My cousins and their friends live there also.”
He nodded. “When Alexius speaks of the place with its green hills and rich soil, it’s as though he’s gone to Elysium. We want our children to grow up in such a place.”
She fiddled with the muddied edge of her cloak, unable to imagine a battle-hardened killer like Alexius enraptured by any type of earth except the sand of the arena. “I can’t see your lanista as a farmer,” she admitted. “The image of him trailing a beast of burden with a plow is too foreign to contemplate.”
“He does like his comforts.” Darius chuckled. “I’m certain he’ll have plenty of slaves to do his bidding, but you might be surprised. He’s the son of a farmer and I believe Alexius is still a farmer at heart.”
Intrigued by the idea of Alexius as a farmer, his chiseled features softened by talk of his land, she suddenly regretted the differences between them that made it impossible for her to know him better.
Without warning, Darius launched to his feet. “Wait here, my lady. I see the editor. I have to speak with him about today’s roster.”
Tibi watched the young trainer go, uncomfortably aware of the eyes of the other men upon her. Trying to appear nonchalant, she turned on the bench to watch the mock fights in the staging area. From the corner of her eye, she noticed a huge gladiator stoop and rummage through a small pile of hay near an empty cage. The giant laughed as he straightened and lifted something small, black and squirming in one hand above his head. He pitched the bundle to one of his practice partners who then tossed it to a third man close enough to her position for her to see it was a tiny panther cub.
“Toss the runt over here,” the first man ordered in a thick accent as he lifted his sword. “I’ll wager five sesterii I can skewer it in one go.”
Tibi surged from the bench. Thanks to the violence going on above them, she’d had her fill of brutality for one afternoon. Unable to digest their cruel play, she dashed to the low dividing wall and planted her palms on the rough concrete. “No!” she shouted. “Wait!”
The outburst silenced the talk within the small area encircling her, but worked to draw the trio’s attention. Three sets of fearsome eyes locked on her like arrows seeking a target. She froze, her mind registering the long, jagged scar that ran across the leader’s blunt nose and weathered left cheek.
Clearly undaunted by her command, the gladiator swaggered toward her, inciting her entire body to tremble from fear. He swiped the cub from his comrade and stopped a sword’s length away from Tibi. Too proud to do the intelligent thing and turn coward, she lifted her chin and met his sharp gaze.
“Who’s going to stop me, little girl?” He dangled the frightened cub by the scruff of the neck, its tiny paws clawing the air. “You? I think not.”
Chapter Three
His blood pumping, Alexius raced down the steps of the Coliseum, his sole concern to find Tibi. The frantic ride from the ludus had been a torment. The potential dangers of the arena were legion. Imagining all the ways Tibi might be harmed—wild animal attack, rogue gladiators, an accident with any number of weapons—had his mind playing tricks on him. Memories of his last weeks in Greece a decade ago merged with the present, pitching up images of the beloved sister who’d died because he’d failed to protect her.
If it took his last breath to keep her from harm, he refused to allow Tibi to suffer the same fate.
Used to the noise and stench in the staging area, Alexius stormed past stacked cages and gladiators from the other ludi donning helmets in preparation for battle. He looked forward to his own fight later in the afternoon when he’d have the chance to release some of the pent-up aggression churning in his gut.
His relief began to rise once he located the familiar faces of his men beyond the central system of lifts, then quickly plummeted when he saw Tibi’s trim, cloaked figure engaged in what appeared to be a disagreement with his champion, Gerlach, an ill-tempered Germanian who loved nothing more than to wager and brawl.
He picked up his pace.
Gerlach cast a small object to one of his cohorts, Kester. He leaned over Tibi and placed his thick hands on her slim shoulders. The way he leered at her and his mistaken belief that he was allowed to touch the girl in any way infuriated Alexius. The fear shining in Tibi’s face before she was able to hide it filled his vision with a red haze. The monster inside him rattled its cage. Hay crunched under his sandals just as he imagined how Gerlach’s jaw would do beneath the force of his fist.
The cheers and greetings of his men faded to murmurs and questions of concern the closer he drew near. Ignoring them all, he swept past the game pen that housed the majority of his troupe and continued on his course toward Gerlach.
Alexius’s presence drew the Germanian’s attention. Seeing him, Gerlach switched focus. His arrogance fled. His hands dropped away from Tibi, the bully’s game of intimidation forgotten in light of his lanista’s arrival.
“Greetings, mas—”
Alexius swung. The satisfying sound of a bone cracking rent the air at the same time a bolt of pain traveled through Alexius’s hand and up his arm. Gerlach hit the ground. His cohorts, Laelius and Kester, jumped back. Breathing heavily, he ignored the men’s harried explanations, his main concern to comfort Tibi.
“Are you all right?” he asked. That she appeared unharmed soothed some of the bloodlust coursing through his veins.
Wide-eyed and pale, she nodded. “Are you?”
The breathy quality of her voice rippled over his skin like the finest silk. With trembling fingers she reached out to take his hand in hers. The knuckles were bloodied, but unbroken.
“It’s no more than a scratch.” Resisting the urge to take her in his arms and carry her back to the ludus, he slipped his hand from hers. His men were close by and watching them with interest. She was scandal-ridden enough. He didn’t want to add to her woes.
“It doesn’t look like a scratch.”
A rapid tattoo at the base of her throat snagged his attention and a sudden, irrational need to brush his thumb over the creamy spot consumed him. Frowning, he clenched his fists at his sides, confused by her singular effect on his self-control.
“What happened here? Where’s Darius?” he demanded more roughly than he intended. “Why aren’t you in his care as you ought to be?”
“He’s speaking with the editor. These men—”
“We were going through today’s stances,” Laelius interrupted in a quick bid to gain Alexius’s notice. “Gerlach found this runt and thought to have a little fun before we make for the ring. The girl interrupted.”
“They were torturing the poor cub.” Tibi moved to Alexius’s side. “Throwing it in the air and laughing at its cries of terror…”
He looked down only to find her pleading eyes were twin pools of misery. His heart twisted. Whatever it took, he’d see her made happy.
“When…when Gerlach told this other man to toss him the cub with the intent to skewer the poor animal, I could take no more. I realize
