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attend to at home.”
    Anticus rose from the couch despite Cassius’s remonstrances. He waved away his son’s offer of help.
    “I will look forward to your visit tomorrow. General Trajan will be coming in the afternoon. Perhaps you could come then.”
    Cassius smiled. It would be good to see his adopted uncle. “I’ll do that.”
    At the end of the walkway, Cassius looked back. His father barely had time to adjust his face into a smiling mask, but Cassius had missed nothing. His father was in pain. Extreme pain. How was it that he had gotten so sidetracked from the inquiries he had been so determined to make? His father had always had the ability to twist a situation to his own advantage, and now Cassius realized that Anticus had done just that. Well, tomorrow he would not find it so easy. Tomorrow he would have his answers.
    ❧
    Samah stroked Sentinel on his head, rubbing her hands against his ears. The dog leaned into her hand. Regardless of what people told her to the contrary, she could swear the beast was smiling.
    She seated herself on the edge of the small pool beneath the roof’s opening. Leaning over, she trailed her fingers in the cool water. She could see her reflection and marveled at the change in herself.
    Her dark hair hung in a flowing mass down her back, drop ping across one shoulder while she continued to gaze into the water. The soft yellow tunic clung to her figure, giving her more the shape of a nubile young woman than an emaciated slave. Although her figure could not be considered as yet fulsome, she had filled out more in the last few weeks supping at Cassius’s table than in the past few years. Frowning at the thought, she realized that she was less than pleased with the idea.
    Glancing down at her bare foot, her gaze skimmed briefly over where her other foot should have been. Not for the first time in her life, she wished she were completely whole. Sighing, she smiled at the dog.
    “You don’t care that I’m missing a foot, do you? Would that all people everywhere had such blindness where faults are concerned.”
    Sentinel whined, coming to instant attention when he heard a sound at the front door. When it opened to allow Cassius to enter, the dog was beside his master in an instant. Samah noticed the wagging tail and realized that she was just as happy to see Cassius. There was absolutely no reason she should be, but the feeling was there nonetheless.
    Cassius glanced at her briefly, and then again, much longer. He straightened slowly, taking in her changed appearance. A sudden veil seemed to shutter his face. Before he could say anything, Democritus entered the room.
    “Welcome home, my lord.” His eyes briefly scanned Cassius. “I see you made use of your father’s bath. Shall I tell Argon that you won’t be needing him?”
    “Please do. Has Justinian arrived yet?”
    “No, master. He sent word that he could not make it until later this evening.”
    Cassius nodded, going to the doorway that led into another room. “When he arrives, send him to me here.” He glanced at Samah. “Come with me.”
    Lifting herself with her crutch, Samah followed him into the room, gasping at the beautiful murals painted on the walls. The room was lavishly furnished, with statues of various gods littered about it. She quickly turned her face away, but not before Cassius noticed.
    He sat on a couch and indolently reclined back among the cushions. “You disapprove?”
    Samah didn’t know what to say. She felt Cassius watching her, and turning, she found her gaze captured by his. When his eyes slowly traveled over her, she felt her stomach constrict in alarm. Why she should suddenly feel threatened she couldn’t understand. If Cassius had wanted to take advantage of her, he had already had plenty of opportunity to do so. Still, her body grew rigid under his careful inspection.
    Democritus entered the room, dispelling some of the tension. He handed Cassius a marble box inlaid with petals of gold.