Read Online GladiatorsAtonement by Amy Ruttan - Free Book Online Page A

to her and it disturbed her greatly.
    Pinning up her hair and wrapping her stola around her, she
made her way out of her bedchamber and into the garden. When she stepped
outside the sun hung low in the sky. She had almost slept away the entire
afternoon.
    Helena shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself as she
looked out over the city. Dark clouds threatened the far eastern sky, a storm
was rolling in. A cool breeze blew down off the peaks of Mount Silpious in
bursts. She watched the boughs of her olive trees bend in the wind.
    It was a day like this, this feeling of unsettledness, which
she experienced on the day Thelonius walked into her life, ruining it forever.
She choked back a sob as she thought of her father again and how much she
missed him.
    She wished Eratos was here with her at this moment to chase
away the shades that were haunting her this day. The hair on the back of her
neck stood on end as she heard heavy footfalls behind her. She did not need to
turn to know it was Thelonius who approached her.
    “There you are, you whore.”
    Spinning around, she came face-to-face with Thelonius.
Behind him was a large man, his curved blade telltale to the Eastern lands
beyond the sands of the desert. Thelonius’ hand gripped her damask
sheet—bedding she thought was disposed of—apparently he had found it. The
telltale bloodstain on the sheet was proof enough to tell him she had been
deflowered.
    “Ah, you’re home.”
    “Do not vex me, Helena.” He held out the sheet. “I take it
you are no longer a virgin.”
    Holding her head up high, she did not answer him.
    “Do not deny it, Helena. You’ve been plucked.”
    “Aye, I have.”
    Thelonius’ face turned red. “You are my wife, you are
supposed to remain faithful to me. I am the one who is granted the right to
deflower you.”
    Helena laughed. “As if you would.” Her eyes narrowed. “You
have no interest in me besides my money. What does it matter to you that
someone else plucked my maidenhead?”
    “It was mine. I do not like anyone else taking what was
mine.”
    “My body is not yours,” she spat.
    Thelonius took a step forward. “By marital rights it is. You
should have remained chaste for your husband.”
    “Did you honestly expect me to remain faithful to you?” She
laughed, her fists clenching with pent-up rage. “You murdered my father.”
    “I did no such thing. Your father took the coward’s way out
and committed suicide.” Thelonius snorted. “I had proof he was out for Nero’s
blood.”
    “He had no qualms with any of the Imperial family. He was
loyal even as the blood spilled from his wrists. You killed him because he
threatened to tell the empire about your disgusting need to bathe in blood.”
    “You were blind to your father’s indiscretions. He was a
coward and died as a coward.”
    “How dare you? He did the honorable thing.”
    “The honorable thing would have been to face the Praetorian
Guard like a real man.”
    Helena shook with rage. “You would do the same, the coward
that you are.”
    Thelonius advanced on her, but she saw him wince in pain as
he grabbed her upper arm, squeezing the flesh painfully. As she craned her neck
she could see blood seeping through a linen bandage.
    “I am no coward.”
    “Does it hurt?”
    His eyes narrowed. “What?”
    “Retribution,” she whispered gleefully.
    “You whore. Who did you have here, and do not lie. I know it
must be you allowing him access.”
    “I had no one in here with me.”
    Thelonius’ eyes narrowed and he advanced toward her. “Do not
lie, your chamber smells of sex.” He proffered the stained sheet. “Your virgin
blood is all the proof I need.”
    “And what are you going to do about it?”
    “I’ll divorce you. I finally have a legitimate reason to do
away with you and keep your money for myself. I don’t know why I didn’t think
of it before. I’ll take great pleasure throwing you to the streets where you’ll
have to earn a living on your