A Stray Drop of Blood (72 page)

Ares’ face did not relax. He looked her up and down, but Abigail did not feel the same dart of lust from him that she did from the other men that had examined her that day. “You are deluded, Jewess, if you think you will ever get out of here. For five years I have been training and fighting within these walls, and I have watched the women rot and die from the treatment. And one with your beauty will be used the more roughly for it.”

“
I know that.” Tears threatened to clog her throat, but she swallowed them away. “But my betrothed is an important man in the city, and when he discovers the betrayal that brought me here, he will come with all force necessary to save me. I promise you, you will be rewarded if you help me.”

“
There is no reward that can entice me but freedom, and freedom is something only the emperor himself can grant. Tell me, Jewess, are you betrothed to the emperor?”

She saw no reason to answer such a question. “You have a wife and children. They are in Samaria, I presume?”

Ares only lifted his head, as if awaiting a blow.

“
Tell me who they are, and I will see that they are well. I will do this no matter your decision concerning me, because I know what it is to lose a husband, to lose a father. To fear not seeing my child again.” She searched his eyes, looking for something, anything that would tell her she was reaching him. She saw nothing but the same even brown that had been looking on her for the past minute.

A long silence passed. Abigail’s gaze fell to the floor, her shoulders slumped. She felt despair crouching just behind her.

Ares’ voice split the air as an awl. “How long since you were in Israel?”

Startled by the question, she looked back up. “Six months.”

Ares tapped a finger against his arm. “Before I was captured, there was a man named John who traveled around the land, baptizing people in the name of one to come. My family and I heard his lessons with a yearning heart. Tell me, do you know what became of this man?”

Abigail grimaced. “John the Baptist was beheaded by Herod.”

Ares sighed and turned away, his eyes seeking the moonlight that streamed down through the window. “And what of the one whom he proclaimed? Did he ever follow?”

“
Yes.” She could not hold back a small smile. “Yes, his name is Jesus, and he walked the land for three years teaching and healing the sick. As the Scriptures promised, he was taken and put to death. I saw them nail him to a cross, I watched his agony as he died. And I rejoiced with my whole soul when he rose resurrected on the third day. The messiah has come, my friend, as John promised he would, and he brought with him the baptism of fire and the Spirit. This was only days before I left for Rome.”

The gladiator looked at her again, his gaze probing this time. He nodded. “I can see your belief.” He hesitated a moment, then seemed to resign himself. “What is it you want me to do to help you?”

She tried to keep joy from leaping up prematurely. “Let me stay. I will stay out of your way as best as I am able.”

Ares drew in a deep breath. “I have been very careful these years, Jewess, not only to remain faithful to my wife, but to make certain everyone knew that I was. This will destroy that reputation.”

Abigail took a moment to contemplate that. It seemed she fell into this situation entirely too readily these days, having to appear to be one man’s lover to keep from becoming another’s. But Titus had volunteered, and this stranger was obviously hesitant at best. Was it too selfish of her to ask him to sacrifice five years of work for
her
, someone whose people had tormented his for centuries?

“
On the other hand,” Ares continued, “that damage will not actually hurt me at all, especially since I know well that they say it is not by choice I refuse everyone they send here. Whereas if I send you away, the hurt to you will be actual and severe.” He pondered for a moment, then odded slowly. “What is your name, woman?”

“
Abigail.” Relief swamped her when she saw the capitulation in his eyes.

“
And how old are you? You look young to be speaking of one husband lost, a child, and a betrothed.”

“
I am fifteen.”

“
Still a child,” he pronounced with a surprising hint of a smile. “Or so I would like to think. I left my daughter ten years old, but she would be your age now. I cannot imagine her married, or with a babe of her own.” He reached out a hand in greeting. Only once she had slowly placed her fingers in his did he say, “My name is Jacob. You may stay in here tonight and as many nights as they bring you here, and I will make no protest. In return, I ask that you tell me about this messiah John spoke of.”

With a grateful heart, Abigail complied.

~*~

Volusius looked at the guard in disbelief. “He what?”

“
Kept the girl,” the man stated again. “I waited an hour for the knock, but there was none. It seems our Ares was only waiting for his Aphrodite to come along to tempt him.”

“
Let us just hope there is no Hephaistos to rain fire down this time, shall we?” Volusius tapped a finger against his lips in consideration. “I am impressed. She is certainly lovely, but I did not expect that to influence him. It never has before. She must be quite the temptress.” He straightened, his decision made. “Where is she now?”

“
In the kitchens.”

“
Bring her to me. I will take her out to observe the morning’s practice with me. Perhaps seeing the one who managed to make a lover out of Ares will inspire the others to actually become a challenge for him.”

The guard nodded and turned away.

~*~

Jacob tested the blade and handed it back. “Sharpen it more,” he advised, picked up the next. “This one is good.” Replacing it, he picked up a third. He tossed the sword from one hand to another. “The balance of this one is all wrong.”

The smith smiled, revealing several missing teeth. “Then be sure someone else gets it, Ares.”

Jacob smiled in reply and picked up one of the dulled, blunt practice swords. “And give them an excuse for their ineptitude? Never, my friend. I win because I am the best, not because my tools are.”

The man shrugged and went back to work. Jacob turned to begin the training. He was still tired from yesterday’s games, but that never earned him a day off. But it had, over the years, earned him the position of instructor rather than mere participant in these practices. Scores of men were in the walled compound, all of them potential enemies, all of them his students. He had to teach them what he knew just as others had taught him, not so that they could win or lose, live or die, but so that they could entertain the masses while they did so. They had to learn how to make death come slowly to their opponent, how to tease and play when they had the upper hand, how to prolong every fight when they were the underdog. Sometimes the crowds were merciful, and they would live in spite of a bad day.

