“Your uncle has not yet arrived,” one of the soldiers informed her. “But he was very concerned about your safety.”
“He should have been,” she snapped, placing both hands on her hips. “My cousin left me to the mob. Thank the Gods my future husband remained here to protect me.”
“We’ve secured the palace, lady. It’s safe for you to stay here.”
Her plan appeared to be working well, so she carried on with the ruse.
“I won’t be staying in the palace.” She rolled her eyes and started walking past the soldiers, through the doors and towards the stairs. “Don’t you know I’m to be wed tomorrow morning? I only came to retrieve my personal items.”
“Certainly, lady. Do you require any assistance?”
“No, thank you, that’s why I brought Lucia.” She paused on the stairs and turned. “I do wonder where Rufus and Vorenus got to though,” she mused thoughtfully, resting a finger on her lips.
When she saw the two soldiers exchange a confused glance, she knew she’d achieved her goal and climbed the rest of the stairs. Once out of sight, she broke into a run and went crashing into her empty rooms. She found both purses of money and shoved them into a bag before filling it with some clothes from her wardrobes. She grabbed her dark blue cloak from the floor and hurried to the doorway where Lucia was waiting.
“I have it,” she whispered, looking down the hallway to be sure they were alone. “Now we have to get Rufus and Vorenus.”
“It’s too dangerous.” Lucia argued.
“Vorenus has the rest of the money. We need him.”
Damn.
Lucia cursed to herself. Why hadn’t she thought of that? This plan was not turning out to be so easy.
Valeria led them back downstairs. The soldiers had disappeared from the front entrance and their path to the doors was clear. They should have sent Valeria in as she’d suggested, seeing how easy it was for her to control the soldiers. She could have slipped in and out, and no one would have known she’d been there.
Lucia heard loud voices arguing down the hall. One of them belonged to Rufus.
“They’re in the library.” Valeria rushed towards the voices.
Inside the library, Rufus and Vorenus were seated at a table, and sitting directly across from them was a Roman officer.
He rose to his feet when Valeria entered the room. “Lady, we are glad for your safe return.”
“No more glad than I,” she said politely, smiling and fluttering her lashes.
The officer returned her warm smile, allowing his gaze to stray from her eyes and travel along the lines of her body.
Gods, the girl could tame a viper with those sweet, dripping words and her flirtatious looks. The lies rolled so easily off her tongue, Lucia had to wonder how many had gotten past her over the years.
She’d taught her girl well when it came to surviving in a man’s world. Lucia was going to miss her when she was gone, but Valeria didn’t belong in Rome. Her heart had always been somewhere else, and she’d finally found it in the most unlikely of men. Bless the Gods for her happiness.
“I hear you’ve come to collect your things.” The officer looked her over again, noticing her glaringly white dress. “In preparation for your marriage to Gaius Cato.”
“I was prevented from coming to the palace sooner by those meddlesome rebels. What a nuisance,” she scoffed. “I’m certainly relieved the legions returned so quickly. You’ve saved us all a great deal of trouble. I, for one, am grateful for it.”
“We were only doing our duty,” the officer stammered under her flattering praise.
“Now, if you don’t mind, how long do you plan on keeping my men detained?” She looked at Rufus and Vorenus.
Rufus was trying to mask his shock, and Vorenus wore a bold grin.
The officer blanched. “These are your men?”
“Yes, they’re my men. Did you think my future husband would allow me to walk the city streets alone at night?”
“No, no, certainly not.”
“I’ll be waiting in the atrium for them to be released.” She turned to leave the room, knowing just how to make that happen. “I should like to be attended while I wait. Some food and wine, and a lady to wash our feet.”
Valeria waited for the anticipated answer, getting it a beat later.
“I would hate to see you troubled by such a delay,” the officer said. “Your men are free to go.”
“Thank you.” Valeria beamed at him with a smile. “You have been most indulging. I’ll be sure to tell my husband of your courtesy and your professional manner.”
Their conspiratorial group left the palace in a rush. They were at the end of the avenue when they knew no one was in pursuit.
Rufus looked at her in awe, shaking his head. “How did you do that?”
She smiled. “I know they don’t have any servants in the palace yet, and those soldiers aren’t equipped to attend the Emperor’s niece. They had to get rid of me for fear of embarrassing themselves.”
Laughter echoed down the hill after the group as they made their way to the south wall.
Tristan had never taken the time to truly imagine hell, but he was sure he was in that dark place now. Under the arena. Locked in a cell. Waiting to die.
There would be no escape. But he’d been left with no choice. He had to go back for Valeria. She was his heart. She belonged with him.
“I do hope you understand we can’t indulge you in one last meal,” Gaius said, glaring at him through the bars of his cell. “The rebels completely sacked the city.”
