Amara hands her the wooden statue, hidden in its cloth. “Could you give this to Paris for me please? It is for his master. Paris should tell Felix that I apologize the gift is too late for the Saturnalia. But it has not been sent with any less feeling. Can you remember all that?”

“Of course!” Pitane nods. “You’re nicer than me I must say. If I got my freedom from a new master, I wouldn’t be sending Sittius any fucking presents.”

Pitane turns and walks across the atrium, slipping through the heavy wooden door. Amara stands alone, shivering slightly from the breeze. It is quiet here. She pictures Pitane, rejoining the noise and the chaos, carrying her Diana through the streets of Pompeii. And when her gift arrives, Amara knows Felix will understand what it means.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A book is the product of the hard work of many people and I’m so grateful to the whole team at Head of Zeus. Thank you to Madeleine O’Shea whose thoughtful advice and enthusiasm made editing a joy, and to Charlotte Greig who took over the reins with aplomb and an endless supply of support. Thanks also to Anna Nightingale and Laura Palmer. Thank you to Holly Ovenden for the exceptionally beautiful cover art and a truly gigantic thanks to everyone in sales, publicity and marketing. Above all to Kate Appleton, Jessie Sullivan, Jade Gwilliam, Lottie Chase, Jennifer Edgecombe, and Avneet Bains. Last but not least, thank you to Anthony Cheetham, whose passion for this project is what led to the trilogy being commissioned.

Friendship runs through The Wolf Den and also ran through the writing of it. Thank you to Andrea Binfor for a lifetime of love and for traipsing round Pompeii with me for so many hours. And a massive thank you to Dan Jones for endless Pompeii advice, support, pep talks and encouragement.

Thanks also to Samira Ahmed, to Jason Farrington, to Jo Jacobson for “Pliny’s” Ammonite, to Kristina Holt, to Anna, Trilby and Bethan for loving me in spite of the ginger cat, to Daniel Kiss for checking my translations, and to Kate Prout for putting up with a whole night of Pompeii documentaries.

Love and gratitude always to Juliet Mushens, for being the absolute best, both as an agent and a friend: your love and support means everything to me. Huge thanks also to foreign rights supremo Liza de Block and the team at Mushens Entertainment. Also to Buki Papillon, Jennifer Saint, Caroline Lea, Claire McGlasson and all my fellow writers at Team Mushens and the Debuts 2021 Twitter group.