Mark of the Thief (21 page)

“Why is it so important to find this family who already exposed you?” I asked. “Why do you think they’ll take you back now?”

Staring at the crepundia, she said, “I think about them every day. Whether my mother wanted to keep me, and what might have gone wrong for my father to have rejected me so harshly. I hope it’s a reason that he regrets now. Maybe there was something sad associated with my birth and he couldn’t deal with it then. Maybe our family was having hard times and he had no choice.”

“If money is the only reason they’d accept you, then you shouldn’t go back to them,” I said.

Tears welled in her eyes and she put the crepundia back around her neck. “You don’t understand.”

“That’s right, I don’t! You’re my friend, Aurelia. Not because of money or anything you can do for me, but because you’re a good person, just as you are. Your family should feel the same way.”

I noticed her fidget with her fingers. She lowered her eyes and whispered, “I need to tell you something.”

But before she could, we both leapt to our feet at the fierce barking of two dogs. Coming our way.

Aurelia and I dashed out of the office as two black dogs raced in from the doorway behind the desk and went straight for us. Once in the atrium, Aurelia darted around as if to go to the rear of the home, but I ran forward. I turned long enough to see them still coming and then tripped and fell into the small pool in the center of the atrium.

The dogs came upon me and I raised a hand to protect myself from the worst of their attack. “Stop!” I shouted at them.

To my surprise, both dogs immediately stopped their barking and only stared at me. Just as the animals of the venatio had done. So I got to my feet, slowly, and told the dogs, “Sit.”

They obeyed as quickly as I spoke the words. But that wasn’t a fair test. They were probably well-trained dogs, which I’d expect in a household like this. They needed a more unusual command.

Aurelia walked up to us, cautiously, but her eyes were on me, not the dogs. “Nic —”

“Watch this.” With a smile, I said, “Tell me if Aurelia thinks I’m the handsomest boy in all of Rome.”

Both dogs immediately started barking. Happy, playful barks. They were participating in a joke they couldn’t possibly have understood … unless they could.

Aurelia wasn’t laughing, but her eyes had grown wider. She only said my name again to get my attention, and then pointed. Still in the pool, I was standing directly within the beam of moonlight pouring in from overhead. And when I realized where she was pointing — to the bulla beneath my tunic — I saw why she was so alarmed.

It was glowing, as brightly as if the bulla itself was a moon.

I pulled off the bulla to see it better and then its full glow became apparent. Beneath the moonlight, it nearly lit the room to a daytime light.

Crispus ran into the room. “I’m sorry about — oh!”

Aurelia walked forward until she stood in the pool with me. Staring into my eyes the entire time, she took the bulla from me and hung it back around my neck, on the outside of my tunic.

“I know which of the gods supplies this bulla’s power,” she said. “No wonder it’s given you so much trouble.”

F
orgetting about the dogs, Crispus walked forward, his attention fixed on the bulla. “We knew you must have it,” he breathed. “Nothing else could’ve caused such damage in the amphitheater. I’ll never forget that day.”

Nor would I, much as I had already tried to do it.

Crispus reached out a hand toward the bulla, then paused and lowered it again. “How are you making it glow?”

“It isn’t Nic,” Aurelia said. “The bulla is responding to the moonlight. Watch this.” She stepped out of the pool and then motioned for me to come with her. Once I got back onto the tile floor, the glow began fading. After only a minute, its glow was no brighter than before, and I was fairly certain neither Aurelia or Crispus could see that soft glow anyway.

“It’s the power of the gods,” Crispus whispered.

“No, just one of them.” Aurelia turned to me. “You can communicate with animals, and when the bulla is working, you are unnaturally strong. I knew about those, but the moonlight makes it obvious which god gives this bulla its power.”

“Diana,” I whispered. “Goddess of the hunt and of the moon.”

“She speaks with animals and has great strength,” Crispus added. “And so now you have her powers?”

