All Roads Lead to Rome

Fire Building

Antares left the bedroom and went towards the sound of Romulus' deep annoyed voice.

"Goddammit, Vincent, hang up on me again and I swear I'll come down there to burn the whole place to the fucking ground! I'm not in the mood for this shit." Romulus snarled into the phone. Antares grinned as he leaned against the door to watch. His lover in a rage was always a fine sight to see. Romulus was seated at his desk which rivaled the size of his throne when he'd been emperor. He had lost none of the surety he'd commanded with or the majesty.

The rich mahogany gleamed next to the shine of the gilded trim. A top of the line computer was on one side while the paperwork Romulus despised was stacked up on the other. The area in front of where Romulus was facing had a smaller stack of papers with a golden pen tossed carelessly on top.

"Yes, I know damn good and well what the mistress' council would say if they knew she was here. And I don't give a fuck. Look, believe it or not, this is a courtesy call not asking daddy for permission. I'm giving you a heads up. I am working on legally safeguarding Lyra so that she can see her sister again. Once that happens, I'm telling her that her sister is alive." he listened for a moment, an incredulous look going across his face. "Why? I am tired of seeing a woman of her caliber grieve because a man she called brother is too chicken shit to do something about the dictates of a power thirsty council. That's why. You've been warned." He slammed the phone down and slouched back into the office chair with a snarl.

"So that's the secret you were keeping from me." Antares straightened from the door with a deceptively lazy movement. "Why haven't you told her?" Romulus looked over at the door and sighed. This day just kept getting better. Now Antares was going to worry on top of everything else. Just perfect.

"About? Is she alright?" Romulus evaded. Antares shook his head once and Romulus knew there was no getting around an explanation. He hadn't really expected to.

"She's asleep. Why, Rome?" he asked again. Romulus rose and went around to lean on his desk.

"Because if I tell her now, she'll be in danger from every vampire that pays heed to the council."

Antares shook his head in disgust. "Those people really do not understand family, do they?"

"No. They don't." Romulus agreed flatly.

Antares walked over and put his hand on Romulus' shoulder firmly. "But we do. So you are going to fix it then?"

"I'm going to try..." Romulus began. Antares' hand tightened.

"No, Rome. We don't lie to a family member long term. That doesn't get to happen. Not with something like this. So no trying. We just do it."

"We?" Romulus asked, head cocking to the side a bit. His hand came up and took Antares' off his shoulder and linked fingers. "We do it?"

"Yes. I'm sorry, Rome. I've been letting you pick up the slack while I play all day on stage. That's not the way this was supposed to work." Antares tightened his grip on their linked hands.

Romulus shook his head to dismiss the concern.

"You are struggling to maintain..."

"So are you," Antares interrupted "We both have our battles and we've been fighting them alone. That ends today. We are a complicated family but together we'll defeat anything."

Romulus smiled. "There you go again," he said with a sigh then brought Antares' hand up for a soft kiss and caress.

"What am I doing?" Antares asked with a smile warming his face.