Virginia Henley (12 page)

After she had completed six floors, however, her scraped knees hurt, her back ached, and her hands were puffy and stinging. With dogged determination she traipsed back to the outer kitchen to change the cleaning water, then made her way to the atrium, which was in actuality the magnificent entrance hall to the villa. She had never been in this chamber before because she had been brought to a back entrance when she first arrived.

It had rained in the night, but now the sunshine flooded through the glass skylights, making rainbows dance about the splashing fountain. Brilliant flowers spilled from huge terra-cotta pots around the oval room. A fresco of birds, from waterfowl to brilliantly plumed exotic varieties, adorned the pale green wall. With a sigh of appreciation for its beauty, she washed the floor, making the entire chamber sparkle like a jewel.

Suddenly, two great mastiffs came lunging through the front door. They were so big and ferocious, Diana
screamed. Her fear quickly turned to anger when she saw that their huge paws were covered with black mud, which they were tracking all over her freshly scrubbed tile.

“Romulus, Remus—heel!” a deep voice thundered. The pair of mastiffs rushed to the side of Marcus Magnus, panting with adoration for their master. Diana sat back on her heels with utter disbelief. All her painstaking work was undone in seconds!

The general’s black eyes swept over her without interest, as if there were nothing to distinguish her from any other female slave in his household. Last night he had looked at her as if she were a prize to die for. Then, later, when he had come to her sleeping chamber, even though he had done an obscene thing to her, his hands had handled her as if she were a piece of priceless porcelain. Now, he looked through her as if she didn’t exist!

Diana wanted to fling her bucket of dirty water around the delicately painted walls. She had the urge to kick his dogs and hold the Roman’s head beneath the water of the fountain until he gurgled his last breath. What she did was sink back on her haunches and clench her fists in impotence, as her eyes slowly filled with tears. When he swept back out with a map in his hand, he did not spare her a glance.

Kell was right. She was an utter fool. He had told her that last night she would have been able to seduce the Roman with the flutter of an eyelash. Because of pride she had let her opportunity slip through her fingers and now Marcus Magnus was completely indifferent to her. She would be scrubbing floors for the rest of her life!

She dashed the tears from her eyes and set to work cleaning up the mud that the ugly beasts had tracked all over the atrium. With each pawprint she obliterated, she became obsessed with the need to get back at the arrogant Roman who thought he ruled the world.

She knew she would do almost anything to gain power over him, to have him at her mercy. She wanted to enslave
him as he had enslaved her. She decided she would pay any price to reverse their roles so that she was the master, he the slave.

She needed some measure of control, but a Briton had none under Roman rule. Diana began to understand Kell’s situation. His position gave him power and control, even if it were only over his own kind. Without a small measure of power over your own destiny, life was not worth living.

When she thought about it, she was surprised at the similarity between this time in history and the eighteenth century. Men had ruled the world since time began. Men controlled the government, the army, the wealth, the land, the property, the economy, the arts, the family, and they also controlled women. She thought of all the wives, all the daughters, all the female servants who had cowered under man’s total authority down through the centuries.

The only women who had power and manipulated men were mistresses, courtesans, and favorites. A woman could only achieve power through a man. If a woman was clever, she would choose the most powerful man of her acquaintance and make him fall in love with her. Then she would possess all his power.

Diana’s resolve hardened. She was beautiful, intelligent, and sophisticated compared with the women she had seen here. If she could not seduce the Roman, she deserved her miserable fate!

Her fertile imagination began to concoct a plan. Her mercurial mind added details. As she scrubbed, she even formed carefully worded speeches and worked out actions as if she were rehearsing a part in a play. The first thing she must do was regain his attention in some spectacular fashion. Her plan was so audacious, it had to work. If she played her role well, she would gain power over the Roman, and once she had him on a leash, she would never let him off it. She would control him completely!

