Decimus Severus crosses the threshold and stops short of the purse. His gaze stays fixed on the coins as if they are the only honest thing in the room.
Decimus Severus
Still there. Good. Then no one has touched it.
He bends, not to pick it up, but to hook two fingers under the cord and lift it just enough to feel its weight. Marcus Flavius tenses beside Valeria, ready for trouble.
Decimus Severus
Messalina sends gifts like hooks. If you swallow one, you bleed on her timing.
Decimus lets the purse drop back to the floor. The coins thud softly, louder than they should in the cramped chamber.
Decimus Severus
Valeria Asiaticus, you are not to be paraded tonight. You are to be hidden, until I decide what this means.
Marcus Flavius
At last, a sensible sentence. I was beginning to think Rome had run out of them.
Decimus finally looks up, not at Valeria, but at Marcus, measuring him like a man counting blades in a rack. The room feels smaller for it.
✓ Quest Accepted
Keep Valeria hidden until Decimus decides what this means
“"I am more than willing to fight, but I yield to your authority."”
SUCCESS (Great Willpower, rolled -1)
Valeria lowers her chin in a small, deliberate bow, not surrender, but recognition of rank. The room eases by a breath, as if everyone hears the difference.
Valeria Asiaticus
I am willing to fight. I yield to your authority.
Decimus studies her for a long moment, then gives the faintest nod. It is not kindness, but it is a choice made in public.
Decimus Severus
Good. Then you understand the first rule. In this house, I decide who is seen.
Marcus Flavius
And who is not. A rare pleasure, hearing a man say it plainly.
Decimus finally turns his full attention to Marcus, his expression sharpening into something older and harder than command.
Decimus Severus
You, old soldier, will keep her out of sight and out of rumor. If Messalina is hunting, I want her striking at shadows, not at flesh.
Marcus Flavius
Then give the word, and I will make shadows fit for her.
“Valeria nods agreement.”
SUCCESS (Great Willpower, rolled +0)
Valeria answers the room with a single, measured nod. It is small, but it lands like a seal pressed into wax.
Decimus Severus
Good. Then keep that stillness. It is worth more than noise in my walls.
Marcus Flavius
She has learned the value of silence faster than most men learn the value of coin.
Decimus’s eyes go to the purse on the floor, then back to Valeria. The torchlight catches the metal and throws it cold across the stones.
Decimus Severus
Messalina would buy a spectacle, or a corpse. Either is useful to her. Neither is acceptable to me.
Marcus Flavius
Then we are agreed on at least one thing, which is more than Rome usually offers.
Decimus Severus
Do not mistake my protection for affection, old soldier. I keep what is mine from being taken.
“"I trust you will perform your duties as an upright Roman, which is all anyone expects from you."”
FAILURE (Great Willpower, rolled -3)
Valeria Asiaticus
I trust you will do your duty as an upright Roman. That is all anyone expects of you.
Decimus Severus
An upright Roman, yes. A free one, less often than he pretends.
Marcus Flavius
Careful, boy. Coin has a way of teaching men to bow without bending their knees.
Decimus Severus
Messalina does not send gifts. She sends handles. I take the handle, and I decide what may be lifted by it.
He gives no answer about mercy, only a glance at the purse, as if it is already a tool in his hand. Marcus’s smile fades by degrees, and the old soldier studies Decimus with new caution.
Marcus Flavius
So that is the bargain. You keep her out of sight, and the Empress learns nothing tonight.
Decimus Severus
Tonight, nothing. After that, I choose the shape of the delay.
The torchlight trembles over the scattered coins. Decimus stands between Valeria and the doorway, not as a shield now, but as a man measuring how much of her fate he can still claim without admitting it.
“"I confess bafflement. If she wants me dead, she has only to wait a bit to hear me say, 'We who are about to die salute you!' No bribe is necessary."”
SUCCESS (Great Willpower, rolled -1)
Valeria Asiaticus
If she means me dead, she need only wait for the games. I can salute the crowd myself. No bribe is needed for that.
The words hang in the smoky air. Valeria keeps her voice level, but the old joke cuts cleanly through the room, and the purse on the floor seems suddenly smaller.
Marcus Flavius
Hah. She is not wrong, Decimus. A dead gladiator is cheap, but an embarrassed one is dear.
