Desire of the Gladiator (Affairs of the Arena Book 3) (22 page)

Their stay in Antioch, in the heart of Galatia, had been brief. The emissary there was glad to finally meet the woman who had been writing him “so many damned letters.” He was ready to give her brother up for a fraction of his asking price if it meant he no longer had to break open her scrolls. Apparently, a few had arrived during their travel time—which was Leda’s plan. Even on horseback all day long, she made time to write at night. When they came across a city, she would send messages ahead of herself.

There had been no forewarning that she was on her way, nor any indication that the letters might stop someday soon. One must stay on the offensive.

Taniel was in the wagon now, sleeping behind them. He had been underfed and underclothed, and suffered from a number of maladies. Conall was sure he would be all right, but Leda wanted to take him to a medici or medicae somewhere to make sure. There was no such thing as too sure when it came to the health of her brother.

When he was well, no doubt he would demand to return to Antioch, enraged about some injustice there far beyond his own imprisonment. Leda did not care. She had made sure he was safe. If he wanted to toss himself back into danger—well. Certain men did that.

Her brother was a complicated man, but Leda had found that was the only sort she liked.

Whenever they found the time, she and Conall had decided to be married. Already she had committed herself to the idea. At nights, when she rode his perfect, hard body, she whispered “Husband. My husband,” in his ear.

The visceral thrill he got from the words would shake up into her body, making her ache all the more for him. And he would call her “Wife. Lovely wife,” and she would know
exactly
what she had done to him—for she would shake too, in the same way as he.

No assassins had repeated Vahram’s attempts. Leda wrote letters to Roman emissaries in every city informing them of the danger to her person. She expected that at least one would offer her sanctuary, realizing her political importance.

There was no intention to return to Armenia. Someday, perhaps, she would see her sisters again. But for now it was too dangerous. Her parents had already sent one assassin after her—or, by inaction, allowed its occurrence.

Already she had started a new letter writing campaign in her head to convince them the error of their ways, and another for her sisters—also to convince them of the error of their parents’ ways. There was strength in alliances.

In the letters to her parents, she informed them politely that she had refused their “invitation” to return and had informed everyone in Rome that she could find of the nature of that invitation. Rumors already abounded about the wicked Armenian family that would stoop so low as to try and kill their eldest daughter. Women were not much valued in the world, but the killing of family carried a special weight to it in the minds of common folk.

She and Conall would go somewhere far away. Somewhere deep in Rome, where no one knew who they were. Perhaps Gaul or the Iberian peninsula.

Next to Taniel’s sleeping form was a large chest—one larger still than the one that Leda had given away to buy Conall from Publius. It was entirely full—so full, in fact, that the Starred Hunters had been tasked with carrying much of it on their horses just so the chest could close.

They traveled with a fortune. Conall’s winnings in the arena had been vast—as had Leda's winnings for betting on him. Any plot of land they might want was theirs for the taking.

They could go anywhere, the two of them.

She squeezed Conall tight, pushing her head hard against his abdomen. He squeezed her back, hand rubbing down the ridges of her spine.

Anywhere at all.

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• I'm so happy you've decided to read
  Desire of the Gladiator
  . Thank you for spending your time with my story.
  
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• You've enjoyed book #1 in the
  Affairs of the Arena
  series. If you would like to read more tales about House Varinius and its inhabitants, check out
  Heart of the Gladiator
  (#1) and
  Love of the Gladiator
  (#2) today!
  
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- L
ydia Pax

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A
uthor's Note:

Like any fictionalization of history, there's a good deal here that's probably not entirely accurate (though I did my best) because sometimes sacrifices have to be made to tell the right story. The stuff that IS accurate is due to the following works, all of which are excellent and well worth your time if you have any interest in history.

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D
uncan, Mike.
The History Of Rome
. Podcast audio. Accessed 2014-2015.

Hamilton, Edith.
The Roman Way
. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. 1932.

Matthews, Rupert.
The Age of the Gladiators: Savagery & Spectacle in Ancient Rome.
China: Chartwell Books, Inc. 2003.

Meijer, Fik.
The Gladiators: History's Most Deadly Sport.
New York: St. Martin's Griffen. 2003.

Potter, David.
The Emperors of Rome
. Great Britain: Quercus. 2013.

Did you love
Desire of the Gladiator
? Then you should read
Heart of the Gladiator
by Lydia Pax!

His love was rough, but it could not be tamed... or denied.
Aeliana hates gladiators. They’re crude, violent, arrogant, and will toss the skirts up of any available woman after a fight. It may be her job to treat their injuries, but she has no interest in being just another conquest.
So, when the former gladiator champion Caius arrives in her life, she is stricken by how immediately she falls for him. He's a merciless killer in the arena, not at all her type. But he’s also damnably handsome, built like a god, and turns Aeliana on like nothing she’s felt before.
Being with a gladiator is always a bad idea. Even if they’re known the Empire over for the intensity of their bedchamber passions, they have a lifespan about as long as a sword. Aeliana’s convinced that there’s no way that someone who could have any woman in Rome would want to stay with her for long. But his affection, while rough, seems completely genuine. Caius’s return to the arena is shrouded in mystery, but the more Aeliana discovers, the more she falls in love. When his lifetime of violence catches up with them both, Aeliana must decide whether she can afford to bare her heart to a man so effortlessly dangerous. As it becomes obvious that their love shouldn’t be, Caius and Aeliana fight the odds like warriors in the arena.
Aeliana's strength will be tested again and again, along with their love. But it is her strength that will win the heart of a gladiator.

Read more at
Lydia Pax’s site
.