Lucius looked across the table where he sat beside Dagon. “A gift? You think so? A curse of my own choosing more like!”
Culhwch looked confused. “What do you mean? You didn’t do this to yourself, Lucius. That patrician bastard did it. Rome did it.”
“Did Dagon not tell you…that I died?”
The room was suddenly silent.
Lucius nodded. “I died…and upon the slopes of Olympus itself, Apollo - my father - gave me a choice. I could stay there, whole and young and free of the pain caused by this piece of meat I find myself in…or…I could come back to be with my wife and children, and all of you…my friends…” Lucius stopped when he saw the looks upon their faces, and he chuckled darkly. “So much for The Dragon…an unknowing demigod burned by fire.” He opened the top part of his loose tunic to reveal
