My mother smiled and more tears fell. "I knew you'd take care of her. I never worried about that." Then her smile faded. "I'm told you have magic, the Divine Star on your shoulder, just as your father once had. I've heard stories of what you've done, in the amphitheater, on the streets, at the baths outside the city. The stories are impossible, I know."
I took a deep breath. But it didn't make me feel any better, and what I had to say wouldn't help her either. "No, Mother, they're true."
She shook her head. "How can they be? Your father was capable of some great things, but nothing close to what I've heard about you."
"I have one of the amulets." Had one. The bulla was lost now and possibly already in the hands of the Praetors.
Mother's eyes widened. "No, those are curses."
"I know that. I'm trying --" I swallowed in a painful gulp. "I'm trying to make everything right again. But I can't just give up. If the Praetors win, they will do worse than bring down the empire. They will bring war back to the gods. Everything will be destroyed!"
"But what if it's you who is destroyed instead?" More tears streamed down her face. "Leaving you and Livia was the hardest thing I ever had to do. Don't let that be for nothing."
"I'm trying to fix this," I said. "But I don't know how. The harder I try, the worse things become."
She nodded. "You are so like your father. He loved us with all his heart. He loved you, Nic, so much that he thought nothing of risking his life in the hope of saving ours."
"He tried to create a Jupiter Stone," I said. "Why would he do that? Without the amulets, he must've known he would fail."
"He had no amulets, but he understood that a person can only create a Jupiter Stone for the good of others, not for himself." She wiped a stray tear from her eye. "That was all he wanted, to save his family." With her fingers, my mother motioned for me to come closer. "Has it really been five years? You've grown so much. Let me see you better."
I kept my feet where they were. "I can't come closer, Mother."
Though I wanted to. It tore at my heart to be so close, after so long, and to do nothing but stare at her. When I was younger, sometimes it would begin storming at night, and inevitably, I'd feel her hand on my back as I curled up in the corner on the floor, shaking with fear that what had happened to my father might one day happen to me. She always knew how to make me feel better, always. Then when Livia and I had been on our own, we comforted ourselves by imagining what our mother would have done if she had been with us. Even that helped.
If I had known how hard this would be now, I might not have demanded to see her. Seeing my mother right in front of me, yet still out of my reach, was horrible. But I wouldn't have traded this moment away either.
I lowered my voice. "Listen to me, carefully. The Praetors want something from me in exchange for your release."
"The key to the Malice, I know."
My eyes widened, but it was a relief not to have to explain it. "I don't have the key, or if I do, then I can't find it. I'm going to find a way to get you free, though."
She shook her head. "Listen, you must not give them the key." She pushed closer to the bars. "Yes, I know their terms for my life, but I also know how the Praetors work. Brutus is more than my captor; he is my master now. I know his plans for Rome."
"I'll get you free, Mother."
"No, you won't. The Praetors never give; they only take. If you turn over the key, they will find a new way to threaten you for the Malice, and then find a new threat until you create a Jupiter Stone. If you don't leave Rome now, before they are finished, you will share the same fate as your father."
My heart pounded as magic swelled in my veins. It would only take a little to break her free from this cage. T
hen the Praetors would attack, all of them who were here. I turned to look back at Aurelia. In the darkness, it was hard to see her clearly, though I knew she'd be watching me.
"I'll get you free," I repeated again.
"Do not," she said. "As soon as you can, get your sister and run. Leave the empire while there is still a world beyond. Run to freedom -- that's all I've ever wanted for you."
"Nicolas Calva!" Brutus called. "Return to me, now."
"I love you," I said as I began to back up. "Do not give up."
"Do not give in," she replied. "If you do, then all that I've sacrificed is for nothing."
When I was steps away from Brutus, I raised my hand to him. Aurelia was in the distance, held now by three Praetors.
"Let my friend go," I said. "Then I'll surrender."
Brutus grinned wickedly. "Let's settle this now. Give me what I want, and I'll let all of you go free."