HELIOGABALUS
[This last defiance determines him] Oh, is he? Then we'll see what he'll do for you when the alligators begin to sniff you. Guards!
[As the centurions spring forward, LUCIA screams]
LUCIA
[In great terror] Would you kill me?
[But before the centurions can reach her or HELIOGABALUS can reply, SIMON leaps from behind the hangings, his dagger drawn]
SIMON
Stop, tyrant!
[HELIOGABALUS steps back, startled, and for an instant the centurions hesitate in alarm]
LUCIA