The Gladiator's Mistress (Champions of Rome) Read Online Free Page B

meant to engage in such a conversation.
    “As a patrician you have a power all your own,” he said. “This city is bound to do your bidding.”
    “As a woman I have no power of my own. Much like you, a slave with a master, I am the property of my family. It is almost as if I am invisible, unless my father needs something.”
    “How can anyone not see you? For me,” said Valens, “you are like the brightest star in the sky.”
    “You flatter me,” she said with a quick laugh, “and jest.”
    Valens came to stand next to her; his body radiated heat. “See that,” he said. She lined up her gaze with his outstretched finger. He pointed to the single brightest star. “It is known as Polaris and is a fixed point in the sky. It shall be yours. Anytime you look at it from anywhere, you will know that you are seen.”
    This man was a stranger to Phaedra, yet he had given her the most valuable gift she had ever received. In this moment, she existed. Yet she could think of nothing to say that would express her deep gratitude. “How is it that you know of stars?” she asked. Phaedra mentally groaned. Oh, the gods preserve her, that was the least charming thing said in the history of language.
    “A sea captain told me of Polaris when I traveled aboard his vessel bound for Alexandria.”
    “I have read of Alexandria and its white-pillared library, filled with more scrolls than one mind can comprehend. Did you see that during your travels?”
    “There are many buildings such as you described. One of them may very well be the library. Yet I would not know.”
    Of course. She doubted that Valens even knew how to read. He had gone to Egypt for fighting, not learning. Regardless of the reason, he had been! “It must have been thrilling—to travel, I mean.”
    “I enjoy leaving Rome,” he said. “Has your father never taken you?”
    “No,” said Phaedra, “I have yet to know the pleasure of leaving the city.”
    “Perhaps one day you will sail to Egypt, and then you can tell me which one of the grand buildings is the library.”
    “If my husband allows it,” she said. The delight of travels not yet taken disappeared like the dream they were. For Marcus, Phaedra might be nothing. She certainly was not the brightest star in the sky. The realization came crashing down upon her with all the force of the heavens. “I have enjoyed this moment with you, Valens Secundus. Thank you for the gift of Polaris. I think I will remember you long after this night has ended.”
    “And I, you,” he said.
    “I really should return,” she said. Like a tether around her middle, her duty to family and honor pulled her back to the villa. “Once you have gotten enough air, I hope you return to the party and enjoy the food and company.”
    “This is a grand party,” said Valens. “I have attended many. Your father must love you very much. He spent a great deal of coin in simply hiring me.”
    “My father loves a party; my marriage is secondary,” Phaedra said. “To him and to me.” Heat rose in her cheeks. She must stop sharing such details with the gladiator.
    “You could ask to choose your own husband next time,” Valens said.
    Phaedra knew he meant if she outlived Marcus. If she became a young widow, her father might try to marry her to an even more ancient man for even more money. But what if she asked for assurances for a marriage of her choice? Could she? Should she? The idea of asserting some control over her life by choosing her husband left her breathless. At the same time it made so much sense that Phaedra could hardly believe she had not thought to bargain with her father already.
    In Rome, marriage defined a woman’s life. A married woman held the keys to the villa. She managed all the servants and slaves. Married women handled the household accounts. Even the clothes married women wore differed from those worn by unmarried women, divorced women, widows, or prostitutes. The matron’s stolla was the one piece of