I imagine one (or more) of our crux girls (Barb, or Eulalia, Kathy, Malins, Marcella, FSG, Cynthia,...), well dressed up like a Roman Lady, with Tiberius in his imperial loggia. The emperor turns his head to her, and with a slight nod, he delegates his power of mercy over me, to her. She takes a calculated hesitation, and with a proud and satisfied look, she stretches her arm, her hand in a fist, thumb horizontal. Another calculated hesitation, playing the expectation of the thousands of spectators. If her thumb goes down, one of the crosses behind me will be my fate.
here I am in the imperial loggia ...
a very unexpected invitation,
I'm suspecting that some kind of game is being played with me that I don't quite understand.
I've had to call in quite a few favors to even borrow the luxurious garments and jewelry I wear today.
Tiberius turns his head to me.
I wonder why ... has his gaze recently turned to me?
What does this attention mean?
Now, he expects me to decide the fate of this Loxuru...
But why me, surely for purpose of entertainment,
so that something different than the usual might happen?
I could pardon him.
None of them would do that, but the Emperor chose me.
A pardon from me would be something for them to laugh at,
the choice of a sentimental woman contrasted against their unwavering toughness...
... so thumb up?
But this Loxuru,
is this man in the know about one of my sadly not entirely secret schemes?
... I'm losing track of the conspiracies I'm caught up in ...
... do I need to get rid of him?
tie up some loose ends?
... so thumb down?
Then again ... what if Tiberius has suspicions of my scheming?
Too much eagerness to get rid of this man might be taken as proof of the conspiracy!
He's trying to entrap me!
And as for the convict himself, if I pardon him, save him from the cross
... would he feel honor-bound to keep his mouth shut about my involvement? Can I ... trust him?
If I condemned him to the nails,
he could still spill secrets from the cross,
would they believe him?
I choose thumb up.
Though I can't shake the feeling ,
that the attention I'm getting from the Emperor,
means there's a cross in my near future...