Finally, I said, "I think I know where we're going. Atroxia serves Diana. She would take Radulf to Diana's temple."
"At Lake Nemi?" Crispus's eyes widened. "My father forbade me to ever go to that temple. It's a place of violence, not peace."
"I didn't ask you to come," I reminded him. "And there's no shame in leaving."
"We're not leaving," he said. "I'm just ... nervous."
So was I. We'd have been fools to feel anything different.
Since Crispus and Aurelia were on horses far less powerful than Callistus, it took us most of the day to get to Lake Nemi. Still, I was grateful for at least one reason to have them along -- they had packed plenty of food for the journey, over half of which I had already eaten. They didn't ask why I was so hungry or where I'd been for the past ten days. They only let me eat and drink as much as I needed.
It was dark when I first caught sight of the lake, far below us down steep, wooded hills. My eye caught some fluttering movement in the moonlight, and my heart leapt. I knew what that was.
"We should camp here for the night," Crispus said. "Then approach the temple in the light of day."
"But Radulf is a captive tonight," I said, urging Callistus to move down the hill. "We don't rest until we have him back."
"Do you ever rest, Nic?" Aurelia asked as her horse fell into a single-file line behind mine. "You're always moving, unless you're knocked unconscious."
Crispus drew in a breath. "Is that where you were for ten days, unconscious? Beneath that temple? No wonder you're so hungry!"
I smiled, ready for whatever was about to come. "If I did sleep that long, then I'm well rested now. Let's go. We're saving a life tonight!"
When we were nearly to the shores of Lake Nemi, Crispus stopped his horse as suddenly as if it had hit an invisible wall. "We should go back. Can't you feel it, how haunted this lake is?"
Aurelia and I stopped too, and both of us stared at him. Crispus's face had drained of color, and he was holding on to his horse's reins so tightly that I thought he might snap them in half.
"Haunted?" Aurelia chuckled. "It's just a lake."
"Emperor Caligula used to spend a lot of time here. He had a floating palace on these waters, and a floating temple, dedicated to Diana."
My grin matched Aurelia's. "Let's hope he was a better swimmer than I am."
"He was mad!" Crispus seemed irritated that Aurelia and I weren't taking him more seriously. "It's rumored that while watching the games one day, he got bored because they ran out of criminals to fight the animals. So he ordered an entire section of the audience into the arena instead."
Aurelia shrugged. "That's cruel, but not mad."
"He made his horse a priest and his own personal advisor," Crispus added.
I snorted a laugh through my nose. "His horse advised him to do what, eat more hay?"
"All right," Aurelia said, taking mercy on him. "I'll agree with you. Caligula was a madman."
"And he dedicated these waters to Diana," Crispus said. "We are not safe here."
"You will be." I dismounted and brushed a firm hand down the unicorn's back, then walked closer to the waters. There was a reason we had come to this exact spot. "Come out, Caela!" I called.
There was a fluttering sound and the heavy stamp of a foot, and finally, a griffin emerged from a clump of bushes. I saw Caela's eagle half first. Her head was as large as Callistus's, but rather than a horn, she had a sharp golden beak from which she issued a screech loud enough to be heard from miles away. Her wings were white and made of the softest feathers. The rear half of Caela was a lion, with muscles strong enough to propel her high into the air before she ever needed to fly.
Caela glanced at Callistus and gave an angry caw. Was that jealousy? I loved Callistus; that was true. He was beautiful and powerful, and had saved my life more than once. But Caela was the creature that owned my heart, and I had missed her more than she could ever know.
Cautiously, I inched toward the griffin. Although we were friends, I was never entirely certain that she wouldn't one day try to eat me. But Caela only lowered her head, giving permission for me to pet the feathers of her neck, then the lion fur of her back. Her wings had been spread out at first, but now they were tucked in close to her body, ready for me to ride on her back.
It would've been a wonderful evening to ride, but that was not my plan.
"I need to bring the Mistress down here to the lake," I said. "I want to draw her away from Radulf. Will you take my friends up to the temple to rescue him?"
Caela eyed them, and I might've heard Crispus's stomach drop to the ground. "You're sending us up there ... alone?" he asked.