to wake me up a time or two as I drowsed, before she gave up.
I slept.
In my dreams I pictured Cassia, curled up alone on my pallet, snuggled into the blankets she’d procured. She was vulnerable in the apartment by herself. The door at the bottom of the stairs had a bolt, yes, but any good thief could force it.
I should not have left her there alone. In my dreams I saw a thief armed with a cudgel bursting into our rooms, delighted to find Cassia ready for his taking. Cassia jerked out of sleep, screaming my name, as the man advanced on her.
I started up in alarm to find myself still in Lucia’s bed, in daylight. Sunshine poured through the same crack in the wall, and I rolled over, sore and irritated.
Lucia was once more gone. I reached for my tunic and pulled it on, deciding I’d visit a bathhouse. The public baths were the cheapest but a long walk from Floriana’s. The nearby, smaller baths charged fees I could not pay today. I’d always strode in to any bathhouse I liked, but now Aemil wouldn’t send a slave hurrying behind me to pay. I might persuade them to let me in so they could say I favored them, but I wasn’t certain of my welcome. I was primus palus no longer.
Voices came to me, agitated and rushed, as I tied on my sandals. It was not unusual for Floriana to have trouble with a disgruntled customer or a vigile who tried to procure services in exchange for keeping their building safe from fire.
I’d thrown more than one belligerent man out of Floriana’s house. Some seemed to think that Floriana’s ladies could be treated like unwanted curs. One look at me lumbering at them taught these gentlemen to flee.
I stepped out of Lucia’s cubicle to find her hurrying toward me, face strained. Black tears from the cosmetics she adorned herself with trickled down her cheeks, and the red ochre on her lips stained the corners of her mouth.
“Leonidas, thank the gods. It’s Floriana. She’s powerfully ill.”
Floriana, though reedy, was the most robust of women. However, anyone could eat tainted food and have a bad night, even die from it, and fevers could take one suddenly.
Lucia grabbed my hand and dragged me deeper into the house. The women, groggy and hungover, huddled outside the room at the far end of the corridor, their worry filling me with disquiet.
When Lucia flung back the curtain that hid Floriana’s sleeping chamber, I recoiled from the stench that flowed out. I had to swallow bile before I could peer inside.
Floriana’s cell contained a small square window set high on the wall. The shutter was closed, and I reached above her bed to pull it open.
The window looked out to the back of the building behind this one, but enough morning sunlight trickled in to reveal Floriana lying on her pallet, her knees drawn to her chest. A black, many-curled wig perched on a peg above her bed, and Floriana’s own hair, gray and thin, straggled across her scalp.
She wheezed feebly, her mouth working as she tried to gulp air. Her lips were purple, with a touch of foam in their corners.
I straightened abruptly, nearly ramming into the women who crowded behind me.
“She’s been poisoned,” I snapped. “Lucia, stay with her. Keep her warm and try to get her to vomit.”
I turned on my heel and pushed my way through the ladies, who scattered from me like a flock of birds.
“Where are you going?” Lucia demanded.
“To fetch a medic.”
I knew only one who could save Floriana’s life. I plunged out into the bright Roman daylight, marching resolutely for the Tiber.
Chapter 4
It was not easy to navigate the thronged streets between the Subura and the bridges that crossed the river. Not only did I have to push through the crowd, but as often happened when I walked through Rome, I drew a band of followers. All recognized a gladiator, and most recognized me in particular.
I might now be, by law, just another nobody, but I was still Leonidas, the man thousands of people had cheered for until their throats were hoarse. I’d been their champion.
Now they followed me, calling my name, asking me to scratch my letters onto their souvenirs—cups, pictures, an oil lamp with a crude statue of a fighting gladiator on it.
I evaded them as best I could, but even my snarls to get out of my way were received with delight. They wanted