“Let me guess,” continued Spurius. “You’ve convinced the poor girl you’ll protect her honor.”
Alexius’s eyes narrowed at the underlying insinuation that no woman was safe with him. “Indeed I have. How perceptive of you.”
The editor burst out laughing, as though the idea was one of pure comedy. “She must be a foreigner and unaware of your…colorful reputation, then.” He strained sideways as though to speak directly to Tibi. “Be warned, girl. If the gossips see you with this great Greek bull, they’ll make certain you have no honor left to worry about.”
Bitterness welled up inside Alexius. His free hand clenched into a fist at his side. Tibi gripped the back of his tunic between his shoulder blades. “Don’t,” she whispered for his ears only. “Please don’t. He’s not worth your anger.”
“Perhaps I’m such a prize she doesn’t care,” he said, his tone rich with irony. He reached into the leather pouch attached to his belt and tossed Spurius a handful of copper as. “For the cub.”
The editor’s laughter subsided as he did a quick count of the coins. “I didn’t name a price.”
“I chose it for you.” He gripped Tibi’s wrist behind him, eager to leave when each moment added to the chance of her discovery. “Darius will lead the men of the Ludus Maximus this afternoon. I have business elsewhere.”
“What do you mean Darius will lead the men?” Spurius sobered in an instant. “You’re on the roster. You never miss a fight. The mob comes to see you. They’ll riot if you don’t appear.”
Alexius shrugged. All of Rome could be sacked today and he wouldn’t leave Tibi’s side again. “Then let them.” His full lips quirked. “I have a new…cub to look after.”
Tibi resisted the impulse to glance over her shoulder as Alexius propelled her toward the exit. Amazed that he’d left as important a man as the editor to sputter like a clogged drain, she kept her head down and shielded the cub that squirmed in her hand and licked her thumb with its rough tongue.
“Where are we going?” she asked as they entered a torch-lit corridor that had been chiseled from the earth and edged with flat stones.
“To the stables to fetch my horse.”
“And then?”
“Back to the ludus.”
“What if Tiberia is still looking for me?”
“It’s doubtful. Velus views strangers as though they’re hornets come to sting. I expect he’s sent the whole lot of them on their way by now.”
His lack of complete certainty renewed her anxiety, but she accepted the situation without further comment. She’d done all she could to buy herself time when she fled her father’s home. Either Tiberia was at the ludus or she was not, but given her sister’s tenacity, it wouldn’t surprise her if Tiberia decided to wait at the Ludus Maximus all afternoon. There was no way to know until they arrived and learned the truth one way or the other. Her future belonged to the Fates.
Considering the circumstances, the fact that she’d enjoyed even the smallest respite from her worries was a wonder due entirely to Alexius, she acknowledged with a frown. Whenever he was near, she had difficulty thinking of anything but him. Troubled by such an unwelcome reality, she took a deep breath to clear her head.
The mustiness of the tunnel mixed with the faint smell of hay the closer they climbed to the surface and the stable at ground level. “If I were to guess,” she said, trying to lighten the atmosphere between them. “I’d say you have a black stallion—maybe one of Caros’s Iberian champions—with a gleaming saddle and—”
“Wings?”
“You are Greek.” She laughed. “Wouldn’t it be a delight to have a pterippus like the Pegasus?” she added fancifully. “If I had a winged horse to do my bidding, I’d have it take me far from Rome.”
“Rome? Or just your father?”
She stroked the top of the cub’s smooth head and pretended a keen interest in the path’s dirt-packed floor. “Mostly my father. Although, I must admit, a fresh start far from the city’s gossips and expectations holds almost as much appeal.”
“You must visit your cousins in Umbria someday,” he said, leading her up the final stretch of stairs.
“I have. Once, two years ago I was invited to join the party when Tiberia and her husband sojourned with them in Iguvium for the summer. Truthfully, I’ve never seen a more beauteous place. It’s no surprise their friends Quintus and Adiona bought their own villa and vineyards nearby. I understand you have a farm there as well.”
He nodded.
“Your trainer, Darius, said your description of the area has given him the hope of settling his family there someday.”
“Yes, on its worst day Iguvium is far better than Rome on its best.”
“Then why do you stay here when it’s clear your heart is elsewhere?”
He opened the door without answering and waited for her to precede him through what appeared to be the back entrance of the busy stable. The strong odors of horseflesh and leather overpowered the rectangular space constructed of stone and rough-hewn timbers. Stable hands filled troughs with buckets of water. Horses, crowded into stalls lining both walls and the center of the long hay-covered floor, ate from feed bags or flipped their tails to clear the air of flies.
“Wait here,” Alexius said tersely.
As she idly petted the drowsing panther cub in her arms, she watched Alexius from beneath lowered lashes while he conversed with one of the Egyptian stable hands. It was widely known that women flocked to Alexius and after less than a day with him she understood why. Tall and broad-shouldered, he was not only physically arresting but possessed an inborn strength that was both undeniable and irresistible.
She leaned against the wall of the tack room and closed her tired eyes. Judging by his sharp tone when he left to seek out the groom, she’d somehow offended him with her chatter. Leave it to her to annoy a male renowned for his tolerance and good humor—at least outside of a fight. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be the first time she was deemed too inquisitive when she was simply trying to make conversation, but it was the first time she wished she’d learned the art of acting serene and mysterious like her sister. If her experience with men held true, Alexius would want nothing else to do with her or, as it must seem to him, her talent for asking inappropriate questions.
In all likelihood, he regretted his decision to help her. Who wouldn’t? In less than a day, he’d been forced to deceive her family, fight his own men to protect her, spend coin on an animal he considered useless and break a contract to fight in the arena. Once Pelonia and Caros returned to Rome, he’d hand her over, glad to be finished with her and the trouble that constantly plagued her.
Unexpectedly bereft, she cursed the foolish delight she experienced only in Alexius’s presence. Somehow she had to resist the numerous ways she found him appealing. Her father would never accept a gladiator for a son-in-law, nor would Alexius ever consent to marry her. His respect for Caros had prompted him to assist her, nothing more. There could be no other reason. Alexius was a wealthy, handsome man of the world known to have any woman he wanted, whereas she was a reviled second daughter without even beauty to offer.
A horse in the closest stall whinnied near her ear, startling her out of her musings. Alexius paid the stable boy then motioned for her to join him halfway up the aisle.
“Is all well?” she asked.
He reached out and ran a gentle index finger along the cub’s silky back. “We’re to meet Ptah near the entrance. If the need arises we’ll have to share my mount, Calisto. I sought to hire a mare for you, but the games’ crowd is considerable