"Decius!"

Lucius raced down the stately corridor, bare feet pounding on the tile floor. Up ahead, the older boy, almost to the age of manhood, turned at the sound of his name, his lips twisting into a wry smile at the sight of the boy he looked on as a brother. He rested his hand on the hilt of the short sword belted around his waist. "What is it, Lucius?"

Lucius came to a halt, panting slightly. He eyed the sword longingly, wishing for the day he could begin his military training. At the age of nine, he was as yet too young, although Decius had already taught him some basic training exercises. At nineteen, the foster son of the king had been training for almost ten years, and had earned the right to carry the short sword. Within a few short months, he would assume a place in Fure's military.

"Father is going to take me down the Walk of Ancestors in the Sipio House," Lucius answered, grinning eagerly. "He wants you to come with us."

A momentary sad look came over Decius' face. Lucius wondered briefly what caused it, then brushed it away. He was finally going to be taken down the Walk of Ancestors, to be given the family history in full, and he couldn't allow anything else to distract him. "Come on, Decius! Hurry up!"

With a laugh, the brief sorrow lifting from his features, Decius followed the lad down the elaborately tiled corridors, his leather boots slapping softly against the floor. The off-white walls were decorated with mosaics of meadows and groves, peaceful, idyllic scenes of Furian country life.

Lucius wished his father would take him to the country. He loved the city of Fure, but those mosaics were so pretty; he wished he could see them in person, to see the meadows and clear blue streams bubbling over rocks as it flowed over its bed, to hear laughter on the wind and birds singing in the trees.

Sipio and Tarquil stood in the atrium, smiling as Decius and Lucius approached them. A similar short sword to Decius' hung from Sipio's belt, the sheath decorated with elaborate designs. Only recently had he taken to wearing it when leaving the palace and Lucius wondered why, although he did not want to ask. He knew his father wouldn't tell him. Some things even a nine year old was too young to know about.

Decius rode with you to the Forelooker's shrine at nine, Lucius always wanted to point out. I, too, am old enough to know things.

"Are you ready, Lucius?" Sipio asked. "Ready to learn about the illustrious house of the Sipios?"

Lucius nodded, wrestling against the urge to bounce up and down restlessly as he stood before his parents. "Yes, Father, I am ready."

Sipio glanced at Decius as Tarquil smiled down at her eager son. "I am glad you are able to join us, Decius."

"Lucius said you requested me?" Decius replied, tilting his head. Sipio smiled faintly as Lucius watched the two of them like a hawk, waiting to depart the palace and begin the ride to Sipio House.

"Yes, I have a matter I wish to speak with you about. But first, let us go to the Sipio House."

"I will see you when you return," Tarquil told Lucius, planting a kiss on his dark hair. She glanced at Decius and gave him a smile, her hand hesitantly touching his shoulder. "How did my boys grow up so quickly?"

Lucius lifted his head proudly while Decius' eyes grew distant. Tarquil watched them exit the palace with sorrow lining her features, the two boys and Sipio striding toward the horses held ready for them in the courtyard.

Decius mounted up as Sipio boosted Lucius up onto Decius' old mare. He settled himself in the saddle as Sipio mounted. It was another recent change that marked the sudden recourse to riding everywhere in the city, when they had walked before. Again, Lucius was hesitant to ask his father why they rode instead of walked.

The ride was quick to the Sipio House, all the old ancestral houses surrounding the Tonius Hill, a rivulet stemming from the Antor River wending its way through the lower gardens of the Houses. The horses moved down the hill at a steady trot, Lucius doing his best to sit to the bumpy movement. Both Sipio and Decius sat the gait easily, their bodies absorbing the jolts while Lucius subtly wrapped his fingers around the mare's mane to keep himself in the saddle.

As they rode, Lucius saw the ruins of an old house, which his father had told him had long ago been destroyed by fire. He stared at the property as they passed, wondering what had made the fire ravage the house. An ancestral house, at that. Decius also glanced at the ruins, his features hardening.

The horses were reined to a halt before the Sipio House, a majestic, old dwelling that had held the Sipio family for generations back. Lucius slid off his horse in imitation of Sipio and Decius, leading his mare into the gardens and handing his reins to the slave that came around the side of the house to take the horses.

Lucius eagerly followed Sipio and Decius into the atrium of Sipio House, which stood quiet. He had visited several times before, but only when Sipio saw the need to check up on something with the slaves who tended the residence. As king, Sipio and his family lived in the palace perched atop Tonius Hill, but they still kept ownership of the Sipio House. And since Sipio was the eldest of the family, the ancestral house belonged to him and not to his younger brother, Horace Sipio, a prominent general leading the legions positioned south of Fure.

