"My quarrel is with half the Roman Empire." I glared at her. "Maybe you too."
"You are so busy with building your list of enemies that you've forgotten you also need friends!"
"Friends like Crispus, and his father?"
"Yes, actually, you do need them. But not only them. I'm trying to help you, Nic. I owe you that much, but you're not making it easy."
My glare darkened. "You owe me nothing. And if you're doing this for Crispus and Valerius, I don't want their help."
"But you need it!" Then more quietly, she added, "They aren't the reason I'm here."
From the corner of my eye, I saw Livia roll away from us. Even if she had wanted to sleep, she'd hardly be able to. I knew she could hear us fighting.
I looked back at Aurelia and lowered my voice too. "Why did you come?"
She only sighed, as if the answer should have been obvious. Unfortunately, the only obvious thing to me was that I hadn't finished saying things I was sure to regret.
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"Will Crispus approve of our friendship after you marry him?"
Her eyes widened. "Who said I was going to marry him?"
"It's the only way you can inherit your father's wealth. Clearly, you need Crispus's friendship too."
"We are friends, yes. But that's all."
Was that true? Maybe I had misread the situation between them, in which case I owed her an apology. "So you're not planning to marry him?" I asked.
She hesitated, not a good sign. "Things are ... complicated. You're right about one thing: My father's will only grants me his inheritance if I am married."
"You'd marry someone just to keep your money?"
"It's not about the money, not directly anyway. Remember those children who were hiding here in the sewers with me? I used my father's money to buy their freedom, every one of them. And I'll use my last denarius to buy freedom for anyone else I can find. But if I lose the inheritance, then I'll have no way to help them anymore, or to even help myself."
The muscles in my face were tightening again. "Then marry Crispus. Use his last coin too."
"I don't want to marry Crispus! Not if I can marry someone else, someone I really care about." She shifted closer and touched my arm. "Give me another option. Please, Nic."
"Like what?"
Her eyes fell, unable to look at me. "Don't make me say it. Surely you must know what I want, why I came here to meet you."
My heart was pounding, but I had nothing to say. As confused as I was about her feelings, I certainly understood my own. I knew what I wanted to ask.
But who was I to offer her anything? I was nobody, with no future but running from half the Roman Empire, and with nothing in my possession but an empty bulla. She deserved better.
"Fine," she said to my silence. "Thanks for nothing." Then she removed the crepundia from her neck and held it out to me. "Why do you want this anyway?"
She was already angry, so I dreaded having to tell her now. I took the crepundia and opened the pouch in its center. I had worried that if Aurelia had opened it already, she would have recognized the real gems and sold them. But as soon as I saw them, I knew they were the ones I had put inside it before my fight in the arena. They glowed for me, while the mark on my shoulder caught the scent of magic nearby and sparked to life.
I opened the bulla as well and switched the gems with the crepundia. Immediately, power flowed into the bulla, with the same strength as I remembered from before. This was Diana's power, her magic, as she stood in rebellion against the gods. Understanding why she had powered this bulla made me more nervous than ever to hold it.
When I looked back at Aurelia, her mouth was pinched into a thin line. Anger was an inadequate description for the heat I felt coming from her.
"Tell me you didn't --"
"I couldn't let Radulf get the bulla's magic."