“Will young Paulus live?” Catus asked, turning from the boy to the god beside him. “Will he?”
“I see a dark shadow of mourning hanging over the people who live here, and a spear shaft through the heart of this family.” He nodded toward Giles and his wife and children. The god smiled darkly then and Catus felt a chill. “Then again, what is one less rat in the Suburra? If more of them died, then so much the better for you!” Bacchus said, throwing Catus’ own words into his face. “The Suburra would be a less pestilent place, and you could sell this tenement for a fortune!”
Catus stood before Bacchus as shamed as he had ever felt. He was angry with the god, but he remained silent, his eyes instead drawn once more to Giles and his son Paulus, and the merry scene, before it all faded into mist