A palace and a house. No other family in all of Fure had that. Lucius felt proud of his ancestry, of his place in such an illustrious family.

Sipio led the way toward a pair of old doors that concealed the Walk of Ancestors, their footsteps the only noise in the house. Lucius felt his excitement creeping up inside him once again as his father placed his hand on the doors and pushed them open, the doors swinging in as Lucius made to dart forward and then stopped, glancing up at his father for permission. Sipio nodded and Lucius entered the corridor, gazing around in awe.

Niches were carved into the walls on either side at regular intervals, every niche holding an incredibly detailed yet small statue. Every statue represented an ancestor of the Sipio House, going back generations, to the founding of Fure and beyond. Some of the earliest figures seemed to be more legend than real at times, for the stories told of them were just at the edge of belief.

"There are so many of them," Lucius finally said, his eyes wide as he stared down the length of the hall. Sipio chuckled and laid his hand on his son's shoulder.

"Of course there are, son. Our family line goes back centuries, even before Fure was founded. The Sipio House is one of the ancestral founding houses of Fure." He looked over his shoulder at Decius. "As is the Numas House."

Lucius turned. He was well aware of how his brother was addressed by those outside of the royal family. "People call you Numas, Decius."

Decius nodded. "That is because I was of the Numas House."

"You are of the Numas House," Sipio corrected him. "It is not dead yet."

Lucius furrowed his brow. "Can a House die?"

"A House's legacy will live on," Sipio said, while Decius replied simultaneously, "Yes."

Sipio shot his foster son a look as Decius turned his gaze to the statues. Lucius, following his gaze, narrowed his eyes at the nearest one. "Who is that?"

"That is your grandfather, Livius Sipio," Sipio answered, stepping over to the statue of the warrior. "He was a senator for Fure, very close to the king. Many of the Sipios were senators and generals, brave warriors and daring politicians, in both positions upholding Fure's honor."

"He wasn't king?" Lucius asked, furrowing his brow in confusion. "I thought we were kings."

"We are now," Sipio said firmly as Decius flicked his eyes over to him, a grim look rolling across his face. "We hold the throne now. And so shall you, one day."

"Who was king before you?" Lucius inquired, glancing back at his father. "If Grandfather wasn't?"

Sipio was silent for a moment, staring at the statue as if it would give him the answers. Decius watched him like a hawk, as if waiting for him to make a wrong move. "A very good man who was taken away too soon."

"Taken?" Lucius repeated. "Taken where? Who took him?"

Decius sighed, turning away.

"All good kings are taken up by the gods," Sipio explained, guiding Lucius down the hall. "At the end of their reign, when the king has done all he can do for Fure, the gods bring him up to their court, where they join the Senate of Kings."

Lucius' eyes widened. "Will they take you?"

"Perhaps," Sipio said, his expression hardening for a moment. "But not for a long time, son."

Sipio continued to explain to Lucius about his ancestry, indicating the statues as they passed them. Manlius Sipio, the famed general who sacrificed himself to defeat the barbaric Regellians. Kanae, his wife, who led a unit of armed women to defend Fure while the men were away at war, beating back the attacking barbarians. Publio Sipio Eagleanius, the senator who had proposed the law making Ascantals and humans both equal as Furians, with equal rights. He was rewarded the name Eagleanius after an eagle portended his future as a unifier between the two peoples.

"Don't forget the tale when the gods' bird landed on his arm when he lifted his hand up to the heavens, requesting a sign," Decius reminded Sipio quietly.

Sipio nodded. "That is right." He returned his gaze to the statue. "Lucius, do you know who Eagleanius was married to? He married a woman of the Numas House, connecting Decius' family with ours."

Lucius looked to the older boy, who nodded somewhat grimly.

"It gave us an alliance, which future generations cemented," Sipio continued.

"An alliance that means nothing now," Decius said pointedly. "The Numas House has fallen."

Sipio glanced at him but said nothing. Lucius felt a slight uneasiness but he wasn't sure why. He had missed something, he knew that. But what?

They continued down the corridor, the statues beginning to all blend together in Lucius' head. Decius' words kept coming back to him, haunting like ghosts. Numas House has fallen. I was of the Numas House.

What happened to the Numas House? And why did Decius and Sipio share conflicting opinions on whether it was alive or dead?

