Wrath of the Storm (Mark of the Thief 3)

"Radulf?"

"Caela brought him from the arena to find me and Livia. Setting that fire was the first thing he asked me to do."

I closed my eyes and whispered a thanks to him, though I knew he'd never hear it. He also couldn't have known that at the point the fire had been spotted, I had almost given up entirely. He'd saved me.

"Where is Radulf?"

"Livia is caring for his injuries, but Crispus arranged for them to leave Rome at dawn tomorrow. Under the terms of his banishment, he must leave as soon as possible." She drew a breath. "Crispus thought it'd be best if Livia left too ... before your trial."

Before the outcome of my trial. That's what Aurelia meant to say. Still, I nodded in agreement, then added, "What about you?"

"I'm staying here."

"I want you to go with Livia and Radulf."

"I'm sure you do," she said. "But I won't leave without you."

"You know I'll never --"

Her response came swiftly, though her voice seemed to break a little. "Don't say it, Nic, just don't! We will find a way to get you to Britannia, alive and well."

I was glad she believed that, for what little good it did any of us.

Aurelia noticed the somber change in my mood and quickly added, "Radulf's leg was injured even before the arena, but it will heal eventually. Livia bound up his wrist, but it wasn't as bad as it could've been. He'll be all right, thanks to you." Her hand accidentally brushed against one of the wounds higher on my shoulder, and I gasped again. "Oh, sorry!"

"There's no point in this," I said. "By tomorrow, it won't matter."

Crispus leaned toward me. "I'm defending you, remember?"

Yes, with his long history of having defended exactly zero other people before. My confidence in him was not great. "Have they listed any charges?" I asked. "Or am I on trial simply for existing?"

He shrugged. "The charges aren't hard to guess. They'll accuse you of attacking your master and the soldiers at the mines, escaping as a slave, causing the destruction of the amphitheater -- I'm not sure anyone's ever done that before, but it's got to be a crime. They'll also try you for the theft of the bulla, which they will claim is the property of Rome, and will probably accuse you of the same with the Malice."

When he went silent, I asked, "Is that all?"

He missed the sarcasm. "Well, they might try to connect you to the deaths of the two previous emperors, but I'm fairly sure I can save you from that accusation."

"Only that one?" I asked.

"I can defend you of everything where you're innocent."

"I had nothing to do with the emperors' deaths," I said. "But for the rest of the charges, I'm guilty. Make whatever fancy speech you want -- nothing will change the fact that I took the bulla from Caesar's cave. Every crime I've committed began there."

"If I had any money left, I'd bribe them all," Aurelia said.

"And I can't bribe them," Crispus said. "Not as a judge of these courts. It would be dishonorable."

"Bribery wouldn't save me anyway," I said. "There isn't enough gold in Rome to persuade the emperor to let me go. We all know that."

Aurelia touched Crispus's arm. "He needs more bandages than I've brought. Can you find some?"

"The markets are closed already," he said, getting to his feet. "But if I find anything that can be used, I'll bring it here."

Once he had gone, Aurelia began applying the medicines to my back. The honey was warm and sticky, but it soothed the worst of the sting, even beneath her touch. As she worked, I couldn't clear from my mind the conversation I'd had earlier with Crispus. He didn't love Aurelia and was only marrying her out of a sense of duty. But he'd release her from her promise if she wanted that, if there were someone else she'd rather marry -- and hadn't she all but said those very words to me?

"Does this hurt?" she asked.

"No."