The Gladiator Prince (20 page)

She shook her head and placed her hands around his waist. “I never want to leave your arms again. I was an idiot.”

Thane said nothing, knowing he had to end this before he hurt her again.

A soft knock came at the door.

“Come in,” Thane called, sitting up in the bed.

Adrastos peeked quickly around the door then opened it wide to bring in a food-laden tray. “I have the horses,” he said putting it down. “Eat then we will go. I am afraid we will have to move a little more quickly than I anticipated.”

Thane shot him a look. “What has happened?”

“Your soldiers were found last night. The horses came back without their riders, and a search was conducted overnight. They sent dogs to sniff them out. The rumor is they found a small discarded tunic, near the
Iter
. The dogs were given the scent and they led them to Londinium.”

Thane’s stomach cramped as he threw aside the cover and stood up, grabbing his tunic. “We will leave now.”

The Greek held up a hand and motioned to the bed. “Sit and eat. They have the roads closed out of Londinium.”

“By the gods! We need to…”

“Peace, my friend. The man who sold me the horses is a friend of mine. He has arranged for passes out of the city, but I need to go retrieve them. I still need to see to Bahar’s dressing and getting the horses packed, but it should take me less than a half hour,” he said over his shoulder as he disappeared out the door.

Thane closed the door and sat in a chair across from Phaedra. Her face was very pale, and dark circles accentuated her fatigue, but she managed a small smile and reached for the food.

“Where are we?” she asked, breaking off a piece of bread.

“Londinium. We arrived last night.”

Thane did not know what to say to her or how to say it. His insides burned to hold her, to kiss her, but he squelched the feeling by tightening his fists. To cover his apprehension, he reached for an apple and bit into it.

Phaedra pulled at the bread in her hand, but did not look up. “It…” Her voice was so quiet he had to strain to hear her. “It was you… you in the woods. You saved me.”

Thane chomped down on the bite of apple, but it tasted sour in his mouth. He swallowed it without chewing. “I was late,” he said as an accusation.

Phaedra lifted her eyes to him. “Late? You saved my life.”

The surge of anger that scoured his reason rushed into his legs and hands. He jumped up from the bench and threw the remainder of the apple into the wall where it splattered into juice.

When he whirled on Phaedra, she shrank back from him and scurried over the bed, her face a mask of pain.

Thane’s anger died as swiftly as it had come. “I am sorry, Phaedra,” he whispered harshly. “I am sorry I was so late. I am sorry I took advantage of you. And I am sorry we ever started on this journey.” The words came out in a torrent, and there was nothing he could do to stop them. “When I saw them… touching you like that… some part of me…” He stopped and closed his eyes, the ancient words of his uncle sounding behind his ears:
You have the berserker, son, like your father before you. I would advise you to resist it, but I know better; there is no resisting the urge. It is best to let it have its way. It killed your father for denying it.

“I did not just kill those men,” he said examining his hands. “I slaughtered them. I hacked them to pieces with my sword.” He lifted his eyes to her and regret poured through him like honey. “Adrastos found me there and had to stop me. When I came to my senses and saw what I had done…” His heart clutched in his chest, and he could not go on.

Phaedra moved off the bed and slowly crossed to him. When she tried to touch him, he pulled his arms away, but she was insistent.

“No!” he roared at her. She pulled away from him, the fear plain in her eyes.

A moment later, he watched her face change. Her eyes narrowed to slits, her lips tightened and paled, and all the fear drained from her face and her nose flared. Moving deliberately to him, she dug her fingernails into his arm, pulled herself close to his ear and whispered through her teeth, “I am glad you did.” Thane had never heard such strength in her voice before, indeed, in any woman’s voice.

He turned to her and took her in his arms.

Phaedra trembled inside his embrace until he thought she would never stop. Then she started to sob, deeply. He knew this would mean a release for her and let her finish.

When she was spent, she looked up and pulled his head down to her for a kiss.

The innkeeper tapped at the door. “The horses are ready,” he said quietly.

Thane nodded, took Phaedra’s hand and followed him out the door.

The horses were old, but stout enough, though Thane knew the sellers ended up with the better part of the deal since Adrastos was in a hurry. They would get them to
Rutupiae
. There were three, so Thane carefully put Phaedra on the largest with Bahar, and he took the reins of the smallest one. Watching the sun, he scanned the street for Adrastos.

“How long does it take to…” Thane began, but then stopped when he saw the large man lumbering down the cobbled roadway. Thane jumped on his horse and turned it toward the Greek. “It is well after noon, Adrastos,” he said as the man panted up to them.

“You are overwrought, my fine Brit. There is time yet.” Adrastos lifted his bulk onto the horse.

Thane could not see a clear road ahead. The Greek still only had three passages to the ship. More than ever, he wanted to send Phaedra and Bahar home, wondering what it was they so feared from Abella. He decided to put himself in the hands of the gods… not that that was very comforting… and wait until they reached
Rutupiae
. He silently wished their journey was over, but knew it had just begun.

Chapter XXI

Phaedra scanned the shipping yard from behind Bahar. They had just finished buying food and things they would need for the sea voyage. The packs bulged from the sides of the horses.

It was barely dawn, yet hundreds of men scurried from here to there, loading and unloading the round bellied ships, stacking bags, amphorae and wooden barrels onto carts then repeating the whole cycle the length of the harbor. The place seemed to have grown since she was there a few months back.

She pulled her cloak more tightly against her shoulder. A misty rain soaked the scene turning it grey and cold. Shooting a quick glance at Thane as he sat straight on his mount, she wondered again,
what had happened?
In the hours it had taken to get to
Rutupiae
, he had said less than ten words to her. To make matters worse, Bahar had turned pale. She knew he was suffering, but he said nothing.

