He Is Worthy by Lisa Henry

Author:Lisa Henry [Henry, Lisa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Riptide Publishing

Nero’s Golden House contained over three hundred rooms. Sometimes it felt like being trapped in a labyrinth. Every new turn around a corner led deeper into the maze, into the lair of the beast. Senna knew how to unpick an invisible thread and follow it straight to the monsters. He knew his way through the Golden House.

Senna was trusted. Senna was loyal.

Not liked, though, not by Tigellinus. Whether that was because Senna was a friend from Nero’s past, because he was a patrician, or simply because Tigellinus was wary of anyone else who had Nero’s favor, Senna didn’t know. He pretended not to notice the man’s animosity, just like he pretended not to notice a lot of things: the close presence of the Praetorians, the mood swings of the emperor, and every vicious, bloody thing he had ever seen in the Golden House.

Senna fixed a smile on his face as a slave ushered him toward the dining couch.

Sometimes, on nights like these, it was almost possible to pretend he was among friends. He laughed and joked with Nero and Tigellinus, and played the part of a man flattered and delighted to be included in their company. Friends. Then, when Tigellinus rose to leave early, Senna teased him like he would have teased Lucan or Titus or, years ago now, Nero.

Senna grinned. “Stay, Tigellinus! Don’t be an old woman!”

Nero laughed, and Tigellinus smiled, but Senna knew better than to think he’d taken the insult in good humor.

“I have work to see to, Novius Senna,” Tigellinus said, “but I won’t forget you.”

Nero laughed harder at that.

Senna didn’t miss the threat. It was visceral. It tightened around his chest and settled in the pit of his stomach.

He wondered if Nero noticed how often Tigellinus excused himself these days. Senna had dined for three nights straight at the Golden House, and Tigellinus had left early each time. There was a time when Tigellinus and Nero had been inseparable. There were rumors that Tigellinus was finding it harder and harder to keep the Praetorians in line. When unrest reached them, the tide had already turned. The Praetorians had murdered Caligula, had elevated Claudius to the purple. It wasn’t unthinkable that it could happen again. There must have been factions in the city actively pushing for it. Did Nero even see how precarious it had all become, sheltered in his Golden House, distracted with the hundreds of cruel amusements Tigellinus encouraged?

Senna tried his hardest not to think about those, and forced himself to relax. This was a private room, an open-ended gallery that overlooked the gardens. The torches that flickered all around them weren’t monstrous tonight.

Senna watched the light gleaming on a silver blade resting on the table and turned his head to stare at the legs of the Praetorian guard who was standing close enough to touch. If he reached for the blade, would the man let it happen? He couldn’t be sure and couldn’t risk it.

Nero’s laughter faded into a crooked smile.

With Tigellinus gone, it was almost like old times.

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