She dipped her head to concede the point. “What of it?”
He took a step closer, lowering his voice though there was no one nearby. “I hope this doesn’t offend you, Velia, but…I know in the past, you’ve seen fit to be rather, well,freewith your…favors.”
Velia’s eyebrows shot up. “Where exactly is this conversation going?”
Jason raised his hands in a conciliatory gesture. “I mean no offense. I only wanted to say…Ferox isn’t like that. He doesn’t, well, he doesn’t share that part of himself lightly.”
Velia had sensed that, but still she frowned. “He’s been with others.”
“Yes, but as far as I know, always courtesans. Those encounters are like buying lunch from a food stall. And they were infrequent at best. Only the night before matches.”
Velia tried to understand what Jason was getting at. “So you think your friend is too good for me, is that it? Because I’m just some…someslutwho’s leading him astray—”
“No!” Jason’s exclamation cut her off. “That’s not at all what I meant.”
He seemed genuine, his expression radiating sincerity and dismay at her interpretation of his words, but her lips pressed together. A familiar insult echoed in her mind:stupid whore.
“I just wanted you to understand that if he’s…spending time with you in that way…he doesn’t do it lightly.” Jason’s gaze, serious and dark, held hers.
The earnest tenor of his voice assuaged some of the tightness in her chest. “I see,” she murmured.
“I only ask that you take care,” Jason continued. “You must know he doesn’t intend to stay here past the end of the games. I won’t have him leaving broken-hearted again.”
Velia cocked her head. “What do you mean, again? Was there someone else?” It seemed to contradict what Jason had said earlier about Ferox’s lack of previous entanglements.
“No. Not like that.” He hesitated, eyes sweeping up to the sky and back down to her face. “We had a friend. He diedin the arena. Ferox took it very hard because—” He stopped himself. “Forgive me. It’s not my story to tell. Anyway, that’s why he left.”
Velia made a murmur of acknowledgment, turning this new information over in her mind. She had wondered why Ferox left and why he’d been so reluctant to return.
“I have no wish to hurt him,” she said after a moment. “We both know this won’t last forever. But if you’re asking me to stay away from him…I can’t promise that.”
Jason shook his head. “No. I only wanted you to understand. To be careful. And”—a crooked grin lit his face—“if you have any mercy on me,pleasedon’t tell him I spoke of this to you. He’ll smother me in my sleep.”
Velia chuckled. “I won’t.”
“Thank you.” Jason nodded to her and stepped aside.
Velia continued on her way, mulling over Jason’s words. If Jason was correct that Ferox had only lain with women the night before his fights, that meant him asking her to stay last night truly was unusual. Not to mention their abbreviated tryst this morning.
For there was no match today he needed distraction from. That seemed to mean he desired her in a different way than he’d ever wanted a woman before.
Velia had to admit the same might be true for herself. She hadn’t been truly tempted by anyone since coming to the ludus, her previous urges toward recklessness tempered by the new and fulfilling life she found here.
Maybe this was uncharted territory for them both. After all, she knew what it was like to have transitory encounters—one boyhere, another there. But this feeling of wanting the same man over and over again…this was entirely new.
Velia reached her uncle’s office, paid him what he was due, then spent the rest of the afternoon busy with other errands. Messages needed to be taken, there was a supply delivery to oversee, and the physician had to be summoned to check on one of the men who’d sustained a mild injury in yesterday’s games.
As the day came to an end, Velia stole a moment to herself in her room, sitting on her bed with a grateful sigh as she rested her tired feet.
A knock sounded at her door. She grimaced, but heaved herself to her feet and opened the door.
Her exhaustion was quickly forgotten as she beheld Ferox standing in the hallway outside her room. She smiled, opening the door wider. “Hello.”
He murmured a greeting, then thrust something at her. “For you.”
Velia took the object, a palm-sized clay container. “What’s this?” She removed the cover, finding a thick ointment within. A minty fragrance mixed with something herbal spiraled to her nose.
“Henbane seeds and peppermint,” he explained. “It helps with sore muscles. I thought…it would make you feel better.”
