Blood of a Gladiator - Ashley Gardner Page 0,71

does Priscus possess that makes the princeps himself want to keep him safe? And a vigile want him unprotected?”

Lucia shook her head. Cassia switched her gaze to her. “Is there more? Priscus is not an important man, by all accounts, but he is very wealthy. Does someone want his fortune?”

Lucia’s face became more ashen. “I don’t know this Priscus, but I dare say nothing more. Even the words could bring death to all of us.”

My skin prickled, my blood still hot from my battle with Regulus. “What words? Did you tell Regulus any of this?”

“No. I promise you. He tried to make me tell him, but I refused. He wants you to fall, Leonidas.”

“I know. I will deal with Regulus. Tell us.”

“You should flee,” Lucia said, eyes wide. “We’ll all go to Mount Albanus, to the sanctuary you sent me to. I slipped away, but I want to go back.”

“You should return,” Cassia said. “They will keep you safe. Leonidas and I have no choice—our benefactor requires us to live in Rome.”

“Then I will say nothing.” Lucia let out a breath. “And you will be safe.”

“I am certain it is too late for that.” Cassia’s crisp tones made Lucia jump. “Leonidas will have been seen bringing you here. The man who killed Floriana knows of your connection to him, and probably already believes we know everything. So, please …” Cassia threw out her hands, inviting Lucia to trust her.

Lucia swallowed and lowered her voice to a whisper. “I think the man wants to kill the princeps.”

Cassia shot a fearful glance out the open balcony. Below, customers were arguing with the wine shop owner in the waning afternoon, their voices loud. The rush of Rome went on beyond them.

Lucia was not wrong—even uttering that sentence could send us all to execution. Death continued to chase me, no matter how I tried to elude it.

Cassia squared her shoulders, as though forcing herself to be sensible. “Why on earth would this man tell Floriana something so dangerous? He must have been lying, to goad her into helping him. I think the target is Priscus, not the princeps.” She lowered her voice a long way before she pronounced Nero’s title.

“I don’t know.” Lucia opened and closed her fingers, which were chapped from the wind and cold. “I heard Floriana and the man speaking of it. I have no idea what this patrician you guarded has to do with anything.” Her voice broke. “I don’t know anything at all.”

Cassia had moved back to her table during Lucia’s speech, sorting her tablets, working backward through the stack. She paused at one, opening it to study the words inside.

“When you were here before, asking for Leonidas’s help, you said they would want to kill you,” Cassia reminded her. “Now you speak of only one man.”

Lucia blinked. “Did I? I wasn’t sure—he could have hired someone to help, or have a partner …”

“Today you are certain it is one?”

“I only saw one man at Floriana’s. But she was strong, and crafty. It would have taken more than one to strike her down.”

“You mentioned a husband—in Etruria. Do you think he wanted her dead, or was he part of this conspiracy?”

Lucia clearly did not know this either. “I’ve met her husband—he wasn’t the same as the man I saw that night with Floriana. Different build, different voice.”

Cassia made a note. “It might help to locate this husband anyway. What is his name?”

“Gaius Martinus,” Lucia choked out.

“He might have had a hand in it. I will try to discover if he was in Rome at the time. He’d want to come for Floriana’s things or any money she’d left. For now …” Cassia wrote the name then closed the tablet and laid it and her stylus on the table. “You should return to the Domus Ceres. And do not get caught.”

Lucia glanced at me, worried. “Alone?”

“I can’t escort you,” I said. “Cassia is right that I bring much attention. You’d not be safe with me. Do you know of anyone else you can trust?”

Lucia studied her toes in her shabby sandals. “No,” she had to conclude.

“When it is safe to return to Rome, we will send word.” Cassia rummaged in her box and brought out another handful of copper coins. “This should help.”

Lucia stared at Cassia in surprise, but she was quick to take the money. “Thank you,” she said softly.

I walked her downstairs, Lucia wrapping herself in her threadbare cloak. We moved past the wine shop, where the customers