Page 99 of Of Love and Treason
“What’s the news?” he asked, concern weighing his eyebrows. She handed him her towel as Cato opened the culina door and Beatrix, Delphine, and Martha rushed in.
Iris took a deep breath to reply and found she couldn’t. Instead, she crossed her arms and bit her lips. Valentine ran the towel over his head and neck, careful to avoid his tender chin. He took a step toward her and stopped as Beatrix rushed to her side.
“Is he all right? Abachum said he’s to be sold?”
Iris swallowed. “Titus said Tribune Braccus called an emergency council to try him.”
“They’ve sentenced him already?” Valentine wadded the towel and tossed it on the worktable.
Iris nodded, her eyes burning. “Tribune Braccus wanted execution, but the prefect sentenced him to be sold to a labor camp.”
Beatrix’s arm went around her shoulders.
“A labor camp.” Valentine’s eyes shifted as if in thought. “When is the auction?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. Titus said he’d send word. I—I’m sorry. He made me tell him where I was staying. He would have found me anyway.”
“It’s all right,” Martha assured. The others didn’t look so convinced.
Valentine turned to Cato. “Doesn’t your father have a friend in the auction house?”
Cato shrugged, depositing an armload of dripping herb jars on the counter. “Pater has friends everywhere.” He squinted. “Are you thinking to buy him?”
Valentine nodded. “If we can.”
Cato looked at Martha. “Where’s Pater?”
“Lying down. He wasn’t feeling well.” Martha shooed them toward the door. “But go wake him, he won’t mind.”
Valentine and Cato left the women alone, agreeing to gather in the triclinium. Delphine, Martha, and Phoebe piled trays with food and drink. Beatrix tucked back strands of Iris’s wet, tangled hair and lifted a camel-colored wool palla from the pile of linens, wrapping it securely around Iris’s shoulders. The motherly gesture flooded her with a warmth the fire had been unable to produce. Beatrix had spoken once before about believers bearing one another’s burdens. She was glad her father’s arrest wasn’t one she had to carry alone.
XLIII
MARIUS CONFIRMEDAN ACQUAINTANCEin the auction house. While eager to share the news with Iris, Valens forced his feet to keep with Marius’s pained pace as they crossed the courtyard.
“What happened to your chin?” Marius gestured toward Valens’s face.
“Ask your son.” Valens slanted a falsely dark look at Cato.
Cato eyed the cut. “If it opens again and starts bleeding, let me know. I should probably stitch it, but it’s scabbing over pretty well.”
“What happened?” Marius pressed.
“He fainted.” Cato smirked.
“In my defense,” Valens protested as Cato swung open the door to the triclinium, “he told me to hold this man’s foot—and then pulled out a saw!”
Knowing Martha would not allow such talk over dinner, they quieted as they joined the others in the triclinium. Phoebe fussed over the food, while Bea poured measures of water and wine into cups, and Iris and Martha handed them out. Valens took a seat across from Iris and next to Abachum. The orphans, along with Lalia and Rue, played on a rug in a corner of the room, dolls and wooden blocks and clay animals spread across the floor. The baby snuggled into her chest, Delphine joined Cato on his couch.
Valens looked around. “Where’s Audifax?”
“Organizing the goods in the warehouse so as soon as the shipdocks, the cargo can be loaded for a quick departure.” Marius groaned as he lowered onto an empty couch.
Valens nodded, knowing it was for his benefit. He tried to summon up gratefulness but felt only sadness at the thought of leaving his city, this family. He turned his attention to Iris instead. “What else did Titus say?”
As she repeated the conversation, he tried not to notice the way the wine-colored dress hugged Iris’s curves and set off the warm tones of her skin. The lamplight caught damp tendrils of dark hair framing her face and shrinking into waves. He forced his gaze away, making the mistake of catching his aunt’s eye, who appeared very interested in his perusal of Iris. He shot her bright-eyed excitement a sharp look of warning.
Iris hugged her elbows and looked at her lap. “That’s all I know.”
