Rule of God (Book Three of the Dominium Dei Trilogy) by Thomas Greanias Page A

plan? Or was it at the hands of Senator Nerva, who could rally the senate to install not Young Vespasian but the Dei’s designated successor in the wake of Domitian’s demise? In the first case, Nerva was simply a lawyer who knew how to keep state secrets, however terrible. In the second case, he was Chiron and the true leader of the Dei all along.
    Whatever the case, thanks to the adoption certificate of Ludlumus in his possession and Pliny’s help on the senate floor, the Church could connect Senator Nerva to the Dei, along with Senator Sura, Senator Celsus and others, exposing them all and securing the succession of Young Vespasian.
    Meanwhile, he and Helena would be long gone from Rome.
    Upon reaching the inn at Ostia, Athanasius raced up the stairs behind the courtyard and down the hallway to the room with Helena. But when he burst inside, she was gone, the bed and furniture turned upside down.
    He scanned the debris looking for clues and then saw it—a note pinned to the wall by a dagger. He ripped the note off and read it:
    We meet in the arena at 9 o’clock and trade
    the document you stole from me for Helena.
    It was signed
Chiron.

X
    A ll of Rome was in a fog that morning, a kind of meteorological and supernatural stupor. The streets were thinned of the usual crowds, and the overcast skies more ominous than ever. What faces Athanasius could glimpse looked vacant under the occasional flashes of lightning. The hour of dread had finally come, and by the way they shuffled along the Sacred Way near the Flavian Amphitheater, everybody knew it, as if their sole purpose was simply to reach the next hour.
    Athanasius looked up at the empty, ghostly Coliseum rising into the mist. One of the statues of the gods ringing the arches of the second story seemed to move. Athanasius caught his breath but didn’t miss a step. So there were sharpshooters trained on him before he even entered the stadium. But then he never imagined Chiron was going to let him walk out of here alive.
    He stepped under the arch at Gate XXXIV, one of the 76 public entrances into the Coliseum. It was the only gate from which the chains had been unlocked today. The peeling sign beside it proclaimed, “Death Guaranteed!”
    Athanasius entered the maze of empty passageways and ramps under the stands, which were supported by hundreds of towering arches. There were no souvenir sellers, sausage vendors or fortunetellers to slow his march to the runway that would direct him to his section. A moment later he emerged at the end of the tunnel into tier 1 and beheld the vast arena, with nothing but Helena in the center and empty stands all around.
    “Helena!” he shouted, sprinting his way toward the emperor’s box. “Helena!”
    He hauled himself over the bronze balustrade and landed on the soft sand of the arena floor. He started toward her when she screamed.
    “Athanasius, stop!”
    Suddenly the sand before him shifted and an entire section of the floor collapsed to reveal a great pit filled with roaring lions trying to claw their way up. And if they had the usual ramps, they could have.
    Athanasius stepped back and looked across at Helena, who was shaking on the other side of the pit. He then looked all around the ghostly stands, waiting for a hail of arrows or the appearance of Chiron. But none came down.
    Slowly he began to circle around the pit toward Helena when he felt another vibration under his feet and stopped. Sure enough, the dust began to swirl again as another trapdoor opened and a platform rose with a towering figure in a white toga.
    “I am risen!” Ludlumus proclaimed with outstretched arms. “I am risen indeed!”
    A fury of thoughts and emotion engulfed Athanasius. Ludlumus alive? So his rival had faked his death to set this board and place these pieces. But what was the next move? What was his game?
    “Behold the beast!” Ludlumus cried out, pointing to the pit. “Behold the Whore of Babylon!” He waved his arm at Helena.