Mark of the Thief

by Jennifer A. Nielsen

  But refusing a master would only earn me a bare-backed whipping, which would reveal the bulla faster. So I turned, expecting the worst. He widened the tear in the tunic until he could better see what he was looking for and even ran a finger over the scratch. I flinched when he did. Not because it hurt, exactly, but his touch sent a spark into my chest that forced me to move.

  "Did the griffin do that?" he asked.

  I didn't answer. I didn't want him to think Caela was dangerous, or else she might not be given to the emperor. I knew her fate if the emperor refused her.

  He grunted and turned me to face him again. "Your master said I'd have no problem with you, but I'm beginning to doubt that."

  "I won't cause any trouble." I meant the words, but they still sounded untrue. Especially with the problem already hanging from a strap around my shoulder, which bore a scratch that people would kill for.

  Felix frowned, and then grabbed my arm as a passing merchant jokingly called over to him, "Your new slave is young, Felix. Let's hope this one isn't also eaten by tigers."

  Though the man who had spoken laughed loudly, it was hardly a joke. My head shot up. "Also?"

  "The tigers are not your biggest problem right now." Felix pushed me back up the ramp and into a corner of the caravan where he clamped a manacle down on one leg. "Stay quiet, if you know what's good for you."

  "You said I'd get water!" I called. "Please!"

  Felix called for Aurelia to come over. "Don't get close to that boy, but keep an eye on him."

  Once she was inside, he closed and locked the door behind us.

  "You promised me water!" I yelled. And when he didn't respond, I drove my elbow into the side of the caravan, wanting him to know how angry I was. How desperate my thirst.

  Across from me, Aurelia gasped, and then I saw why. My elbow had left a deep dent in the metal wall. I couldn't explain how. I only knew that I had done it.

  She pulled out her knife and faced me as the caravan began to drive. "Stay away from me," she muttered. "You're cursed."

  "I'm not," I said, but the lie sounded insincere, even to me. Every part of me understood that she was absolutely correct. Maybe I hadn't escaped Caesar's ghost in that cave after all.

  In the caravan, Aurelia had a skin of water sloshing at her side, and outside it had begun to rain. They were painful reminders of my thirst, taunting me. Aurelia hadn't stopped staring at me since we left, except to glance at the dent I'd made with my elbow. Then she'd shudder and darken her glare.

  "I need some of your water," I told her.

  "Felix put that chain on your leg for a reason," she said. "Maybe you'll tell me why."

  Maybe not. Her hand still gripped her knife, and the last thing I needed was trouble from her too. I said, "I don't belong in chains. I'm not dangerous."

  "I'm sure you're as harmless as a butterfly. If a butterfly could dent metal, of course."

  "It's a warm morning. The metal must've gone soft."

  "It could be hotter than Apollo's sun, and that metal still wouldn't have softened."

  "Give me that water."

  Aurelia pulled the skin from over her shoulder, uncorked the opening, and took a drink.

  "Please, Aurelia."

  She started to cork it again, but I lurched forward, hoping to somehow reach far enough to grab it from her. The chain on my leg pulled tight, then, with a knocking sound, it gave me two more inches. I glanced back and saw the bolt that had fastened the chain to the floor had come loose. But I still wasn't close enough to Aurelia.

  "I was going to give it to you. Now you're threatening me?" she asked.

  "Threatening you? No, I just need the water!"

  "Then take it!" She tossed it to me and her eyes fell upon the loosened bolt.

  I didn't want to think about how it had pulled free so easily. Instead, I swallowed the water in giant gulps and too quickly the water was gone. She stared at me the entire time, her finger stroking the crepundia around her neck. There were at least a dozen carved miniatures on it, all strung together on a leather cord. Several were symbols of the harvest, a bundle of wheat or a bunch of grapes. I also noticed an old Roman coin and a carving of a timepiece, but the largest of all was a sickle crossed with a knife that wasn't much different from the real knife Aurelia carried with her. In the center was a satchel only a little smaller than the bulla. Maybe hers also held gems.

  I wondered why she might put so much value on what was only a child's plaything. Then I felt the bulla against my side. It was for children too.

