She tried once more, her fingers twisting, but she could not shift Cleopatra. She could not unknot her from the goddess, and neither thread would be cut. All Auðr could do was manipulate the fates surrounding the two immortal strands, and hope that this shifting would draw the queen into her hands.

It was too much, she thought, afraid for the first time in years.

Augustus leaned forward, scanning the faces of the crowd. None of the witches seemed to have sensed Cleopatra, but that did not mean she was not near. She’d never escape. Everything and everyone was in place.

He was still nervous.

Was there enough space between the arena floor and the imperial box? Years before, twenty elephants imported by Pompeius had charged the stands here, breaking down the iron railing that had protected the crowd. Julius Caesar had dug a moat as deep as a bull elephant around the edge of the circus to keep such a thing from happening again.

The moat was too wide for anything to leap across, and the newly constructed imperial box —the pulvinar— was situated high up on the Palatine Hill, to offer the optimal views of the chariot races, venatio, and gladiatorial games, which had been held here since the founding of Rome. The rape of the Sabine women had been held here, too, according to legend, though this was an event to which no tickets had been sold. The ground had a bloody history, but Augustus and Agrippa had taken precautions to ensure the emperor’s safety. All around the imperial box were seated Agrippa’s soldiers garbed as common men. Thousands of them had been called to order here tonight, and all of them had the same orders. Protect the emperor.

The emperor glanced back at Chrysate. She was too striking to display publicly without proclamations that she was the emperor’s new mistress. He had her face covered in a sheer black veil, but he could see her eyes through it even now. Green as the sea but lit from below with something yellow. He congratulated himself on her presence. The shade would bait the trap, along with the children. He gave Selene a pat on the shoulder, feeling slightly guilty for bringing her here. She was a girl and should not see such things, particularly after the scare she’d had with the serpent, but she was necessary.

Under Augustus’s hand, Selene leaned forward in her seat, trying to contain her emotions. What had she seen in the emperor’s rooms? The vision blurred in her memory. A serpent with her mother’s face. The physician had come and dosed her with something that slowed her mind.

When she woke, the bouquet of flowers Chrysate had given her was there waiting, though she knew she’d dropped it in the emperor’s bedchamber. Now Chrysate sat beside her, her only friend. Augustus had denied Selene, sworn that she had not seen the thing she knew she had. Only Chrysate believed her. She felt a sob rising in her throat as she looked down at the arena floor. The thought of animals reminded her of home, that was all. She did not miss her family. How could she? They had abandoned her to this. Beside her, Chrysate smiled and took Selene’s fingers in hers.