Mark of the Thief (Mark of the Thief 1)

"It gets bigger each year," Crispus explained. "Fiercer battles, more blood, more death. Whenever an emperor tries to limit the games, the people become angry. The last thing he needs is an uprising within his walls. So he gives them the show they want."

He walked forward and talked to a man with more varieties of fruit on display than I'd ever seen in my life. The more I saw of Rome, the more I realized how sheltered my existence had been at the mines. Much as I already admired this great city, I knew Livia would love it even more. I couldn't wait to tell her everything I'd seen here.

The fruit seller didn't seem too happy about what Crispus wanted, but again, Crispus was clearly comfortable giving orders, and the man was left with no choice but to bow in obedience. He then ordered everyone else out, leaving us alone.

Crispus motioned me toward him. "Being a senator's son has a few advantages," he said, smiling. That seemed rather obvious. He was educated, wealthy, and likely had all the food he could possibly eat. As far as I was concerned, he had every advantage.

Behind the market display was a small room with only a bed inside. Crispus shut the door and suggested that I sit. I took the floor. He started to object, then let the matter go.

Crispus said, "There's no easy way to open this conversation, so I'll just start. My father wants to know about the mark on your back."

I sat up straighter, pressing the wing of my shoulder into the cement wall, and averting my eyes as if I hadn't heard him. Which was idiotic. Obviously, I could hear him fine.

"You can talk to me," he said. "Remember, it was my father who first told you it was more than a scratch."

"And immediately warned me not to discuss it," I said.

"I know." Crispus left his place on the bed and came to sit beside me. Then he lowered his voice. "But you need to know what it is."

"The Divine Star," I whispered. "Julius Caesar's mark."

He seemed surprised. "Yes! The griffin gave it to you, right? That's how a person gets the mark, when they come into contact with a creature of the gods."

My hand brushed over the hidden bulla. It was also from the gods.

"The Divine S

tar is very rare." Crispus leaned in. "And also, very dangerous."

"Why?" I asked.

"It's magic, Nic. That griffin gave you magic."

It was all starting to make sense. Caela had fought me in the cave, until I got the bulla around my neck. Once I did, she recognized its power, and then marked my shoulder to give me the ability to use it. To the rest of the world, the bulla I held would never be anything but a trinket left over from Caesar's youth. But to me, and maybe only to me, it held the power of the gods.

"So what I'm here to ask," Crispus continued, "is if I can see that magic. I want to see what you can do."

Crispus didn't understand what he was asking. I felt nothing in the Divine Star, and I couldn't tell him about the bulla. So I only shook my head. "I can't do magic!"

He obviously wasn't often told no. His voice took on a tone of irritation. "You can't show me, or you won't?"

Frankly, both were true, but I said, "There's nothing to show." I held out my hand, palm up and fingers bent. "Nothing is happening. Nothing will happen because I can't do magic."

"This only means you haven't yet learned it."

I got up off the floor and moved away from him. "Even if I could do it, why should I show you? If your father was right, then I shouldn't trust anyone, including you and him."

Crispus stood with me. "My father can protect you!"

"From who?"

"General Radulf." Crispus barely spoke above a whisper. "He isn't what everyone in Rome thinks. He's got more power than the emperor, the entire military at his command, and a ruthless ambition that only those who've had to deal with him could understand. Once he knows you have magic, he won't stand for a slave boy challenging him."

"I'm not going to challenge him!" I could admit to being foolish in life, but not stupid. Not that stupid anyway.

"You may not have any choice," he said. "Eventually Radulf will find out about that mark, and when he does, nothing will stop him from coming for you. Others have learned that same lesson."

Something about the way he said that made my heart skip a beat. "What does that mean?"