leaned close to her ear. “Where is he?”

“I told you!” She gasped through the pain. “He is not here.”

I decided to pull back. There was something in her voice that told me she was telling the truth. I flipped her back over, and leaned my knee into her stomach this time as I pressed my boot knife against her throat and leaned in close once again, my nose inches from her own.

“He’s not here?”

She shook her head, even the small motion causing my knife to nick her throat. I left it where it was.

“He’s back in Rome?”

She nodded this time and tears began to fall lazily down her cheeks. “Yes.”

There were ways to determine if someone was lying or not. The CIA had taught us those as well, and everything about her tone, infliction and eye contact told me she was telling the truth this time. She was still human after all, even with all she’d done, and therefore vulnerable to the pitfalls of human psychology.

I paused before deciding to shift tactics again, realizing that I didn’t need Nero anymore. Agrippina was right here. Maybe I could coerce her on my own, but I tried to settle down first. I removed my knee from her stomach and climbed off the bed, leaving my knife where it was. I looked down at her and decided I had a few questions that needed answering first.

“What are you doing here? Really?”

There was still fear in her eyes, but her sobs slowed as my voice softened.

“I was looking for you,” she mumbled, her tears evaporating.

“Why?” I asked.

“Because I wanted to see what you would do when you saw the orb.”

I looked at her curiously. “Testing a theory?”

“I was,” she said easily, “and you didn’t disappoint me.”

I watched without action as Agrippina placed her elbows on the bed beside her and scooted herself back so that she came out from underneath my knife. I barely even twitched, let alone try to stop her. She sat up and tossed her hair away from her face and reached out to grab my forearm. Again, I didn’t react as she pulled me down beside her like a grumpy child in need of a good scolding. She sat so close that her breasts were pressed up against my arm.

“There are so many things we must discuss, Jacob Hunter,” she said softly, her expression as innocent as they come. She was a completely different person now; all her sexual promiscuity, confusing mannerisms and air of superiority gone completely, replaced by a rational human being. Suddenly, I doubted everything I had heard from her earlier tonight, no longer certain I shouldn’t trust her now. All I could do was sit patiently, stupidly, and wait for her to continue.

She angled her face away from mine and smiled at no one but herself. “Gaius was always the family favorite, destined for great things and bestowed with many opportunities, but I was raised by the same parents who bore and nurtured my brother — the same family who insisted all their children be well schooled and educated. But unlike my doting sisters, my schooling did not end when it was time for us to take on our more womanly responsibilities.

“Knowledge is power, Jacob Hunter. I believe you know this to be true. Uncle Claudius was always so insistent that we girls harness our minds as well as our bodies, advice I followed and they ignored, and the study of language became a passion of mine. Claudius often said that understanding those who others cannot gave you power over both. ‘Keep it secret,’ he used to tell me, ‘never let on that you are already two steps ahead of them’.”

Agrippina sighed and turned her head back to gaze at me.

“He was such a complex man. Always letting on like he was less capable than he really was, I never understood why. Regardless, the important thing to understand is that of all the languages I understand, Etruscan is the one he personally taught me. Few men can speak it, you know, but I believe you know another. Marcus Varus. He’s the one unconscious on the floor there by the door.”

My heart skipped a beat. How could she know it was Varus who lay crumpled at Santino’s feet? It was too dark and she had been facing away from us when we had come in. I opened my mouth to speak, but she pressed a long, slender finger against my lips. Her fingernails were well groomed, and her skin smelled of fresh flowers.

“Not yet, Jacob Hunter. You may speak soon, but first you must understand that I know a great many things about both you and the orb. The past four years have opened my eyes to a great many wonders, most beyond description. I have learned how glorious a tool the orb can be, but also how dangerous it is. It can have a powerful effect on the mind. Some are strengthened by its power while others are corrupted by it. Only time will tell which.”

She looked down longingly and took my hand in her own. “You are drawn by it. It calls to you, beckoning you to use it. I know this because I feel it too. I have experienced its longing for the past four years, and when I imagine your separation from it, I feel a great sadness. You see, we share a bond, you and I. The orb speaks to us. It is something not even you and your Amazon can share.” She paused a moment and drew my hand to her knee, gliding it smoothly along her thigh so that it rested against her hip. She scooted closer, if that was even possible. “I came here to see if you still had a connection with the orb and… with me. It fills me with such joy to learn that you still do.”

“You came…?” I started, but she cut me off.

“Yes. I came here for you. I want to help you. I want you to help me. To use the orb together and make Rome everything it was meant to be and more. We can do great things, you and I.”

I felt a distinct soreness in my eyes, a burning sensation that meant I hadn’t blinked in quite some time. I squeezed them shut and wondered what had brought on such a trance, knowing It wasn’t Agrippina. There was nothing sexual about her current demeanor at all, despite obvious contradictions to the contrary. I looked at my hand pressed firmly against her shapely thigh and felt nothing at the sensation. I had touched Helena in that manner hundreds of times, each as exciting as the last, but I felt nothing now. I looked into Agrippina’s eyes, and failed to feel the slightest urge to lean in and kiss her. I suspected in that moment that Agrippina felt the same.

There was something oddly off about the whole scenario. It almost felt like she was right, like we did share some kind of bond. I glanced at the orb and glared at it. There sat a perfectly good rationale in of itself. I pulled my hand away from Agrippina’s leg and pressed it against my temple, trying to think as I squeezed my eyes even tighter.

After a moment, I rose to my feet, pulling away from Agrippina, her hand still lazily attached to my own. She wasted no effort keeping me close, but clung to me until I was too far away for her to hold on. I felt disoriented and nauseous, so much so that I almost fell down the steps but a sudden adrenaline surge steadied me. My mind started to clear and Agrippina’s spell, or whatever it was, faded away.

The orb’s blue glow dimmed.

I sheathed my boot knife and retrieved my rifle from behind my back. I held it out in front of me and straightened my posture as well as I could. I felt drained, and my head was still swimming in confusion, misunderstanding and sudden fatigue. It took everything I had left to even look at Agrippina.

“I said no more games,” I said breathlessly. “Stay where you are and I won’t hurt you, but that orb is coming with me.”