The Winged Serpent (The Order of the Oath) (16 page)

“What happened to you then—”

The firm shake of her head silenced him immediately. “What happens to almost every young girl who finds herself owned by another?”

She did not need to say more for him to understand.

Truly, Aurora did not know if her life had been worse, or better than others. All she knew was that she’d barely survived it. She wasn’t entirely certain she had in the end. Because of the suffering she’d endured from that part of her life, she’d lived the rest of it with a wall around herself. Her heart and emotions, both being carefully guarded.

Besides Olympia, she’d trusted no one, she’d loved no one. Being at the mercy to the desires of men, Aurora had never known what it was like to
give
herself freely to another.

Unwittingly, her attention strayed to Cyrus, and with an inward sigh she acknowledged the truth.

Besides Olympia, she’d trusted no one, she’d loved no one—until she’d met
him.

She spun around. “We should probably head back now.”

Aurora did not look at him as she made her way toward the cliffs, for she could not.

Because to look at him meant she would have to accept the truth. It was enough she’d acknowledged it in the quiet regions of her mind. To do more than that would force her to reconsider everything she’d come to believe about herself.

* * * *

The next morning, Aurora rose early to bathe.

With Claudius’ decree that she could roam freely throughout the
ludus
, Aurora found herself unencumbered by the guards shadowing her every move. Her quarters still remained locked, but after letting her out, Petricles did not follow her to the baths.

She had lived so long without the burden of dictates and orders that after two moons in Claudius’
ludus
she’d begun to chafe under the weight of such restrictions. To find herself with a measure of freedom—well, to say it was a welcome respite, was an understatement.

Claudius’ villa was still quiet, so when Aurora was done cleansing herself, she climbed out of the pool of water, and pulled on her
tunica
.

Without guards hovering about, she hoped to have the opportunity to do what had eluded her for the past few days.

Aurora tiptoed over to the wall where she’d glimpsed the hidden doorway, but footsteps drawing near stilled her. With a weary sigh of frustration, she spun around, as if she was preparing to leave because it would seem the gods were determined to thwart her every attempt at opening this door.

When the person drawing closer found their way inside the baths to stand before her, Aurora scowled in earnest.

It was not the gods who plotted against her, but a
witch
.

“
Domina,
” she greeted, but unlike times before when Aurora had addressed Cornelia with deference, on this occasion she did not bow her head. The gesture did not go unnoticed by the woman either, as a sable eyebrow reached for the sky.

“I see you are bold now.” Cornelia inched closer. “I see you believe you do not have to address me with respect any longer.”

Aurora pretended ignorance.
“Domina?
I do not know what you speak of.
”

Cornelia simply glared at her. “I know what you are about.”

“And I can say the same for you,” Aurora replied, wondering then why Cornelia was there. She’d come without a weapon, so perhaps she was not there to kill her as before.

“Yes, Aurora, I sought you out purposely at a time when I knew you would be alone, and the slave quarters would be empty of the prying ears of my husband’s silly guards,” Cornelia stated, as if she could hear Aurora’s thoughts.

Cornelia inched closer then, her eyes sharp. In turn, Aurora remained quiet, watching the woman carefully, waiting for her to speak.

“I know what you
think
you saw, and I know what you
think
you believe of that night. But I simply caution you that if—”

“I reveal your treachery to your husband you will drag me down with you?” Aurora’s smile was smug. “Do not worry,
domina,
I have no plans to reveal what you have done.”

Cornelia’s eyes narrowed. “And in return for your silence, what is it that you want?”

Aurora shrugged. “Nothing at present. But I imagine if I fall from favor with Claudius, you will bolster my interests.”

She knew Cornelia was mulling over her words. It was clear the woman would prefer her dead and gone, but if Aurora was to stay, Cornelia also realized it would be best to have her as an ally.

“Is that all? You do not demand
denarii,
freedom, a man?”

Aurora shook her head. “And my demands shall not change, so you do not have to worry that I will constantly tax you. Simply keep me within your husband’s favor, and I shall keep quiet.”

“Why?” Cornelia studied her closely. “Why do you ask so little?”

“To me, what I ask is
not
little.”

Cornelia pondered Aurora’s statement for but a moment before she warned, “Betray me and I will see you dead.”

Aurora understood Cornelia perfectly well so she simply nodded, her gaze shadowing Cornelia until she disappeared from the room.

* * * *

Later in the day, when Aurora entered the training arena and her eyes fell upon Cyrus, she knew something was amiss. That he would not meet her stare, and the tension radiating between them, hovering in the air, told her as much.

Her training suffered because of it, because she could not focus, and her attention kept straying to Cyrus, for she worried constantly of what had him so unsettled—

“Oomph.” Aurora stared up at the sky, her backside bruised and sore.

Flavius stood over her, his handsome face grinning as he extended his arm, hoisting her to her feet.

“That is the fifth time this day,” he said, when she was once again upright.

She scowled at him, rubbing her backside. “You do not need to remind me, my buttocks are well aware.”

Flavius chuckled and she joined in with him. In the time she’d been there, she had not made an effort to build many friendships. She’d learned in her time as a Keeper that such friendships could compromise her duty.

“Where is your head, Aurora? Flavius has bested you all day.”

