Cailin sighed deeply. “Do you think I do not know that, Casia? What would you do, caught between the love of two men? I cannot have them both, and so I must decide between them, though it pains me to do so.”
The slave woman, Isis, came and told them, “Flavius Aspar and Prince Basilicus await you in the atrium, my ladies.”
“Basilicus? Oh, the gods!” Casia sobbed.
When they reached the atrium, they found Justin Gabras was also there, as was Jovian and Wulf Ironfist. “You see!” Gabras crowed triumphantly. “What did I tell you, my lords! Once a whore, always a whore. I was shocked when they arrived last evening and then stayed to entertain the gladiators as only they are capable.”
“How easily the lie rolls off your tongue, Justin Gabras,” Cailin said coldly.
“Do you deny that you spent the night locked in the arms of the brawny Saxon, or that Casia entertained the gladiator known as the Hun?”
“Do you deny that that you forced us to it, stripping us of our garments, and making us play hide and seek in the gardens until we were caught and given as prizes to the gladiators?”
“I did not kidnap you and bring you here, lady,” Gabras replied smugly. “You came here of your own free will, and now you would cry rape when your lewd behavior is found out.”
“Be silent!” Flavius Aspar thundered, and Cailin drew a sharp breath, for she had never seen him so angry as he was at this minute. He pierced her with a hard look. “Did you come here of your own free will yesterday, lady?”
“Do not blame her, it is my fault!” Casia burst out. She was near to tears, a state that surprised the men who knew her.
Aspar’s stern face softened a bit. “Tell me the truth of this, my love,” he said, turning to Cailin. “You have never lied to me.”
“Nor will I now, my lord Aspar,” Cailin said quietly. “Yesterday at the games I thought I recognized one of the gladiators. I confided in Casia, and she felt we should come to Villa Maxima that I might see this man at a closer range in order to determine if I did indeed know him.”
“She was reluctant to come,” Casia broke in. “She was concerned if someone saw us, it would reflect badly on you, my lord.”
“You need not defend me, Casia,” Cailin chided her friend gently. “My lord knows my character well.”
“And when you saw this gladiator close up, Cailin Drusus, was he indeed the man you thought he was?” Aspar asked her.
“Yes, my lord, he was, I fear. The man who is known as the Saxon is my husband, Wulf Ironfist,” Cailin said, and while the two men were absorbing that startling revelation, she went on to explain what had happened to herself and to Casia at the hands of Justin Gabras.
When she had concluded her tale, Casia broke in quickly. “The Hun did not have me, my prince. He has, it seems, a very weak head for wine. My plan was to get him drunk and then hit him upon the head, but three goblets of Jovian’s best Cyprian brew, and he was snoring like a wild boar with a bellyful of acorns and roots.”
It was obvious that Basilicus wanted very much to believe Casia. Relief spread over his features when Wulf Ironfist said, “She is probably speaking the truth, my lord. I have lived with the Hun these months past, and it is true that he has no head for wine.”
“And you, Cailin Drusus,” Aspar said. “Did you get the Saxon drunk, too?” She saw the pain in his eyes, which he strove to hide from the others, and vowed silently that Gabras would not have this victory over Flavius Aspar; nor would she hurt him with this particular truth.
“Wulf and I spent the night talking, my lord. There was much for us to talk about, was there not, Wulf?”
The Saxon realized what she was doing, and wondered if Flavius Aspar would believe the lie that he now gave voice to in her support.
“Cailin speaks the truth, my lord. There was much unresolved between us.”
“They are lying!” Justin Gabras shouted. “It is impossible for him to have spent the night with her and not made love to her!”
“Am I some green boy, you snake, that I must poke my sword in every pretty sheath that comes along? To call me a liar, Gabras, is to seek death!”