Alcides rose from his restless sleep, his mind still echoing with the unsettling revelations and encounters of the previous night. The weight of his newfound knowledge bore down on him as he dressed hastily, his thoughts racing like a tempest. The name "Maximus," the mysterious disappearance of Bojan, and the slip of Octavia's tongue lingered in his mind like unresolved enigmas.
As he stepped out of his chamber, the air felt charged with a peculiar tension. Alcides' instincts heightened, sensing an unusual atmosphere within the house of Decimus. To his surprise, the usual quietude of the morning was disrupted by the presence of Thracian soldiers on horseback stationed in front of the grand entrance.
Alcides took a step back, concealed in the shadows of the corridor, contemplating whether