  I corked the skin and tossed it back to her. "Thank you."

  "Something's not right," she said. "I still don't trust you."

  Which was fine, given that I still didn't like her. My fingers traced the outlines of the bulla, and I wished I could take it out and study it closer. Whatever Felix decided to do with me next, he knew about the mark and probably the bulla too. Once he forced me to show it to him, he'd accuse me of having stolen it, which, probably, I had. I'd be immediately killed for that.

  Caela rolled in her sleep, which left a talon not far from Aurelia's hand. She reached out to pull the remaining rope free from Caela's leg, but Caela awoke and snapped at her fingers. "Fine!" Aurelia said. "Then I won't help!"

  I couldn't help but laugh, which only focused the heat of Aurelia's glare on me. In response, I stretched as far from the wall as the chain allowed and patted Caela instead, mostly to prove that I could.

  "That griffin saved your life, you know," Aurelia said.

  My first thought was how Aurelia could possibly know about our escape from the cave, and I fumbled around for a response.

  But she added, "Felix had intended to put you in the arena tomorrow along with the other criminals, but now he'll need you to manage the griffin."

  "I'm not a criminal."

  "Yes, and you're not dangerous either, I already know."

  A crack of thunder roared above us and I ducked. Now it was Aurelia's turn to laugh. "It's only noise."

  "The lightning that goes with it isn't noise."

  "We won't get hit by the lightning."

  "Tell that to my father."

  "Did he --?" She answered her own question. "Oh, that's awful."

  When I remained silent, her eyes darted up to the window above my head, and she asked, "Ever been in the city?"

  "No."

  "Rome is the most amazing place in the world. I sometimes help Felix in the amphitheater. It holds more than fifty thousand Romans, and everyone can attend the games for free, even slaves."

  "I won't be a slave forever."

  She shrugged that off. "Then what would you do? I doubt you have any skills to make a life in Rome."

  "Maybe I'll get a job riding in caravans, guarding things that aren't dangerous." A grin tugged at my mouth. "How hard could that be?"

  Her eyes narrowed. "I'm paid to control that griffin! There's not enough gold in the empire to make guarding you worthwhile."

  She probably didn't know how much gold was piled in Caesar's cave. If I was more trouble to her than all of that, then that was a compliment.

  "Why do you need the pay?" I asked. "Doesn't your family take care of you? They must have given you that crepundia."

  "My father gave me the crepundia when I was a baby," Aurelia said. "Before I was exposed."

  "Oh." I knew about that. Several of the slaves in the mine had come to us through exposure. If the father of a household didn't want a child, he would put it out on the streets. Maybe the child would be picked up by a loving family willing to adopt it. Very often slavers would take it. I wasn't sure what had happened to Aurelia, but if she still had that crepundia, I knew there must be a part of her hoping to learn who her family once was, and trying to earn her way back to them.

  "Sorry," I muttered.

  "Just stop talking," she said.

  That was fine by me. Caela shook her head as if I should've known better. But what did she know about girls? She'd been in a cave her whole life. Of c
ourse, so had I.

  I did know one thing for certain, which was that I wanted nothing else to do with Aurelia. Felix had been kind when he compared her to a rabid bear. Given the choice of a traveling companion, I'd have preferred the bear. Because Aurelia and I would never, never become friends.

  The storm passed quickly and it wasn't long afterward that the wagon stopped too and our doors opened. I put a hand on Caela to steady her from jumping out at any strangers, but it was only Felix who appeared.

  "We're at the gates of Rome," he said. "It should be safe to come out now, if you want to enter the city with me."

  My heart leapt at the opportunity. I hadn't expected to be allowed to enter this way, like a freeborn. I told Caela to be good, knowing full well she'd do whatever she wanted anyway, and then scrambled out of the wagon.

  Aurelia started to follow, then Felix held up a hand to her. "You're paid to watch that griffin," he reminded her.

  She shook her head. "I won't stay in there alone. It doesn't like me."

  I smiled, but said nothing. The joke was far too obvious.

  He sighed. "Then ride on the back. Nic and I need to talk up front."

