Lucius sat before the fireplace in the Sipio ancestral home, legs crossed as he stared at the dancing flames. Tarquil hurling herself onto the burning pyre replayed itself in his mind, over and over again. He couldn't stop the memory.

The hours occurring after the funeral were a blur. His mother had perished, atop the very funeral pyre meant to bid farewell to his father, and Lucius had never felt more alone. He no longer felt even fifteen – he felt like he was nine again, watching Decius ride away to war and hearing Pirilius comment on the hardships and death he would face. Seeing the dust Decius' horse had left settle again, Lucius had felt lonely, feeling like his brother would never return to him.

Now he had Decius, but not his parents.

Decius had taken Lucius to the Sipio House, leaving him there in the care of one of the trusted family slaves before returning to the Funerary Forum to ensure Tarquil's body was taken care of. Lucius knew it was probably just ashes now, nothing left of the mother he had loved. Decius had wanted to make sure nothing was left undone for her.

Lucius felt gratitude toward him for that.

But that gratitude warred with anger, anger that Decius had refused to stand beside him when he had confronted Pirilius. Instead, he had told the consul that Lucius had meant none of it, when he had meant it all.

He heard footsteps behind him and glanced over his shoulder to see Decius enter the room, the flickering flames casting a long shadow behind him. Silently, his brother approached him and dropped to his knees, looking from Lucius to the fire and back again.

"Your mother was laid to rest," Decius said in a low voice, weariness marking his features. "She's with your father now."

Yes, because like him, she's gone, no body left to mourn.

Lucius looked over at his brother but didn't say anything. For a moment, there was a long silence before Decius added, "They're in the hands of the gods now."

Lucius spat defiantly toward the flames. Perturbed, Decius looked at him, eyebrows furrowed. "What?"

"The gods didn't take Father," Lucius snapped. "I don't...Decius, the gods didn't take Father."

"I know," Decius told him, his eyes hard. "But no matter how his life was taken, your father was a good man. He is with the gods now, even if they didn't elect to take him."

Lucius snorted in derision and stared at the crackling fire. Decius shifted beside him, settling himself into a more comfortable position. For a long while, they sat in silence, watching the shifting flames.

In the days following Pirilius' appointment as interrex, Lucius had not had a chance to ask Decius why he wouldn't support him when he had nominated him to rule Fure, one of the highest of honors. They had been busy vacating the palace, which was reserved only for the current monarch, and had resettled in the Sipio ancestral house. Decius had also been in charge of the funeral, leaving little time left for any sort of private conversation.

Well. There was never a time like the present, as the old saying went.

"Why did you say what you did?" Lucius asked, glancing at his brother. "Why did you say I meant nothing of what I said to Pirilius? I meant every word."

Decius looked over at him, his eyes old in the flickering firelight. "I know you did, Lucius," he said heavily. "I know you meant it."

"Then why did you say I didn't?" Lucius demanded. "Why? I nominated you for interrex, Decius. That is a great honor. You are the only one I trusted to rule as interrex."

Decius opened his mouth to speak, closed it and swallowed, then spoke. "Lucius, there is much you do not understand."

"Then tell me!" Lucius cried, twisting to completely face Decius. "Tell me, so I will understand!"

Decius glanced over his shoulder apprehensively before shifting onto his knees and facing Lucius. "Lucius, Pirilius is not to be trusted."

"I know that," Lucius said quickly. "Trust me, brother, I know that."

Decius exhaled, looking weary. "Lucius, you know my House is dead, correct?" Lucius nodded. "They were murdered, massacred all because they bore the name of Numas. I was the only survivor. I do not know exactly why they were killed. I do know it must have had something to do with my father, Decius Numas – the king of Fure before your father."

Lucius' eyes widened. Decius' father had been Sipio's predecessor? Then....

"Your father was my interrex," Decius said quietly, giving Lucius a grim smile. "I didn't know for many years, not until I was around your age. Sipio had no intention of giving me the throne; he meant it for you."

