The Barbarian's Mistress (28 page)

She let her fingers sooth the angry scar. Her heart was breaking for the child he’d been. Such
a pretty boy, with long black hair and big brown eyes that were surrounded by girlishly long eyelashes. The image of him back then was crystal clear in her mind.

‘You know…’ he said, after a long moment. ‘I do feel better after tell
ing you. Maybe it’s because you’re a kind stranger. Maybe it’s because you know what it’s like… Or maybe it’s just time.’

‘You make me feel weak for giving in to the darkness… What I went through doesn’t compare …’

He shifted off her lap, and came up on his knees in a sudden wake of water. ‘Don’t!’

She drew back sharply, almost falling backwards into the shallows. His face was a mask of fury, and she was suddenly terrified.

‘Don’t compare yourself to me. I was willing to sacrifice all that was good, gentle and beautiful in me, to survive. This scar is evidence of that. You didn’t have to. You found another way through. I wouldn’t be alive now, if you hadn’t.’

Suddenly the path was clear. Ninia knew exactly what she needed to do. She had to count on the fact that there was still something good and gentle inside him, just as there was still beauty in his face.

‘I need your help. Will you give up your job, and take another one on for me?’

Chapter Twenty

17 September 79 CE
, Narbo GAULIA

Daylight was seeping in through the open window like a thief, stealing Lara’s comfort and peace. She groaned loudly, and turned away from it.

‘Come on, slug. You’ve had two days abed. Time to be on the road again. The wagon train leaves at sunup.’ Vali’s cheerful voice was annoying.

She covered her ears with her hands, and squeezed her eyes more tightly shut. His laughter only made her more annoyed with him. Why did he have to be such a slave driver? They had ridden a gale for six long hours, careening across the sea at speeds too fast for man to travel, been knocked black and blue by the bucking decks, and still managed to survive to tell of it. Surely she deserved a few more days to recover before going out for more?

But she kept her complaints to herself. She knew why Vali was driving them so hard. The sand storm was evidence of that. They had a long way still to go, and more sea to traverse before the season ended. The longer they took, the higher the risks they ran.

She felt a big hand tearing her fingers from her left ear. Then her husband was dragging her out of bed, laughing all the while. In the end, she gave up and laughed too, throwing her arms around his shoulders and kissing him deeply, until she felt his arousal pressing hard against her.

‘None of that, sweetling. I know what you’re trying to do, and it won’t work. We’re going! Up. Get dressed. You can eat when we’re settled in the wagon.’

Giving up her thwarted seduction, she scrambled off the bed, and began throwing on clothes. But before she got very far, he stopped her, and pulled her over to the window where there was more light.

‘The bruises have turned purple. God I hate seeing your skin like this.’ He stroked the painful flesh down her side.

‘You’re sporting a few bruises yourself, husband. But you don’t hear me complaining. We’re lucky to be alive. Didn’t you say there were stories coming in of shipwrecks?’

‘Yes. More every day. The
Baal
was a wise choice. The skill it took to keep that ship angled just right was amazing. I doubt many men of my people could have done as well.’

‘The Ship’s M
aster had made all the right offerings, obviously. And he’d experienced these storms before. He knew what he was doing.’

He smiled down at her, letting his fingers run down the purple bruise on her side again. ‘The gods are with us, wife. I just hope they stay that way.’

Thabraca
AFRICA

Menolus drained the last of his brew, and slammed the mug down on the rough, wooden bench in front of him. His vision was blurred and his mind was sluggish. It was the way he liked it. If he was sober, he’d have to remember losing Braxus. He’d have to think about taking to the sea again in search of his quarry. Alone.

So it was better to stay this way, while his money held out. Maybe he’d take a lesson from Braxus, and start choosing the easy life. Sometimes doing it hard was not just a challenge, it was defeat.

It was death.

Damn, he missed the bastard already. He’d taken on the young gladiator, his manumission still fresh in his h
and, and given him a new life. He’d given him a new position in the rigid hierarchy of the Empire. It was interesting work that required as much brains as it did brawn. That was why he’d chosen the young fighter. He’d seen him in the arena. Seen how he used his head, as much as his skills, to win. That was what he’d needed. His own brain was good, but Braxus’ was better.

