He seemed to want an answer, so I said, “Yes.”
“I’d give my life for what I’m waiting for, though I’d prefer not to.”He made a wry grimace.“Which is why I let Celnus persuade me to hire a guard.I hear your slave drove a hard bargain.Winning against Kephalos is impressive.”
I recalled Cassia haggling like the best moneylender with Priscus’s scribe.
“She is an unusual servant for a former gladiator,” Priscus went on.
“Cassia was given to me.”I hesitated.Most men didn’t want to know the true thoughts of their bodyguards, but I continued, “I’m not sure exactly what to do with her.”
Priscus laughed, the lines around his eyes crinkling.“I am pleased to hear you say so.You are not a brute, which is why I have followed your career so closely.You fight to win but not mercilessly.You use skill, not cruelty.”
I gave him another nod.I’d learned to battle without passion.Regulus let himself succumb to anger, which is why I always bested him.
Priscus returned to studying the rainy harbor.He twitched, bouncing on his toes.
I wondered—he was vastly wealthy, he’d followed my career and seemed to know much about me, and was interested in my past.
Washethe benefactor who’d given me my freedom?He’d asked for me personally when his majordomo had insisted he hire a bodyguard.A man who believed that a person needed only what satisfied basic requirements might have chosen Cassia because she was good with money, and could help me live decently on very little.
I studied the man, a well-muscled former soldier who had enough kindness to let his less-fit servants rest on a journey he could have easily made without halting.A man who mourned his wife, preferring her to the riches she’d left him when she’d died.
It was very possible Priscus had decided to bestow silent generosity on a gladiator who was destined to fight until he was killed on a day he moved too slowly.
I would have to talk it over with Cassia, but I thought it a good possibility.
In the morning,the door slave ran in excitedly to the room in which Priscus took his small breakfast of figs and cheese, to announce that the ship had arrived.
Priscus’s face changed.While he’d been calm but resolute this morning, his expression flickered with terror before settling into that of a stern general.
“I will go in your place,” I said, loosening the short sword Priscus had provided me.“You will be safer here.”
“No.”The word was abrupt.“If I do not attend, it will go wrong.”
“There is too much open space at the harbor,” I argued.“At least let me scout.I will send for you if all is clear.”
Priscus turned a hard eye on me, the affable man who’d spoken so familiarly with me gone.“You will do as I say, gladiator.”
I had no power here, and he knew it.I bowed my head, but I’d never been submissive.“My fee will be the same whether you live or die.”
Priscus’s hand shot to the dagger at his side as though he’d strike me down in his breakfast chamber.If I fought him off and injured him, I could be condemned to death with no hope of pardon.I waited, letting fate hang in the balance.
Priscus released the dagger’s hilt and deflated.“You are right, Leonidas.It is a terrible risk I take.But I must take it.”
“Tell me why.”It was no business of mine, except that I might die for this man today.
“I wish I could.The burden is great.But spies are everywhere, and I am sworn to secrecy.I do not mind you guarding my life, but some things are more important than existence.”
Priscus strode away from me, squaring his shoulders, and I could only follow.
He declared he would pay for and retrieve his cargo himself, with only me for protection, but I persuaded him to bring a few more servants.It would appear normal for him to have a retinue, plus he’d have witnesses if the deal went sour.
Priscus scowled at me but sharply ordered his valet and his horse’s groom—his most loyal men, he said—to join us.The two looked relieved that I’d talked him into bringing them.I convinced Priscus to include three more of his strongest servants, and we all set off toward the harbor, the caskets of coin strapped to a donkey’s back.
We hadn’t gone half a street when I heard quick footfalls behind us.
A glance back showed me Cassia walking along, a basket on her arm, as though she headed out to do some shopping.I frowned at her, but she ignored me.
“Aren’t slaves supposed to be obedient?”I asked Priscus in attempt to lessen his tension.