"What?" Lucius asked, barely able to believe it. Decius nodded.

"It's true. However, the truth is more complex. Your father was protecting me. You see, he was the only one standing between me and Gravium's throat. I was under his protection until I came of age, and then Imperator Saerus protected me while I served under him. Eventually the Casarion House will take up the mantle of my protection when I marry Minerva. Your father thought I needed this protection because of whatever my father did to lead to his death. I know little about what happened, but I believe the Ascantals had a hand in it, particularly Pirilius."

"He did," Lucius said grimly, thinking to Sipio's conversation with Pirilius before his death.

Decius cocked his head inquisitively but didn't inquire. "By you nominating me as interrex, you were putting me in a position of power both your father and the Ascantals didn't want me in, both for different reasons. Pirilius must have thought I put you up to it, that I was looking for it." He sighed. "You insinuated you don't trust the senate. They will not take that lightly. Lucius, you will be in danger. They will try to kill you."

Reaching behind his back, Decius unveiled a sheathed short sword, like the one he had worn before reaching the age of manhood. "Take this. You will need it."

Wonderingly, Lucius took the sheathed blade, rubbing his finger over the worn leather. This was indeed Decius' old sword, he could tell by the design across the dark leather encasing. He looked up at his brother, brow furrowed. "I am not yet of age."

"That matters not," Decius said gravely. "I have cause to believe you will need to defend yourself before you reach manhood. Keep it close always, Lucius."

Lucius slid the sword partway out of the sheath, hearing the leather rasp against the blade as the firelight glinted off the polished metal. He remembered when his father had presented this to Decius, how the pride had glimmered in his eyes looking at the boy that was all but his son. And Lucius himself had felt proud but jealous, watching his older brother age beyond him.

Now he, too, had a weapon.

"Decius," he said quietly. "Pirilius killed Father."

Decius froze, the fire casting shadows across his face. "What?"

Lucius repeated himself, the words tumbling out as he spilled what he had seen in the throne room that fateful day. Decius listened with startled gaze, his features hard yet his eyes sorrowful. "This is worse than I thought," he murmured. "I had suspected treachery disguised as ritual, but this...and of account of me, too."

"It wasn't your fault," Lucius told him. "They wanted to kill you. Father wasn't going to let them."

Decius rose. "If that is the case, they will not hesitate to kill either you or me. I have no protection; we at least can get you to your uncle, Horace Sipio."

Lucius was already shaking his head. "Decius, Uncle Horace is dead. He was killed in a skirmish with one of the southern tribes. We received the news shortly after your last letter. And then, with Father murdered...we hadn't the time or mind to tell you."

Decius frowned thoughtfully. "Horace was the only one of Sipio House who would dare protect you from Pirilius' coalition. They must have suspected Sipio would give them trouble and so eliminated the only other member to support him, thereby secluding you from any meaningful aid."

"I have you," Lucius reminded him.

Decius offered him the ghost of a smile. "They want me dead more than you. No, Sipio House will provide no protection. They saw what happened to Numas House and wish to avoid annihilation. And Vilius House has no stake in one who bears not their name. There is only one option remaining to us." He gestured for Lucius to rise. "We must leave Fure."

"No!" Lucius exclaimed. "Fure is my birthright, Decius. I will not abandon it to corrupted Ascantal rule."

"Fure was my birthright once," Decius retorted, his expression grim. "I am only alive because it was taken from me. We must leave to save ourselves, Lucius."

Lucius glanced from his brother to the sheathed sword. He had never been beyond the walls of Fure; the threat of Vican made it unsafe. And now he must flee its walls, its beauty, all because those lusting for power wanted to steal what was his?

Father stole it from Decius.

Lucius met Decius' gaze. "All right. But although we run as exiles, we return as kings."

