He still remembered the buoyancy that had filled him after Gaius emancipated him. He’d felt as if he could go anywhere, do anything, the world at his feet. Finally, he could leave the service of this pernicious family and do something that truly made him happy.
That day, he’d packed his things and then gone to inform the emperor that he was leaving. He could recall the befuddled expression on Gaius’s face with painful clarity.“Leaving? But you can’t leave.”
“I-I can’t?”
“Of course not. I still need you. So does Drusilla.”
“But—you freed me—”
A benign smile. “Yes, and now I can compensate you as you deserve for your skill and loyalty. I’ve been generous, haven’t I?”
Kallias was forced to give a reluctant nod. His new wage was indeed lavish.
“But you’re still mine.” The emperor clapped his hands, and a Praetorian Guard instantly appeared. “My men will help you unpack.”
Kallias had found himself escorted back to his room. Two Praetorians glowered at him as he unpacked his belongings, piece by piece. The message had been clear, and he did not try to leave again.
He knew he should be grateful for the respect and security of his position. But it was cloying, like an unpleasant perfume that clung to one’s clothes, and as he made his way back to the palace, each step felt heavier and heavier.
3
Withhergoodarm,Lea knocked on the door of her manager’s office. A day had passed since her injury, and because she couldn’t train, she had decided to make use of her free time to raise an important matter with Lucullus.
“Come in,” Lucullus called, and she entered.
Lucullus was a middle-aged man with graying hair and a square jaw, rather small of stature just like his niece, Velia, who worked as his assistant. He was shrewd but fair, and he treated his gladiators well, believing that keeping them as content and healthy as possible would only increase their success in the arena. “Penthesilea,” he greeted her. “How is your arm? Is that palace medicus any good?”
“I think so,” she replied, standing before his cluttered desk. “I feel all right.”
She refrained from mentioning that she’d already disregarded the physician’s instruction to rest. Yesterday, her friend Ferox had been forced by the emperor to face his own student, Achilles, in what was supposed to be a fight to the death. Ferox had won, and the will of the crowd had swayed the emperor to spare the novice.
But after the games, Achilles had been loudly claiming he’d let Ferox win. That sort of slander couldn’t be tolerated, and a punch to the mouth was the most efficient way to shut him up.
She feared she might have ripped out one of Kallias’s careful silken stitches. But he’d promised to return today, so he could sort it out.
“What did you wish to discuss?” Lucullus asked, sorting through the messy papers on his desk.
She lifted her chin, steadfastly ignoring the pain in her arm. “How much am I worth?”
He stilled, though his face remained neutral. “Why do you wish to know?”
“Because I want to buy my freedom.” She’d been saving money for a while now, and yesterday’s gift of prize money—one thousand sestertii—had bolstered her holdings. She believed Lucullus had paid around two thousand sestertii for her when he bought her eight years ago. Her value would have increased since then, as she was now a trained gladiator instead of just a household slave. She estimated she might be worth around ten thousand, which she nearly had. One more win, one more prize, and she could be free.
A gray eyebrow twitched. “Are you unhappy here?”
Not precisely: she was good at fighting, and she liked the feeling of power as she swung a sword or loosed a bow.
But there was something to be said for having a choice. Lucullus, after all, was getting older. What if he woke up one day and decided to sell off all his gladiators to someone else? Someone less fair-minded, someone cruel? Life could change in the blink of an eye, as she well knew.
She might have been born a slave, but she didn’t intend to die one.
“I only want to know how much it would cost,” Lea said.
He let out a considering sigh. “I’d have to examine the numbers in more detail, but my first estimate would be somewhere in the realm of forty thousand sestertii.”
“Forty thousand!” she hissed in shock. That was four times what she’d expected. “That can’t be right.”
Lucullus fixed her with his customary cool gaze. “You are quite possibly the most valuable gladiator in my possession, Penthesilea. Especially now that Ferox is officially retired, as of yesterday. How many female gladiators are there in the city?”
