“Down by the river.”
Decidedly not safe, then. Crispina put her hands on her hips and gazed up at the sky, as if the gods might reveal an answer written in the clouds. If she brought Max home, she would have to tell Aelius how she’d found him. He would insist she stop her lessons. Aelius might be generally tolerant, but there was no way he would think it suitable for a prospective tribune’s wife to be skulking around a slum.
Or, she would have to lie to her husband, spin up some other story about how she came upon Max. And would Aelius even agree to let a strange child stay in his house?
She would face that battle when she came to it. She let out a sigh of resignation. “All right. You’re coming with me.”
He looked up at her with a suspicious frown. “You can’t order me around.”
“Maybe not, but I can offer you good food and a warm bed. Is that inducement enough?”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “You got any more of those cakes?” He nodded toward her basket.
“The kitchen is full of them.”
Anticipation lit his face, and he allowed her to lead him from the courtyard.
Chapter 18
Crispina spent the walk home thinking up a plausible story. She would have to lie to Gaia too, which pained her. At least Gaia was undoubtedly kind-hearted enough to take the boy in, and hopefully she could convince Aelius if he balked.
She drew Max to a halt in a side street a block from home. She handed him the basket. “Hold this a moment.” She unpinned the linen covering from her hair and removed the long shapeless tunic that covered her usual dress. She folded the garments and stowed them in the basket.
Max watched her. “You ain’t a real priestess?”
“Aren’t,” she corrected. “And no. It’s…a disguise.” She hesitated. How best to make sure the boy didn’t give her away?
She crouched down so her face was at his level. “You must promise not to say anything about my lessons, do you understand? It’s a secret. If my husband finds out, you’ll end up back on the streets.”And possibly me with you. “And there will be no more cakes.”
He nodded slowly.
“Do you swear?”
He made a fist and pressed it to his chest. “On all the cakes in the world,” he said solemnly.
She bit back a smile. “Very well, then. Let’s go.”
They crossed the short distance to the house. Crispina dropped Max’s hand once they crossed the threshold. Ajax let them in and raised his eyebrows at Max, but said nothing. Crispina handed her basket to him. “Put this in my library, please.”
Ajax nodded and disappeared.
“This way,” Crispina said to Max, beckoning him into the atrium. He craned his head up, gawking at the columns that surrounded the pool.
Gaia sat on a bench on the other side of the space, taking advantage of the late afternoon sunlight to work on some mending. She set it aside and rose to her feet when Crispina entered, her face brightening in her customary smile.
Her smile faltered when her gaze landed on Max. “We have a guest, I see?” She came around the pool toward them.
Crispina took a deep breath, summoning the story she had concocted. “This is Max. I ran across him at the market. He’s been abandoned by his family, and I couldn’t leave him there. I was hoping he could stay with us for a while. Until we sort things out.” At least most of that was true.
Max cast her a critical glance, but kept silent as promised.
Gaia gave Max a warm smile. “Hello, Max. What an interesting name.”
He stared up at her, mouth falling open. It seemed Gaia’s beauty could entrance a male of any age.
Crispina nudged him. “Don’t be rude. Say hello.”
He mumbled something that might have been a greeting.