"Perhaps someday," Decius said, his tone making it sound like he was humoring him. Lucius gritted his teeth as his brother strode to the door, glancing out into the corridor beyond. "Come. We must leave now, under cover of night."

Decius and Lucius crept through the dim halls toward the back of the house. Once outside in the quiet, dark gardens, Decius led the way to the stables but halted before he reached it. Holding out his arm, he stopped Lucius.

Lucius looked quizzically up at his brother but didn't dare to speak. Voices drifted to them on the wind from inside the stables.

"At last, the deceit of the Numas House dies tonight."

"Along with what is left of Sipio House."

"Now the only one blocking us is Vican," the first voice added in a distasteful tone.

Decius seized Lucius' arm and turned, hurrying across the grass toward the wall. Hopping over it, he started off at a run, Lucius silently following him.

Decius didn't stop running until they reached the ruins of what Lucius had come to believe was Numas House. They entered the property and crossed into the burned ruins of the house, looking forlorn in the faint moonlight.

"Where are we going?" Lucius whispered, confused.

"Just follow me," Decius answered, not even glancing back at him. "And be quiet." He picked his way across the rubble, eyes scanning the debris. Then he stopped and crouched down, slipping his fingers under a blackened stone and straining to lift it.

Lucius hurried over to him and helped, the two of them shoving aside the heavy stone. A wooden trapdoor beckoned to them, protected for all these years by the stone. Carefully, Decius lifted it and clambered down a ladder into the room beneath the ruins.

"Come on," he called up to Lucius, who then climbed down the ladder, carefully closing the trapdoor over him. He descended to the hard earthen floor, gazing around the space in wonder.

Decius had already lit several candles littering a desk against the near wall, providing the only light in the space. As the flames danced on their wicks, Lucius glanced from the desk, the most prominent piece of furniture in the room, to the shelves that flanked it. Some leather folders sat on the shelves, the kind people kept important papers in.

"Was this your father's?" Lucius asked, glancing up at Decius.

"Yes," Decius said. "Your father told me about this, the last time I visited Fure, but he told me only to come here in case of emergency. I've never been down here before. We need a place to hide and plan. And perhaps...." He crossed hesitantly to the shelves, taking down the thick leather folder closest to the desk.

Lucius stood beside his brother as he opened the folder, pulling out the sheaf of paper inside. As Decius began to silently read the top page, the candlelight caught on the edge of a frame, partially stuck behind the desk. Lucius reached forward to tug it free.

"These are my father's papers," Decius said, as Lucius worked the frame free. His voice trembled slightly. "Written right before he was killed." He began to read from the paper in his hands.

"The Ascantal fury against me grows with each passing day. I am beginning to fear this uproar will not fade away with time as the unrest has done in the past. No, I fear this will not end unless I capitulate or die. But I cannot give in, because it goes against the power dynamic of Fure. Ascantals and humans are equals and will always sit on council equally. I will not allow one species to prevail over the other.

"Pirilius' faction gains strength and numbers in the senate with each hour I stand against them. And it is not just the Ascantals who side with him. Some of the human senators now champion their cause, the most vocal and aggressive of these being Lucius Sipio." Decius' voice faltered. "Despite the fact that his father was a close supporter of my father, Sipio is insistent on standing against me.

"I am only grateful that I prevailed upon my beloved Tarquil –" Decius stopped, his eyes widening. Lucius released his grip on the frame, which was coming free, and stepped back to peer over Decius' shoulder at the words which couldn't be real.

"My mother?" Lucius demanded, staring at Decius in consternation. "Was your father speaking about my mother?"

"I do not know," Decius said quietly. "I have heard of no other Furian woman bearing that name in recent years, have you?"

"No," Lucius said, shaking his head, doubt forming in his stomach. There was too much to think about. His father was being painted as an ally of Pirilius and an enemy of Decius' father, and the words claimed his mother had most likely been the wife of Decius' father. Did that make Decius...Tarquil's son? Lucius' blood brother?

