Kallias allowed himself a small smile. Sextus would soon learn all the complications and frustrations that working for the emperor entailed, but for now, it was rather endearing to see his awe. Kallias sometimes forgot what the emperor must seem like to most people—a distant figure, one step away from the divine. Not the paranoid twenty-five-year-old who obsessed over his sister’s health.
“Would I…would I have to live at the palace?” Sextus asked hesitantly.
Kallias realized the young man probably didn’t want to leave his family. “I don’t think that would be necessary. You could report there each morning and return home in the evening.”
“Then—I accept!” Sextus said. His gaze flicked from his father to his mother. “That is, if you agree.”
Vibia laid a hand on his shoulder. “You’re a man now, my love. It’s your decision to make.”
Sextus grinned. “When do I start? Tomorrow?”
Kallias returned the smile, the young man’s enthusiasm infectious. “That would suit me very well.”
6
Leastretchedherlegsout, idly patting Nyx with the hand of her good arm. The cat was sprawled on the bench next to her, soaking up a patch of afternoon sunlight.
On her other side sat Ferox. The two of them spent most days planted on this bench together, both injured and unable to do much else. Ferox occasionally barked corrections at Achilles, his student, as the red-haired idiot practiced boxing or swordplay in the training yard before them.
Lea, though, had no novice to shout at, so she was dreadfully bored. She’d even taken to working on mending, first her own clothes, then those of others in the ludus.Like some sort of housewife, she thought ruefully as she yanked a needle through one of Jason’s ripped tunics. Next she’d be embroidering flowers on anything she could get her hands on.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a small figure approaching their bench. She set the needle down and turned to see a boy, perhaps twelve or thirteen, with a cloth-wrapped bundle in his arms. Nyx raised his head and fixed the newcomer with a forbidding yellow stare.
The child froze when she looked at him. “Are you the lady P-Penthesilea?”
“Lady,” Ferox muttered with a chuckle next to her.
The boy’s gaze slid to Ferox, and the package slipped from his arms, falling halfway to the ground before he fumbled to catch it. An expression of awe glazed his young face. Ferox’s fame was at its height after three memorable victories in the recent games—even though he’d retired once and for all.
“I’m Penthesilea,” she replied.
The boy snapped his attention back to her. “This is for you.” He took a step forward, proffering the package. Nyx hissed, and the messenger stopped dead.
“For me?” Lea asked. “What is it?”
“I-I don’t know, lady. A Greek physician paid me to deliver it.”
Kallias. What could he possibly have sent her? Interest piqued, Lea extended a hand, guiding the boy in a wide arc out of reach of Nyx’s claws. Finally, he dropped the bundle into her hands, then ran off.
Lea set the package on her lap. It was soft, but something clinked from within. She untied the string that bound it and reached inside. Her fingers brushed delicate fabric, and she withdrew a folded length of what could only be silk, dyed a brilliant shade between emerald and turquoise.
Her breath caught. She wasn’t one to moon over finery, and it was just a piece of cloth, but she found herself struck dumb by the beautiful item. Why would Kallias send her something so precious?
Ferox leaned forward. “A gift from the physician? He must mean for you to wear it at that dinner party he’s making you attend.”
Ferox’s words cut through some of her wonderment. Of course—at their last meeting Kallias had been concerned that shehad nothing suitable to wear. This gift was just so she didn’t embarrass herself. “It’s just a piece of fabric,” she puzzled. “What am I supposed to do with it? Am I meant to make it into a dress?” The fabric, she noticed, was already hemmed, an almost invisible line of stitching running around each edge.
Ferox frowned at the fabric. “Don’t ladies wear things like that on their heads? Maybe that’s what it is.”
He was right. Lea flushed. How embarrassing that she hadn’t immediately recognized the garment as a palla, the long covering that respectable women—those who hadn’t spent the last eight years in a ludus—wore pinned to their heads and draped over their shoulders.
There was something else in the package, rolling around at the bottom. Lea retrieved a necklace and bracelet, made of glimmering green stones that looked like…emeralds?Her stomach lurched—but as she examined them further, she realized they were simply glass beads. She slid the bracelet onto her wrist with relief. Another beautiful gift, but not worth the fortune she’d briefly feared.
Jason ambled over, sweat gleaming on his chest and shoulders. “What’s this?” He lifted a waterskin to his mouth, drank deeply, then splashed the rest over his head.
“Equipment for attending a dinner party at the imperial palace.” Lea couldn’t help admiring the way the beads shone against her skin. They caught the sunlight and seemed to glow from within, casting shimmering green shadows.
“A gift from the physician,” Ferox clarified.
