I awoke bedridden in a cell somewhere in the magistrate’s palace. My side burned, and I could scarcely move without sending jolts of pain up my body. But I did not care for my terrible injuries. I was more dreading the inevitable administration of the Bene Tincture, which was said to apply all the pain of a wound at once. I did not know whether that was true, but it might’ve well been.

It took me several minutes to move my head, and I noticed Berenice sitting quietly in a chair by my bedside. I moved to speak to her, but my throat closed shut.

“Dry,” I rasped.

She quickly fetched a cup of water and held it so that I could sip from it. I drank of the cup, struggling to get the water down my throat until I felt refreshed again. The effort exhausted me, and I needed even more time before I could comfortably speak.

“You’ve been arrested,” Berenice said.

“For what crime?”

“Shortly after you came to our house, Messalina disrobed herself and fled naked out into the streets. She ran all over the city, shrieking that you had tried to rape her. The men found Charon attending to you as you were dying on the floor. Once you recover, you will be put to trial.”

A clever trick for a woman who knew no modesty. I thought I had Messalina’s measure when I went to confront her, but her spite evidently knew no bounds. It was not enough to have me killed. I could imagine she believed, in her own twisted way, that I abused and humiliated her. Now, she was going to defame me a thousand times worse in return.

“Do you believe this deception?” I asked, more concerned about what Berenice thought of me.

“It would be better to ask whether I believed anything my sister says.” Berenice picked up a loaf of bread. Breaking it into small pieces, she fed it to me. “I am sorry she has done this to you.”

“What of Gereon?”

“Once news of what happened reached him and the magistrate, he argued all night on your behalf. But his words fell on deaf ears. You are a stranger to Terminus, and Messalina is well known. And what’s more, she… solicits favors from certain people.”

“Yes, she does that quite frequently, doesn’t she?” a new voice spoke up.

It took much effort to lift my head, but I saw a man sitting quietly in the corner. His hands were shackled, and he wore dirty furs. I immediately recognized him as Crixus, the man who had kidnapped Berenice and Messalina all those days before.

“How are you here?” I asked.

Crixus winced as he straightened himself against the wall. I saw his own injury had worn on him. The man’s face was sickly, and he appeared malnourished from his days in the cell. “I attempted to re-enter Terminus to take my revenge on Messalina. However, she knew I would be coming and devised my arrest. Soldiers were on the lookout for me, and I could never conceal myself in the city long. Elagabalus seems to be a favorite of hers. He’s exactly the kind of man she would prey upon.”

I remembered it was Messalina who helped us arrange the meeting with the magistrate. It seems she steered us into one of her allies. So then, it was not merely that he was corrupt. I never had a chance to set out on my quest to begin with. I did not know whether that made me feel better or worse.

“Why did you not tell us of the child?”

Crixus lifted his chains that bound him to the wall. “Do you really believe that would’ve helped my cause, telling two strangers I had an illegitimate child with the woman? I am a tribesman, born of the people who wander the wilderness. I do not expect fair treatment from anyone, least of all the people of Terminus.”

I learned then that Crixus had come into the service of Messalina, hoping to improve his lot. He secretly switched out the dry nectar, hoping that a child would compel Messalina into marriage to avoid further disgrace. But Messalina was not that sort of woman. Though I despised his actions, I felt something of a strange kinship with the slave Crixus. We had both been outmaneuvered by her wiles.

“Do you have my possessions?” I asked Berenice.

She pointed to my satchel and clothes, laid carefully to one side. Though I did notice my sword was missing.

“Take out the red vial and hand it to me.”

I did not have the syringe like last time, but it is unnecessary for the application of the Bene Tincture. The substance only needs to touch flesh to take effect. Ingesting it would mean it would act slower, but I did not want to waste time procuring the proper equipment. Every moment meant Messalina would have more time to weave her lies. If I were to escape this net, I would have to act in haste.

I also knew that if I delayed now, I would not have the courage to administer it later.

I carefully measured an amount of the red liquid into the cup. I turned to Berenice. “You do not have to stay here for this. What will follow shall be excruciating pain.”

She reached out and gently held my hand. “You remained with me through my suffering. How can I abandon you now?”

I did not want her to see me like this, but I was also greatly gladdened. Then and after, Berenice was a quiet consolation in my suffering. Gentler than a Nixie, more graceful than an Anemoi, I had never laid eyes on a woman more beautiful than her. It was she alone who kept me from losing heart. Never faltering to be by my side, it was Berenice who reminded me of the things worth loving in the world.

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“Listen carefully. Once I ingest the tincture, you must quickly bind my hands to the bed frame with the sheets. Make sure it is tight as you can make it. Do not worry about cutting off blood flow and do not bother with something to bite down on. It is easier for me to breathe otherwise, and I will not be able to do harm to myself.”

I clasped the cup with both my hands. I trembled as I held the weight of the world aloft. “Adonai! Judge of the Heavens! The Word that Uttereth All! Take pity on your humble servant! Despise me not, but in your mercy, hear and watch over me.” I drank every last drop from the cup, and speaking so low that no one could hear, I whispered. “For you, my brothers in death.”

…

My screams attracted the hurried attention of the guards, but they could do nothing. No one could do anything in the low torchlight. My mind was too clouded to track the time, but some hours later, my feet shakily touched the ground, and I stood up from the bed. The guards all watched, frozen in terror that a man could experience so much pain. Crixus was most alarmed by what had happened and that I had been fully healed.