With Menolus’ experience and connections, they
had made a great team. For five years. A long time in the life of a man who dealt daily with death. But not long enough. Braxus was going to be hard to replace.

His next brew arrived in front of him. He’d trained the slave girl well by now. How many days had he been here? Two. He knew that because he’d been forced to take a bed twice in the time he was here. Back where he started. The whole of the Tyrrhenian Sea still to be crossed.

If he was to keep going.

Maybe he’d just find a nice little business here. Did they have a Gladiator School? He’d been a lanista for a while, after he’d stopped fighting in the arenas. But he hated watching
, rather than fighting. It made him feel old. So he’d turned his skills in other directions.

But those directions had led him here. And here was not an appealing place: too hot, too alien, and too many languages spoken around h
im that he didn’t understand. It was dangerous. Who knew if the man sitting next to you was discussing the weather, or talking about taking you down? He didn’t.

Maybe if he’d stayed a lanista he cou
ld have taken Braxus on there, and he’d be alive now, living his easy life.

Menolus drained the mug again and placed it on the table more carefully this time. He always did that when he started to feel the effects of the alcohol.

One more day. He’d give himself one more day. Then he’d make some serious decisions. Then he’d start to take up his life again.

Sparrow Hawk Island SARDINIA

‘What can I do?’ Braxus met her gaze, unblinking.

‘Your patron for this job. Who was it?’ She asked tentatively, letting her eyes slide away from his, watching distractedly, as she let water trickle through her fingers.

‘I can’t tell you that.’ Braxus scowled suspiciously down at her, making her flinch with nerves.

‘I’m not sure…
’ she started, twisting her hands together. ‘It was something you said. I started putting it together...’

She watched him flinch out of the corner of her eye, but he hid his reaction fast. He watched her like a snake, ready to strike, waiting for her to go on.

‘My master is… was… G. Annius Bibulus. His wife, Salvia, threatened to divorce him and take her daughter, which she was legally able to do. She wanted to marry her to Emperor Titus. So my master sent Anni away with a slave she trusted. The slave was to take her to Pompeii, so she could marry someone she liked, before her mother got the chance to carry through on the divorce.’ She shot a glance in Braxus’ direction, to see if she could read his thoughts so far. She couldn’t. He was still staring at her, unblinking.

Swallowing, she went on. ‘Then Vesuvius erupted, and my master found out Vali had sent a message back to him. Salvia intercepted the missive, and she said the message concerned damaged goods, which she had told this
V
to return to Rome. Master lied, telling her it was carpet. He was terrified Anni was hurt from the eruption. So he sent my father and me after them. We thought Salvia might have sent her own people after Anni too. I started to think that you might have been the one sent…’ She let her voice play out into silence.

‘This Anni is the one who had to watch…’ He didn’t finish the statement. They both knew what she’d been forced to watch.

‘Yes. We… picked up her trail in Palinurus. She wasn’t hurt and Vali wasn’t taking her back to Rome. We didn’t know where she was going. I still don’t know for sure. But I have to find her. I have to get her away from Vali. I have to make certain she isn’t taken back to her mother, to be given to Titus. My master said she’d be dead in a year if she ever married him…’

She looked at Braxus directly then, hoping not to see anger and rejection in his eyes.

‘Your Anni thinks her father is dead. She’s passing herself off as the wife of this Vali. He slaughtered five men in the streets of Carthago.’

Ninia swallowed again, and nodded. ‘He’s a bad man. Violent and cruel. My master never saw that side of him. Neither did Anni, back then. But he did awful things to Salvia. Awful things like what happened to you and me. I’m terrified for her. You have to understand… she’s the sweetest, kindest person I’ve ever known. We’ve been best friends since we could walk. What … what her brother did to me… she blamed herself for. Vali will break her, and she won’t have anyone to help her pick up the pieces. Like she did for me… Will you help me?’

Braxus climbed to his feet in the shallows, water streaming off him. For a horrible moment, she felt he was going to walk away, and leave her there. But then he reached out his hand to help her up. She took it gratefully.

