At once the centurions started walking toward a group of male and female slaves performing acrobatic tricks. Each wore nothing but a simple white loincloth and flowers in their hair. Their oiled bodies glistened in the reddish light filtering through the canopies.

After getting their new orders from the centurions, the slaves disappeared through the Gates of Life. They soon ran back out carrying huge baskets of freshly baked bread. As they tossed the loaves into the stands, the crowd went wild. In honor of the spectators, Vespasian sometimes ordered that thousands of such loaves, each branded with the letter V, be given away. Such royal bread was rarely eaten. Instead it was taken home and displayed proudly as a personal gift from the emperor. There it would remain in some domicile or shopkeeper’s window until it molded and fell to dust. The loaves had become so revered that stealing one had recently been made a capital crime. For most Ellistiumites, owning such a loaf of bread was as close as they would ever come to touching royalty. In honor of highly special events, Vespasian sometimes enchanted the loaves, ensuring that they would never spoil. Such was the case today.

With the crowd distracted for the moment, Vespasian opened the diptych and began reading the beeswax pages. The elegant script had been deeply etched with a stylus. As always, Gracchus had personally put the Oraculum’s verbal pronouncements in writing, and Vespasian recognized the cleric’s unique hand. As he read, his anger rose. He snapped the diptych shut, then handed it to Lucius. As the First Tribune read the pages, his expression mirrored Vespasian’s.

Persephone touched her husband on the arm. “What does it say?” she asked.

“TheJin’Sai lives,” Vespasian whispered. “Despite all our efforts, that son of a thousand fathers escaped Crysenium and returned to Eutracia. Moreover, he now commands the gift ofK’Shari. He killed Xanthus, the being thePon Q’tar created to lure him to our side of the world. That Vigors bastard seems to have a thousand lives. Perhaps even worse, the Conclave now possesses both the Scrolls of the Ancients and their indexes. I can see no end to the trouble this defeat will cause.”