The Last Disciple Read Free Page A

dignity.”
    “The empire?” Helius sneered. “You truly believe in the empire?”
    That was the question, Vitas thought. Could he continue to believe in the empire? It had once been his whole life. Until that final battle in Britannia. There, he had fought to defend the empire against barbarians. Now, as Nero became more of a megalomaniac every day, Vitas wondered who were the true barbarians and if he needed instead to fight the empire.
    “I believe,” Vitas answered without betraying his thoughts, “that you enjoy Nero’s worst instincts.”
    Helius smiled. “Nero gets what Nero wants. I do for him as he directs me.”
    “To secretly torture and kill these Christians.”
    “His nightmares have worsened.”
    Vitas needed no explanation. Nero, who had once shared a bed with his mother, had later ordered her murdered. As he did with his first wife, whose head he demanded as proof of death. His second wife he’d kicked to death while she was pregnant. He’d poisoned his adoptive half brother. The list went on, until the most recent atrocities—the executions of myriad Christians. It was no wonder that demons haunted the man in the dark of each night.
    Yet, monstrous as the man was, Vitas well knew that to end Nero’s life would likely result in civil war, as Nero had no successor. Civil war would destroy the empire. So Vitas served Nero and did his best as a trusted adviser to lessen the monstrosities.
    “He expects this to quiet those nightmares?” Vitas said, gesturing at the hut.
    “It’s that Greek graffiti,” Helius said. “That one senseless word that the Christians have begun to inscribe all across the city in defiance of him.”
    Vitas was aware of it. Three Greek letters. With the snake in the middle.
    Helius continued. “Until tonight, their resolution to worship their Christos despite Nero’s persecution had begun to shake Nero’s belief in his own divinity.”
    “A man posing as beast is hardly divine.”
    “I’ve convinced him that if he defeats them as the Beast that their own prophet Daniel foretold of, he will break this curse upon himself. He has taken some potions to delude himself further.”
    The constriction around Vitas’s chest eased only a little. If Nero’s mind had been influenced by potions tonight, he would be all the more determined to remain in the role of the beast instead of giving orders to execute Vitas.
    “I know about the Jewish rabbi you consulted,” Vitas said. “So I also know of these Scriptures.”
    “How?” Helius demanded. “Who told you that I sent for—?”
    “Secrets are difficult to keep in the palace,” Vitas said wearily. “How I know is of far less concern than what I know. The prophet Daniel also prophesied that the fourth beast would be destroyed. You’ve kept that from Nero?”
    “I’m not suicidal,” Helius said. “Of course I did. It’s what he believes that matters, not the nonsense of a Jewish prophet from six hundred years ago. Nero will never be destroyed and certainly never by a God of the Jews. Nero is convinced if they worship the beast or if the beast kills them, he is the victor. It’s superstition, of course, but you know full well how superstitious fear rules him.”
    Vitas did know full well Nero’s dread of the gods and of omens. He also knew that Nero, with his absolute power, had performed far stranger acts than this with far less motivation. In a twisted way, this horrible parody made sense. But could Vitas allow himself to stand by yet one more time?
    “You think this will remain a secret?” Vitas argued. “That Nero is so afraid of the Christians he must dress up as a beast and kill them himself?” Every day Vitas was more fully aware of how the Senate would view Nero’s actions. “Think of how the tongues of the mobs will wag further when they hear this.”
    “What Nero wants, Nero gets.”
    “If he continues like this, there will come a point when he will no longer be tolerated. The empire will revolt