Contents
Chapter 43. Now: Luca
Overview
Luca confronts Roskia in the Tribunal Hall over the mass executions that now decorate the Citadel. Roskia claims the violence was necessary to secure the New Legion’s loyalty and threatens to expose Maris’s identity and Luca’s divided loyalties. Vale arrives and reveals the Consul burned himself and the granary in the catacombs, killing Ophelius and dooming the city to famine. The victory is hollow, and Roskia’s actions have triggered a catastrophic shortage.
Summary
Luca storms the Tribunal Hall and pins Roskia against a window, demanding to know what Roskia has done. Roskia admits he led the executions of the Magistrates, arguing Luca lacked the will to deliver justice and that the New Legion required blood to stay unified. Luca orders no further killings without command.
Commander Vale arrives and dismisses the onlookers, leaving the three alone. Roskia defends the purge, boasting that the legion willingly erased Magistrate lineages and that this violence cements their victory. He taunts Luca by revealing he knows Maris’s true identity and implies he could turn the legion against Luca for protecting her.
Provoked, Luca strikes Roskia. Roskia accuses Luca of enabling the Consul’s strategy and the siege by sparing enemies, claiming the legion needed a spectacle to keep faith. Luca recognizes the grim truth: the men crave retribution.
Vale undercuts Roskia’s triumph by revealing the Consul is already dead—he locked himself in the catacombs’ granary and set it ablaze, killing himself and Priestess Ophelius. Vale concludes that Roskia’s assault precipitated the act and, rather than saving the city, has left it starved of grain.
Who Appears
- Luca MatiusCenturion; confronts Roskia over executions, defends limits on killing, and strikes him when Maris is threatened.
- RoskiaLeader within the New Legion; orchestrates Magistrate executions, asserts necessity of blood, and threatens to expose Maris.
- Vale SaturianCommander of the New Legion; arrives, contains the confrontation, and reveals the Consul burned the granary, dooming supplies.
- DemásLegionnaire; lowers his sword and exits on Vale’s order during the confrontation.
- AsiniaLegionnaire; follows Vale’s command to clear the room.