Then there were the days when the victor found himself in the middle of the arena when the lions were released into it.

Jacob had not grown up a shepherd without learning how to fight off a few lions. He had not emerged unscathed from his fight with them in the arena, but he had emerged the favorite of all of Rome. That was when they had started calling him Ares, God of War, with the sword of death always poised ready to strike in his hand.

He just wanted to go home and tend to his flocks again. He wondered if they would even be intact if ever he did make it back. How could he expect his family to get along without him? His son was still a child, not even twelve years old, and his daughter was not a shepherdess. They had probably had to sell the flocks to have enough money to live on. He hoped it was enough.

Movement along the wall caught his eyes, and he looked up to see Volusius. It was not odd for the man to observe morning routines. But seeing the figure behind him gave Jacob pause. His sword fell to his side as he watched Abigail being prodded along behind Volusius. In moments, all of the gladiators were looking toward the wall.

Volusius smiled down at them. “A little enticement, men.” He reached for Abigail and pulled her up beside him. “A morsel that even Ares found worthy of his attentions. Whoever among you does the best today in practice will have the chance to plant your seed in her belly tonight!”

A chorus of very male cheers went up, and Jacob watched as Abigail flushed and turned her face away. For the life of him, all he could see when he looked at her was the little girl he had not seen in half a decade. Was his little Mary growing up to be anything like the woman-child he had spent hours talking with last night? Had she fallen in love with some lucky man, as Abigail had with her Roman? Most unthinkable still, had his wife been forced to marry her off already? Could he even now be a grandfather? He did not feel old enough to have a child with a child. But he felt decidedly too old to see Abigail as anything
other
than one.

The man closest to him, known as Tiger, elbowed him with a smile. “Go easy on me today, Ares. I would like a taste of that.”

Protective instincts flared up, and Ares gripped his sword tighter. “I think not.” He practically snarled as he barked out, “Into formation! The first man I see gawking at that wall is going to get the broad side of my sword against his head!” In proof, he gave a light thwak to the nearest staring man. Amid laughter and joking, the warriors took up their positions.

Jacob glanced up at the wall only once. Abigail’s eyes were on him, appreciative and smiling. She moved her lips, but he knew she did not speak aloud. It would not have mattered if she had; her words were Hebrew, and no one else there would have understood. But he did, and it lent him a little extra strength.

“
I pray for you.”

It proved enough to keep her safe for another night.

Chapter Forty-Six

Titus breathed in the cooling air of autumn with a sense of foreboding. Business had gone well; he had acquired the vessels, and they would be in his fleet soon, the revenue they brought in added directly to his. It would be enough to ensure financial security for him and Abigail. But still, there was a snake of dread coiled around his heart as he trotted his horse over the road leading to the Visibullis estate.

“
Father God, please grant me peace,” he prayed softly into the morning air. “I know that all is in your capable hands. Still, I have this terrible feeling. If it is your Spirit, then please guide me in the right actions. If it is not of you, please ease my heart.”

The only answer was the whisper of the breeze through the trees. Not satisfied with that, Titus picked up his pace. A minute later, the villa came into view. His horse did not seem to mind being urged into a gallop for the last stretch. In front of the house, Titus swung down as his mount still pranced to a halt. A servant emerged to take the reins as Titus headed for the door.

“
Titus!” It was Andrew who threw open the door with a relieved expression on his face. “We prayed you would come here first.”

“
What is wrong?”

“
Your father sold Abigail to the arenas.”

“
What?” The word exploded from his lips and brought Titus to an abrupt stop.

“
The women do not know,” Andrew said softly, obviously urging Titus to mirror his volume. “They know he sent her somewhere, obviously, but not where. There were eight men holding back Phillip when they took her, but he escaped and followed her. He spent two days trying to find a way in, but there is nothing he could do. He said to send you directly into the city, that he would meet you at the gates.”

“
I am on my way.” Titus spun back toward his mount.

“
Titus!”

At his mother’s voice, Titus halted. He was not surprised to see her here. “Mother. You have seen to the children?”

“
Ester and I, yes,” Aquilia assured him as she hurried up. She wrapped her arms around him fiercely. “You must hurry. We are so worried about Abigail, and the children are distraught. Do whatever it takes to get her back, Titus.”

“
I will.” He looked over her head to see Ester standing not far away. The last time he had seen her was when he came to deliver the news of death. She had the same look about her now as she did the moment the door had opened then; panic just below the surface, hope fighting to keep its place even though pain lurked. “You will have your daughter with you tonight,” he swore to her.

A wash of peace covered Ester’s eyes, and she nodded. “Go with God, my son.”

Touched more than he cared to examine at the moment, Titus nodded too and released his mother so that he could take his horse back from the waiting servant.

“
Godspeed,” the young man wished him as Titus vaulted into the saddle.

Titus said something that he hoped expressed his gratitude and pressed his heels into his horse’s flanks. The ride into Rome was not very long at the quick pace he set, but every second felt like a year as he worried about the woman he loved. He should have known not to leave her for even a moment before she was safely at the villa, but he had been foolish enough to think that an hour would make no difference.

Once he reached the nearest gate, he reined his horse to a halt and scanned the crowds for Phillip. He did not spot him until he was literally at his side.