Tristan refused to say anything in response to Gaius. He’d never wanted to kill a man as badly as he wanted to kill this Roman. Knowing he would soon be enjoying Valeria’s sweet pleasures stirred a possessive rage deep within him. He wouldn’t be able to save her from that fate, and he wished things could be different. He prayed for a better ending, and didn’t know if it would do any good.
“In only a few hours, Valeria will belong to me.” Gaius patted a hand over his tousled golden curls. “Once I spread her legs and get inside her, I’ll fuck her until she screams. It shouldn’t take long for her to forget you.”
Tristan grated his jaw, holding back his harsh words. He wasn’t in a position to anger the man. If only they would open his door. He’d fight his way out, or die trying. He was going to die anyway, he might as well go down with a good fight.
“Imagine the feel of her soft, supple body beneath me as I ride her, long and hard.” Gaius stepped closer to his cell. “I can already hear her begging for more as I let her wrap those sweet, pink lips around my cock.”
Tristan’s hands shot through the bars of his cell and he wrapped his fists in Gaius’s toga, pulling him forward and slamming him up against the iron bars. He slammed him roughly a few more times before the guards were able to pry him loose.
Gaius shrugged the men off and straightened his toga, then glared furiously at Tristan. “I’ll watch you die, northern scum. I’ll make sure it’s a slow, painful death.”
“You may think you’ve won,” Tristan finally spoke. “But Valeria will never love you. You’ll never know what we have.”
Gaius wanted to kill the man now. But a swift death at the end of the sword was not what he had planned. He wanted Tristan to suffer as he died, knowing that Valeria would be satisfying another man’s lusts. It was the perfect way to put an end to his disgusting life.
Valeria and Lucia stayed at the back of their party as five members of the Praetorian Guard escorted them down the narrow, dark hallways leading to Tristan’s cell. Every man in the arena had been replaced with their fellow members. All except the six men guarding Tristan’s cell.
They were walking into a fight outnumbered. The members of the Guard would not engage in battle. They would only assist their group in getting in and out of the arena. The rest was up to them. Rufus and Vorenus believed they could handle the odds, but Valeria wasn’t so convinced.
She’d asked for a sw
ord, saying she would fight to help even the odds, but the men all laughed at her request. And they didn’t give her a sword. She didn’t know why. Had they never seen what a woman was capable of when she was desperate?
They were about to.
When they came to the tiny little room full of cells, Gaius Cato and his men were waiting for them. So, this was his errand. Tormenting Tristan to the very end.
“Is my bride so anxious to see me?” Gaius leered at her with a wicked smile.
Valeria took a frightened step back. She’d never expected to see him down there. But they were going to have to get past him if they wanted Tristan. She steeled her nerves. She had to be strong. Gaius was not going to win this time.
“Tristan!” she called out, the panic in her voice echoing through the room.
She didn’t see him. What if he wasn’t here? What if it was a trick? His shadow loomed in the center cell, directly behind Gaius. He stepped closer to the bars and the flickering torchlight landed on his handsome face.
“Valeria?” His eyes watered with emotion.
Seeing him alive gave her all the strength and courage she needed. “I’ve come to get you out.”
“You and what army?” Gaius challenged, drawing the sword from his waist and holding it aloft.
Rufus and Vorenus drew their swords in a collective move and held them steady. “This army.”
Gaius threw his head back and laughed. “Do you really think yourselves a match for me and my men?”
“We’ll soon find out.” Rufus charged straight for Gaius, immediately capturing him in a fight.
While their swords clanged and clashed and they scuffled about, Vorenus made a distraction for the remaining five men. He was a swift fighter and put down one with the first swipe of his sword. The other men closed in on him, and though he fought, it was easy to see they were playing him into a corner.
Valeria felt helpless just standing there watching. She ran into the room, with Lucia yelling at her not to, and pried the sword from the dead man’s hand.
“Valeria!” Tristan shouted at her through the bars of his cell. “What do you think you’re doing?”
She jumped to her feet and swayed under the heavy weight of the sword, clumsily swinging about to smile at him. “Getting you out of here.”
“You’ll get yourself killed.”
She went up to his cell and pressed her face against the bars. “Then kiss me one last time.”
Tristan held her head in his hands as he covered her mouth with a fierce kiss, sensuously sliding his lips over hers. She moaned softly as she melted into the heat of his passion. This was where she belonged.
The blade of a sword clanged against the bars of his cell, landing right next to their heads. Sparks flew as metal clashed against metal. Gaius had broken away from Rufus to come at them.
Valeria hefted the sword in her hand and prepared to fight him, but Rufus attacked him from behind, drawing his attention away from her. While they parried back and forth, she noticed Vorenus being backed into a corner by the four remaining men and rushed in to help.
She may have slightly over-estimated her skills with a sword, but she was at least able to keep Vorenus from being pounced on while she annoyed the other men by stabbing at them and getting in their way. It didn’t appear to be enough help because they found themselves surrounded and forced back against the wall, held in a precarious position at the ends of four swords.