Diana decided this was the last floor she would ever scrub in her life. She got up off her knees, picked up the
bucket, and made her way toward the outer kitchen. Before she got there, she saw Kell directing the household slaves in the inner kitchen. The moment she spied him, she staggered with the weight of the bucket. Her hand fluttered to her head as if she were dizzy and managed to drag the ugly brown head cloth from her pretty hair. She knew her pale golden tresses were unique in Aquae Sulis; she had not encountered another fair-haired person since she arrived.

Diana straightened her shoulders as if she were making a valiant effort, took a few more steps, then sank down upon her knees, knowing that Kell’s eyes were upon her.

She felt a hand on the back of her neck. “Keep your head down until the dizziness passes,” Kell ordered.

After a couple of minutes, Diana raised her head, gave a tremulous sigh, and allowed her eyes to flutter open. Kell helped her to her feet. “Have you had enough?” he asked quietly.

“Perhaps,” she temporized softly.

“Perhaps! That is no answer; either you capitulate or you do not!”

Diana smiled a secret smile. “Kell, you think the world black and white, but I have discovered the world encompasses a multitude of gray. ‘Yes’ and ‘no’ are good words, simple words; uncomplicated and unexciting. But the word ‘perhaps’ is mysterious, tempting, and exciting with a hundred nuances implying that the possibilities are endless. Let us say that I am ready to negotiate.” Diana held out the bucket.

Kell ordered Sim to take it away. The smell of freshly baking bread from the ovens filled the kitchen. Diana perched on a stool and said, “The bread smells heavenly. Could I have a little honey with mine?”

Kell took a stool also. A female kitchen slave brought them oat cakes, freshly baked bread and honey, a stone jug of milk, and a basket of fruit. They ate in silence. Kell’s hooded eyes watched the graceful movements of her hands and the delicate way she chewed her food. Here was a most
enchanting female. He could understand exactly why Marcus Magnus wanted her to grace his table and share his bed.

Diana sighed with repletion, then bit into a ripe black plum. “Kell, may I put a few things on the table for our consideration?” She was careful to seek his permission for everything. When Kell nodded, she proceeded. “You said that the general lusted for me. You said that if I gave him what he asked, he would be more than generous to me.”

Kell waited for her to go on.

“If I
become his concubine and if he is well pleased with me, it will give me a great deal of power.”

So, she does know she possesses power,
Kell thought.

“There would then be two of us with power in this household. I believe it would be folly for us to be rivals. A power struggle between the two of us would mean one winner and one loser. If we become allies, not friends of course, but allies, we could both win.”

She knew Kell was shrewd enough to recognize the truth in her words.
“If I
do this thing, I will do it on my own terms. I know that you do not need me, Kell. But oh, I am aware that I shall need you.” Diana was purposely touching on his vanity, but nevertheless her words spoke the truth.

“Your advice to me has been both wise and sound. In the days ahead, I will need your advice, your guidance, your help, and possibly your protection. My relationship with you will be as close as the one I hope to have with the general.”

Kell digested her words. If this woman did gain power, he wanted her on his side. Nola could so easily become her confidante, and the only thing worse than a woman with power was two women with power! Finally Kell spoke. His gray eyes looked deeply into hers. “We have already declared a silent truce. Let us build upon it.”

Diana smiled. “Good. I have an idea. Rather than wait until day’s end when he returns to the villa, then summons
me to ask if I am ready to submit to him, I think that I should seize the initiative!”

As Kell listened to her audacious plan, he wanted to tell her it was impossible. But as he watched her animated face light up with feminine mischief and her voice come alive with passion, her boldness caught his imagination. She was a most daring female; one who could ensnare a man and hold him captive in the palm of her hand. She was as shrewd and clever in her way as he himself. She was also a Briton. How could they be aught but allies?

“The first thing I shall need is a scented bath. Then, if you will be generous enough to open up your treasure trove of feminine garments, we will choose something that the Primus Pilus will not be able to resist.”

