She batted it away. “No. I’ve made my choice.”
The emperor’s voice intruded, and Kallias hastily stepped back. “I’m afraid this is not up to you, medicus.” Gaius’s shoulders were stiff, but he spread his hands once more in that gesture of benevolence. His mouth curved into a brittle smile. “Of course I will honor the terms of the contest.” He spoke as if there had never been any doubt of it, but his voice had a bitter edge to it. When he deigned to look at Lea, his eyes were filled with such venom she nearly took a step back.
He hates me, she realized. Her reckless demand had forced the emperor into a corner he couldn’t escape from without appearingto violate his word in front of twenty thousand people, and she’d just made an enemy of the most powerful person in the world.
“Enjoy your new medicus, Penthesilea.” Gaius returned to his seat and waved a hand at the official managing the games. “Let the next match begin!”
Lea just stood there for a moment, unable to move, waiting for the emperor to laugh and snatch Kallias back.
Then she took one step toward the Praetorians that guarded the entrance to the private area. They didn’t lunge for her or Kallias, so she took another step. She glanced behind her, making sure Kallias was following her.
He was, though the look of horror hadn’t faded from his face. She raised an eyebrow at him. He could stand to look happier, given the circumstances.
“Lea,” he said in a harsh whisper as soon as they were out of the imperial seating area, onto the staircase leading to the higher levels of the stands. “What did you just—”
“Wait.” They needed privacy. There would be none if they returned to the lower level beneath the stands where the other gladiators congregated. So instead of heading down the narrow stairs, she turned the other way, climbing higher and higher into the stands.
At the very top, the worst seats were empty. They were effectively invisible up here, as everyone else faced toward the arena. Lea slid onto a bench in the highest row. These seats towered above the arena, reducing the two gladiators beginning their fight to indistinct dots, highlighted by the occasional flash of sun on steel.
She gestured for Kallias to sit beside her, but he remained standing, hovering over her. “Lea,” he repeated, his voice strangled. “What in Hades did you just do?”
He was in shock, and she couldn’t blame him. She herself was dizzy with astonishment, residual tension humming in every muscle in her body. “Not sure,” she admitted.
“Because it seemed to me that you just exchanged your freedom for mine.” Finally, he sat, his body coming to rest heavily on the bench beside her.
“Yes,” she said. “It does seem that way.” She stared down at the arena. The height wasn’t helping her dizziness, but her eyes tracked the movements of the two gladiators below.
“But…why?” He slid off the bench, coming to his knees in the narrow space before her. He reached up to take hold of her face with shaking hands. “You don’t understand what you’ve done. Every time you fight, you’re going to be at his mercy. You think he’ll hesitate to order your death if you lose? I can’t let you do this. I’m going to go back there—I’m going to demand you accept the rudis—”
She summoned a wry smile, though she knew in her bones that she’d sealed her fate if she should ever lose another match. “Just yesterday you were begging me not to compete, saying we could secure my freedom another way, offering me every coin in your possession to make it so. Well, now’s your chance to prove you were serious about that.” She trailed her fingers through his hair. “You deserve to be happy,philé emé. What’s my life worth if I can’t do something good for the person I love?”
Her blurry vision had returned, but this time, it wasn’t from her head injury. A tear spilled down her cheek.
“Oh, my love,” he whispered, voice rough. Then his arms were around her, pulling her into a tight embrace. Everything else fell away—the roar of the crowd, the fight taking place below, even the lingering ache in her head. With him by her side, nothing else mattered.
37
Thenextday,alarge crate arrived at the ludus. “What in the underworld is all this?” Lea asked as she levered the edge of a knife beneath the lid of the crate.
Kallias helped pry off the top, which revealed a collection of smaller boxes, jars, and other items, all carefully packed with straw for padding. His eyebrows lifted, and he reached in to extract one glass jar, filled with some sort of powdered substance. “My medical supplies.” He rotated the jar in his hand. “Someone must have packed them up and sent them from the palace. I assumed I’d never see these again.”
They dragged the crate to Lea’s room, where it took up most of the available space, and Lea helped Kallias unpack the various items within. Kallias was staying with her for the time being, as Lucullus had agreed to it on the condition that he provided free medical care to the gladiators for the duration of his visit.
Lea surveyed the assortment of supplies, which now covered every available surface in her room and part of the floor. “I didn’t realize you came with so many…things.”
He chuckled. “Neither did I.” He leaned over to reach into the bottom of the crate, pulling out the last remaining item—a large box, which appeared heavy from the way he was gripping it. “Icertainly didn’t expect to seethisagain. My money,” he explained when Lea raised her eyebrows.
He laid the box on her bed, unlatched it, and popped the top open. Golden coins gleamed from within, piled high inside the box, and Lea caught her breath. She hadn’t realized he’d accumulated so much wealth in only a few months of paid service.
Perhaps he hadn’t realized either, for he stared at the coins as if he’d never seen them before. A folded piece of papyrus rested on top of the money.
He slammed the lid shut, stared at the box some more, then reopened it.
“What’s wrong?” Lea asked. “Is there something missing?”
He gave a hoarse laugh. “Not exactly.” He retrieved the piece of paper and unfolded it, his eyes skimming over the line of text. “Oh,” he murmured, then set it down.
Lea picked it up. She knew how to read, but rarely practiced the skill, and it took her several moments to decipher the neat writing. Finally, the words untangled themselves.
