Michelle Styles - The Gladiator's Honor

'Charming party, don't you agree?' Julia heard her voice say from a long way away. She waited for a heartbeat before continuing. 'So many gladiators all in one place…'

'Mine. I saw her first,' Aquilia grunted, drowning out the last part of her sentence. 'You find another woman, Valens. You are finished with this one.'

'I think you are making a mistake here, Aquilia.' Valens's tone was even, but his eyes glittered gold. 'The lady and I are already acquainted. Intimately acquainted.'

Several people turned towards them. Julia saw one woman whisper behind her hand to a fat senator, pointing directly at her. With a few simple words, the gossip would be revived and Sabina would have her reason to find another marriage for Julia.

'I beg your pardon,' Julia said quickly, trying to ignore the thump of her heart. 'What in the name of the Good Goddess are you talking about?'

'At last you arrive, Julia. I have been looking everywhere for you.' Valens put his arm around her waist and drew her close. His lips brushed her hair and his scent of sandalwood enveloped her, reminding her body of all that they had shared. 'I have been counting the hours until we could meet again.'

'You, his woman?' Aquilia asked, his eyes narrowing as he fingered the knife that hung from his belt.

Julia opened her mouth to protest, but decided to smile enigmatically instead. 'I know Valens. Why should I deny it? He was billeted at my father's house.'

Valens's eyes darkened. She found it impossible to tell if the emotion was passion or anger. He placed a possessive hand on her shoulder and drew her close.

The veins on Aquilia's neck bulged. 'I remember you and your dog. Greyhounds have such slender necks.'

Julia went cold, despite the warmth from Valens's body.

'I believe you were warned, Aquilia,' Valens growled. 'To stay away from me and mine.'

Julia glanced from one gladiator to the other. Where she had been afraid of Valens, now she realised his anger was directed towards protecting her, not hurting her. Her breath stopped in her throat. She watched Aquilia's hands to see if he would draw his eating dagger. Aquilia blinked and seemed to reconsider. Julia felt the tension ease out of her.

'I look forward to meeting you in the ring, Valens,' Aquilia said before he turned on his heel and stalked away. 'You will not be able to hide behind the skirts of your woman then.'

Julia waited until Aquilia had moved off before she removed Valens's hand from her waist and stepped away from him. A slight amused male grin played on his lips, giving him a distinct resemblance to Bato after he had thieved and eaten an entire leg of lamb. Her earlier anger and fear returned as she realised she was no longer in physical danger. How dare he treat her like that! There had been no need to say those things.

'What do you think you are playing at?' she asked, crossing her arms.

'Rescuing you.' Except for the twitching corners of his mouth, his face was the picture of injured innocence. 'What does it look like?'

'Rescued, is that what you call it?' Julia raised her eyes to the bronze gilded ceiling. Her lips ached for his touch, but not like this, not here. 'Proclaiming to all and sundry I am your woman! Feeding the gossipmongers' insatiable appetite.'

'I never said that. I implied we were acquainted,' he answered quietly.

'I was playing along,' she said quickly as she felt her heart begin to race. 'Aquilia frightens me and I wanted to be rid of him as quickly possible. Now that he is gone, I can drop the pretence, go about my business and try to determine just how much damage has been done, if anyone has started to gossip. What we had was a brief meeting.'

She turned to go, but his hand reached forward and grabbed her elbow. Julia's heart thudded in her ears and her throat went parched from Valens's look. A look that devoured her. A look that bored deep into her soul.

'Why are you here, Julia? This is the last place I would have expected to see you, particularly dressed like that.'

Julia looked down at the rose pink gown with its gold belt looped just below her breasts. Normally, she'd have worn a white wool long-sleeved undertunic with it, but Poppea had assured her that the fashion at these parties was to wear gowns on their own. Her arms felt bare, exposed. She didn't want to expose her heart. She tried to think of a suitable explanation, one that would not give a lie to her statement about not being his woman.

A scantily clad serving girl came by with a tray of cups filled with wine. Grabbing one, Julia took a long drink of the wine and felt the fiery sweetness trail down the back of her throat, giving her courage. She refused to tell him her true feelings, and risk being laughed at or, worse, pitied.

'The same reason everyone else is here—to see the gladiators as they feast for one last time,' Julia said with far more conviction than she felt. She gave a slight cough as the wine went down the wrong way.

His eyes became hardened points of rocks. 'Why do I have a difficult time believing that?'

'Isn't that why everyone is here?" she whispered, looking into Valens's incredulous face. 'It is why Poppea and Claudia told me they came and to join in the merry-making.'

Julia bit her lip. He had to believe her. Her daydreams of this afternoon were just that. He had made no attempt to contact her. He probably had only come over to rescue her because of his hatred towards Aquilia. He had been seeking a reason to confront Aquilia.

Her heart whispered she was lying, but she refused to pay attention.

'Do you understand why these women, these upright senator's wives, are here?' Valens asked. He nodded towards various expensively dressed women. One was feeding a gladiator a grape and giggling. Another had her hands on a gladiator's back, giving him a massage. And a third was slowly twirling to music as several men watched. 'There is more to a gladiator's feast than food.'

Julia allowed her mouth to drop open. With every passing breath, the intimate scenes in the room increased. Everywhere she looked, there was something more to be embarrassed about. Now she understood the whispers about gladiators. She could never behave like that.

If that was what Valens was looking for, she could never be like that. What they shared had been private, between them, not this mindless coupling. She felt her cheeks grow cold and then start to burn with an intense fire.

'I think I made a mistake,' she said around the lump in her throat 'I should go. There has been a grave misunderstanding. Sabina! My father!'

'But I thought you came to see gladiators feast. You have done nothing improper.'

'I've seen enough. Being here will be a scandal in my father's eyes, if he hears it from Sabina's honeyed tongue. Who knows which ageing senator Sabina has her eye on?' Julia whispered to the floor. 'I need to find my friends, Claudia and Poppea. I need to go home.'

'Not before you tell me why you are here.' He put a finger under her chin and lifted her gaze to his. 'I know you, Julia Antonia, and you are not like these women. Tell me the truth—why are you here?'

'I wanted to apologise to you for what I said. You were right. I had no business trying to interfere in your life. I should have allowed you to make your own decisions and to contact your father in your own way. It is your life and not mine.'

His face gave her no encouragement. Julia took a deep breath before continuing.

'Since I divorced Lucius, I have resented anyone trying to interfere with my life. Why I should have thought it different for you, I am not sure. Please understand I did it from the best of motives. I wanted you to be reconciled with your father. My own family means so much to me. Without my father, I would not be the person I am. I did not intend it to shame you or to dishonour you. If you thought that, please accept my humble apologies.'