"And this ancestor," Sipio was saying, drawing Lucius back to the present. "He was a part of the original leaders of the Furians, when they built Fure on this very spot, taking the name of the Furius House for the city."

"Who are the Furius House?" Lucius asked curiously. He knew no one who used that name.

"Ascantals," Decius said quietly. "They were the highest House in the beginning of Fure, and now they are almost all dead."

"Why was our city named after Ascantals?" Lucius inquired. "Why wasn't it named after us?"

"The Sipio House can't hold all the glory for itself," Sipio answered with a strained laugh. "Cero Furius was a mighty general and deserved to give his name for the city. He ensured Fure could be founded, and later gave his life to protect our city from the Sullii. The Senate was formed from the Ascantals in the beginning, but the kings were human. It gave us an alliance of power."

"Why?" Lucius asked. "Has there ever been an Ascantal king?"

"Once," Decius answered. "Furius. When he died, Mariline Emilius assumed the throne. The Ascantals kept the Senate, and we had the throne for many years. Eventually, though, humans made their way into the Senate and now it is split, through Eagleanius' efforts."

"Who was the first king from Sipio House?" Lucius inquired, pivoting to glance down the long hallway of statues. There were so many of them. "I forget."

Sipio frowned slightly. "I am the first king from Sipio House."

"The first?" Lucius repeated, looking both indignant and confused. "How is that so?"

"Kingship is a tricky thing," Decius said quietly, receiving a look from Sipio. "There are many Houses now, Lucius. There are many people to hold the throne."

"Why are there so many Houses?" Lucius demanded.

"Because there are many deemed worthy of beginning such Houses," Sipio said, steering his son further down the hall. "When the gods see honor in a man, they give him a House. And when they no longer see fit...."

"They take it away," Decius filled in for him, like a line he had heard so many times it tasted sour. Perplexed, Lucius glanced back at him. Did the gods take Decius' House away from him? Was that the answer to the confusing fate of Numas House?

"Decius, what happened to your family?" Lucius asked, tilting his head. Decius flicked his eyes over to Sipio, who was frowning slightly.

"They died," Decius said softly. "That is all there is to tell."

Lucius glanced at his father in consternation, wanting to ask how something so horrible could happen and why he didn't stop it, being king, but his questions of righteous anger were halted by Sipio's sudden relaxation, the tension in his shoulders easing. Lucius bit his tongue and decided to ask another day. Something odd was in the air.

"Come, Lucius," Sipio said, placing his hand on his son's shoulder and turning him. "I think you've learned enough about the family history for one day."

---

Lucius, Decius, and Sipio left the Walk of Ancestors, Sipio securing the door behind them. The three walked through the mostly empty house toward the gardens, where their horses waited patiently, grazing on the green grass under the watchful eye of the slave.

As Lucius darted down the steps, running through the gardens, Sipio turned to Decius, who stiffened. "You become a man in a few short months," Sipio began. "In anticipation of that, I have secured a position for you in Imperator Saerus' legions as an aide. It isn't the highest position, but it will provide you the means to climb the ranks swiftly. And you will be serving in the front lines in the north, directly against Vican."

Decius glanced out at the gardens, collecting his thoughts. The offer wasn't what he had been expecting, and was better than he could have hoped for as a man of no family, regardless of his connection with Lucius Sipio. "Thank you, my lord," he said, returning his gaze to the king. "I do not understand why you seek to help me."

"You are a son to me, Decius," Sipio told him. "I do not say that merely as a simple rhetorical phrase. You are truly like a son to me."

"Why did you not tell Lucius who the previous king was?" Decius asked, the words rushing out of his mouth as he held Sipio's eyes with his, anger suddenly coming to life in his own dark orbs. "Why did you not tell him that the man who ruled before you was Decius Numas? My father?"

Sipio's eyes narrowed. "He wouldn't understand."

"I don't understand," Decius snapped. "All I know is that my father was killed, my family massacred, my house razed, and you now king, with full intent to pass the throne to Lucius. But no one tells me why. Why did my family die? Why am I not dead with them? And why...why do you hold my father's throne as if it is yours?"

Anger flared briefly in Sipio's eyes and then died, his gaze now dark and deadly serious. "Decius, I did not kill your father."

"Who did?" Decius demanded. "Can someone tell me why the Numas House was wiped out?"

"They were not wiped out," Sipio said forcefully. "You still live."

