Gladiator Heart

by Alyssa Morgan

  She had to get out of the city if she wanted to live.

  At least she no longer had to worry about Tristan. He was free. And he was pressing forward through the crowd in the stands, a cold fury burning in his eyes as he headed straight for Caesar’s section of seats.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “Guards!” Crispus shouted out. “Get me away from the city.”

  His three personal guards surrounded him, weapons drawn and ready for conflict.

  Septima rushed over to him. “You don’t mean to leave us behind—”

  “Hurry to the palace where you’ll be safe,” he told her. “I’ll have my father send troops.”

  How long would it take Crispus to get to his father? Valeria’s nerves tensed immediately. It could take weeks for order to be restored. That wouldn’t help them now. She looked out into the stands and saw Tristan steadily making his way closer. The look of hatred in his eyes and the resolute determination in his every movement made her increasingly uneasy. Was this the face his enemies saw before he attacked?

  Valeria thought she should run.

  “I’ll take Valeria with me.” Gaius grabbed her by the arm. “We’ll be safe in the country.”

  She wouldn’t be safe anywhere.

  With a swish of his toga, Crispus fled the seating area. Septima hurried after him and the guards.

  “You can’t leave me here,” she cried. “Take me with you.”

  “My life is the important one,” he coldly reminded her. “Once I’m safely away I can send for you.”

  Septima watched in stunned disbelief as he disappeared with his guards and left them all to the mob. She realized just how little she meant to Crispus.

  “Don’t worry,” Gaius said. “You can accompany us to my villa.”

  By no means was Valeria getting stuck in the country with Gaius and Septima. She’d rather face the mob.

  “We need to get out of here.” Gaius snatched Valeria’s hand and dragged her behind him, pushing and fighting his way through the crowd.

  People bumped into them, and with all the nudging and shoving, her hand easily came free of his. It was her chance. She slowed her pace, letting more and more people get between them. His head was barely visible through the crowd.

  “Valeria!” He started heading towards her, a look of vicious contempt on his face as he pushed people out of his way.

  Gaius had come to the end of his patience with Valeria. She somehow managed to escape his grasp every single time. He hadn’t meant to lose her in the crowd, but she’d purposely used the jumble and disorder to separate herself from him. He had a feeling if he let her go this time, he might never get her back, and he decidedly changed course to push after her. He was taking her out of the city and back to his home. Once he got her there, he might never let her leave. Not until she acknowledged him as master.

  Valeria gave herself over to the surging flow of the crowd and let it carry her swiftly along, taking her farther away from Gaius. He could take Septima to the country and they could have each other. She didn’t care what happened to either of them. This upheaval was a chance to change her fate, and if she was lucky, she’d never lay eyes on either one of them again. And she would get out of the arena alive.

  As one woman alone, it was an effort to keep the unruly crowd from trampling her, but the mass of people eventually flowed out into the streets. She brought the hood of her cape over her head to conceal her identity and raced through the chaos and confusion, straight to Lucia’s villa.

  She didn’t bother to knock, just threw the door open wide and ran into the atrium. The house was stone silent, the only noise coming from the streets outside.

  “Lucia!” Valeria called for her as she scurried through all the rooms. “Rufus?”

  No Lucia. No Rufus. No servants. The villa was empty.

  Did she wait for them to return? The mob could come first, and she didn’t dare face it alone. She’d be torn to shreds, or worse. A faint thread of hysteria surged through her. She was more afraid than she cared to admit and she couldn’t think, didn’t know what to do.

  Run, or hide? Stay, or go? Live, or die?

  Live.

  She wanted to live.

  There had to be one safe place in the city. One place she could find protection. Not knowing what else to do, she deepened her disguise by cloaking her face and hair with one of Lucia’s colorful scarves and blended in with the crowd flowing through the streets. People were already looting businesses and turning over stands and carts of produce. Some started to turn on each other. Screams and shouts broke out over the destruction.

