Titus stood at the door until the tribune’s boots retreated down the steps, then bolted across the room sending shards of broken pottery skittering across the floor.
“I’ll kill him. Are you all right?” He touched her burning face and she flinched away from him. “Did he hurt you?”
Iris pressed her lips together and shook her head. “I’m fine.” She reached a hand in his direction. Titus took it and she latched on to him with both hands. “Don’t leave.” She fought rising panic thathe would leave her alone. She began to suck in air, too fast. “Don’t leave—I’m fine.”
He eased down beside her, and she turned in to him, her whole body shaking uncontrollably as tears came. He wrapped his arms around her.
“Shhh, I won’t leave.” He stroked her head clumsily, strands of hair catching in the calluses on his hand. “I won’t leave you.”
As Iris calmed and relaxed against him, she could feel his body stiffening with anger. She pulled away, wrapping her arms around herself. Titus smeared wet strands of hair out of her face.
“I’ll kill him,” he muttered again.
She caught his hand. “They’ll k-kill you if you even th-think it.”
“It’d be worth it.”
“N-not to me.”
“What did he want?”
She tilted her face away. “A mistress.”
Titus went still as she explained the proposition and her father’s financial situation as per the tribune. He stood and paced the room. She heard him rattle the door and curse under his breath. “Who’s to say he’s not lying?”
“Pater never said anything, but it’d be just like him not to. Especially with it being my fault.”
“It’s not your fault.” The door rattled again. “If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine.” He sighed. “I broke the door.”
She was glad he had.
A pair of old feet shuffled onto the landing and paused. “My dear?” Dorma’s voice wobbled. “My dear, did you need something? I heard you call and came as fast as I could. Is Titus bothering you?”
Iris sat, confused for a moment, before realization dawned. She’d called for Dorma.
“No,” she said slowly. “No, I’m sorry. I...” Dorma had been the only neighbor she could think of at that moment. Thank goodness Titus had come.
“You moved a lot faster when your chicken was lost,” Titus snapped.
“That was a matter of life and death.” Dorma’s voice softened as she spoke to Iris again. “Are you all right, dear? What happened to your face?”
Iris lifted a hand to her cheek, the skin tender and burning. “I’m—I fell. I’m fine.”
The old woman’s feet shuffled back across the landing and, with painful slowness, down the stairs.
Titus fumbled through the kitchen utensils and went back to the door. “Where’s your father?”
“The Castra Praetoria. Weren’t you just there?”
“No.”
Her forehead wrinkled. “Then how did you know they were looking for Tribune Braccus?”
“They’re not.” The door thumped and Titus flipped the lock back and forth with a grunt. “When I saw him—it was the only thing I could think of, short of murder.”
Iris pulled her hair back and tugged her dress straight. “Will he be angry when he discovers you lied?”
“I don’t care. There,” he said, satisfied. “Fixed.”