"Is that why you won't tell me?" Decius pressed, stepping closer and lowering his voice still more. "Is that why you will not tell me what happened? Because I still live? Because I am almost a man, full grown? Because in a few short months, I will no longer be under your guardianship? And if I am a threat, I will be killed? Like my family was?"

Sipio's eyes were hard. "Decius, do not look into your family's death. Be grateful you were spared."

"Is that a threat?" Decius asked softly.

"It is a warning, son," Sipio replied. "If you do not wish to act on it for my sake, act on it for Lady Tarquil, who looks on you as a son, and for Lucius, who thinks of you as a brother."

Silence fell between them as Sipio turned to face the gardens, arms crossed as he watched Lucius run joyously through the grass. Decius' eyes traced the boy's movements, a troubled and angry expression on his face. Oh, to be young and innocent of the horrors of this world, he reflected. It's a time of peace that is only rivaled by the moment immediately preceding death.

Not that Decius had any firsthand experience with death, but that's how he imagined it. Shock, pain, flashes of red – and then a sudden tranquility that lasted but a moment, a fleeting but beautiful moment, before Gravium, the god of the underworld, stripped your body of mind and soul as you entered his throat.

It was a moment Decius reflected on often these days.

"Decius, I do trust you," Sipio said, turning to look at him. "And that is why I will tell you something else. On the night of Lucius' birth, when we rode to the Forelooker's shrine, I only told you that Lucius was destined to be a good king."

Decius nodded, biting back the words he wished to speak. Yes, and you used that prophecy to assert your right, his right, to my father's throne.

"That is not what the prophecy said," Sipio continued, his voice low. "Tell no one of what I tell you next, Decius. Swear to me on Augustus' scepter you will speak this to no one until the time is right."

"When will I know the time is right?" Decius asked, setting his resentment aside for the moment. What had the Forelooker said concerning Lucius, if it wasn't about his future rule? And to keep it shrouded in silence, all these years?

"You will know," Sipio told him. "Swear."

"I, Decius Numas, swear on Augustus Maximus, supreme god, and on his mighty scepter, to hold close what you, Lucius Sipio, are about to tell me," Decius swore. "I bind myself to silence until it comes time to reveal what I know, and may heaven's fire rain down on me and my house if I so break this oath." It isn't like there is much for the fire to burn, anyway.

"Lucius is destined to free Fure of a reign of terror," Sipio divulged, after a momentary pause following Decius' oath. "The Forelooker says he will defeat the threat that looms from within Ciceri. Only Pirilius and I know her true words. Do not discuss this with anyone."

"I don't understand," Decius said, frowning. "If Lucius is to defeat Vican, then why the secrecy? All of Fure wants to see him overthrown. It is one of the only things both Ascantal and human agree on."

Sipio looked troubled. "Ciceri poses a threat but not for the reasons you believe, Decius. And Vican's name was never mentioned by the Forelooker. Just Ciceri. Vican being the threat is then assumed. Then, I thought her words spoke about Vican. Now, I am not so sure."

"Without Vican, Ciceri poses no threat," Decius pointed out. "Or does it?" He thought about Sipio's changed behavior, the sword he now wore, his insistence on riding instead of walking. He knew there was unrest in the senate, tension between the humans and the Ascantals, but that seemed to have always existed. What was provoking this new uneasiness?

Sipio pressed his lips together grimly, his eyes flicking out to watch Lucius. "Just remember my words, Decius. I can say no more." Tense silence reigned for a long moment before the king continued, as if their conversation had never happened. "You will depart Fure the day after you come of age. The Imperator will teach you well. Use the skills you've learned in battle; you could have such a bright future, Decius."

"My House is dead," Decius said flatly, unsettled by the revelation of Lucius' fate. "No matter how many times you tell me it is not, that changes nothing. I am the last member of the Numas House, and from your words, it looks like I will be meeting Gravium soon. The underworld will then be my House. What hope is there for me here?"

Sipio turned to face him. "Decius, you may be the last of your House, of your line, but that means nothing! You can prove your blood, boy! The name of Numas has not lost its potency yet; the Imperator already looks forward to your presence among his legions. Your name means something, and that is why the Numas House is not yet dead, not while you live. And after you return from the military, we will arrange an advantageous marriage for you and you will have an heir to pass your name onto. The Numas House will not die, Decius. Not while you live. And do not go looking to end it, boy."

With that, Sipio descended the couple of steps to the walk, calling out to Lucius. Decius watched the king and his son walk toward the horses, sorrow crossing over his face. Then he shook his head and followed after them, bitterness, confusion, and an odd hopefulness warring in his heart.