She looked up at Legalus, who’d come over to join them. She realized then, it was nearly dusk and their training was at an end.

Aurora glanced between the two men and smiled warmly, her eyes teasing. She’d not made an effort to make friends, but despite her best efforts, she’d formed an amiable relationship with the two of them.

“You say that with such surprise, Legalus. But did you ever stop to think Flavius was improving his skills?”

Legalus’ snort caused her to chuckle.

“Ay, what do you mean by that?” Flavius demanded half-heartedly.

“You know what I meant by it.” Legalus shrugged.

Aurora shook her head when they began to quarrel and she left them for the moment to put away her weapons. As she was returning to stand beside them, Cyrus called for every gladiator and recruit within the arena to gather around him.

She exchanged a curious look with both Legalus and Flavius, but they simply shrugged.

“Our
dominus
has arranged for a display of our fortitude as gladiators to officially honor the return of Senator Balbus Vibius.”

Murmurs rose up among them, drowning Cyrus out until they quieted once again. “The games will take place in three days time, and every gladiator within this house shall fight.”

Cyrus’ gaze found her. It was a brief look, so fleeting that if she’d blinked she would have missed it. And yet, in those passing moments she heard what he did not say, what he could not at that time.

Whatever demons she still carried inside of her, she would need to quiet them before she returned to the arena.

Aurora decided then that the look within his eyes could not have suggested such a thing, because he knew nothing of the demons that still haunted her, the scars of her past. He thought her pain had begun as a young slave girl in the house of her first
dominus.
He did not know that had been nothing compared to the pain that had come later as a prized
gladiatrix.

No, Cyrus did not know of that past because she had not told him of it, so she must have misread the look on his face, but when she turned to leave with the others, and Cyrus called for her to join him, she realized Cyrus was more astute than she gave him credit, he was far more astute than which she was comfortable.

“You know why I wished to speak with you.”

“To tell me how much you enjoyed our time last eve?” Her eyes flashed with laughter, although her belly stirred with apprehension.

She noted, however, that Cyrus’ neck darkened, which meant last eve had not been far from his mind. Throughout the day, it had not been far from hers either.

“Do not use humor or seduction to distract me. This is serious.”

She sobered.

“You will not tell me what drove you to unleash your fury upon Primus, but I know it has everything to do with your time as a gladiator, and why you disappeared from the arena.”

She started at how close he was to the truth.

“I have come to know you well, Aurora.” His eyes softened, matching the gentleness of his voice. “And I know whatever still haunts you, you must put it aside. Claudius will expect you to perform well, and if you wish to remain in his favor, you will do just that.”

“I will be fine.”

“Aurora—”

She touched his arm lightly. A fleeting caress—because the guards and several fighters still lingered about—it was just enough to quiet the storm within his eyes—
somewhat
.

“I will be fine.” Her voice was firm, her smile unwavering.

This time when she turned, he let her go, and Aurora left the training area with her back straight and her head high. All the while, her insides churned as if it was a ship being tossed among tempestuous waves. She did not know if she would be fine. It was one thing to fight before the nobility or to spar with another gladiator during practice at a
ludus
. Quite another beast entirely to find herself in the center of the arena, the roar of the crowd thundering in her ears, their excitement, the intensity of their fervor, pounding through her body.

She was ashamed to admit she’d relished the adoration, the adulation of the crowd, of being a favored champion. That frightened her the most. To return to the arena she would have to recapture the person she’d once been—bloodthirsty and brutal. At first, every kill had haunted her, until she’d grown numb, doing what she was ordered to do without feeling, without remorse.

With a certainty, Aurora knew she would have one day died in the arena, had it not been for her final match. Had she not tasted the bitterness of fear and death upon her tongue. Had she not stared into eyes so like her own and knew the eyes staring back at her possessed a soul, while hers had been lost long ago.

Those eyes still haunted her, even now. Every day she saw them, filled with terror. Those eyes had recently been joined by another pair. Aurora could not say which horror haunted her more, her last assignment or her last match, but the both of them dogged her every breath, her every step.

She had hoped to be gone after two moons time, her mission long done, but she was not. And now, she would be forced to fight. She would have to step into the arena and face her past, a past that still crippled her.

Aurora did not know if she could do it.

She did not know what she would do if she didn’t.

Chapter Seven

As she’d grown accustomed to doing, that evening Aurora took her supper with Flavius and Legalus in the common area until it was well past dusk.

Long after the duties of the others slaves within Claudius’ home were done, the gladiators and recruits still trained, so Aurora was always one of the last of the female slaves to return to her quarters and the baths.

Petricles had stopped escorting her, but he would still do his rounds, along with one other guard until all the slaves had gone to bed. Each guard was required to take stock of the slave quarters in pairs before taking up their posts for the night. She had not heard their footsteps in some time and gathered they were making their way through the other wing of the villa. It would take them a while before they returned.

Finally.
She was alone.

Climbing out of the pool, she pulled on her
tunica
and returned to the area along the wall where she’d first glimpsed the depressions in the brick facing.

With every hidden passageway, there were three stones which when pressed in the proper sequence would unlock the door. The problem, of course, was deciphering the proper sequence of the code when
several
of the bricks could be pressed upon.