“Well, he’s a liar.” Aemil let out a sigh. “True, I give Regulus a loose rein when there are no games on. He usually just goes to a popina near the ludus, but he hadn’t returned by the time Septimius locked the gates.”
“I’ll search for him,” I promised.
“I know you two have become sworn enemies.” Aemil’s lip curled. “But bring him back without bruising him too much. He’s valuable, my biggest draw now, may the gods help me.”
Aemil looked me up and down as though he wanted to blame me for Regulus’s bad temper, but then he shook his head.
“Good night, Leonidas.” Aemil strode off into the darkness, his boots crunching over loose pebbles on the street.
I watched him until his tunic faded into a pale smudge, then I turned my steps toward the forums and the road to the apartment I now called home.
* * *
Cassia had setout stew and bread by the time I reached the room above the wine shop. A cool breeze flowed in from the balcony, but the shutters had not been closed, as they were too heavy for Cassia to lift.
Cassia sat at the table, bent over her tablets, waiting for me before she ate. Her hair was neat and in place, curls tamed on her forehead, her pale linen tunic without stain. She glanced up as I entered, after making a careful note of the time of my return.
I halted in the doorway and gazed without interest at the food.
“Did you find out anything useful?” The avidness in Cassia’s voice at any other time would have amused me. Her stylus hovered, she ready to transcribe anything I had to say.
“I found Ajax.” My voice was heavy, falling numbly into the room. A mule and cart clattered to a halt in the street below, the drover calling out to the wine merchant.
“So soon?” Cassia rose, her eagerness fading as she beheld my expression. “What happened?”
I told her. All of it, sparing no detail. The color drained from her cheeks as I spoke, and she slowly resumed her seat.
Murder was not unusual in Rome. The dark streets could teem with brigands who would knife a man for a few sestertii—robberies that turned violent accounted for many deaths. Likewise, quarreling men in the popinae could strike each other down in drunken rages.
This had been very different. A deliberate killing, almost like a sacrifice.
When my words trailed off, Cassia quickly poured wine from a jug into a cup and pushed it at me.
I dropped onto my stool across the table from her and drained the cup in one go. I barely tasted the wine, which then lay in a heavy pool in my stomach.
“Horrible.” Cassia’s voice was barely a whisper.
I seized the jug and poured myself more wine. “Ajax deserved better. It was as if he was being mocked.”
“Tell me about him.” Cassia quietly lifted her stylus. “I mean, was Ajax a proficient gladiator? Would someone have been able to kill him easily?”
“No, they would not.” I sipped the wine this time instead of gulping it and carefully set down the cup. “He was one of Aemil’s best. In order, after Regulus, it’s Rufus, Ajax, and then Herakles. Ajax has only lost a few bouts, and even then he wasn’t badly injured. A skilled fighter.”
“Who would be able to kill a skilled fighter?”
“Another skilled fighter.” My mouth flattened to a hard line. “A gladiator, or a soldier, one very good at hand-to-hand combat.”
“Like one of the Praetorian Guard?”
“Yes.” I didn’t like the direction of her thoughts. “Are you saying he was invited to fight, as in an exhibition? Paired with an experienced Praetorian to see what would happen? Up on the Palatine?”
Theprincepsof Rome, Nero, adopted son of Claudius, might think such a battle was a grand diversion. He would not stop the exhibition from ending in death if he did not choose to.
“Possibly.” Cassia regained some of her composure. “Though theprincepslikely would have sent Ajax’s body back to the ludus, perhaps with a note or a gift to make up for killing one of Aemil’s best fighters. Even if Nero didn’t think of that, his majordomo would. I was speculating that it was a private matter gone wrong. But Marcianus believes the fighting gear was put on him after he died?”
I recalled Marcianus muttering something about that. “He thought so. He will be sure once he looks Ajax over.”
“The poor man.” Cassia did not specify whether she meant Ajax or Marcianus. “Ajax must have been taken unawares. Or plied with drink beforehand.”
