DirkJake Ancient Rome c:!!

(TW: misgendering)

“There were additional matters to be attended to in Egypt,” is a brittle excuse, but one that slips from Jake’s lips and cracks upon the polished marble of the war room regardless.

“Matters,” Jane parrots. Her tongue clicks with doubt. She smiles. “Surely none that overtook the importance of your duties in Rome.”

“Surely not,” Jake replies. Quick, arguably too quick. Jane frowns.

“I know you’ve taken a shining to that queen—“

“Pharaoh,” Jake interrupts, firm and strong in a way he’s never been before his empress. He raises his chin. “He wishes to be treated as a man. As the great pharaohs before him.”

“…Right,” Jane says. “A grand pharaoh who invites all he deems indulgent into his bed.”

“I’m, that’s not,” Jake starts. “It’s important we secure our alliance with the south—“

“And I imagine you’ve more the procured yourself with the south, hm,” Jane spits. Stares. Jake feels small beneath her intense, warning, gaze. Then, she relaxes. Breathes out a sigh of exasperation. “You’re such a brilliant force on the battlefield, and yet one foreign dignitary invites you to their quarters and you crumble your defenses as if you’d never wished to lift a sword in the first place.”

“I,” Jake says. Then, unveils the truth hanging above the both of them, above the entirety of Rome and its nearest neighbors. “I love him.”

“You think you’re the first.”

“I intend to be the last.”

Jane laughs—harsh, but amused. She sighs, again. “Well then. I suppose we’ll see how such things unfold, hm?”