“He can command a griffin too,” Aurelia said. “That one who was in the amphitheater.”

“It’s not like that,” I said. “She just … listens to me.”

“Same thing,” Aurelia said. “Maybe it was your griffin who pulled the chariot of Diana’s twin brother, Apollo. But unlike her brother, Diana isn’t known as the kindest of the gods.”

I already understood that. The bulla had shown me a great deal of its power, but none of its mercy.

The door to the home opened. Crispus whispered to me, “That’s my father. For now, say nothing of this new discovery. Let him talk first.”

I nodded, and Senator Valerius came into the atrium. Crispus dipped his head toward his father, and Aurelia did the same. I wasn’t sure what to do, but I figured I should probably show the same respect. Once I looked up again, Valerius eyed me suspiciously. “Why are you all wet?”

“The dogs chased him into the pool,” Crispus said.

Valerius grunted as if I was some great fool for having fallen in the water which I probably was. But I reminded myself that he had risked a lot to bring me here, so I had already impressed him somehow. I didn’t need to do more.

“What about your arm? It’s wrapped, and badly done.”

Aurelia grimaced, but it wasn’t her fault. I had rewrapped the wound myself after we escaped from the cistern. Whatever oils she had put on the cloth to heal the wound were long washed away.

Aurelia spoke up for me and her tone was cool. “There are people who will do a lot worse to Nic if they have the chance. Can we be sure you aren’t one of them?”

He didn’t answer, and instead turned to me. “Let’s talk in private.” His eye wandered from Crispus to Aurelia. “While you two are waiting, Crispus, get that girl something proper to wear. She doesn’t talk like a servant. Let’s not have her looking like one.”

Crispus bowed again and with a backward look at Aurelia, I followed Valerius into his office. He asked me to sit, which I did, and then he took his chair behind the desk, clasped his hands, and stared at me. I felt uncomfortable beneath his gaze, but recalled Crispus’s reminder that only slaves kept their heads down. I forced myself to look back at him and tried to appear calm.

Finally, he said, “I’ve been asking questions about you. You call yourself Nicolas Calva — a rather fine name considering you’ve come from the slave mines. You were known to be a hard worker, and a brave miner, though not the most obedient.”

“I obeyed every order that wasn’t stupid.”

He arched an eyebrow. “As a slave, you took it upon yourself to decide which orders were good and which were bad?”

“You get to decide that. Why not me?”

“I’m a senator!”

“You’re a person, just as I am. And I want to live my life.”

Valerius leaned forward. “And is that your goal now, to live? I saw the way you fought for your life in the amphitheater. With that magic you threw out, you could’ve killed thousands of people.”

“But I didn’t.”

“But you could have!” He gestured toward the bulla. “What do you know about magic?”

I hesitated at first, but finally decided that I had made an agreement with Felix, and Valerius was the only one who truly seemed interested in helping me keep it. So after a quick, nervous breath, I said, “I think the Divine Star is the reason I can do magic. Without it, this bulla would be as useless to me as it is to anyone else.”

“That’s right. But the Divine Star is more than the reason you can do magic. It
is
the magic.”

“I don’t feel any magic there. It prickles sometimes, but that’s all.”

“I think you would feel it, except for the other magic that is pressing in on you.” He nodded at the bulla, still in my hand. “There is so much power in that object, I would guess you feel like you were tossed in the sea when you only asked for a cup of water.”

The comparison fit. The bulla’s magic crashed into me in waves, not droplets, always so much more than I could absorb. And I always felt its weight, even when the bulla was cold.

“This used to belong to Caesar,” I said.

“Until he abandoned it, and eventually, Venus withdrew her powers from it as well. But Caesar chose a most interesting place to bury it.”

“In a cave near Lake Nemi,” I said. “In the shadow of Diana’s temple.”

“Where I first met you.” Valerius frowned. “We heard Caesar’s treasure had been discovered and went to search for that bulla. Though once I saw the mark on your back, I suspected the bulla had already been found.”

