“Never fear,” the new Emperor said. “I have taken note of your various talents, and they will be used. You will be a fine addition to my Praetorians. I even have a small matter you can take care of on your way back to Rome.” He tilted his head at his bustling entourage. “Leave us.”

The secretaries, the freedmen, the slaves filed out. I still stood like a pillar, clutching the bundle of orders that had just eaten my future and invalidated my past.

Hadrian’s smile vanished as the doors thudded shut. “You will not find these orders in the packet you hold. They come direct from me. There are five men who must be eliminated. Rivals of mine. I will give you the names later. Take whatever men you require to get the job done, but I want those five men dealt with. Then you may return to Rome and take up your new duties as a Praetorian.”

In answer, I whipped the packet of orders across the room at his head.

The bastard was quick, I’ll say that for him. One heavy hand lashed out and sent them spinning into the wall before they could touch him.

I folded my arms across my chest and spat on the floor. “I’m no man’s assassin.” Not bothering with Caesar this time. “Find a common thug for your dirty work.”

“You are a common thug,” Hadrian said calmly. “But a talented one. I want you at my side, and under my rule you will rise high. You buy that place with five dead men.”

“If you think I’m going to kill off your rivals for you—”

“Oh, but you will. You have a wife, I believe, and two daughters, and a boy you keep for a ward? Surely you wish to keep them safe.”

“I can keep them safe.” I’d take Mirah and the children, disappear so fast into the wilds outside Rome that even Hadrian’s eyes and ears couldn’t find me.

“What about your men?” The new Emperor’s big hunting hound had risen, eyeing me as my voice rose, and Hadrian scratched it fondly behind the ear. “A Gallic centurion of yours who was part of your contubernium when you first joined the Tenth. An African you just promoted to optio for saving your life outside Osrhoene. The rest of them. The entire Tenth, as a matter of fact—I can order them decimated, on some offense or other. And I will make sure that every tenth man chosen happens to be one you care for. And after that, I’ll disband the Tenth Fidelis altogether, fold the surviving men into other legions. So much for those tattoos I can see on your arms, the X and the eagle. The Tenth Fidelis and anything it ever accomplished will be forgotten.”