Blood of a Gladiator - Ashley Gardner Page 0,46

because she’d been sick. But like I say, I didn’t see who she was with. I did hear snatches of what she yelled though. I told you, it’s off.” Marcia imitated Floriana’s reedy screech well. “It’s too late. We missed him.”

“Him?” Marcianus asked. “That’s interesting.”

“Did you hear anything else?” Without a name or knowing who Floriana argued with, I did not see how the information helped much.

“I’m afraid not. By the time I was finished, she was alone and moving the customers through.”

Floriana’s often had a rapid turnover—men indulged in quick pleasure and were gone. I was unusual in that I stayed most of a night, and with the same woman. Aemil had paid extra for that. I wondered if Floriana’s heirs, whoever they might be, would try to collect what I owed for my last two nights with Lucia. I owed it fairly, and it would be unusual for them not to try to gather in all debts.

“The morning of Floriana’s death,” I went on. “What did she do?”

“She got up and went out, saying she had errands,” Marcia answered calmly. “Lucia went with her.”

“Did she?” I hadn’t heard this from Lucia. “Then she must have seen …” No wonder she’d been terrified and wanted to flee.

Marcia shook her head. “Lucia came back home alone. She’d gone her own way to do some shopping and separated from Floriana. Later, a vigile brought us the news that Floriana had been found when the fog lifted.”

Her serenity faded. Floriana had been a hard woman, but she’d been the only family Marcia had known.

Marcianus put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Never mind. You’re safe here.”

“Everyone’s gone now,” Marcia said sadly. “Lucia started screaming when the vigile announced Floriana’s death. She said we were all in danger, and we had to run. The others scattered. I didn’t know where to go, so I fled here.”

“You are very welcome,” Marcianus said. “You’re a smart young woman and a good deal of help.”

Marcia relaxed a little, but a former slave, used as she had been, would never be completely free of fear.

“I will keep Marcia on as my assistant,” Marcianus said, sounding proud. “I can’t pay much, but at least I can give the poor girl bread and a place to sleep.”

“Enough for me,” Marcia said, sanguine.

“You won’t take her to the ludus when you treat the gladiators, will you?” The men there would recognize her from Floriana’s and be happy to drag her aside whether she willed it or not.

“Of course I won’t,” Marcianus said, offended. “She’ll stay here and mix medicines and look at patients who come in my absence. I’ve needed an assistant for some time.”

Marcia said nothing, but I sensed the relief in her.

“Do you know where Floriana was struck down?” I asked Marcia.

“No, but I think she parted with Lucia because she wanted to meet someone. Not in her usual places. The vigiles who brought her body home didn’t tell us much.”

I thought again about the young vigile who’d invaded our house, claiming he was checking for fires. He’d come to us deliberately, and he’d admitted he skulked about Floriana’s the morning she’d been poisoned. I would hunt him up and shake him a little, find out what he knew, if anything.

“What about Lucia?” I watched Marcia, gauging her reaction. “She thought she was in danger by the same killer, that all of you were. That’s why you came here.”

“I came here because I had nowhere to go,” Marcia answered without a pause. “I’d liked helping Marcianus, so I wanted to see if he’d teach me.”

Marcianus’s face pinched in worry. “Marcia is in danger? From whom?”

I shifted in frustration. “That is what I am trying to find out. Marcia, do you know any reason why someone would want to kill Floriana?”

Marcia shrugged. “I thought perhaps she owed someone money or she didn’t do what someone paid her to. She took side jobs to make more money—Floriana was a hard businesswoman. She made sure we had plenty to eat and rest times, but that was only so we’d be fresh and strong for her customers.”

Marcia spoke without rancor, but Marcianus’s disgust was obvious. “Well, you have no more fear of that, my dear. That life is behind you now.”

I could tell Marcia didn’t quite believe him. I’d been on my own on the streets as a lad, and I knew exactly what she had faced. I’d known the mistrust of every man I met, including the builder who’d finally employed