Roman Flames

Chapter Thirty-Six: The Roman Flames

Chapter Thirty-Six: The Roman Flames

Sanctius

I stared at Vespera's stomach. Nothing had clicked; even the fire around us was a dull sensation in the back of my mind.

"Sanctius," she repeated.

"Whose is it?" I asked, nothing registering. She looked bewildered.

"Yours! Whose else could it be?"

I blinked quickly and I remembered our wedding night. "I'm going to be a father," I mumbled. My knees nearly buckled, but I forced myself to stay awake. "You're pregnant."

She was starting to get frustrated and she tugged and tugged against her bonds, coughing. "Yes I am. Congratulations. Sanctius, there is a baby growing inside me, and if you don't help me figure something out, we're all going to die."

I snapped awake in that moment. I could feel the heat of the fire, the smoke burning my lungs, and the pain of all the wounds on my body. But they didn't matter now. I looked around as the fire climbed across the roof, from column to column. It had jumped to one of the columns that Vespera was tied to.

"We don't need to do anything," I said, and before Vespera could protest, I continued. "The fire will burn through your rope. Once it does, you can get me out too and we'll run." And the fire was working pretty fast. It was climbing in all directions and inching towards the rope. Vespera looked up, coughing, but I could see her mind working. The fire soon caught onto the rope. Before long, there was a slack. Vespera breathed and pulled her arm. She began working to free her still-suspended arm first, and then freed her other. She fell into a fit of coughing but still came to me, working quickly on the bonds. When I was free, she grabbed my hand.

"Let's go!" she commanded. About half of Nero's villa was burning right now, so we still had a chance of a safe escape. She led me through a backdoor that was yet untouched by the fire.

"We might run into guards," I said, stopping her. She whirled around, the fire reflecting in her eyes.

"What's worse? Running into guards or burning to death?" But then something caught her eye behind me and she ran towards it.

"Vespera—!" Then I saw what attracted her attention. There were decorative weapons hanging up on a wall, which included a gladius. She yanked it off the wall and ran back to me, grabbing my hand and taking me with her.

"We won't go down without a fight," I heard her growl. We ran through the door, but met no opposition. Of course not; no one would be stupid enough to stay near a burning building.

"Where are we going to go?" I demanded. She turned around and I noticed her eyes were watering.

"Anywhere but here."

I looked past her and narrowed my eyes. "Then let's go." We continued running through Nero's property, and I realized he had started fires everywhere. He was planning on burning his own home—for what? I was unsure of what he planned to accomplish. And he would have all of Rome to answer to when they realized he had set our city to flames.

I am going to be a father, I thought. And the baby wouldn't have a place to call home. I kept staring at Vespera, at her small frame, and I couldn't believe what she had said. Was she sure? I couldn't imagine myself with a child. Would I be a good father? There were too many questions in my head and none of them seemed to have anything to do with the problem at hand. Pretty soon, I was starting to get so distracted that I was hearing music instead of roaring flames.

Vespera paused. "What is that?"

I blinked. "You hear it too?"

"It's a...lament to Troy," she said, bewildered. Someone was playing a lyre—the lament to Troy, a fallen city not unlike this one. "Where is it coming from?"