Hours later, only Agrippina and Claudius remained inside the mausoleum.
Antonia had taken Nero Caesar and his siblings back to her villa urbana—where Agrippina and the children would now stay.
The mourners were all gone as well, though it mattered little to her.
Silence stretched heavy between them.
Claustrophobic.
Loaded.
Claudius shifted, his subtle limp betraying him—a fact everyone knew—as it often did when he didn't know what to do.
He kept glancing at her, fumbling for words, as if he wanted to speak but couldn't.
But she remained impenetrable.
'Some nonsense,' she assumed.
Her presence filled the tomb, swallowing the air.
He sighed, his gaze flicking between her and Germanicus' urn, his nerves frayed.
Frustration settled on Agrippina's features, shadowing her face.
'Anomalous man.'
Rain pattered against the mausoleum's roof, echoing through the enclosed space.
The scent of damp stone thickened with incense.
The air grew colder.
Then—Agrippina broke the silence.
"Where is your uncle?"
Her breath came shallow, sharper than she intended, chest rising with the weight of what was about to come.
Claudius flinched then began to tremble, but said nothing.
'Where is your bravado from earlier?'
"I did not see his shadow," she pressed, voice low, unsteady.
Her sorrow was slowly twisting into fury, spinning out of control.
"Not even a strand of his old hair."
Her fists clenched—anything to anchor herself, to cut through the fog and pain.
Suddenly she turned on Claudius, hazel eyes burning.
Her unexpected speed caught him off-guard.
"Where is Tiberius?" she demanded, her voice tight, biting.
"I-I… I-ei…" Claudius stammered, tongue tripping over itself as though the words might choke him.
His fingers twitched at his sides, unveiling his unease.
He hadn't anticipated her to confront him outright about the Emperor—about the whispers still persisting in the air.
His gaze darted past her toward the tomb's entrance, as though the walls themselves had ears.
"I-I d-don't k-know."
She clacked her tongue, sharp as a whip.
"You're a stutterer, not blind nor deaf."
Agrippina's nostrils flared.
"We both know that you know."
Claudius swallowed hard, he felt something crawling up his throat—terrified at her sudden interrogation.
Cornered, he had no choice.
"E-esquiline H-hill… i-in h-his v-villa."
Silence.
Only their breathing filled the chamber.
Then—
Agrippina lunged, seizing his tunic and yanking him toward her.
His body hunched down, their eyes meeting, faces inches apart.
Claudius squirmed, trying to pry her hands off and back away, but she held fast.
She was stronger than she looked.
"Didn't he know…" she hissed, her breath hot against his skin.
"... didn't he know that his nephew's ashes would arrive today?"
Claudius' eyes flickered towards the great doors again.
"N-nnn h-he k-knows…" he whispered at last, surrendering the truth.
"... r-release m-me, sister A-agrippina."
He begged—but it fell on deaf ears.
It was awkward.
Humiliating even.
A man being bullied by someone smaller in stature, weaker in appearance.
And yet, he couldn't move her.
Couldn't do anything.
She was like a mountain.
"Then why was he not here?" she pressed, stepping closer.
He retreated inch by inch, until the cold wall caught his back.
His silence stretched too long.
The sound of rain somehow felt louder all of the sudden.
His face twisted, a myriad of emotions.
Agrippina's grip tightened, crushing his windpipe.
When he finally spoke, it was barely more than a whisper.
"I-I d-don't know."
A sharp breath burst out from her lips—disbelief.
"You don't?"
Her lips quivered, but her voice stayed firm.
"T-truly. I-I s-swear!"
Claudius was now gasping for air.
He felt like he was dying.
Her eyes burned with raw malice.
Then she shoved him aside—callous, careless—like discarding something foul.
His strength buckled.
He slid down to the marble floor, drained.
But Agrippina didn't leave him, didn't turn away.
She wasn't done yet.
Not by a long shot.
She loomed above him like an omen.
"Does he have a hand in it?" she asked softly.
Her tone was low, almost tender, forcing him to look up.
But her tone was a lie—it was a cruel contrast to the inferno blazing in her eyes.