Diana soaked in the delicious hot water for the better part of an hour. When the ache in her back from scrubbing tiles melted away, the bath slaves wrapped her in a large towel, then set to work on dressing her hair.

Kell brought a carved cypress box with a selection of hair ornaments and pieces of jewelry.

“To whom do these belong?” she asked with curiosity.

“Everything and everyone in this villa belongs to Marcus Magnus, but if you are asking if there is a female here who owns these, the answer is no. They are mostly gifts from the merchants of Aquae Sulis. There are many Celtic artisans here who make beautiful ornaments. The general has many amulets, some gold set with amber, some silver set with cabochon emeralds. The general collects Celtic jewelry. He has an eye for a fine piece.”

Diana’s eyes met Kell’s and they laughed together at his unintentional joke. She chose a gold filigreed hair ornament that gathered her hair high, then allowed it to fall down her back in a pale mass of curls. The female who had
styled her hair the previous evening once more created tiny tendrils that spiraled about her face.

Diana selected a deep violet silk from an armful of stolae Kell showed her. She had an unerring instinct for the dramatic. The deep jewel tone contrasted with her pale coloring, making her look delicate and ethereal. She touched her lips and eyelids with a lighter shade of violet face paint that was mixed with silver, giving her an iridescent glow.

“In the general’s collection there is a piece that would set off your beauty to perfection. Wait here,” bade Kell.

Diana slipped the high cork-soled sandals on her feet and practiced walking. The beautiful stola was designed in slim classical lines to follow the curve of a woman’s body, but it had a small train that she wanted to learn to kick aside dramatically when she stopped walking.

When Kell returned, he held out a Celtic torque encrusted with amethysts. It was magnificent, except of course it looked exactly like a slave collar. Diana took a great fancy to it, not only because it complemented her violet silk, but because it made her neck look long and elegant. The ironic symbolism was not lost on her either.

“I shouldn’t let you wear it without permission,” Kell said doubtfully.

“I will take the responsibility. If he is angered, tell him I stole it! I need more than jewelry from you, Kell. I need a horse.”

“Impossible.”

“I must go to him, in front of his men. I will not wait until he comes to me.”

Kell’s brows drew together in total disapproval. “You may be both beautiful and desirable, but you are still a slave. How much power do you think you have?” A thought suddenly occurred to him. “Do you have some secret power?” he demanded.

A smile lifted the corners of her luscious mouth. “Yes, I do, Kell.”

“What is it?” he asked suspiciously.

“It is a secret,” she said, smiling.

“Does Marcus know the secret?”

“Yes. It drew him irresistibly to my sleeping chamber in the middle of the night.”

Kell blinked. He had no idea Marcus had left his chamber to visit the female slave. “What is this irresistible lure you possess?”

Diana hesitated. She needed Kell on her side. She would be completely honest with him. “My irresistible lure is my virginity,” she said softly.

Kell’s gray eyes widened in astonishment. Then he shook his head and began to chuckle. “Such a simple device,” he murmured, “yet so rare, it is priceless.”

“I need a horse, Kell.”

He shook his head. “There are no horses we can ride. I have a small chariot I use to take messages to the general,” he said doubtfully.

Diana considered for a moment and liked the picture that sprang to mind. “That will be just as good, perhaps better. Before we leave, can you order his favorite food be prepared for the evening meal?”

“It is done. I am one step ahead of you.”

“Good heavens, I hope not,” she teased lightly.

A slave brought Kell’s chariot with a sturdy pony harnessed between the shafts. With Kell’s aid she climbed in carefully. “I’ve never ridden in one of these, but as I understand it, I ride standing up and hold on to this wooden rail?”

“I do not drive like a madman,” Kell informed her.

“Marcus does. He almost drove over me,” Diana said, remembering.

“I’m amazed he drew rein for you.”

“I stopped him in his tracks. With any luck I shall do the same again.”