  Valeria kept her head down as she hastened along. Her heart beat wildly in her chest and she fought to control her panic as every step carried her closer to the palace. She would find guards there. Other nobles.Safety.

  If she made it.

  Tristan fought his way through the tightly packed crowd and rushed out into the streets. He looked up and down, but it was useless. Valeria had disappeared.

  He had to find her before the mob did.

  “Now what should we do?” Atilla came up behind him, panting heavily to catch his breath.

  The gladiator chose to stay by his side while the lanista and the medicus took care of Angus and bandaged his wound. Atilla’s shield and the bulky size of him had come to be helpful in moving through the riotous crowd.

  “Nero said his people will work quickly to organize the city, and that the citizens might start going after the nobles.” Tristan decided if they were going take Rome, they may as well do it right. “I’m thinking most of them will be hiding out at the palace. What do you say we pay Caesar a visit?”

  Tristan was also hoping to find Valeria at the palace. If not, he wouldn’t know where else to look. The palace was the best place to start, and once they cleaned out all the nobility, it would make the perfect refuge for the gladiators now that they’d left the ludus.

  “I’ll gather some of the men,” Atilla said before running off.

  Tristan waited in the street while people continued to flow out of the arena. The crowd was starting to disperse and more warriors and soldiers began to appear. When Atilla came back with a group of fighters, they gathered together in a huddle.

  “We go to take the palace,” Tristan informed them. “Before the nobles can rise in number to defend it.”

  “To the palace!” the men yelled out, raising their weapons in the air.

  As their steadfast group moved with swift purpose up the hill, the people of Rome followed them. They all had their own scores to settle, and soon it would be noble blood that stained the sands of the arena.

  Valeria reached the servants’ entrance at the kitchen out of breath. Once out on the streets, she’d run all the way to the palace, hoping to find safety. Most of the nobles had probably fled to the palace for protection, and Caesar’s guards should be setting up defenses against the mob until the legions came to restore order.

  By that reasoning, there should be guards at the servants’ entrance, but as Valeria pushed the door open, the large kitchen was empty and cold. She listened for the sound of voices and heard none. A wave of apprehension swept through her. Where was everyone?

  “Hello?” She moved through the deserted palace, surrounded by eerie silence. “Is anyone here?”

  She took a deep breath and fought to keep her calm. It was like everyone had disappeared the moment the mob broke out.

  “Valeria, is that you?”

  She jumped at the sound of Septima’s voice echoing down the hallway. The woman stepped out from the library and beckoned her over with a flurried wave of her hand.

  “We’re all in here,” she said.

  Thank the Gods!

  Valeria darted down the hall and followed Septima into the library. As the door slammed closed behind her, an uneasy feeling crept into her gut. She’d expected to find more people there than Septima, the Legatus Dias and his wife Sabina, who was huddled off in a corner.

  “Thi
s is it?” she said in a choked voice. “Three of you expect to hold off the mob? Where are the others? Where are the guards?”

  “They’ve all scattered to the winds.” The Legatus labored to push a heavy bookcase in front of the door. “It’s every man for himself.”

  “What happens when the mob gets here?” Valeria wondered if he had any sort of plan.

  “I doubt the mob will come to the palace. They’ll be too busy looting and cavorting in the streets.”

  The man was delusional. Of course the mob would come.

  A loud, thundering boom resounded through the empty palace.

  The mob was there already, and Valeria couldn’t stand the thought of being sealed in the library with only Septima and the Legatus. She had to come up with a better plan. There was nowhere to hide, so that meant run.

  “I can’t stay trapped in here.” She hurried to slip out through the door before the Legatus finished moving the bookcase.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Septima demanded in an angry tone, though her eyes were stark and full of fear.

  “I’m going to my rooms, and then I’m getting out of here.”

  “If you leave, I’ll bar the door behind you,” the Legatus warned. “I won’t let you back inside.”

