Page 6 of City of Secrets and Shadows
I waited until his breathing deepened into sleep before turning my attention back to Septimus. His handsome face was peaceful in unconsciousness, the perpetual tension in his jaw finally relaxed. How strange to see him vulnerable after years of carefully constructed defences.
“What am I going to do with you two?” I whispered, brushing a strand of dark hair from his forehead.
Behind me, the dragon made a soft chuffing sound that almost seemed sympathetic.
The eastern sky had just begun to lighten when Septimus finally stirred. I was ready, sitting cross-legged beside him with a water skin in hand. His eyes opened slowly, confusion clearing into sharp focus as he registered my face.
“Livia?” His voice was rough, one hand rising to his temple with a wince.
“Don’t try to sit up too quickly,” I advised, offering the water skin. “You took a hard hit.”
Memory flooded back into his expression, darkening his eyes. He jerked upright, ignoring my warning, his gaze darting around until it found Tarshi sleeping against the dragon’s flank. His hand instinctively reached for a weapon that wasn’t there.
“Why am I still alive?” he asked, voice low and tense. He kept his eyes on Tarshi’s sleeping form, as though expecting an attack at any moment.
“Because he chose not to kill you,” I replied simply. “Despite your best efforts to make him.”
Septimus’s attention snapped back to me, incredulous. “He should have. I would have, in his place.”
“I know. That's the difference between you.”
His jaw tightened, a familiar stubborn set I’d seen countless times in the arena. “You don’t understand what he is, Livia.”
“I understand perfectly well what he is,” I said, my patience wearing thin. “He’s a man who’s fought beside us, who still fights beside us. And he’s the reason you’re still breathing.”
The wind picked up around us, sending a swirl of sand skittering across the clearing. The dark clouds I’d noticed earlierloomed closer now, an ominous wall on the horizon. Sand and sky were beginning to blur together at the edges.
“Let me make something perfectly clear,” I continued, keeping my voice low but firm. “Tarshi stays with us. This isn’t up for debate. If you can’t accept that, you’re free to go your own way. But if you stay, there will be no more attempts on his life. Understood?”
Septimus held my gaze for a long moment, conflict evident in his expression. Finally, he gave a curt nod, though the tension never left his body. “For now.”
“Forever,” I corrected. “I won’t watch you two try to kill each other while the Empire hunts us down.”
Across the clearing, Tarshi stirred, sitting up with the fluid grace that had made him so lethal in the arena. His eyes immediately found us, narrowing slightly at the sight of Septimus conscious.
“Good morning,” he said, his voice neutral despite the tension vibrating through the air. “I see our sleeping beauty has awakened.”
Septimus tensed beside me, but I placed a warning hand on his knee. The dragon lifted its head, watching the three of us with ancient, intelligent eyes.
“We need to talk,” I said, cutting through the tension. “About what happens next.”
The rising sun cast long shadows across the desert floor, illuminating the barren landscape around us. In the daylight, the desert’s harsh beauty was more apparent – red-gold sands stretching to the horizon, interrupted occasionally by jagged rock formations that jutted from the earth like the bones of ancient creatures. The dark clouds had drawn closer, a wall of angry purple-grey that promised violence.
“I know where I’m going,” I said without preamble. “To the Imperial City.”
Both men stared at me, identical expressions of shock on their very different faces.
“The Imperial City?” Septimus recovered first, disbelief colouring his voice. “That’s suicide, Livia. It’s the heart of the Empire, crawling with soldiers who would recognize us instantly.”
“I know exactly what it is,” I replied evenly. “It’s where Commander Aurelius lives – the man who ordered the destruction of our village.”
Understanding dawned in Tarshi’s eyes. “You want revenge.”
“I want justice,” I corrected, though the distinction felt thin even to me. “For my family, my village. For eleven years, I’ve lived with their ghosts. Now I finally have the chance to avenge them.”
“By getting yourself killed?” Tarshi asked quietly. “The Imperial City is the most heavily guarded fortress in the known world. You’d never even get through the gates, let alone close enough to Aurelius to—” He stopped, studying my face. “Do you even have a plan?”
I squared my shoulders, refusing to be deterred by the practicalities. “I’ll figure something out. But I’m going, with or without you both.”