  My grin widened, and I made sure she saw it. "If the griffin makes a mess in there, be sure to clean it up."

  She growled back at me, or something very close to it, which only made me happier. Felix returned to the seat of the wagon and then invited me to sit beside him. I couldn't climb up fast enough. Once I was in place, he handed me a sack of olives. I ate five before realizing that he probably hadn't intended for me to eat them all. There were only a few left. Before I could debate the wisdom of my actions, I ate them too.

  Now that we were alone, I wanted to ask Felix about the scratch from Caela, or whatever mark he said was there instead. With Aurelia watching me so carefully from the wagon, I hadn't dared feel for it again, but the mark wasn't my only concern. The bulla still hidden beneath my tunic warmed every time I thought about the mark. It was warming now, in fact. Surely that was no coincidence.

  "Thanks for the olives," I said to Felix. It seemed like a safe way to begin the conversation.

  "Where did you get the bulla?" Obviously, Felix was more direct than me.

  I scratched my head while I considered an answer, and finally came up with, "I found it." It might not be the full story, but it was true enough for his question.

  "How long have you had it?"

  "Only a couple of days."

  "And that mark on your shoulder was a scratch from the griffin?"

  "Nothing was there before, not until the scratch. What is the mark?"

  Felix sighed. "The shape is unmistakable: a circle of fire, with a trail behind it like smoke. The entire mark is blood-colored."

  "And what does it mean?"

  "It means you're in a lot more trouble than you know." Felix pointed ahead to a massive brick wall that he said now surrounded the entire city of Rome. "They say it's to keep the barbarians out. But I sometimes wonder if the real barbarians don't already live inside these walls."

  The arched wooden gate through which our wagons would enter was large enough for a giant and wide enough for men to walk across it from above. Spaced apart every hundred feet were square turrets to protect Roman soldiers if they had to fight during an invasion. As we came closer, several men blocked the road and held up hands for us to stop. They wore the same red-cloaked uniforms as the soldiers who had come to the mines with Radulf, and that was enough to make me uncomfortable. Were they involved in his treason too?

  I pressed a hand against the bulla at my side, then noticed it vibrate beneath my touch.

  Felix noticed. "Don't do that," he said. "Put your hands in your lap and try to look relaxed." I obeyed and he added, "I'll want to see that bulla next time we're alone."

  Maybe. I didn't really want to show him, but he seemed to know more about it than I did. Besides, if my troubles were as bad as he suggested, then I definitely needed someone's help.

  When we drew up to the soldiers, Felix told them who he was and about the griffin he was bringing in.

  A soldier eyed me. "You have new slaves too?"

  "Just this one." Felix's tone was relaxed, a reminder for me not to look as guilt-ridden as I felt. He brushed his arm toward me, pushing my hand away from the bulla again, and then added, "He isn't worth much, but he'll be of some use with the animals."

  "Since when does a worthless slave ride up front with his master?" The soldier drew his sword and used it to point at me. "Climb down here, boy."

  What if Radulf had told them to watch for a slave with a bulla? What if they saw the tear in my tunic? My heart pounded as I considered my options, all of which ended with me on Caela's back, attempting to outrace the soldiers' arrows. Or Aurelia's knife -- I wasn't sure whose side she'd be on. Either way, Caela would have to break herself out.

  As if she had heard my thoughts, there was a sudden banging in the caravan, so fierce it nearly overturned the wagon. The soldiers jumped back and Felix began shouting about letting us pass before his cargo became truly angry. But I was more focused on a sizzling sting in my shoulder that seemed connected to Caela's squawking. She had heard my thoughts. Just as the mark was a part of me now, and the bulla, she had become a part of me too.

  "Move on," the soldier shouted, waving us on. "Get that animal into a cage where it belongs!" Felix immediately obeyed, though he brushed my hand away from the bulla yet again as we passed between the gates.

  "It's safe now," I communicated to Caela. "Be calm." And as she settled down, the sting in my shoulder eased too.

  "Can you explain what just happened?" Felix muttered.

  "No." Well, I could explain it, but I wouldn't. Not until I better understood it myself.

