Vibius continued to trudge slowly over his patch, gaze intent on the ground. Gallus could be right that a cache of rings or bracelets or some such had been lost here, though I saw nothing more as I resumed my search.
By the time we’d finished walking the site an hour or so later, none of us had turned up any more gold. Vibius had found broken pottery shards and a discarded bronze wine cup that was partly corroded. Gallus’s admiration at his treasure did nothing to soothe Vibius’s temper.
We seated ourselves on a boulder in the middle of the site, which had been warmed by the sun, to share a flagon of wine Gallus had brought. I removed the ring from the pouch where I’d tucked it and rubbed off more of the dirt.
Probably not brass, I decided. Brass had a slightly duller hue, and the yellow in this ring was prominent. There was no tarnish, where brass would have been discolored from being buried in the ground.
“May I?” Gallus opened his hand, and I immediately dropped the ring to his palm.
Vibius frowned at me but said nothing. Gallus studied the band, which was thick and large, made for a man’s finger. A crest had been stamped into its top, but the gold was worn and pitted, the crest’s features nearly lost.
“An inscription.” Gallus peered inside the ring but soon shook his head. “Too worn to make out, and the letters are odd.”
He returned it to me, and I studied what he’d indicated. I’d begun learning letters, Cassia patiently teaching me, but I did not know how to decipher inscriptions yet. Spelling my name and Cassia’s and understanding simple bills from vendors was as much as I could do.
These letters did not look like the ones Cassia had me trace on the wooden board she’d obtained for me. Greek possibly, or one of the Gallic languages. I couldn’t tell the difference.
Vibius had leaned toward the ring, his breath on my skin again, which I found unpleasant. On impulse, I held it out to him. “Can you read that?”
Vibius started at this sudden gesture of trust. His throat moved in a swallow as he gingerly took the ring.
He turned it around as he squinted at the faint inscription, then closely regarded the crest, trying to make it out. Vibius shook his head and reluctantly handed the band back to me. I tucked the ring away again, Vibius’s gaze riveting to it until it disappeared.
After this break, we made another pass over the site. Gallus brushed mud from several of the large, half-buried stones, scrutinizing them carefully. He compared the distances we’d marked with our paces to what was on his plan and wrote some corrections.
By that time, the sixth hour—midday—had arrived, and Gallus decided that we’d done enough for the day.
“We’ll start clearing the site in the morning, if the laggards I can afford show up.” Gallus chuckled. “They’re good lads when they haven’t spent the night in their wine cups. No need for either of you tomorrow, if you’d like to have a rest.”
I’d hardly done anything that warranted a rest, although Gallus looked as if he could happily put up his feet and drink wine the rest of the afternoon. I was used to much harder physical labor than what we’d done today.
I decided I’d come to the site anyway to assist however I could. I did not want to take Gallus’s money for a job I didn’t do.
Vibius stretched his gangly limbs. “Right then. I’m for the baths. Come with me, Leonidas?”
An invitation to join a man at the baths was an offer of, if not friendship, then acceptance. Though I wondered if Vibius simply hoped for an opportunity to steal the ring.
“I will return home and eat,” I told him. “I use the baths on the Quirinal, at the Vicus Salutis.”
Vibius’s expression soured. “I’m on the Aventine, at the end of the Clivus Publicius. Baths are a few steps from my door.”
“Quite convenient for you,” Gallus said brightly. “Perhaps Leonidas will join you another time. He has a lovely woman to go home to.” He winked.
I never could find words to explain Cassia, and I only shrugged. I’d once told Gallus, emphatically, that she was my friend, which was the truth. I didn’t think Vibius would understand, at least not without meeting Cassia, so I said nothing.
Vibius’s sour look softened but only slightly. “Run home to her then.”
I expected him to sneer—a Roman man under his woman’s thumb was a being to be despised—but his words held no derision. He said no more, and Gallus waved us off, his spirits high today.
Vibius fell into step with me as we made our way along the Tiber from the Emporium toward the Circus Maximus. We walked without speaking, as the crowds moving through the busy Emporium would have drowned any conversation.
Vibius broke from me at a lane that led up the Aventine Hill. “If you change your mind, Leonidas …” He left the invitation hanging.
“Then I will find the baths on the Clivus Publicius,” I promised.
Vibius’s eyes narrowed as though he tried to decide whether to be satisfied with my answer. Then he nodded and started up the road, his long legs quickly propelling him along the street.
The true reason I wanted to return home right away was to show Cassia the ring. She would be pleased that I’d stumbled on something valuable—if it was indeed gold—and she’d know how to easily turn it into cash.
