The domus was quiet as I approached. No Regulus lounging on a balcony above or peering from a window, annoyed to see me coming for him.
No one lingered near the domus. This late in the afternoon, most people on the hill would be at the baths, including many of Severina’s servants. I might not be able to gain entry at all.
As I squared my shoulders, rehearsing my speech about paying my respects to Vestalis, Severina’s door slave appeared in the vestibule and sleepily inquired my business.
I asked to see the master of the house. I hoped I could poke around the atrium and the rooms off it for signs of Regulus while the doorman trotted away to inquire, but he immediately admitted me and waved for me to follow him.
The great house was silent and empty. My footsteps echoed, ringing against beams high above me. The walls held paintings of domestic scenes or garden vistas enclosed in borders of red and yellow, and tapered Egyptian marble columns supported the gallery on the second floor.
I saw no one as the doorman quietly led me through the wide space. A soft trickle of water sounded from a distant fountain, but there was no other noise.
The doorman took me to the tablinium, which opened from the far side of the atrium. Vestalis dozed on a chair there, but he snorted awake when the doorman announced me.
Vestalis rubbed his watery eyes and peered at me in puzzlement before rising in apparent delight.
“It is the gladiator who has honor. Welcome. Bring us wine,” he ordered the doorman, and the young man scurried off. “Why have you come, Leonidas? My wife is out.”
“To see you.” I kept to my planned excuse. “To thank you for your hospitality and your courtesy. To see if I can do anything for you, perhaps say a prayer for your ancestors on this day of Parentalia.” This was the sort of thing clients said to a patrician.
“How very kind.” Vestalis appeared to be flattered, which had been my intent.
Another servant brought wine in elegant bronze cups. The wine was not as strong as what Severina had served me but still very good.
“I import it from Campania,” Vestalis said when I praised the drink. “I have a share of a vineyard there, though I let my partner do all the raising and growing. I know very little about viticulture. Hispania has decent vintages as well, and even in far-off Pannonia, they grow good grapes. Not Britannia.” Vestalis shuddered. “Never go there, Leonidas.” So he’d warned me before.
It was not likely I’d travel to Britannia, so I nodded.
Vestalis bade me sit on a stool while he reclined on his comfortable chair and stretched out his legs. “Glad to return to Rome after my many years of travel. I can at least live out my days in ease.”
I wasn’t certain what else to say to him, but Vestalis was happy to talk about inconsequential things, asking me about my life in the ludus. He found the tedious rounds of training, exhibitions or bodyguard work, eating and sleeping to wake to more training interesting.
“And then you were freed,” he said. “Quite a coup.”
“Yes.” I did not mention my secret benefactor, not knowing whether he or she wanted that information to be spread.
“So what will you do now? Become a trainer yourself?”
“No,” I said abruptly, then softened my tone. “I might start working for anarchitectus.” The one planning Vestalis’s own warehouse, but I kept that detail to myself.
Vestalis’s gray brows rose. “Anarchitectus? How extraordinary. I suppose a strong man like yourself would be good at hauling blocks about. Or whatever it is he’d have you do.”
“I apprenticed to a master builder before I became a gladiator,” I said. “I miss that work.”
“You are an interesting young man, Leonidas. I must ask, why have you succumbed to the charms of my wife?”
Vestalis watched me, eyes alight, truly wanting to know.
I shrugged, as though I’d had no hidden reason for visiting her. “It was a meal, and I’d hoped for some money. I no longer win prizes in the games.”
Vestalis chuckled. “I suppose you hoped for some coin today as well. I do not blame you—it is difficult to be poor. Do not look surprised. My family never had much money, and I was required to spend much of it traveling and keeping up a home in the provinces. It’s why I married Severina. She has more money than any woman ought.” He broke off and unlocked a box that reposed beside his chair, extracting a few denarii from it. “There you are, my boy.”
I did not reach for the coins. “I truly did not come here for that.”
“No matter. Men hire gladiators to entertain them, and you have done that for me today. Listened to an old man natter on. Besides, you deserve it for putting up with my wife.”
I sensed that Vestalis would be offended if I did not take what he offered, and so would Cassia. Our coffers were never very full.
I held out my hand, and Vestalis dropped the three denarii into my palm. As I closed my fingers around the cool metal, I decided to take a chance.
