The Eternal City rose to greet them not as a destination, but as a return to gravity.
Its white stone walls gleamed beneath the sun, banners snapping crisply in the breeze, the great avenues beyond already alive with the motion of a million lives.
Julius felt it the moment they passed beneath the outer gates—the subtle shift in the air, the invisible weight settling back onto his shoulders.
The city itself bore a weight that once more relied upon himself for support.
Serena felt it too.
She straightened unconsciously in her saddle, her posture changing from traveler to sovereign in the space of a few heartbeats.
The relaxed cloak of the road was still about her shoulders, dust still clung to her boots, but her bearing—her presence—had sharpened.
This was where she belonged now.
Unlike his previous return, this time there were no trumpets sounding out into the sky heralding his arrival.