In the same moment, Gaius stabbed his sword into Rufus’s thigh and the great warrior stumbled to the ground. Gaius held the tip of his sword to his throat.
“Any last words?” he asked.
The five members of the Praetorian Guard now filed into the cell. Valeria looked to the soldiers helplessly. Rufus was injured, she and Vorenus were surrounded, and without their help, Tristan had no chance of escape. This was not how it was supposed to end. Gaius didn’t deserve to win.
When the guards drew their swords and surrounded Gaius, taking deadly aim, Valeria was overcome with relief and gratitude. The Gods appeared to be on her side this day.
“Drop your weapon,” one of them commanded.
Gaius shook with rage, but did as they ordered.
“Tell your men to release them.”
When Gaius said nothing, the sharp tip of a blade was brought over his heart. “We’ll run you through.”
“Drop your weapons,” Gaius ordered his men.
The men clearly had no wish to challenge the Guard on their master’s behalf and obeyed the command, tossing their swords to the ground.
“You’ll be punished for this.” Gaius started backing away, his eyes wide with fear and disbelief.
“We’re only following our orders,” one of the Guard answered.
“What orders?” Gaius demanded. “From who?”
Valeria stepped through the men and into the center of the room to face Gaius. “From me.”
His face twisted with rage and the tendons in his neck bulged. “You cannot do this. You are my wife!”
“Not yet,” she mused. “You seem to keep forgetting that.”
“I order you to call off this farce.”
She narrowed her eyes and raised her sword, pointing it at him. “You order me to do nothing.”
“You’ll never get away from me,” he insisted, his voice high and reedy, full of panic. “I’ll find you. Wherever you go, I’ll find you.”
“I hope you like the cold,” Tristan said, his hands draped casually through the bars of his cell.
Gaius erupted with rage and charged towards Tristan. Rufus caught his foot and tripped him, sending him crashing to the ground. The great warrior stood and stared down at Gaius.
“Where are the keys?”
“What keys?” Gaius spat on the ground beside him, then stared hatefully up at Rufus.
“Vorenus,” Rufus barked. “Cut off his hands.”
When Vorenus charged forward, his eyes glittering like menacing steel, Gaius abruptly produced a ring of metal keys. Rufus snatched them up and tossed them through the air to Valeria.
She hurried up to Tristan’s cell, fumbling with the keys, trying desperately to find the one that opened the lock while he ran his hands over her hair, cupping her face and mumbling tender words of love.
“I can’t believe you came for me.” He pressed passionate kisses to her cheek through the bars.
She looked up and caught his stare. “You rescue me, I rescue you.”
When Valeria found the right key and the lock clicked open, she swung open the door. Tristan burst out of his cell and swept her up in his arms, taking her mouth in a claiming kiss.
“No time for love,” Lucia interrupted their moment. “Both of you have to get out of this city tonight or I’m going to lose my mind. I’ve had enough surprises from the two of you. You’re going to give me grey hairs.”
“What about Gaius?” Valeria wondered when Tristan set her on her feet.
Rufus wrapped his hands in the front of Gaius’s toga and yanked him to his feet. He tossed him into Tristan’s empty cell. The Guard forced the rest of his men into the cell with him, and Rufus closed and locked the door.
“You can’t keep me in here.” Gaius ran up to the bars and pressed his face against them. “How long do you think it will take before someone lets me out?”
Valeria was stunned by the mad, crazed look on his face, the muscles straining in his neck, his knuckles going white as he closed his fists around the bars of the cell. He was terrifying to look at, and she was glad to see him in a cage.
“I imagine it will be at least a day or two before anyone comes looking,” one of the members of the Guard said. “It’ll be a shame when they find out we had the wrong man locked up this whole time.”
“You won’t get away with this!” Gaius yelled, putting his arm through the bars and waving his fist in the air.
“Watch us,” Tristan said, turning away and heading out of the arena.
Valeria looked to the long, dark
road stretching ahead of them. It would be hours before dawn arrived, and she and Tristan would be far away from Rome when his execution was scheduled to take place. It was just her and Tristan now, side by side on horses, nothing else in their lives but each other, and maybe one more. Valeria suspected she was carrying his child. She could read the signs.
Lucia, Rufus and Vorenus waved goodbye as they rode out of the city gates, and as sad as she was to leave her old gamily behind, she had a new one to start. Though she was embarking on the greatest journey of her life, she was not afraid, and she knew in her heart she would see those she loved again. Let the Gods bless them and keep them safe until that day.
Tristan reached out to take her hand as they rode out of the city. She didn’t know where they were going, but for once in her life, she knew exactly in what direction she was headed. She was following love. And she would let it take her to the farthest reaches of the world, for surely the heart knew no bounds.
CARINA™
ISBN: 978 1 472 04454 9
Gladiator Heart
Copyright © Alyssa Morgan 2013
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