"Tarquil is a name specific to Vilius House," Decius was saying, his voice uncertain and quiet. "I would doubt there were two of the same generation, both married to kings."

"But your entire family was killed," Lucius pointed out, his voice equally quiet. "How could my mother be the same as yours if yours is dead?"

"I do not know," Decius murmured. "Lucius, I do not know."

Lucius glanced back to the frame, seeing part of the picture encased by it. Drawing it out, his eyes widened at the sight of the person within.

The person in Numas' portrait was none other than Tarquil Vilia, wife of Sipio.

Decius saw it and his face paled. Tarquil was smiling demurely at the painter, hands clasped in her lap. Her dark blue eyes with the icy blue streaks spiraling through them were caught with almost the exact vividness they had contained in life, and her brown hair seemed to gleam through the painting. Lucius had never realized how Decius had the shape of her chin, the color of her hair, and the shape of her eyes. He had never seen Tarquil in his brother, never looked for her there. But it was there just the same, now quite obvious in the face of this revelation.

Gently, Decius took the portrait. Lucius' fingers tightened around the frame instinctively, wanting to hold on to this last piece of his mother. But Decius' pull increased and reluctantly, Lucius let it go, giving his brother a resentful look as he stared at the portrait like he had never seen Tarquil before.

I suppose this makes Decius my real brother.

The thought was foreign to Lucius. Decius had always been his real brother, even though he had been unaware of their blood connection. He had been raised beside him, looked up to him, envied him. They had never been anything but brothers.

But now it was by blood.

"Tarquil was my mother?" Decius said softly, disbelievingly, yet a hint of wonder carried in his tone. "But why...?" He didn't finish his thought, his eyes betraying sudden pain. "She raised me, Lucius. Raised me like I was her son. She was the closest thing to a mother I had. And now, I find out that, all along, I was her actual son...." Suddenly, he dropped the portrait on the table with a loud clatter, averting his eyes back to his father's papers.

Lucius peered over Decius' shoulder to finish reading.

"...to take Decius and leave Fure, departing for our villa in the country. No matter what happens here, they will be safe.

"I grow more and more anxious with every hour for news of Vican's march. I fear he and his legions will not arrive in Fure in time to support me. I can only beg Augustus to protect my son, to protect Tarquil. Perhaps Vican can arrive in time to protect them, if not save me."

Incredulously, Lucius looked to Decius. "Vican was an ally of your father?"

Decius finished reading the paper and glanced at Lucius. "I suppose so. In light of my father's writings, it would make sense for Vican to be viewed as an enemy of Fure if he supported Numas House. Especially since your father and Pirilius were...allies."

Lucius gritted his teeth. Lucius Sipio, an ally of Pirilius – it was too hard to believe, to accept. Pirilius had killed Sipio in cold blood.

Decius quickly folded the papers, tucking them within his tunic. "We have not time to consider the implications of this now."

"No," Lucius agreed, one thing clear in his mind. "We must escape Fure tonight and ride north, to Ciceri."

"Have you lost your mind?" Decius demanded. "Why ride to Ciceri? We will only be slaughtered!"

"No, we won't," Lucius asserted, a tiny part of him wondering where this sudden confidence had come from. "You read it. Vican was an ally of your father's. He will support you and by extension, me. I am your legal half-brother. By that, I have a claim on your support, and thereby his."

"But he is an enemy of Sipio," Decius pointed out quietly. "And you are his son and only heir. Besides that, just under twenty-five years has passed since this was written. And alliances are always shifting." He didn't say it, but Lucius knew what he was thinking. Pirilius and Sipio once were allies, too.

And now I'm running from Pirilius.

"We have no other choice, Decius," Lucius argued. "We ride to Ciceri. If we want to take Fure back someday, we will need allies, and I cannot think of a better one than him."

Decius pressed his lips together firmly for a moment, regarding Lucius. "All right," he said at last. "We will ride to Ciceri and beg Vican for his aid."