She put an arm around him and drew him against her. “You had no way of knowing, sweetheart. What happened after you went aboard?”
“Well, we were waiting on deck for the crowds to thin. Felix started to get nervous about something. He said we should leave, but I didn’t know why. And then before we could get off the ship, the gangplank was gone and we were setting sail.”
Lucretia inhaled a shocked breath. “And then?”
Marcus closed his eyes, as if recalling the exact moment. “Felix dragged me over to the side of the ship and threw me overboard.”
“He didwhat?”
“We weren’t far from the dock,” Marcus explained. “It was easy to swim. I thought he was coming after me, but I looked back and I couldn’t see him anywhere. They must have caught him.”
“Blessed Orbona,” she murmured, sending a fervent prayer of thanks to the goddess of children for safeguarding her son. She added one to Neptune for good measure, since the incident had occurred at sea.
“But he’s going to be all right, isn’t he?” Marcus asked. “The ransom will be paid, and he’ll be freed?”
Lucretia hesitated. “There is an issue with the ransom. Felix has the money, but about half of it is in the temple bank, and no one but him can withdraw it.”
Marcus’s eyes widened. “We have to do something! He wouldn’t have been there if it wasn’t for me. And he saved me.”
Lucretia nodded. The pieces of her plan fell into place in her mind. After hearing Marcus’s story, she saw that Felix had sacrificed himself to save her son. Thus, Lucretia would do whatever it took to free him, even if it might cost her everything. “I have a plan.” She gave Marcus one more hug and kiss on the cheek. “You go to the kitchens and get some food in you. Youmust be hungry and tired after such a journey. I must pay a visit to Publius Calpurnius Lentulus.”
Chapter 34
Felix sat with his knees tucked to his chest in his spot in the hold, surrounded by sealed amphorae and crates of provisions. The boat rocked gently beneath him as they bobbed at anchor near Ostia.
Dread laid like a heavy stone in his stomach. Each hour that passed was one less hour of life as he knew it. He knew the pirates had given Siro a deadline of two days to provide the money. He also knew there would be no money, and his life as a free man was over.
He pondered the fate that awaited him, assuming he survived the pirates’ displeasure at the lack of ransom. He was educated, so he’d likely be sold as a scribe or secretary. At least he’d avoid the sort of menial, backbreaking labor others might be destined for.
Could he parlay his boxing experience into being sold as a gladiator? That would either lead to a quick, merciful death, or, if he was successful, he might be able to earn enough money to buy his freedom and find his way back to Ostia, and Lucretia.
That idea had promise. A gladiator trainee would fetch the pirates a higher price than a scribe. He didn’t fancy the prospect of risking his life in the arena, but it might be his best shot.
He shook his head. Winning his freedom as a gladiator was a ludicrous idea. He was destined for a life of drudgery as a scribe or something similar.
And his prospects as a slave didn’t matter if the pirates decided to kill him in retaliation for wasting their time with the promise of a ransom that never arrived.
He hoped Siro wouldn’t feel too guilty about failing to gather the money. It wasn’t his fault, and Felix wished he could see him just for a moment to tell him so.
At the thought of everyone he would never see again, his chest ached. He would never see his family again: his mother, his boorish but warmhearted stepfather, his half-sister. They would all grieve his loss. He would never get to watch his niece grow up. And Lucretia and Marcus—the thought of them made his throat tighten painfully.
He would never get to apologize to Lucretia. He should have done it the last time he saw her, when they’d walked to the harbor.
How stupid he had been. He should have thrown himself at her feet and begged for her forgiveness. Now he would never have the chance to tell her how foolish he’d been, how he’d let his greed and desire to win blight everything of real importance.
He closed his eyes, blocking out his dismal surroundings. He conjured the image of her face, pretending he could bask in the warmth of her hazel eyes and the sunlight of her smile once more. He remembered the melody of her laugh, the cool way she challenged him, her utter boldness in flouting the law with her invented guardian.
Now, when he was on the verge of losing everything, his success in business was meaningless. It was Lucretia wholoomed large in his mind. She was what he longed for. She was the only thing that truly mattered.
Lucretia arrived at the home of Publius Calpurnius Lentulus, her biggest investor, and awaited him in the atrium. When he joined her, he greeted her with a kiss on both cheeks.
“Lucretia, how nice to see you. How is young Marcus these days?”
“Very well,” she answered. “He’s taken up boxing recently, and I fear his shoulders are about to outgrow all of his tunics.”
Lentulus chuckled as he led her into his study to sit. “Boxing, eh? A wholesome activity for a young man.”
She sat in the chair he proffered. “Forgive me for my bluntness, but I come to you on a matter of some urgency. I must ask a great favor.”
