Ferox glanced at Velia in silence. It was, after all, her story to tell.
Velia met his gaze. “It was my fault, as I said earlier,” she said in a small voice.
“No, it wasn’t,” Ferox growled.
She ignored him. Her hands smoothed over and over her braid where it hung across her shoulder. “That man—he came to theludus a few weeks ago. He—he—” She swallowed hard. Her cheeks flushed, and she stared at the floor. “Just tell him,” she pleaded.
Ferox shifted in the chair, fruitlessly trying to find a more comfortable position for his leg. “I killed that man because he disrespected Velia. Laid hands on her. I should have done it sooner.”
Lucullus narrowed his eyes, gaze flicking from Ferox to Velia. “Is this true?” he demanded of his niece.
Velia nodded.
“Did he violate you?”
The color in her cheeks deepened. “Ferox intervened before it got that far.”
Lucullus let out a long breath. Ferox couldn’t tell what the man was thinking, and his hands curled around the arms of the chair. If Lucullus dared utter a single word that made Velia feel ashamed of what happened to her…
The manager rose from behind his desk and came to stand before Velia. He rested a hand on her shoulder. “My dear,” he murmured. “Why didn’t you tell me? I could have seen justice done.”
Ferox relaxed. Usually, Lucullus and Velia treated each other with the brisk respect of employer and employee. Aside from the fact that they shared a diminutive stature, he might have never known they were related if he hadn’t been told. This was the first time Ferox had detected any sort of familial warmth between them.
“I-I don’t know,” Velia admitted. “I was embarrassed.”
Lucullus patted her shoulder. “I see. Now that I understand the situation, you may go. I’d like to speak with Ferox alone.”
Velia nodded. She cast one more glance at Ferox, her eyes lingering on his wounded leg, then slipped from the room.
Lucullus returned to his seat behind his desk, the fingers of one hand gently drumming the wooden surface. “There will be ramifications from this. One does not disregard the orders of the emperor without consequence.”
Ferox nodded, though in truth he hadn’t been thinking that far ahead when he drew his sword across that man’s throat.
“I hope it does not need to be said that you’ll forfeit any winnings you might have received. And then there is the matter of the fee for the dead man.” When a gladiator was slain, the host of the games had to pay a high price—often several times what the gladiator himself was worth—to the dead fighter’s manager.
While the emperor himself was the host of the games, Ferox supposed it made sense the ruler couldn’t be expected to outlay the cost for a man he’d intended to spare. “Take it out of my earnings.”
Lucullus nodded. “The emperor’s man already paid me half the fee for your second appearance. I imagine that will all go toward payment for the dead man. But the cost may be higher.”
Ferox’s jaw tensed. This was dearly cutting into the money that was supposed to buy him a new life. “Take it out of my next fee, then.”
“That’s assuming you have a next appearance. The emperor would be well within his rights to expel you from the games after the stunt you pulled.”
A burst of shock pulsed through Ferox, momentarily overtaking the pain in his leg. Surely not. Surely the emperor wouldn’t go so far as to remove him from the games.
If that happened, he’d not only lose his chance at earning the rest of his promised money, but he’d also lose his last weeks with Velia.
“You don’t think…Would he do that?” Ferox demanded.
Lucullus shrugged. “Far be it from me to anticipate the workings of an emperor’s mind.”
Ferox blinked stupidly as the potential consequences of his actions crashed over him. With one split second decision, he might have ruined everything.
Even so—he didn’t regret it, not for a moment.
“The emperor has sisters, doesn’t he?” Ferox asked with a touch of desperation. “Maybe—I could explain. Any man would have done the same—”
Lucullus shook his head. “No matter your reasoning, you still disrespected him in front of thousands of people. I advise you to pray to any god who will hear you that the rest of the games today are sufficiently entertaining to distract him from what you did.” Lucullus surveyed Ferox with cool dispassion. “You and Velia are lovers, aren’t you?”
