Michelle Styles - The Gladiator's Honor

'I am not sure I want to become notorious.' Julia gave a small hiccupping laugh. 'I have seen what Sabina and her harpies can do to people.'

'You will become more notorious if you stay in this room much longer. People will begin to question.'

'What do you suggest?'

'I suggest you go to the baths with me. A new one has opened on the edge of the Aventine. It has a series of good exercise rooms and treatments. Plus it allows for mixed bathing. And some of the men there, well…they will drive all thoughts of Valens from your head.' Claudia kissed her fingers.

Julia drew a shaky breath. She refused to think about other men. The only man she wanted was Valens. She wanted to go back to the closeness they seemed to be developing. 'It is too soon.'

'Nonsense. It will do you good. The best way to cure a broken heart is to find another object of affection. The bathing suites will open at five hours, but we can exercise, and perhaps play a game of trignon if we can find someone else, or perhaps hoops until then.'

The Aventine baths were a complex of marble-fronted buildings, gardens and exercise areas and a small library. The covered portico outside the baths teemed with small shops, market traders and their customers. Everything from monkeys to silk seemed to be on sale here and each trader seemed to be vying with the other as they shouted out their wares.

Julia and Claudia waited in a short queue to pay their quarter of an as and then went into the baths. The first thing Julia noticed was the absolute quiet of the courtyard after the noisy throng outside. The only sound was the splash of the fountain.

After changing into short exercise tunics, Claudia led the way towards the gymnasium. Julia looked at the men dressed in short tunics or loin cloths who were engaged in a variety of games and exercises and tried not to compare their physical attributes to Valens's. Two or three might have better legs, but none had his stature. She doubted if she could feel safe in any of these men's arms.

'You see why everyone is talking about it,' Claudia gushed, pointing to the marble bathing complex. 'It is a splendid addition to Rome. A true mark of civilisation. And, as promised, enough men to satisfy your eyes for days.'

'When you said the Aventine baths, I thought you meant the one Sabina and her friends often use. It is luxurious, but nothing on this scale.'

'I knew you would like it. It opened on the last Ides.' Claudia started to signal to another woman. 'Look, there's our third for trignon —Poppea Scipia.'

Julia winced as the small woman whose hair was piled high in a Greek fashion hurried towards them. Poppea and Claudia attended gladiatorial matches together. She was even more dedicated to the games than Claudia and made it a point to compete against men whenever possible. The whisper in the Forum was that her husband had requested a posting in Cyrene to escape her.

'Claudia as I live and breathe and Julia Antonia as well. What a surprise,' Poppea said, racing up to them. 'I was about to start exercising with a dumb-bell, but if you are here we must have a ball game.' She paused and eyed Julia up and down. 'That is, if Julia knows the rules. I know how she hates all things to due with any form of physical activity.'

'I know the rules to trignon ,' Julia said through clenched teeth and stared at Poppea. 'There are three players. Each takes a corner of the triangle. You catch the balls with one hand and throw with the other. The person who drops the green ball gains a point. At the end of the game, the person with the least points wins.'

'Very good, Julia.' Poppea clapped her hands together briefly. 'And now let's see if you can actually play it. Or will it be like the time you tried to play harpastum and were unable to snatch the ball from anyone?'

At the sound of Poppea's loud voice, several men dressed in short tunics turned round. Julia wished the ground would open up and swallow her.

She hesitated, about to withdraw from the contest. Then she saw the small smirk on Poppea's face.

'Poppea, an active spectator in the gladiatorial arena does not necessarily mean you are good at trignon . I look forward to beating you.'

The game went better than Julia dared hope. After ten rounds she and Poppea were tied with Claudia only a point behind. A trickle of sweat snaked down her forehead, Julia wiped it away and reflected that perhaps Claudia had had a point after all. It was a relief to get her frustrations out by throwing the ball as hard as she could at Poppea and seeing her wince as she caught it.

She deftly caught Claudia's underarm pass of the green ball and pivoted to throw it at Poppea. Standing directly behind Poppea was Valens.

Julia froze. She blinked, hoping he might be a figment of her over-active imagination. When she opened her eyes, he was still there, feet planted, hands on hips, watching her. She swallowed hard and tried not to concentrate on the way his mouth looked or the shadows in his eyes.

'Come on, Julia, throw the ball,' Poppea called.

Julia tossed the ball wildly. It hit the ground and then rolled to within a few feet of Valens.

"There was no way I could have caught that,' Poppea complained with her hands on her hips. 'That's Julia's point. Don't you agree, Claudia?'

'I'll get the ball,' Julia said with a faltering voice.

She wiped her palms on the skirt of her tunic and started forward. She kept her eyes on the ground, hoping against hope he had decided to ignore her.

As she reached the ball, his long fingers closed around it and lifted it up. Her eyes followed the progress of the ball,from the ground past his calves to the bottom of his crimson tunic and up to his face.

'Are you searching for this?' he asked, tossing the ball in one hand.

Julia's mouth went dry. This was not how she had planned on meeting Valens again—hot and sweaty from exercise, her hair held back by a simple tie. If she met him at all, she had intended to be perfectly turned out, dressed in her most fetching clothes.

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and tried to look unperturbed. But her breath came in short sharp gasps that had nothing to do with the ball game she had been playing.

'We need the ball to continue the game,' she said after what felt like for ever and held out her hand.

He made no move to give the ball back. Instead, it seemed his eyes roamed her features, pinning her. Julia swallowed hard and tried to think of something witty to say. The only thing she could think of was how much she had missed him, how much she had missed hearing his voice and how frightened she had been of never having a chance to speak to him again.

She wanted to apologise and to ask if they could begin again. But she found it impossible to utter any words.

'Julia—' he said thickly.

'Valens, there you are.' A cool, impeccably coiffured blonde appeared and tucked her arm in Valens's. 'I searched everywhere for you. Give the woman her ball back or we'll be late.'

Julia felt a knife stab her heart. He had found another. But she refused to hide her face like some misbehaving child. She held out her hand.

'My ball, please, Valens. My friends are waiting.'

He tossed the ball and Julia caught it, closing her fingers around its faint warmth.

'Enjoy playing your game, Julia,' he said and allowed the woman to drag him away.

She watched them go, heard the woman's trilling laughter and her heart sank. She kicked the ground in disgust.

'Is something the matter, Julia?' Claudia's voice pierced through a haze of misery. 'What did he say to you?'

'Probably realised that she has no hope of winning the game,' Poppea said. 'Hurry up. Time is wasting.'

Julia shook herself. She had to accept and to carry on. Valens was an interlude, nothing more. She had been foolish in the extreme to want more than what she had. She should be going down on her knees and thanking Venus that their affair was mercifully short.