‘I’ll help you. It won’t be easy. We’ve got nothing but the rags on our backs. Even if we can get back to civilization, we’ll have to get money, if we’re to follow them. I can fight. It’s the fastest way I know to get funds. And I’ve still got my manumission, so I can travel unhindered. But it means delays. If my partner survived the storm, then he’ll already be back on their trail…’

Ninia drew the pouch out from under the neckline of her gown. ‘I’ve got manumission papers too. My master gave them to me so I wouldn’t be stopped, as slaves would. You’re really willing to help me? What of your friend? He’ll try to stop you…’

Braxus frowned and ran his fingers down over his dripping hair, squeezing water out of it. ‘Let me handle Menolus, if and when he becomes an issue. Right now, we have more pressing needs. Water, food and then a climb up that hillside above us. Just focus on the problems at hand. Let the rest go. You can’t do anything about them. Just focus on what you can do now.’

He began to stride through the shallows to the place where the oysters, now fully revealed by the low tide, clung to the rocks. Crouching down, he began to hack them off, one and two at a time. Ninia hurried to his side and held out the front of her skirt for him to put them in. Together they collected more than enough for a meal.

Ninia couldn’t help smiling. Her world had come to an end with the death of her father and the loss of Anni, but now it had sprung back to life once more. Her father would always be an ache inside her, but now there was a more powerful emotion surging through her system. Hope. For the first time since Anni was sent away, she felt hope.

‘See if you’re still smiling by the end of the day,’ Braxus said, as he saw her expression. But he smiled back. It was the first real smile he’d given her, and it made him look very handsome. Even the scar couldn’t distract from his masculine beauty.

Shyly, she looked away, and began trudging up toward their rock platform. The morning sun was already hot on her burned skin, and her feet were still stinging from the salt in the open wounds. But she was content.

By midday they had reached the highest hill on what had turned out to be a small island. To the northeast they could see sheltered, sandy inlets. Smoke streams told them there were people to be found there.

By late that afternoon, thirsty and starving, they limped into a village. Immediately, they were surrounded by curious people, some of them compassionate, others cautious. After explaining their plight, the village elder took them in for the night, offering food, water and a bed. Although no one had asked, the villagers had assumed they were a couple. And as they s
ettled down for the night on a hay pallet, Ninia felt no urge to correct them. It felt natural to sleep next to Braxus. Safe. And after her sleepless night just past, she was too tired to think about the implications.

As she dropped into a deep and dreamless sleep, with Braxus’ arm as her pillow, his body pressed against her back, she thanked the gods for their mercy. This man could have been her enemy; instead
, he was her friend and protector. For whatever reason, the gods had wanted her to be washed up on the same small island as Braxus. He was meant to help her. He was meant to save Anni.

18 September 79 CE
, Caralis SARDINIA

The fishing boat rounded the white cliffs of the harbour and glided across pale blue water that had the clarity of glass. The vessel nosed in toward the shallows, and Ninia and Braxus jumped out. The white sand beneath their feet was course but giving.

With a farewell wave and a last thanks, they saw the boat
that had brought them to the main island on its way. Then they strode up the beach and made for the township. Everything was coloured varying shades of blue and white, and Ninia didn’t think she’d ever seen anywhere quite as beautiful. Caralis was a tiny jewel in the crown of the Tyrrhenian Sea.

Braxus made quick work of locating the forum. Here he was able to establish whether there were any gladiatorial contests to be had in the area. They were in luck. A band of itinerate fighters had come to town the week before and were offering good money to any local who could beat them. The day before had been their first circus. Later in the day, they would stage another demonstration of their skills and then opening it up to the locals. Betting was fierce, so they were told, and the locals had lost badly the day before. They were screaming for a champion.

‘Who is your wealthiest plebeian?’ Braxus asked one stall holder, as he inspected his fruit. Ninia knew it was only a ploy. Braxus didn’t have a single ass to his name. It was only the kindness of the villagers on Sparrow Hawk Island that they had food in their bellies, and a craft to carry them to the main island.

‘Sibron Longinus. His
villa is the one over there.’ The skinny stall holder indicated a two story flat roofed dwelling of considerable size and splendour, on the other side of the small forum.