She stared at him. The words themselves sounded sympathetic, though his tone was anything but.
‘So...you mean you don’t care who my mother was?’
‘I don’t care if she was Boadicea herself. I don’t care about the colour of your hair either. I do care about the fact that you didn’t tell me.’
‘I was going to, I promise. I tried when we arrived, but then the timing didn’t seem right with the rebellion...’
‘You didn’t think it important considering who’s rebelling?’
‘I hoped that Nerva was right and you were mistaken. I hoped that I wouldn’t have to choose sides. I’ve never wanted to do that.’
‘If we’re attacked, then you might have to.’ His gaze turned accusing. ‘This is why you were so upset about the prisoner yesterday, isn’t it? You should have told me then what was wrong.’
‘How could I when you spoke about him so cruelly? You called him a barbarian.’
‘Because I’d been fighting! What did you expect?’ He glared at her for a moment and then seemed to look inwards. ‘But it was still wrong of me. I lost my temper and I shouldn’t have.’
‘So did I.’ She looked across at him hopefully. ‘You’re right—I should have told you then, but maybe it’s not too late...’
‘It is. It’s too late for any of this.’ He got to his feet, his expression as stern as she’d ever seen it. ‘I can’t trust you now, Livia. You kept secrets from me and went to see a prisoner behind my back. How do I know you’re not planning to help him escape?’
‘I’m not.’
‘But if you had the opportunity, would you?’ He held her gaze steadily. ‘Would you let him go?’
She hesitated for a moment and then nodded. No matter what his reaction, she wasn’t going to lie again. ‘If it came to a choice between that and abandoning him to a life of slavery, then, yes, I’d help him escape.’
‘Then you need to stay here. Consider yourself a prisoner, too.’
‘A prisoner?’
‘Until things are settled. After that... I don’t know.’
He made for the door and then stopped, his shoulders tensing suddenly as if a new thought had just occurred to him.
‘Didn’t you think your brother would try to blackmail me, too?’ He turned around slowly, a look of suspicion on his face. ‘Didn’t that occur to you when you married me?’
‘Ye-es, but I thought he’d leave us alone.’
‘Because there’s nothing he’d want from a man like me?’
‘What? No!’ She was shocked by the strength of bitterness in his voice.
‘Or is that the real reason you married me?’ Green eyes blazed with a burst of anger. ‘Because you thought that with my family history I couldn’t be blackmailed?’
‘No, I told you I was going to...’
His lip curled. ‘You know, I thought I was doing the honourable thing in marrying you, but it wasn’t my honour that you wanted, was it? You wanted a man with no honour left to lose. That way your half-brother would leave you alone and you’d never have had to tell me the truth. I was just a means to an end.’
‘No! It wasn’t like that. I didn’t think he’d try to blackmail you, but I thought that if he did then you’d be the kind of man who’d stand up to him, who wouldn’t be threatened or intimidated. I never even thought about your family history. How could I when I don’t even know what it is?’
‘The details aren’t important.’ The anger in his eyes seemed to dissipate suddenly, his whole face shutting down as if he’d just pulled a mask across it.
‘Aren’t they?’ She shot to her feet, angry now, too. How dare he accuse her of using him so callously! ‘I’m not the only one who’s been keeping secrets!’
‘It’s no secret. I told you, there was a mutiny.’
‘But you won’t tell me what about!’