Caroline Storer - The Roman’s Revenge

CAROLINE STORER

A division of HarperCollins Publishers

www.harpercollins.co.uk

Harper Impulse an imprint of

HarperCollins Publishers

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by Harper Impulse 2015

Copyright © Caroline Storer 2015

Cover images © Shutterstock.com

Cover layout design © HarperColl‌insPublishers Ltd 2015

Cover design by HarperColl‌insPublishers Ltd

Caroline Storer asserts the moral right

to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is

available from the British Library

This novel is entirely a work of fiction.

The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are

the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to

actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is

entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International

and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.

By payment of the required fees, you have been granted

the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access

and read the text of this e-book on screen.

No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted,

downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or

stored in or introduced into any information storage and

retrieval system, in any form or by any means,

whether electronic or mechanical, now known or

hereinafter invented, without the express

written permission of HarperCollins.

Digital eFirst: Automatically produced by Atomik ePublisher from Easypress.

Ebook Edition © July 2015 ISBN: 9780007568864

Version 2015-09-11

Thanks so much to my lovely editor Charlotte Ledger for all her help and support in getting this book ready.

I would also like to thank all the readers who left fabulous comments on my debut book "The Roman" and who asked when the next book is out…this book is for you.

And finally…to Colin, my fabulous husband who always encourages and supports me.

Contents

Cover

Title Page The Roman's Revenge CAROLINE STORER A division of HarperCollins Publishers www.harpercollins.co.uk

Copyright Harper Impulse an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.harpercollins.co.uk First published in Great Britain by Harper Impulse 2015 Copyright © Caroline Storer 2015 Cover images © Shutterstock.com Cover layout design © HarperColl‌insPublishers Ltd 2015 Cover design by HarperColl‌insPublishers Ltd Caroline Storer asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins. Digital eFirst: Automatically produced by Atomik ePublisher from Easypress. Ebook Edition © July 2015 ISBN: 9780007568864 Version 2015-09-11

Dedication Thanks so much to my lovely editor Charlotte Ledger for all her help and support in getting this book ready. I would also like to thank all the readers who left fabulous comments on my debut book "The Roman" and who asked when the next book is out…this book is for you. And finally…to Colin, my fabulous husband who always encourages and supports me.

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 18

CHAPTER 19

CHAPTER 20

CHAPTER 21

CHAPTER 22

CHAPTER 23

EPILOGUE

Also by Caroline Storer …

Caroline Storer

About HarperImpulse

About the Publisher

Ostia – Port of Rome, Italy – June AD 80

“Magia, calm yourself, please. You will make yourself ill.”

“Ill? Of course I am ill, I am sick to the stomach. How could he do this to us? He can’t make me go. I refuse to go. I won’t go I tell you. He can kill me, I don’t care.”

Livia worried her bottom lip, her insides churning with tension as she realised Magia was on the verge of hysteria, and had been ever since they had boarded the ship just over an hour ago. Although she had tried to calm her, nothing seemed to help, and it was fast proving a futile exercise, as every time she said something it just seemed to make her tire-woman even more agitated.

In a fit of panic she cast her eyes around the deck, trying to find someone who might be able to help. But there was no one. Everybody was far too busy loading up, and preparing the mighty trireme for its long journey to Alexandria. A journey she, and Magia, had only found out that morning they would both be making. Breaking her gaze away from the busy scene before her, she tried once more to calm the old woman.

Lifting her hand, she placed it on Magia’s arm in a gesture of comfort, and lowered her voice, as if she were talking to a young child, and not a woman old enough to be her grandmother. “Magia, please try to understand if there was anything, anything , I could have done to stop this, then I would have. But Flavius decreed it, and I had no choice. You, of all people should be able to understand that. Now let us go down to our cabin and rest awhile. It has been a long, tiring day.”

If anything, the words seemed to inflame Magia even further, and she slapped Livia’s hand away, her eyes wild with rage. Under normal circumstances, Magia, a slave, would have been flogged for striking her mistress; but Livia realised these weren’t normal circumstances, so she chose to ignore the outburst. But as she stood there feeling utterly helpless, she wished with all her heart she could do something about the mess the two of them found themselves in.

Metellus could see the old woman was clearly upset and angry about something, as she gesticulated and shouted at the young woman who was on the receiving end of her tirade. And the young woman seemed powerless to do anything about it, if the anxious expression on her face was anything to go by.

He couldn’t make out what the woman was saying, the noise from the dock side, as well as on board the trireme was deafening as the ship was loaded for its imminent departure. But he was intrigued nonetheless, and he moved away from the stack of wooden crates which partially obscured him, and leaned against one of the wooden masts on the open deck. Crossing his arms over his muscular chest, he deliberately relaxed his stance, made his face expressionless and watched the exchange between the two women.

He knew who they were of course. News of the arrival of the beautiful patrician, and her tire-woman , had spread around the ship like wild-fire. The fact she was also the daughter of a Senator – although he didn’t know which one yet – had heightened the gossip even more; and as he watched them, he couldn’t help but wonder why on earth she was on her way to Alexandria. The gossip had been remarkably lacking on that score!