Michelle Styles - The Gladiator's Honor

Her hands touched the sheen of sweat on his brow and his eyes came back into focus. His lips placed a gentle kiss on her cheek.

'You should never doubt your ability to give pleasure.' His mouth curved in a smile and there was a teasing lilt to his voice. 'You are a warm, vibrant woman. Let that be a lesson to you.'

'It may take me a few more lessons before I get the essence of it,' she replied with a grin and reached a lazy hand up to stroke the soft stubble of his cheek. She felt like nothing bad could ever happen to her again. Her whole life had been building up to this and this man. There had to be a way of keeping him here in Rome.

'A demanding woman.' His hand cupped her bottom and pulled her closer. 'Give me time.'

'I am willing to wait…' She pressed her breasts against his chest, arching her back. As her nipples brushed his naked chest, she felt him grow inside her, filling her once again.

'It may be less time than I thought,' he said, nipping her chin and beginning to move against her body.

Late the next morning, Julia inclined her head as Senator Gracchus came into the room, dressed in an immaculate white toga with a large bright purple stripe. He had sent word earlier that morning that he would be calling. The excitement and curiosity of the message took some of the disappointment off the fact that Valens had left before she had woken up. Her deep regret was that she forgot to probe more about his boyhood. There was that one tantalising clue that he served with Senator Gracchus's son. But it could wait. Everything could wait.

Julia's fingers curled around the little figurine of Valens she had placed by her work basket, for luck and for courage, but she also intended on showing it to Senator Gracchus and asking him for ideas of where to take her search.

Bodyguards and servants carrying a statue and his chair flanked the elderly Senator. At a wave of his be-ringed hand, the servant placed the chair in the centre of the room, and draped a deep purple cloth over the top. Gracchus sat down, surveying the room in the same manner she supposed a general surveys the battlefield.

'Senator, it is so good of you to call on our humble household…' Sabina breathed, making a show of placing her spindle down.

'Sabina Claudia, it does my old heart good to see that some Roman matrons remember the old ways and keep their hands busy by spinning rather than their tongues wagging with gossip. No doubt you are making your husband a new toga.'

'Spinning means so much to me,' Sabina cooed, patting her elaborate curls. 'I only wish Julia would derive the same pleasure as I do from it, but these young women, Senator.'

'I have things I would like to say to Julia in private. It was easier if I came here. Thank you for your hospitality.'

'Perhaps later you might have a glass of honey wine with us?'

'If there is time.' The senator's tone implied there wouldn't be. 'If you'll excuse us. I am sure your other duties call.'

Sabina left the room in a rush, muttering about senators who took their status for granted.

'Senator, you do me a great honour,' Julia said, breaking the silence that had descended on Sabina's departure and trying to refrain from flinching under his steady gaze. There could be only one reason for his visit. Somehow, Lucius had twisted the story of what happened here yesterday.

His face stern, he motioned for her to sit. Julia sank gratefully down on her stool as her knees had started to tremble.

She crossed her ankles and resisted the urge to pick up the discarded spindle.

'I understand you suffered an unpleasantness yesterday,' he said gravely after exchanging pleasantries about the weather and Rome's recent success in Asia. 'My son came to see you. I understand his behaviour left a good deal to be desired. It was not the actions I would expect of a Roman, let alone someone who is the heir to the Gracchus name. His behaviour is disappointing.'

One by one the knots in her stomach began to release. Julia drew a long breath, filling her lungs with cleansing air. She could take her revenge on Lucius now and tell the senator everything. But Valens was correct. She needed to live in the present. Senator Gracchus must have known what Lucius was like before now. Her words would not change that.

'Think nothing of it.' Julia waved her hand. 'I assure you. I have forgotten the incident.'

Again the steady gaze from the senator. Julia tried to read his face, but failed. She gripped her hands together to keep from asking—what did he want?

'Nevertheless I have not. Brawling in public with a woman and then a gladiator.' Gracchus's voice condemned Lucius. 'He becomes more ungovernable by the day. I can only offer my sincere and abject apologies. I was horrified when I learnt. He behaved worse than the most mean slave in my household. I expect my son to maintain certain standards of behaviour. If we lower our standards to that level, what will Rome become?'

Julia plucked at the sleeve of her gown. Let Lucius be the cause of his own downfall. 'No harm was done. The so-called brawl stopped before it started, thanks to the swift intervention of the gladiator . Please forget it as I intend to.'

A smile broke over the senator's face, transforming it,making it seem much younger. Julia caught a glimpse of the devastatingly handsome man he must have been in his youth.

'We shall mention the subject no more then. It is a wrapped and sealed scroll.' He folded his hands in his lap and showed little sign of departing.

Julia reached down and gave Bato a stroke. What else did the senator want? He did not come all this way to smooth over Lucius's transgressions.

'Can I offer you a drink?' she asked, breaking the silence. She clapped her hands and a servant appeared. 'Some cool mint tea? Or perhaps sweet wine? Sabina is sure to have ordered the honey to be mixed in.'

'A cup of mint tea would do nicely.'

'Is there some other reason for your visit, Senator?' Julia asked after she had ordered the tea and the senator still sat there. 'I am honoured that you chose to come and visit, but feel your visit may have some other purpose.'

Gracchus beckoned to one of his servants. The man dressed in whortleberry-purple brought the cloth-covered statuette forward and placed it on his knee.

'Apologising was my main purpose, but I did have another one,' he said, with his hands moving over the statuette as if he sought to draw strength from it. 'You asked me a question about my son yesterday. A question I regrettably had no time to answer. You wanted to know what my son looked like.'

'Yes, I did.' Julia edged forward on her seat and wondered if she should tell the Senator the story Valens had told her about the manner of his son's death. She wanted him to know there was someone who was with his son when he died.

'This is my son, Gaius, as a young man.'

The servant pulled the cloth from the statuette. Julia's mouth dropped open. Her hands trembled. Had Valens not told her he had seen Gaius Gracchus die, she would have been convinced this was a younger version of Valens—the nose and mouth were similar. She rubbed her eyes. Who was Valens?

'I don't recall seeing this before.' Julia reached out her right forefinger to touch the statuette's face.

'It resides in my bedroom, beside one of his mother. He was such a paragon of Roman virtue—honourable, unselfish and public-spirited. He would have gone far if his life had not been cut short by Fate.'

'He doesn't look very much like you.' Julia glanced at the Senator with his hooded eyes and then back at the statuette of his son, spear in one hand, dressed in military garb.

'My son took after my dead wife in many ways,' Gracchus said with a smile. 'May the gods grant their shades a pleasant time in Hades.

Julia toyed with her bracelet. He had given her a slight opening for her tale about his son's death. She felt she had an obligation to tell him that someone had been with Gaius Gracchus when he died, and could tell him precisely about the manner of his death.