“Why do you want the bulla, sir? Without magic —”

“Better I have it than the person who wishes to destroy Rome.” Valerius stood and walked closer to me, then sat on the corner of his desk. “Nic, you hold the first of three amulets. Each will make the powers of the Divine Star stronger, and each will give you additional powers. This one, for example, allows you to talk to animals and gives you great strength.”

“Because that’s what Diana could do,” I mumbled. “She powers this amulet now.”

“You may yet discover other powers, though if you lose the bulla, you will lose its powers too.”

I paused while the warning in my gut battled with my desire to know more. Finally, with a question in my tone, I said. “There are two other amulets …”

“The Malice of Mars, which gives its bearer victory in battle. And a third amulet, the Jupiter Stone, which carries rewards so powerful that many men have given their lives hoping to obtain it. So far, none have succeeded. But it all starts with that amulet you wear. The emperor wants it. He’s afraid of you, Nic.”

“He shouldn’t be.”

“He’d be a fool not to fear you. Rome hasn’t seen magic like that in nearly three hundred years.”

I shifted in my seat. “But I’ve made a bargain with the emperor. If I can deliver Radulf to him, stripped of his magic, then he will grant my freedom and I’ll be able to walk away from here forever.”

“Radulf is no easy target.” Valerius began pacing beside me. “When he first came to Rome, Radulf was such a good fighter, Emperor Gallienus thought he would entertain the people well. So they made him a gladiator. It was a fatal mistake. Radulf’s only fear in the arena was the lions, but he defeated them, and won the hearts of the people. Eventually, he gained enough influence to have Gallienus murdered. He was the first of many emperors Radulf has removed from power.”

“Does Emperor Tacitus know that Radulf has magic?”

“He knows, but what can he do about it?” Valerius fingered the purple edging on his toga. “Radulf commands the entire military. He also controls the Praetorian Guard, which protects the emperor’s life. Or takes it.”

“Then it’s just a matter of time,” I said. “If Radulf wants the throne, it’s his.”

“That isn’t what Radulf wants. A war is coming, Nic, and it is for the control of those three amulets. On one side is Radulf, who will use them to destroy the empire, and then build it up again in his own image. With no Senate, and no government other than himself. He wishes to be worshipped, like the gods. Nobody can stop him” — his eyes drifted over to me — “except for someone else with magic.”

Hearing those words sent shivers down my spine. I straightened my back, hoping to hold my courage together. Or at least, I pretended courage worked that way. I said, “And so I am on the other side of this war? No! All I want is to fulfill my bargain with the emperor and walk free!”

“And I will help you do it, but hiding you here is dangerous. So if you want to stay, then it’s only fair that you help me too!”

I looked back at him steadily. “You want me to find the other amulets.”

Valerius folded his arms and stared at me. “I cannot allow Radulf to get them first.”

My hand stroked the bulla’s face. By now, I knew every ridge of its delicate carvings. “Do you know where they are?”

“I do. But the answer isn’t good.” Valerius began pacing again. “The secret for creating a Jupiter Stone is guarded by the Praetors of Rome. They are …”

“Dangerous,” I finished, grateful for what Felix had already told me about them.

He smiled. “They could be, if they decide to follow Radulf. They guard enough secrets to collapse the world beneath the emperor’s feet.”

“Surely the Praetors are already loyal to the empire?”

“Not necessarily. They will obey the presiding magistrate of the Senate.”

“Senator Horatio,” I breathed. His name was sour on my tongue.

“Horatio has no loyalty to the emperor. If he throws his public support behind Radulf, then the Praetors will follow him, and the war — the Praetor War — begins.”

“Senator Horatio has the Malice of Mars?”

Valerius shook his head, and only then could I breathe again. But he said, “Not yet. But because of his position in the Senate, Horatio is the keeper of the key that unlocks the Malice. If Horatio knew where the Malice is, I believe he would have already given the key to Radulf.”