The instant their gazes met, he flinched, snapping his head away like a child scalded.
Still, her voice cut into him.
"Is it because he felt guilty about something?"
Each word was steady.
"Is he feeling guilty?"
Clear.
"Guilty of his nephew's death?"
Full of accusation.
"Am I right?"
Her eyes were rimmed red, half-crazed grief sharpening into rage.
Agrippina could still hear the murmurs from earlier—the hushed voices that slithered through the mourners like vipers.
Suspicions.
Whispers.
It was a sprinkle of water to the seeds of doubt inside her.
"It's him, isn't it?" she hissed again.
Irrational.
Raw.
Without proof.
Claudius stiffened, his face twitching with something unreadable.
"L-listen, S-sister A-agrippina… y-you c-can't s-say t-things l-like t-that."
"Why not?" she snapped at him.
"Because it's true?"
His eyes shot to the corners of the chamber, searching, afraid.
When he was sure no one was listening, he braved himself to look her in the eye.
"W-we d-don't k-know t-that," he said with conviction.
Forceful.
Like he was convincing himself.
His gaze pleaded with her to stop with the accusations.
"It is him," she spat, stubborn, almost certain.
"P-please," he begged again, his voice lower.
"Y-you c-can't s-say t-these t-things o-out l-loud—"
"I want answers, Claudius!" she cut him off.
"Why?"
Her voice cracked.
She was spiraling.
Hitting rock bottom.
"Why did my husband have to… die?"
Her hand clawed at her chest.
"Who did this to my family?"
The pain was too much.
"I need someone to blame!"
The edge of hysteria crept in.
"Or else I feel like I'm gonna go mad!"
Her knees gave out—she slumped to the floor.
"I can't accept this fate!" she cried.
"It's too cruel!"
Her fingers dug harder into her chest, as if she could rip out her heart.
"So cruel…"
Her voice broke to a whisper.
Then small sobs.
Heartbroken.
After a long while—
"So tell me, Claudius…"
Her hazel eyes lifted, feverish.
He looked at her, pity softening his face.
"If you know anything…" her voice dropped to a growl.
Goosebumps rose to his skin.
"Who should I blame?"
Claudius trembled at the intensity of her emotions.
"Who should I curse?"
Suddenly—
A wet sound sliced through the tension—heavy, urgent.
Footsteps pounded the marble corridor, echoing closer.
Agrippina and Claudius stared at each other.
Neither spoke.
She—stubborn.
He—nervous.
"Matrona!"
CLACK CLACK
"Matrona Agrippina!"
It was the vilicus' voice—familiar, breathless.
She turned sharply, still seated on the floor—her feet under her.
The vilicus stumbled in, then blanched under her furious glare—but he pushed forward.
This was a matter of importance.
"T-the Emperor!" he gasped, struggling for air.
"He had the governor of Syria arrested!"
Agrippina's eyes narrowed.
"And?" she asked coldly.
He gulped hard.
"T-the charge… the charge…"
A pause.
A tremor—
"... the charge is… poisoning Dominus Germanicus!"
Silence.
Her blood froze.
Her heart thudded.
"What—?"
**
INDEX:
villa urbana—family estate/country house
Dominus—male master
FUN FACT!
The Mausoleum of Augustus or Mausoleum August, was a popular spot... even after death. It wasn't just a tomb. It was a status symbol! Even after Augustus and Germanicus, other prominent families wanted their tombs or urns placed there, that's how important it was for Romans. And Roman funerals were... loud. Like real loud loud. Especially for important people like Germanicus. There were even professional mourners (praeficae) who wailed and tore their hair, musicians, and sometimes even actors performing scenes from the deceased's life. Could you believe that? Like the famous crying ladies in modern times! Oh, but in my novel, I wanted it to be solemn so I depicted it differently. And Claudius, he was famously awkward and had a stutter and limp. Because of this, he was considered unfit for public life. But! Because of that, he focuses on his intellectual passions that he became a historian and a scholar. And even though he was excluded from Imperial life, he still knew things and had access to information. And later on he became an emperor! Wow.