had done in the past when she’d stood, a fearless gladiatrix, before the crowds cheering in the Flavian Amphitheatre. Almost she could feel the hilt of a gladius against her palm. Almost she wished for the sharp, metallic clang of blade against blade.
Too bad those days were behind her.
Severina had little doubt that if the arrogant woman facing her across the swath of fabric could see her arrayed in battle gear, poised for combat, she’d not be so smug.
Severina spun around and moved away before she could act on her baser urges. She was, she reminded herself, no longer fighting in the Amphitheatre.
She owned her own business now. Her image was that of a cultured gentlewoman. She must consider her inn and the affluent clients who chose it for its quiet refinement.
It would hardly do for her to welcome them at the door nursing a black eye and bruised lip.
‘Well done,’ Ariadne said when they’d moved out of earshot. ‘Your restraint shows what a well-bred lady you truly are.’
‘Hardly. For long moments there, I wished heartily for a weapon in my hand.’
The younger woman laughed. ‘Well, forget about it. Just look around, stretching before us—table after table of exotic things! Wares from Germania and Egypt and Britannia and Gaul…’ Ariadne made a happy sound. ‘Doesn’t it fill you with wonder?’
In truth, it did. Every time Severina entered the three massive stone arches that marked the entrance to the marketplace, the wonder seized her.
‘Some day I’ll come here and buy whatever I want,’ Ariadne said wistfully. ‘Maybe I’ll even buy your wedding garment, mistress.’
Severina’s laughter was a little too bright. ‘You’ll probably earn your freedom long before I’ll need one of those.’
‘Then it really is over between you and Master Lucan?’
‘It is.’
Ariadne sighed. ‘That’s too bad. He’s a fine-looking man, and a kind one. I thought he loved you very much. When he bought Orthrus and Juvenal and me to serve you, he told us you were a special woman. And his eyes shone with such feeling, I knew he was in love with you.’
Severina looked away. If she thought too deeply about Lucan, her eyes might fill with tears. She’d been the one to end their relationship, but that didn’t mean she didn’t sometimes regret the loss. No wonder Ariadne didn’t understand; sometimes she didn’t, either.
She hadn’t been prepared for a man like Lucan. As handsome as a god with golden skin, sun-streaked tawny hair and curiously slanted green-gold eyes, Lucan could walk past women and make them sigh. He’d certainly snatched her own breath away the moment she’d first seen him, swinging with sensual grace out of the door of the granary on Donatus’s farm. His lean, muscular body had whispered promises that made her pulse beat faster. Those beautiful, perfectly shaped lips curved into a smile that showed white teeth and deepened the dimple in his left cheek. And his eyes had lit with hot, male interest.
She’d been captivated.
Normally wary of men, she’d been drawn to him. And Lucan had closed in, an experienced male hunter with the unerring ability to sense a woman’s longing.
But he’d been gentle with her, and that was her undoing. Their time had been a dream of sweetness and yearning. With tenderness he had edged past her fears. With patience he had slipped through her defences. She loved him before she knew.
The dream ended when he had asked her to marry him. But sometimes, like now, the loss of him still hurt.
Ariadne didn’t notice Severina’s distress. ‘It’s too bad you couldn’t work things out with Master Lucan,’ the slave said. ‘I’d give anything if you could find the same happiness I’ve found with Orthrus.’
A commotion captured their attention before Severina could reply. Juvenal was hurrying their way, red-faced, heedless of the annoyance he caused as shoppers were jostled and pushed aside before him. ‘Mistress!’ he called when he saw her. ‘Hold up!’
He breathed hard by the time he reached her.
‘Orthrus says you must come home right now,’ he gasped, already pulling her towards the grand arches at the entrance. ‘Come, mistress. Come now.’
‘Why? What’s wrong?’
‘I don’t know, but Orthrus said to hurry.’
Severina felt Ariadne’s anxious glance.
‘All right,’ Severina said. ‘Lead the way.’
The censor Marcus Terentius sipped fruited wine and smiled at Severina. ‘Nice,’ he said, nodding. ‘Good wine. Glassware from…hmmm…Alexandria, I believe.’ He traced a finger over the rim. ‘You have excellent taste, for a woman.’
Severina’s eyes narrowed.
He glanced around the room. ‘Not just in wine, either. The furnishings here are equally tasteful. Silk pillows from the East. Fur blankets from…Britannia, maybe? Cedar from Lebanon. All luxurious, beautiful…and expensive.’ He eyed her with grudging respect. ‘You chose these things yourself?’
Severina had indeed shopped carefully to get the finest items for the least cost, but she wasn’t impressed now with the man’s flattery. He was here for something and her instincts screamed that she be wary.
‘I made the purchases,’ she said. ‘Livius Lucan owns the inn, of course, but he allows me great liberty in the daily operation of it. I buy the furnishings. He pays for them.’
The censor’s wheeze of laughter seemed out of place. ‘Of course. And why not, when you have such a fine eye?’
There seemed more than a hint of sarcasm in the words. Severina searched his thin face. ‘I do my best.’
‘Your best hasn’t been sufficient, however. Not in every respect.’ The censor took a long, slow sip of his drink, taking obvious delight in drawing out the tension while she puzzled over his words.
He finally met her gaze. ‘A person doing business in Rome should be aware of the laws pertinent to that business, wouldn’t you say?’
‘Of course.’
‘Then you’re aware that no young, unmarried woman such as yourself is allowed to possess property of her own. Despite your claims that you’re not the owner of this establishment, there are others, quite a few others, who say differently. And it’s odd, you know, that I can’t find any paperwork to substantiate Livius Lucan’s ownership.’
Severina fought to remain calm. ‘Then you must look again. The information was quite properly submitted. Emperor Trajan gave the property to Senator Flavius Donatus in return for his loyal service in the Dacian war. And he—’
‘Oh, I know that much. Those who requested the investigation into your ownership of this property didn’t deny any of that.’
Somebody had requested an investigation of her? Who ?
She
