canny? A woman who keeps tally of expenses as well as warms your bed?”
Regulus pivoted on his heel and stalked to Cassia. He looked her up and down then abruptly hauled her to him, planting his large hand on her breast.
In the next instant, he was hanging in my grip, my wooden sword against his ribs. It was the closest weapon at hand, but if I wielded it hard enough, I could stab him to the bone.
Regulus stared at me in incredulity, then his fury returned. “Go on, Leonidas. Do it. Kill me. As I asked you to.” His contempt rang. “In the arena, it would have been merciful. You’d have been praised for the win. Now it will be murder.” He pushed his face close to mine. “And for that you’ll be executed. Torn to pieces.”
The rage inside me wanted to drive the sword home. Regulus might once have been my friend, but I saw that he could be a dangerous enemy. His companionship had hidden the spark of cruelty I spied in him now, one that would spell death for those he fought.
I withdrew the sword and shoved him from me at the same time. “Get out.”
Regulus’s lip curled. He gave Cassia a leer, then he backed from me, keeping me in sight before he turned to plunge out the door and down the stairs.
It satisfied me that I’d seen fear in him, the acknowledgment that I could still best him in a fight.
Cassia let out a long breath as I faced her across the table she’d retreated behind, the rudis once again imprinting itself on my palm.
This was the second time I’d saved her from being accosted, and I did not regret either event. Cassia was mine, and it was my duty to defend her. She was the entirety of my household, protected by me as its head.
Her fingers shook as she closed the tablets and replaced them and the scrolls in the box. “Perhaps we had better find out what happened to Floriana. In case others think to accuse you.”
“You have it written that I did not.” I gestured at the box with the rudis. I hadn’t understood what she’d meant when she’d said she’d keep records, but I admired her efficiency now.
“Yes, but the word of a slave is worth nothing in court. Priscus would have to swear you were with him, but we can’t compel him to speak. He’s a former senator and a wealthy man, and we have no power to influence him.”
Priscus, a man who’d proved to be kind, might speak for me, but at the moment he was preoccupied with his son, and he was in danger himself, if Nero was to be believed.
My alarm began to rise again. If Regulus told others of his suspicions, I could well be arrested for Floriana’s murder. Why not take the retired gladiator who owed her money and was present when she was poisoned? Easier than hunting for a murderer who might have fled the city days ago.
They’d send me back to the ludus, where I’d be fighting for my life once more, or this time, simply executed.
“How can I prove who killed Floriana?” I asked. “I wasn’t here. Lucia knows, but she has fled.” I remembered how afraid she’d been, fearing the killer would be after her too.
“She might know.” Cassia had taken up her basket and now wrapped her cloak around her shoulders, preparing to fetch our breakfast. “She could have given Floriana the poison herself, for whatever reason. You sleep soundly, Leonidas. You would not have heard her rise.” Her cheeks reddened as she said this, shy about that aspect of life.
I made myself return the rudis to its shelf. “I agree she could have poisoned Floriana, but I don’t know why she’d want to. Floriana divided the spoils among her women, and protected them.”
“There is perhaps no obvious reason,” Cassia said. “So we must discover another possible explanation—if one exists. We will find out who killed Floriana and put the information into the hands of someone who can help. Priscus, or Nonus Marcianus, the medicus. He seems trustworthy and intelligent.”
I agreed. Marcianus was a respected citizen, even if he’d descended so far as to treat gladiators. He did so not only because Aemil paid well, but he said he learned much about the body and its ills by so frequently stitching up injured men.
Cassia departed after that, leaving me to stew, and soon brought home bread and cheese, dried grapes