  Minutes later, as we crossed the bridge over the Tiber River, I began breathing more evenly, and Felix's knuckles around the horse's reins were no longer white. The river was wide and powerful, though I wasn't sure how deep it went. I only knew that I didn't care to find out. On the opposite side, a small brick arch was dug into the bank with dark water pouring into the river.

  "That's the Cloaca Maxima," Felix said when I pointed it out to him. "Rome brings in new water from all over the land on great aqueducts above our heads, and then sends the old water out again in the sewers beneath our feet."

  The very notion of sewers running below ground was amazing. One of my few memories from Gaul was having sewage accidentally tossed on me while walking down a road. I couldn't imagine a place where water freely came and went, where thirst wasn't a daily problem.

  As Rome came into view, my eyes fixed upon the aqueducts, large enough that I doubted anyone but the gods could have built them. Their massive arches towered over tall brick buildings that served as homes, shops, and majestic public forums. Shoddier ones were constructed of wood, many of which had burn scars on them, and I wondered what would happen to this city if a fire ever raged out of control.

  Around us, the streets bustled with people and carts and wagons, everyone with someplace to go and a job to do. I'd never seen so many people in my life. I had no idea that so many people even existed.

  As we came closer to the center of Rome, the buildings grew finer and so grand they stole my breath away. Each one seemed like a palace, lining the streets with white marble walls and columns, or thick, square-cut granite, all of them trimmed with gold, silver, or copper. These were the very materials I had mined for the last five years, which meant that in some way, I had been part of building Rome all this time, and never known it.

  "Is this Elysium?" I whispered to Felix, for it seemed impossible that so much beauty could exist anywhere but in the afterlife.

  Felix laughed. "No, my boy. You see this place with your living eyes. It was built over hundreds of years and only grows finer. A million people live in this city, all of them engaged in the promise of what it means to be Roman. You are Roman now as well. You are part of this promise."

  My eyes widened as we rounded another
corner and a building rose from the horizon, greater than anything I'd seen before in my life.

  "It's stood there for two hundred years and will likely stand for eternity," Felix whispered. "We call it the Flavian Amphitheater."

  I already knew the name from the men in the mines, but their description wasn't nearly magnificent enough.

  The amphitheater stood four levels tall, higher than any structure I'd ever seen. The bottom three levels were a series of grand arches. The public could come and go through any of them on the ground level, but the arches along the two levels above that were only frames to display marble statues of the gods and the images of emperors who thought they should be immortalized too. The panels of the top tier alternated between bronze shields and rectangular windows. It was breathtaking, in every sense of the word.

  As we drew closer to the amphitheater, I also saw a colossal bronze statue planted in front, as tall as twenty grown men. My mouth fell open just to gaze at it.

  Felix laughed. "That's Emperor Nero, may he rot in peace. He nearly destroyed the empire during his reign, and then built that statue to celebrate himself for it. It took twenty-four elephants to drag that statue here after Nero's death."

  I chuckled at the spectacle that must've been, but then fell silent as I continued to soak in the sights as quickly as we passed them.

  Finally, we stopped right in front of the amphitheater. Felix looked over at me. "Well, Nic, what do you think?"

  I only smiled back at him. Whatever my opinion of Rome had been before, I knew that I had just entered the greatest city in the world. A part of me felt that I had come home.

  The city bustled around us. I would have loved to explore and discover Rome's secrets for myself, but that was not for a slave to do. Instead, once we reached the far side of the amphitheater, Felix immediately turned to me. "The griffin is for you alone. A ramp ahead of you leads to the hypogeum beneath the amphitheater. Her cage will be the first one you come to down there."

  "She won't go in it," I said.

  "She'll race in," Felix countered. "I had the men prepare her cage with a large nugget of gold. Griffins will never leave their gold."

  Which explained why Caela had fought so hard over the gold in Caesar's cave. She wasn't protecting it for him; she wanted it for herself. That is, except for the bulla, which would have belonged to Caesar in a far more personal way. Once I put it on, our fight was over. Caela may have loved her gold, but she respected the bulla.