Decimus Severus
That is the trouble. Messalina does not spend on death when shame will do.
For the first time, Decimus lets the purse alone. His gaze shifts from the coins to Valeria, and the cold line of his mouth tightens with something like annoyance at being understood.
Decimus Severus
She wants a spectacle, or a silence. I have not yet learned which one she has bought.
Marcus Flavius
And if you guess wrong?
Decimus Severus
Then I wear the blame, not her. That is how imperial hands stay clean.
The torchlight shivers over the coins again. Decimus remains in the doorway line, but now it looks less like command than a man bracing under another will, and Marcus watches him as if the answer matters to them both.
“"Huh. This costume is already humiliating enough. If you wish to shame me further, you could match me against a dwarf, or to fight a duel with a cow. I expect the crowd would love it."”
FAILURE (Fair Oratory, rolled -2)
Valeria Asiaticus
Huh. This costume is humiliating enough. If you want to shame me further, match me against a dwarf, or let me duel a cow. The crowd would adore it.
The jab lands, but not cleanly. It draws a brief snort from Marcus, and even Decimus blinks once at the absurdity before his mouth hardens again. The purse stays where it is, bright as an accusation in the torchlight.
Marcus Flavius
A cow would be hard to brief for the bout. Still, you have the right of it. They love a spectacle more than blood.
Decimus Severus
They love whatever can be sold to them as novelty. That is the only mercy Rome offers in the arena.
Decimus looks from the purse to Valeria, and this time the annoyance in his face is edged with reluctant recognition, as if her joke has exposed the shape of Messalina's game.
Decimus Severus
If she means to shame you, she needs you visible. Hidden women do not make good warnings.
Marcus Flavius
Then we keep her hidden, and let the Empress glare at an empty space.
For the first time, Decimus does not answer Marcus at once. His eyes narrow, not at Valeria, but at the problem of being forced to guard her from the very publicity Messalina wants.
“She sighs. "Well, I guess I win no prizes today, but at least my mother will not have to pay for a funeral, so there is that."”
SUCCESS (Great Willpower, rolled +1)
Valeria Asiaticus
Well, I guess I win no prizes today. At least my mother will not have to pay for a funeral, so there is that.
The words sit between them without bravado. Marcus’s mouth twitches, but he does not joke this time. Decimus studies Valeria as if weighing how much courage can fit inside a complaint.
Marcus Flavius
A grim bargain, girl. Better the purse stays on the floor than buys you a pyre.
Decimus Severus
It is not a bargain Messalina offers. It is a leash, with coins tied to it.
At that, Decimus looks down at the purse, then away from it, as though refusing even the shape of the trap. His shoulders loosen by a breath, and the room grows quieter around the three of them.
Decimus Severus
You stay out of sight until I decide what this means. That part remains mine, for now.
Marcus gives a small, approving nod, while the torchlight keeps trembling over the untouched coins. Decimus does not reach for them. He only waits, and the waiting itself feels like a choice that is not entirely his.
“She nods resignedly.”
Valeria gives a small, resigned nod. Decimus takes it as enough, and for the first time his answer is not about the Empress at all, but about him.
Decimus Severus
Good. Then stay dull, stay unseen, and let me decide which master is lying to me.
Marcus Flavius
That is the first honest thing you have said all afternoon.
“"As much as I enjoy the conversation, I think we should get down to business. Where is he to hide me? I can't hide here, and my home would also be a poor choice."”
SUCCESS (Good Reasoning, rolled +0)
Valeria Asiaticus
As much as I enjoy the conversation, I think we should get down to business. Where am I to hide? I cannot hide here, and my home would be a poor choice.
Decimus does not answer at once. He looks past Valeria, past Marcus, to the purse on the floor, and that silence feels like a decision taking shape.
Decimus Severus
The lowest storage room under the western gallery. No one goes there unless I send them.
Marcus Flavius
Spare her a rat hole if you can manage it, director.
Decimus Severus
A rat hole is better than a stage. You will go there now, and stay there until I call for you.
He snaps two fingers. A servant at the door flinches and hurries off, and the torchlight catches the gold on the floor before swallowing it again.
Marcus shifts closer to Valeria, while Decimus turns toward the corridor with his jaw set. The quarters feel smaller with the order spoken aloud.
“"Very well, let's go."”
SUCCESS (Great Agility, rolled +2)