Brutus turned, and though he was spitting out the words in his reluctance to have to say them, he announced to the crowd. "Tomorrow, Nicolas Calva will be tried for treason against the empire. He has been freed as a slave, but the emperor does not recognize his citizenship of Rome and the rights that would come with it. Yet in his mercy, Emperor Probus himself will sit in judgment of the boy. I will prosecute his case." His eyes darkened as he glared at me. "And I will see him executed."
"I will defend him!" Crispus shouted.
I looked at Crispus, trying not to let my fear show. "What experience do you have in criminal defense?"
"None." Crispus shrugged. "But it's better than nothing at all."
"Is it?" I asked. Somehow it seemed about the same as nothing at all.
Brutus looked at Crispus. "Caesar ordered you to put a hand on that boy. Do it, or I will."
Crispus turned to me, his eyes full of sadness. "Better me than him."
"It's all right," I said, stretching out my arm. "There isn't much magic left in me anyway."
"Whatever happens once they take you, don't fight," Crispus said. "Don't make this any worse for yourself."
"How could it be worse?" I asked. "Seriously, how could it get worse than this?"
"It will get worse," Crispus said. "What's coming is awful. I'm so sorry, Nic."
He put his hand on my arm, and though his touch had none of the anger or hatred in it that I usually felt from the Praetors, it had all their power. Magic emptied from my body, and with it the added strength and energy that I had become so dependent upon.
Other Praetors were headed toward us now. I readied myself for them as best as I could, but my heart was already pounding.
"Don't be sorry," I said to Crispus. "I did this to myself."
"I am sorry," he said. "I will do everything I can for you tomorrow, but I doubt it will be enough."
I already understood that, far more than I wished I did. He would do his best tomorrow to defend me at trial, but he would lose.
And I would die.
Right or wrong, I never should've listened to the vestalis.
The arrest happened quickly and, considering that I was not fighting back, seemed unnecessarily harsh. The Praetors surrounded me, pushing Crispus away from their circle. Everyone who could get a hand on me had done so, just to ensure I remained in their control. As they pulled me from the arena, I did everything I could to keep up, but so many feet were near mine, I eventually tripped and they took to dragging me, which was what they had clearly wanted in the first place.
The audience rained down their disapproval with loud boos, and some took to throwing loaves of bread or even rocks into the arena. At first I thought it was because they'd have rather seen me fight, rather seen more of what I could do with magic. But their chants were growing louder: "Free the slave, free the slave." Their demanding shouts followed me long after we had left the arena gates. Rome was a mob, perhaps, but they were a powerless mob today.
Crispus was somewhere behind us -- I heard him calling my name and shouting orders for the men to slow down, but he was entirely ignored.
The street was filling too -- those who had been in the stands were following us into the forum, wanting to see what happened to me there. I had expected they would take me into the same prison where Radulf had awaited his trial, but for better or worse, their plans were far more public.
They dragged me into the center of the forum, into the comitium, where the public sometimes gathered to vote or hear speeches delivered from the rostra. The rostra was a curved platform up seven or eight steps, and the speaker could address an audience from either side, depending on the size of the crowd. Marcus Antonius had eulogized Caesar's death from there, igniting the people's anger against his murder, a crime for which Atroxia had paid the price.
The senators met in the Curia Julia on my left, and Radulf's carcer was across from it. Other statues and columns decorated the area, a dense crowd of self-congratulatory trophies Rome built to itself.
Least of all to one side of the comitium was a fig tree, raised from the ground level and behind a short sitting wall. It must have had some significance, since they'd allowed it to remain here amongst the temples and marble floors, but I didn't know its story, nor did I care. All I knew was they were dragging me toward the tree very quickly, and someone was calling for chains to be brought. The Praetors pulled me face-first to the trunk, wrapping my arms around it and tying them with some rough cords. I didn't bother with fighting to get free; there were still far too many men for it to do any good. Beyond that, I was terrified by what was about to happen here. Brutus had threatened to expose me to the lions, letting them do with me as they wanted until I confessed where the amulets were. He would be no more merciful now. And I could never tell him where the amulets were. Never.
Crispus pushed forward through the crowd of Praetors and put his back to mine to stop anyone else from coming closer. "Nobody will harm him!" he shouted. "He's a Roman citizen now. Decimas Brutus has no authority to order any punishment until after a trial!"
"But I do." The entire crowd immediately fell to their knees, including Crispus. At least one Praetor behind the tree still kept a hand on my arm, but at least they had gone quiet. Because of how my arms were tied, I couldn't kneel and could only barely turn enough to see Emperor Probus. It wasn't worth the effort, though. He had just claimed authority to punish me any way he wanted. And I had no doubt that Decimas Brutus was whispering into his ear the very nature of that punishment.
Crispus was no longer at my back, and I craned my neck enough to see him fall again to his knees at Probus's feet. He kissed the hem of the emperor's purple toga, then said, "Hail Caesar."
"You've already stated your arguments on behalf of this boy." Probus spoke to Crispus in a respectful tone, but without yielding any authority. "And tomorrow you will have the chance to present them at trial."
"Tomorrow, I will argue for his innocence," Crispus said. "If you find him guilty, punish him then. But today, I ask for both your mercy and justice -- he's not yet been tried."