"I will see to your husband's freedom, and that of your friends and the Barbarian."
Ulrika knew that the Chief Vestal possessed such power. Ulrika looked at Sebastianus and, swearing upon her love for him, said, "You have my promise. Rome's secret is safe."
The Vestal turned to Nero. "Caesar, you must release these people and let them go in peace." She then turned to Ulrika and added quietly, "Once you leave this palace, you will no longer be safe. My protection goes only so far. You must leave Rome and never return."
"Yes—" Ulrika began.
But Nero, rising from his throne, said, "I will not release these people. They are guilty of treason. And this Barbarian," he said, pointing to Wulf, "is a known enemy of the empire."
"You cannot defy the wishes of Vesta," the priestess said, a mortified look on her face. "If you do, Caesar, you risk bringing calamity upon your people. Vesta will withdraw her protection if you offend her."
"I am more powerful than Vesta," Nero declared, and a collective gasp rose from the crowd. Those at the rear and nearest the doors began to back away and seek hasty exit. "Take the prisoners away!" he said to the chief of his Praetorian Guard, sweeping his arm over Ulrika and Sebastianus and Timonides, Rachel and the kneeling Primo, and Wulf. "I have tried them and found them guilty. They will be executed in the Great Circus!"
The crowd shifted and murmured, exchanged glances. There was no mistaking the horrified look on the Chief Vestal's face. Bad luck was going to strike Rome.
And then suddenly—a distant rumble, as if thunder had clapped over Rome's seven hills. The floor of the audience chamber began to shake, and then the walls, and the air was filled with the sound of a dull roar. Statues swayed and toppled, crashing down. People screamed. Nero sprang from his throne and flung himself behind a giant marble statue of Minerva, wedging himself between the heavy, immovable effigy and the walls, throwing his arms protectively over his head. When an onyx bust wobbled in an overhead niche, threatening to topple, General Vatinius ran to protect his emperor, pulling Nero out of the way as the bust crashed to the floor.
Rachel fell to her knees to wrap her arms around the cedar chest. Primo dropped beside her and covered her with his thick torso, shielding her from falling debris.
As people ran to and fro, looking for exits, escaping from being crushed by falling statues, as they pushed and shoved and trampled those who fell, Wulf dashed away from his guards and fled to the outer balcony, where potted trees swayed and water splashed out of the fountain. His wrists still shackled, he climbed upon the balustrade, he poised to jump, but then stopped and looked back. His eyes went to Ulrika. He hesitated. Then he jumped back down onto the balcony. As he ran inside the chamber, he held onto the walls but the floor shook. He was thrown off balance and had to cling to a pillar for support.
And then the silver and gold mosaic tiles began to drop from the domed ceiling.
Looking up, Sebastianus saw sparkling bits come drifting down, like silver rain. He pulled Ulrika to him, draping his toga over her to protect her. She held tightly to him and pressed her face into his chest as she imagined the massive palace crashing down about them. Sebastianus stared up at the domed ceiling, unable to take his eyes away. The constellations were breaking up. He watched in amazement as, fragment by fragment, the gold and silver mosaic pieces came loose from the dome and drifted down. More and more fell, exposing gray plaster behind, the zodiacal signs disintegrating as the throned Nero in the center began to break up and drop away in small shining bits of tile.
"Ulrika!" Sebastianus said. "Look!"
She brought her head out from the protection of his cloak and lifted her face. "Why ... it is a star-shower!"
"Just like the one the night Lucius died," Sebastianus said as he watched the stars rain down from the domed ceiling.
Nero Caesar began screaming: "Get out! You are free! All of you! And take the wretched Barbarian with you."
"Caesar!" General Vatinius shouted. "You cannot do this!"
"Vesta preserve us!" Nero screamed, and grabbed for the General, clinging to him like a man drowning.
"This way!" the Chief Vestal called out. She stood against a wall, holding aside a heavy hanging to reveal a door.
The earthquake subsided and finally stopped, but tiles and dust continued to rain down on the few who remained in the massive hall. Sebastianus raced over and freed Wulf's hands while Primo scooped up the cedar chest. The six ran to the door where the Chief Vestal said, "This will take you to the Holy of Holies in the temple of Vesta. Go quickly."
They were covered in sparkling little tiles, their hair and clothes glittering as they hurried through. As they ran along the corridor, where torches flickered in sconces, and busts and statues stood in marble niches, Ulrika saw that the earthquake had not struck here. And when they reached the end, where the corridor opened into a quiet sanctuary, they saw ahead, through an open colonnade, that the city had not been affected by the earthquake at all. Rome was quiet and all was as usual.
"This way!" Sebastianus said.
They ran through the colonnaded temple, where priestesses looked at them in surprise, and down the steps to mingle with the crowds in the Forum. At the far end, where steps led up the Palatine Hill to the Imperial Palace, Sebastianus saw Praetorian Guards coming down. "Vatinius has sent them after us," he said.
"Follow me," Primo said, and the five hurried after the military veteran, who loped through the marketplace with the cedar chest in his arms. Sebastianus saw to it that Rachel kept up, while Wulf watched after Ulrika and the elderly Timonides.
Located in the center of Rome, between the Palatine and Capitoline Hills, the Roman Forum was a rectangle surrounded by temples and government buildings. The site of triumphal processions and government elections, venue for public speeches and nucleus of commercial affairs, the Forum was the beating heart of the empire. Here statues and monuments commemorated the city's great men, gods, and goddesses. It was also a marketplace, where stalls were crammed between marble buildings, and everything from books to carpets was sold.
Primo led his companions along the busy Sacred Way, past the Curia, Rome's Senate House, and around the side of the Temple of Castor and Pollux, where they found a small grotto carved into the hillside, with a trickling fountain and vines cascading down. A marble altar had been built into the rock long ago, and a terracotta plaque above the altar showed a young man riding a bull, and underneath was written: Sol Invictus Mithras. It was a shrine to Mithras, and from here they could remain hidden while watching the progress of the Praetorians.
"Selene," came a deep voice. Ulrika turned to look up into blue eyes filled with questions. "And yet not ... You resemble her."
It had been a long time since she had spoken German, but it came back easily to her lips. "Selene is my mother, and you are my father." He was so handsome, so strong and heroic looking, as if he normally lived with Thor and Odin. She could see why her mother had fallen in love with him.
Frank surprise stood on his face. "I am your father?" His eyes roamed her hair, her features. He smiled. "You are Selene's daughter, yes, but now I see my mother in your eyes, your chin. I did not know ..."