The only one who seemed to be unruffled by their adventures was Adrastos. He continued to joke, laugh and sing the whole way, even grabbing her hands when they stopped to rest the horses to dance with her.

Bahar kicked the horse to move it alongside the other two, and they picked their way carefully through the throng.

The port itself was a cacophony of noise: shouting voices, the clip clop of trotting horses, the squeal of rusty wagon wheels. Smells of cooking food, animal dung and humanity blended together to create a scent that was distinctly
Rutupiae
. If Phaedra had closed her eyes not knowing where she was, she would have recognized the harbor town by its unique perfume.

On the right side of the wharf were hundreds of vendors in makeshift tents or lean-tos made from leather (they reminded Phaedra of worn legion tents) with men and women alike bartering for cargo as it spilled from the ships onto the deck. To the left bobbed the ships themselves, hundreds of them, their naked masts crisscrossing against the swelling rose of sunrise.

For Phaedra the wonder of this place had faded when she returned from Rome after Lucius had died. It reminded her sharply of her failure, and she lowered her eyes as they passed.

Bahar, on the other hand, came instantly alive as soon as they came within sight of the shipyard. He would point and shout at Thane, telling him the function of each boat, each building and the scurrying humanity before them. It was the first time in days Phaedra had seen him smile.

Adrastos led them through the crowd heading for a large merchant vessel at the end of a long line of ships being unloaded.

“That is our boat,” he said to Thane, and his smile widened. “We have an hour or more before she casts off.” He rubbed his hands and searched the line of vendors, many of them with large amphorae of wine. “I am certain there are additional supplies we will need for our voyage.”

As Adrastos tuned his horse to the vendors, Thane caught up the reins and pulled them the other way. The horse whined in protest, as did the Greek.

“You owe me wine, Prince!”

“And you will get your wine when we reach Rome, not before.”

Next to the ship was another, about half the size of the bulky merchant ship. Instead of the riggings for cargo, this one was equipped with a bristling array of oars, now standing at attention toward the sky. Rather than rounded, the hull was narrow, its prow tall and graceful, fashioned into a bright white lion’s foot with gleaming bronze claws at its end. The ship itself had been painted black with pitch, its masts taller and thicker than its neighbors’ had. Phaedra thought it looked menacing somehow.

“What is that ship?” she asked Adrastos.

The medico turned to see what she was pointing at, but his face fell, and he looked away. Phaedra was certain he had made the sign against evil, and her brows went up. She had not seen him do that since they met.

“That is an Egyptian galley.”

“Egyptian,” she said. “It is a long way from home.”

Adrastos nodded and spit. “She is indeed. The saying here is, ‘Egyptian hull a geminus sail, diabolus veho suus tergum
.
’”

“Egyptian hull, twin sails, a devil rides her back,” said Thane. “Pirates.” He turned to Adrastos. “Here in Britannia? My understanding is that the pirates were driven out of the Mediterranean by the Romans years ago.”

The Greek chuckled and goaded his horse forward. “Obviously, this one was not. Pirates are like the rains, Prince; never expected but always there. Where there is a defenseless ship pregnant with cargo, you will find men willing to deliver it.” A shiver went through him, and he led them on to their ship in silence.

As they came around a mountain of amphorae blocking their way, Adrastos brought them to a halt. He straightened his back and craned his neck, shielding his eyes against the first beams of sun peaking in over the distant horizon. “Soldiers,” he said sitting back.

Phaedra squinted to see. In front of their ship, in fact in front of every outgoing ship the length of the wharf, was a group of red and silver clad Roman soldiers checking parchments for passengers boarding the ships. Next to each was a standing dog, smelling each passenger. Her heart sank when Adrastos swore.

“I hate to say it, Prince, but I think your little entanglement may be the reason for this. The passes I have will never get us through them.”

Phaedra turned to Thane, but the gladiator’s jaw clenched and he swore.

The medico stared at the soldiers a long time, leaning into his mount and pulling on his beard. He finally sat up and smiled broadly.

“I will think of something. Here…” He reached into his robe and came out with two rolled parchments, folded in half. Guiding his horse next to Thane, he reached over and handed them to him. “Just in case something happens,” he said quietly.

“What is going to…”

Adrastos laughed with a great bellow and turned his horse’s head toward the soldiers. “Not a thing! I have a plan.”

Thane and Bahar both kicked their horses to follow him.

“I do not like this,” Bahar said to Thane as Adrastos pulled ahead of them.

“Nor do I. Know where your weapon is, boy.”

Bahar touched the
gladius
at his side then went back to the reins.

By the time they reached the crowd gathering at the plank leading up to the vessel, Adrastos was well ahead of them, and Thane had to call. The old Greek turned his head and winked, but spurred his horse on widening the gap. Phaedra squeezed Bahar in fear, and he cried out. She immediately released him forgetting about his injury. When she pulled her hand away, a small patched of blood had soaked into his tunic.

They were now a hundred feet away from the medico, and the crowd made it impossible to move forward. Thane finally got off his horse to try to bully his way through the crowd to get to the Greek, but a ripple of excitement made them press in harder.

From the horse, Phaedra watched as the Greek rode right up to the six soldiers working at the plank. The dog started barking furiously. Adrastos got off his horse and said something to them, but Phaedra could not hear what it was. One of the soldiers pushed him.

The Greek shouted at the top of his lungs, “You fool! I am Servius Duilius Bibaculus. Do you not know me?”

The soldier swore at him and pushed him again. An officer who had been standing in the crowd, hearing the commotion pushed his way through them. He must have asked what was going on, for the soldier pointed to the still figure of Adrastos and laughed.