“I hope you understand that you will have to answer to him for what you do today. The responsibility for this is yours, not mine,” Kell warned.

Diana closed her eyes in trepidation for a moment. What if she enraged him and he heaped humiliation upon her, or worse? She straightened her shoulders. So be it. She would cast her fate to the winds. Marcus Magnus was only a man when all was said and done, and she a woman. The odds were definitely in her favor.

Kell drove out slowly through the gate of the walled garden of the villa and headed down the sloping hills toward Aquae Sulis. The afternoon sun was hot upon Diana’s bare shoulders as the guard waved Kell’s small chariot through the gate of the fortress. She glanced up at the ramparts, which had a foundation of stone, then turf from the surrounding ditch stacked like bricks to a height of about eighteen feet. All the soldiers on the ramparts gaped down at her.

Diana was surprised at the size of the fortress. Inside the walls was like a town with many streets and buildings. At the junction of the two main streets was a complex of buildings around a courtyard, which included the principia or headquarters, storerooms, and offices. When Kell stopped to inquire where the general was, the guards informed him the Primus Pilus was out in the external annex.

They drove past stables, workshops, and finally long rows of barracks where the Roman soldiers ate and slept. They looked quite spacious and were fronted by colonnaded walkways. As they proceeded toward the annex, men everywhere stopped what they were doing, stared after them in disbelief, then began to follow on foot. Kell’s chariot was a common sight at the fort, but not since it was built had a woman been inside.

In the center of the back wall a gate opened into the annex. This vast amphitheatre was used for weapon training and parades. There were at least a thousand soldiers on the field, all wearing segmented armor of metal strips and plates. The sun blazed off the bronze and iron helmets and breastplates of the legionaries who stood in regimented lines around the perimeter of the field.

As they stood at attention with javelins and shields, all eyes were focused on the century in the center of the field who were taking weapon practice. The fighting was vicious. The soldiers were not play-acting.

Marcus Magnus intended that every man present would be totally proficient with the gladius, the short, double-edged sword, before he left Aquae Sulis. It was a stabbing rather than a slashing weapon, designed for use in close fighting and held in a leather and bronze scabbard beneath the right hand. On the left of the body was a pugio dagger in an iron scabbard, suspended from the same weapon belt. Medics stood by to carry the wounded off the field to the hospital.

Behind Marcus stood two Celtic tribesmen in native dress, which consisted of a brief leather loincloth, an axe, and a knife. Each had long, black hair, their naked limbs tattooed with woad in frightening patterns. Both came at him at once. The first was dispatched immediately with a gladius straight into the gut. Marcus grabbed the second man by his long hair, yanked his head back viciously, then cut his exposed throat.

The general hadn’t even taken time to toss his scarlet mantel behind his shoulder so that it wouldn’t impede his sword arm. A great cheer arose from the men. It was followed by embarrassed laughter when the two tribesmen got to their feet unhurt. They thought he had actually slain them. The Celts had been doing this for two years now and still they were not fast enough to take him. Only once had they nicked him deeply enough to draw blood; after that first time he could have killed them each and every time he used them to demonstrate effective weapon skills.

As Diana’s chariot came into the sight of the warriors, all eyes swung toward her unexpected arrival. A great murmur arose in the ranks, which the leaders failed to silence because they, too, were remarking upon the spectacle unfolding before them.

The general stared in disbelief as Kell’s chariot rolled
toward him with the beautiful female slave at his side. As it came to a halt, Marcus sheathed his gladius and strode to the vehicle. He glared at her in astonishment, his black eyes smoldering with fury. Before he could bark an order, Diana held out her delicate hand to him. “Help me down, Marcus, or your men will think you most uncouth.” She spoke softly, intimately, for his ears alone.

“You will learn just how uncouth I can be,” he promised, but she noticed that he kept his voice purposely low.

“Smile at me. Surely you want every man here to think you have ordered me to visit you.”