  “Good luck.” She rushed up the stairs leading to her rooms.

  Those three weren’t going to be safe barricaded in the library for long. The Legatus should know better, being the leader of an army, but she didn’t have time to question his strategy. Valeria had her own neck to worry about.

  A loud, banging crash sounded from the kitchen, and she took pause at the top of the stairs. The mob was inside.

  Valeria’s fear pushed her on and she raced to her rooms. Not only was the mob downstairs, but gladiators, members of the Praetorian Guard and soldiers. This was a war for the city of Rome. And long overdue. She was going to get caught right in the thick of it unless she found some way to disappear.

  She only had to gather some warm clothes and all the money she’d been hiding away, then climb out a window and head for the countryside. As she came into her room, her heart almost leapt out of her chest when she saw Lucia and Rufus.

  “Gods, you startled me!” Valeria was relieved to find them.

  “We’ve been looking for you all over.” Lucia pulled her into a tight embrace.

  Valeria clung to her, and realized for a moment it might be the last time she’d ever see the woman who had been like her mother. If Valeria was captured by the mob, they would kill her.

  “The mob is coming to take the palace,” Rufussaid. “We must leave quickly.”

  Another resounding crash shook the palace. The three stared at each other, holding a collective breath as a moment of silence passed, and then the screams started.

  “I think it’s too late,” Valeria whispered.

  Rufusquietly closed the double doors leading to her rooms, locked and bolted them, then drew his sword and held the weapon ready. Standing there with a hard expression on his face, the huge warrior made a frightening picture. She was glad he was on her side.

  “It’ll be chaos out there,” he said. “Best to stand our ground here. It’s not us they’re after.”

  There was no reason for the mob to go after Rufus and Lucia.

  “But what about me?” Valeria wondered. “If they’re killing nobles and rounding up the rest, surely they’ll be after me,the Emperor’s niece?”

  A tight knot settled in her stomach. Nothing and no one could save her from that fate.

  Lucia’s attempt at a comforting smile faltered. “We have to reason with them. There’s nothing they could gain from your torture.”

  Torture?

  A disturbing thought.

  Valeria panicked. “I can’t stay here!” She rushed to unlatch the doors.

  “No, Domina.” Rufus pulled her away from the heavy set of doors. “There’s no way to escape. They have the palace surrounded.”

  “There’s got to be a way.” She blinked back the start of tears that pricked her eyes. “I’ll jump out the window or— or—”

  There was a loud crash against the doors. Valeria’s eyes went wide with fear. Another crash caused the latch to loosen in its hinges. Then came another.

  And another.

  Rufus, Valeria and Lucia backed away across the room, when suddenly the bolt splintered andthe doors burst open. Tristan charged into her room, his muscled body laden with the new armor she’d purchased for him, bloody sword held in his hand, a gang of gladiators behind him.

  “Tristan,” she gasped. “What are you doing here?”

  “Claiming my prize.” He flashed a triumphant smile, twirling the sword in his hand as he took a few more steps into her room.

  “You may take anything in the palace.” Lucia casually strode over and took Valeria’s hand in hers. “Valeria is coming with us.” She stared at the gladiators with that cool confidence she always seemed to muster, even in the worst situations.

  “You and the warrior are free to go.” Tristan never took his stormy eyes from Valeria. “But she stays.”

  “Over my dead body.” Rufus raised his sword and took a protective stance in front of Valeria and Lucia.

  “No!” Valeria shouted. “No one should have to die. Not for me.”

  “I swore an oath,” Rufus argued.

  Dear Rufus. Valeria valued his protection, but he couldn’t save her from everything, and she couldn’t live with herself if he died because of her. Oath, or not.

  “I release you from your oath, Rufus. I no longer have need of your services.”

  “What are you saying?” Lucia was shocked.

  “You can’t release me, Domina.” Rufus shook his head. “You need my protection more than ever.”

