A gleam of satisfaction lit Cassia’s eyes. I wasn’t certain if the satisfaction came from me rousting the men or the fact that we’d saved one casket of coins.
“They might try to collect the second half,” I warned. “Or kidnap the lad again.”
Cassia nodded agreement. “If so, we will have to raise our fee. You were hired to protect Priscus while he collected his goods, not fight off pirates and abductors.”
“Priscus kept the secret well.”
“It is possible the ransom demand stated that if he told anyone, Decimus would be killed. Priscus would not have risked that.”
I thought of how Priscus had clasped his son to him and wept, and how abrupt Priscus had grown when any questions I’d asked while we’d waited grew too penetrating.
I’d seen men condemned to death, afraid of what they would face, but I’d rarely witnessed fear for another person. Had only felt it in myself once, and then the fear had been realized all too soon. The greatest friend I’d had in the world had vanished from my life between one heartbeat and the next.
Cassia, I suspected, had felt the same fear and grief. I’d seen its remnants when she’d spoken of her father.
The garden was quiet, the household attending to Decimus and Priscus. I wondered if we’d return immediately to Rome or if Priscus would remain here with his son. Would Priscus want me to stay with him, or dismiss me?
It was odd to not know what I would do from one day to the next. In the ludus, I always knew. Aemil had kept us to an unvarying routine.
Cassia must feel the same. If she’d lived as a slave in the same house for her entire life, her day-to-day existence would have been mapped out, her duties and restrictions carved in stone.
We both were forging our way into the unknown, like travelers breaking a trail into the wilderness. No roads, no maps to guide us. I wasn’t certain whether to rejoice or panic.
At the moment, the need to sleep washed over me, the usual aftermath of a fight and a good meal. My eyes grew heavy, my limbs warm with fatigue.
I mumbled something to Cassia, rose, and shuffled inside to lie down in the atrium next to the silent fountain. Cassia remained in the garden. As I settled myself, folding my arms for warmth, I saw her turn her face serenely to the moonlit sky and the glitter of tears on her cheeks.
In the morning, Priscus summoned me to him. He and his adopted son took breakfast in a large room off the atrium, with wall paintings framed in red and yellow. Satyrs capered with maidens, and a hunt trailed off along another wall, painted to look as though the animals and their pursuers rushed into a wild landscape.
Priscus and Decimus sat on stools at a table of plain wood in the middle of the room. I’d learned in my years of visiting grand domii that eating couches were used only for lavish banquets, where guests would recline to partake in a feast. Everyday meals were eaten around a table, as Cassia and I did in our much smaller space.
Priscus smiled warmly as I entered and awaited his instructions. His son regarded me curiously. Decimus bore signs of exhaustion, plus a nervousness that might never leave him. He had dark hair, thick and wavy, and deep brown eyes. He was perhaps a few years younger than I, but plenty old enough to be in charge of a branch of business far from home.
“I haven’t had a chance to thank you, Leonidas,” Priscus said. “And to apologize for not being more forthcoming about what I faced.”
I bowed my head in deference. “I understand. Cassia explained how dangerous it was.”
“She is a bright young woman,” Priscus said. “Please thank her for her presence of mind to save the money. I’d have left the coins behind. Not bothered about them at all.”
“Which is why Mother put me in charge of interests in the eastern sea.” Decimus sent his father a fond but exasperated look.
“She was indeed wise. You have done well, Leonidas. You may journey back to Rome. I will remain here for a time—we have things to sort out. Send your Cassia to collect the fee from my scribe at home.”
I hesitated. I was happy to be finished with this task and pay the merchants Cassia owed, but uneasiness niggled at me.
“Are you safe here? What about the assassin trying to kill