Her beauty almost took his breath away. He showed his teeth in a wolf’s grin, ignored her outstretched hand, and lifted her down from the chariot by the waist. A great cheer went up from the ranks when his powerful hands closed about her tiny waist and he lifted her to his side. The general ignored them, giving his full attention to the beautiful woman who had actually been bold enough to seek him out before a thousand men.

She smiled up at the dark man who towered above her. “They think I am your new concubine,” she murmured seductively.

At the thought, his shaft filled instantly, hardening and lengthening him to a marked degree. His black eyes glittered with victory. “Is that what you have come to tell me?”

“Of course not, you brute,” she teased.

A blazing hot desire almost consumed him. He wanted to push her to the ground, mount her, and give her the fucking of a lifetime before all these Roman soldiers. He wanted to put his brand upon her to show them all that this exquisite female was his, and his alone! He took her possessively by the shoulders. “Then by the gods, what in Hades are you doing here?” he demanded fiercely.

She reached up and traced a delicate fingertip along his scar. Every man watching sucked in his breath. “I am here so that you may invite me to dine with you.” She made a
little moue with her mouth. He longed to cover it with his own. Lust pounded inside his temples. “You are my slave —I
order
you to dine with me.”

Diana shook her head provocatively. His hands tightened on her, needing to master her.

“If you
invite
me, it will be my greatest pleasure to accept. Then when we have dined, I have a proposition to lay before you,” she whispered.

“You
will lay before me, make no mistake,” he murmured fiercely.

“Perhaps.” She said the word filled with mystery, promise, and excitement. Marcus felt the effect of that word all the way to the tip of his marble-hard phallus.

He smiled inwardly. She had turned the tables on him. This morning he had deliberately allowed his dogs to muddy the tiles she had scrubbed, just to provoke her, but when it came to being provocative, this female won, hands down!

“Go now, before I use my weapon on you, here before all these rough soldiers.” His dark eyes glittered. “I
order
you to dine with me tonight.”

Diana smiled a secret smile. “You silver-tongued devil, how can I resist such a charming invitation?” She went up on tiptoe to whisper in his ear. “Seeing you command and control all these rough soldiers is like an aphrodisiac to me.” She stepped away from him toward the chariot.

His powerful hands scooped her up by her bottom cheeks and he deposited her beside Kell. The men roared and whistled their appreciation. “Enough!” he thundered, his dark face prouder and fiercer than any eagle’s. Silence blanketed the entire field.

As they drove back to the villa, neither Kell nor Diana could quite believe she had gotten away with it. She had deliberately whispered words that would seduce him, words to flatter his male vanity, words he’d wanted to hear. But she admitted to herself that the words she had spoken were
true. Being close to him, having his hands on her, was an aphrodisiac.

It gave her a heady feeling to know that when she moved close to him, Marcus Magnus could not resist touching her. She would test her theory again this evening. She would go close to him to prove that he could not keep his hands from her. Diana glanced at Kell. “He did not censure you.”

“He did not even see me, lady.”

Diana was pleased with Kell. He was showing his admiration for her by calling her lady. She felt lucky to have him for her ally because he had earned the general’s complete trust. She must do the same. She had discovered that it gave her pleasure when she saw Magnus’ dark eyes light with amusement. Men loved to laugh. She must try her best to entertain him.

By the balls of Jupiter,
thought Petrius as he stood before his sweating legionaries, watching the drama between his brother and his exquisite slave play out,
no wonder my brother enjoys Aquae Sulis!
With a villa of slaves such as the golden-haired female to do his bidding, to obey his every command, to satisfy his every craving, what man wouldn’t be content? His brother had kept his female slaves well hidden last night at dinner. No wonder Marcus had not needed the services of the fornice. A slave girl aroused far more lust in a man than a prostitute, and this particular slave girl was exceptionally beautiful.
Whether Marcus knows it or not, he will entertain me again at dinner. And this time it will be share and share alike, brother!