  “I can, and I have,” she said. “My fate is mine to face, and mine alone.”

  As terrified as she felt, Valeria knew she was doing the right thing. Lucia had always told her the right choices were seldom easy choices. Now she understood.

  “My men can see you out,” Tristan said. “No harm will come to you.”

  “And Valeria?” Lucia asked, her brow raised. “What’s to become of her?”

  Valeria held her breath, waiting for his answer.

  “She’ll be safer here than anywhere else.”

  “Let us see to her safety.” Rufus leveled his sword, pointing it at Tristan. “We’re all walking out of here together.”

  Tristan raised his sword in challenge. “You’ll have to get through me and the men.”

  Rufus briefly assessed his competition. “I’ve had worse odds.”

  “And how will you get past the mob?” Tristan wondered, narrowing his eyes.

  Rufus said nothing. He looked at Valeria with an apology in his eyes. “He’s right. They’d never let us pass.”

  Valeria bit down on her lip and fought back her tears. “Then you should go.”

  “I won’t leave.” Lucia held tight to Valeria’s hand.

  “You will leave.” Rufus sheathed his sword and took Lucia by the arms to start leading her out of the room.

  “How can you do this?” Lucia struggled against his hold. “How can we know if we don’t try?”

  Rufus stopped in front of Tristan and glared down at the warrior. “This man has given his word that Valeria will be safe here. As a man of honor, I expect him to keep his word.”

  “No harm will come to her.” Tristan lowered his sword.

  Lucia didn’t look convinced, but she let Rufus lead her away. “We’ll be back,” she said as they left.

  Valeria’s gaze strayed to Tristan.His expression was as hard as ever. She was his unwilling captive once again. “What do you plan to do with me?”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Tristan sheathed his sword after the other men had left.

  “Caesar’s cousin,” he remarked dryly as he stalked across the room. “I never would have guessed when you said you were visiting your uncle in the north you meant yo
ur uncle the Emperor of Rome.”

  “And what if I had told you?” she asked. “What would you have done with me?”

  A muscled flexed along his jaw as his intense grey gaze held her still. He didn’t answer.

  Instead, he left her standing there and began to make an inspection of her rooms. He threw open the doors of her wardrobe and examined her abundance of fine clothes and sandals. When he walked into the bath, he let out a pleased laugh before coming back into the bedroom and stopping beside the bed. A gratified smile turned up his mouth and he stroked his hands over the soft, white silk bedcover, then pressed down to test the firmness of the mattress.

  “Your room puts my little tent in the forest to shame,” he said. “I should have no trouble getting comfortable here.”

  He stripped off his armor and dumped it unceremoniously on the floor, then removed the sword from around his waist and laid it on the bed. He sat on the bed beside it and removed his sandals. Wearing only the short, light blue tunic, he reclined back into the pillows and crooked his arm behind his head.

  “Very comfortable.” He patted the empty space beside him. “Won’t you join me?”

  Valeria cast a furtive glance to the closed doors. Even if she did get away before he could catch her, where would she go?

  “There’s nowhere for you to run,” he said, detecting her thoughts. “The palace has been taken, and outside, the mob awaits. They’ll tear you to pieces.”

  Emphasizing his words, screams and shouts carried in through the open windows, issued by the angry mob gathered outside. She walked over to one of the arched windows and peered down at the courtyard. The throng of citizens collecting in front of the palace was loud and unruly. They pushed and shoved at each other while shouting out, demanding justice and freedom. The people were geared up for war with all manner of weapons, from swords and shields, to heavy clubs.

  In the center of the crowd was a wooden wagon, and Valeria recognized a bruised and bloodied Legatus slumped in the back of it, completely naked and covered in filth. His wife was dragged through the crowd and they beat her and threw stones and rotten food at her before tossing her into the wagon next. Her dark hair had been shorn and there were patches of blood on her scalp where the blade had cut too close.