Desire of the Gladiator (Affairs of the Arena Book 3) Read Online Free

such a damned fool. Since her indentured servitude had started, she’d had to start from the very bottom.
    A lower bottom, indeed, than where she had started to begin with. Roman law had certain privileges for the requests of royal dignitaries from client states. There was not quite as much sway for the arguments from a particularly eloquent slave.
    Still, she tried. Her hands were stained with ink on the tips and sides of her palms. Perhaps there would be less work for her if she only petitioned for Taniel, but of course, Leda was not actually a fan of being a slave herself. She wrote other petitions—though less frequent—to her family and other Roman officials, asking for her own freedom. Sooner or later, someone would start to listen. Leda placed great stock in the value of a good argument.
    Such work tired out her fingers. In the nights after writing her letters, she rested them in warm water full of salts. Nyx prescribed the method, and it worked well to relax her tensed hand muscles.
    “I won.” Conall smiled. “I don’t know if you saw. Like I told you I would. You can take credit for it if you like, as we discussed.” He shrugged, and then grimaced. “I might take the brunt of the winning purse, though. I’ll likely need to buy Nyx a new office if she keeps fixing me up.”
    Despite herself, Leda smiled. As soon as she did, she covered her mouth, coughing slightly. But it was too late—Conall had seen.
    “Was that a smile?” he asked. “Are you...” he smiled broadly, “Can you understand me? Do you understand me?” His mouth hung open. “Have you been understanding me for a while?”
    His excitement was clear. Suddenly, though, his steps started to falter. They walked behind a wagon full of supplies, and he put a hand on it, trying to stay up on his feet. It was evident that wasn’t enough. His legs lost strength and he started to fall toward the road.
    Leda gripped him under his armpits and steadied his fall, but Conall was heavy with hard muscle and she could not hold him up alone. Nyx was there, though—had been walking behind them with suspicious eyes ever since Conall got up out of the wagon. She snapped at Chloe, and together, the three of them carried the semi-conscious Conall back to the wagon.
    “Insane man,” said Leda. “Beast of a man.”
    Eyes drooping with fatigue, he just smiled up at her. He held her hand, and she did not find it in her power to pull away.

Chapter 7
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    T he next day, Conall was in his cell, put on indefinite bed rest until his midsection had mended.
    His old friends Caius and Aeliana came to see him.
    Caius was a former gladiator who had become steadfast with Conall during the time in the ludus they shared together. What Caius had with Aeliana, his wife, was something beautiful. Their relationship had given Conall hope for the world in a time when he had not possessed much otherwise.
    Often, he fantasized about Leda being his in the same way that Aeliana and Caius were each other's. That Leda was a princess hardly mattered to him—Conall had little real understanding of what it even was to be a princess. All he knew was that she was a woman, a damnably beautiful one at that, and that his every spare thought focused entirely upon her.
    When Caius won his freedom, he and Aeliana married. Though they visited from time to time, they were not a regular part of Conall's life.
    “How do you feel?” Aeliana asked.
    Ever the medicae, she inspected his bandages as he sat on the cot. She operated a clinic in the town of Puteoli. Caius ran the inventory and management side of affairs while Aeliana did the brunt work of treating patients.
    “I’m fine. Totally fine.”
    “You have three broken ribs,” she said, frowning, “and that gash on your forehead is going to leave a scar.”
    “I don’t mind it,” he said.
    It was the truth. Oh sure, he didn’t like the pain. But for so much of his life, Conall felt as though he did everything he