“What magic is this!?” The man scrambled away from me with his feet.

“It is a concoction made by the School of Alchemists,” I told him as Berenice helped me walk. I put on my clothes and gathered my gear.

I put a hand on her shoulder. “Thank you for staying by my side, but you cannot aid me here any longer. If you still wish to help, go to your house and search for my manuscript. I know Messalina has hidden it away somewhere. You know your sister better than I do. I trust you can do this.”

Berenice nodded and took leave of the cell. I then turned to the guards. “Send for Elagabalus and tell him I have returned to health. I wish to have words with him.”

The men stumbled over each other and ran to fetch their master. Throwing on my blue cloak, I glared at the bars of the cell. It was just one more obstacle put in my way to Calrathia. I was tired of this city and its ways. I would rather face all the horrors out in Myz before one more vile deception in Terminus.

Crixus eyed me narrowly. “I see it in your gaze. What hope do you have of escaping execution?”

“Are you sure that Elagabalus is having an affair with Messalina?” I turned to him.

“If you are suggesting coercion—”

“I am not suggesting anything of the sort. So, are you sure?”

“Yes.”

I turned back to the hall. “I have a beginning of a plan. We cannot be tried by the likes of this magistrate. That much is certain. First, you are going to confess to Elagabalus everything about your affair with Messalina. I presume you kept the secret from him as you had with me?”

Crixus snorted. “Why?”

I crossed my arms. “Because he is a magistrate and deserves to know the circumstances of our case. But as for my purpose, even a wicked man shows common sense from time to time.”

Elagabalus came running into the hall not thirty minutes later. The youth was bereft of his regalia and garments due his position. Wearing nothing more than the trousers and tunic of a commoner, he stopped at the front of the cell and looked me over with shock and bewilderment. I waited for him to regain some composure before speaking.

“You should know I did not attempt to rape Messalina. She disrobed herself to defame me and put me to death. I do not expect these words to convince you, but it is your right to know the truth. What will concern you more, however, is that you’re making a mistake putting us to trial. You might succeed in executing us, but not without great harm to yourself.”

Elagabalus was still reeling from my miraculous recovery, and I am inclined to think that it made him more disposed to my arguments.

“And what harm would that be?”

“Do not think you are so secretive that your servants have not noticed your relationship with Messalina.”

His eyes widened, but he dared not say a word. I did not lie when I said as much to him. I do not think there is anything that goes on in any household which goes unnoticed by the attendants. And from what I knew of Elagabalus, he did not have the wiles to conceal such things anyway.

“I am aware of Messalina’s gambit. She’s trying to turn this whole affair into a spectacle. By the time anyone comes to their senses, I’ll be long dead. However, a spectacle is exactly what you cannot afford. When it comes out that the magistrate has been having relations with a woman deeply involved in his own trial, that scandal would destroy your reputation, if not remove from your post altogether.”

Concern grew into nervous worry. The boy had never so much as thought about the consequences of his actions. He tried to put on a show of bravado. “If you dare to threaten—”

“I will keep my silence; you have my word on that. What you need to worry about is everyone else who could talk, and someone will talk. You need to hush this as quietly as possible.” I found myself ordering him.

I took a step forward to the bars, and Elagabalus shrunk beneath me. He was no longer lofty on his elevated chair. In fact, he was quite shorter than me.

“But Messalina wants you put to death,” he meekly replied.

“Yes, and you’ve found yourself in an even worse trap. What do you think Messalina will do when your relationship becomes known? She has her own standing to protect as well, and she’s already made a very convincing story once. What do you think will happen when you become inconvenient for her? Do you know what happened to the last man who consorted with that woman? He’s sitting in this very cell.” I pointed over to Crixus.

The shackled man sighed and regaled Elagabalus of his full story.

The boy became visibly frightened as he realized he was too much in over his head. Such are those who wield the power of titles and never the respect of other men. “But if I don’t do what she wants…”

“Yes, she would accuse you anyway. And everyone is going to believe her because she has already cast herself as the victim. There’s a good chance you’ll be sitting in your own cell in a few weeks’ time.”

Elagabalus was broken. He stood the free man and I the prisoner, and yet he was broken, little more than a caged animal. “What should I do?” He practically begged me.

I found it quite ironic that this magistrate needed to be rescued by advice from his own prisoner. I was never educated much in law, but the solution was obvious. “There’s only one option you have left. Defer the trial. As a magistrate, you have the right to pass up a case to a higher authority. Hand us over to the Princeps of this city for judgement. Messalina gets her blood, and you no longer stand so near the center of controversy. Instead of presiding, you’re now just a judge who dispensed of the case.”

“But the Princeps could just turn it down or delay it indefinitely.”

“He won’t. The first courier to travel to Terminus in centuries has just been accused of rape. That’s serious enough.”

Elagabalus grew hopeful again as I did my best to ransom him out of his own foolishness. “I will consider this.”

He took his leave. I think he was so overwhelmed that he couldn’t stomach it anymore. Nevertheless, we were alone again.

I wondered what it would take to untangle me from this web. I did not know the Princeps, and I might’ve been trading a corrupt judge for an even worse one. But it seemed this gamble was the best one I had. I glowered in the torchlight.

Crixus watched me for several minutes. “How in the world did you get such a silver tongue?”

“I am from Zodiak,” I simply responded. “I have much experience with the minds of liars and weak men. I was under the tutelage of one for five years. Nothing scares them more than consequence.”