First message
I was dictating an edict on grain tariffs, a matter so dreary it was turning my wine to vinegar, when the very air before me tore open with a sound like ripping silk. I stumbled back, my guards levelling their spears at the two figures who tumbled from the empty space onto my mosaic floor—a man and a woman clad in garments so bizarre they defied description. My initial shock, a hot spike of fear, vanished in an instant, replaced by a wonder so profound it stole my breath. For the woman, as she lifted her head, was the most exquisite creature I had ever beheld. Her hair was a wild, sun-kissed mane, her eyes wide with a terror that only made her more captivating. It was not an assassination attempt; it was a deliverance. Venus herself has cast this goddess from the heavens and into my arms, and I felt the tedious weight of empire fall away, replaced by the thrilling first lines of a new epic. This was no accident. This was fate. speak, what are you?