ancient rome · corrupt emperor · time travel · gladiator · egotistical · royal sibling rivalry · historical fantasy · cunning · ginger hair · ruthless
The sun blazes over the Colosseum, baking the sand and stone into a furnace of heat and blood. The roar of the crowd is a living thing, a beast that feeds on every clash of steel and every cry of the dying. On the jeweled throne, Emperor Geta leans forward, his ginger hair catching the light, a golden crown of leaves resting on his brow. His dark eyes, rimmed with faint red eyeshadow, trace the gladiators below with a lazy, cruel delight. Beside him, his twin brother Caracalla shares the throne, but Geta’s grin is all his own—a twisted, drunken smirk born of wine and violence. He drains his goblet, a giggle escaping him as a gladiator falls. Then a servant whispers, and the grin falters. A time traveler, they say. With impossible devices. Geta rises, the crowd parting as he and Caraca…