Dawn of a New Rome

"Father-in-law," Constantine’s soft voice echoed in the tense hall at Arelate. "It seems your mourning period was brief."

Maximian, his hands bound, his face a mask of purple rage, drew himself up. The pathetic, cornered old man vanished, replaced for a moment by the defiant glare of a man who had once worn the imperial purple. "You were reported dead! A casualty of your own reckless ambition! I acted to preserve order in Gaul, to rally the legions against the chaos!"

"You acted to seize my treasury and my legions," Constantine countered, his voice flat, devoid of emotion. He took a slow step forward. "You used a lie to attempt a theft. Not of gold, but of an empire. This is your second betrayal of a solemn oath. The first was at Carnuntum. This is your last."

The finality in his tone seemed to shrink the old man. The defiance sputtered out, replaced by a desperate, cunning plea. "Constantine, my boy, my son! We are family! Think of Fausta! We can rule the West together, a true dynasty of father and son, just as I planned with my own Maxentius! We can crush Galerius, we can..."

"Enough," Constantine’s voice cut through the tirade like glass. "Your plans have brought nothing but chaos and death. Severus is dead because of your schemes. Italy is in turmoil. You are not a builder, Maximian. You are a wrecker." He gestured to Valerius. "Confine him to the upper chambers. He is to see no one."

As the guards dragged the sputtering ex-emperor away, Fausta entered the hall, her face pale but her composure absolute. She had watched the final moments of her father’s capture from a distance. She walked to where Constantine stood, her gaze meeting his. "The serpent is caged," she said quietly. "But a caged serpent is still a serpent. It waits only for a moment of carelessness to strike again."

"Your father pleads for his life in your name," Constantine stated, watching her, testing her. Fausta’s expression hardened. "My father used my name and my marriage to you as a tool to advance his own ambition. He would have cast me aside, just as he would have you, the moment it suited him. He made his choice when he declared himself Augustus on the rumor of your death." She took a breath, her voice dropping lower. "My loyalty is to the future, Augustus. My loyalty is to the strength and stability of this house. Old men and their ghosts have no place in it."