"This land belongs to the gods! They've let you stay here, that's all. You have to leave while you still can."
"I can, but I won't," Crispus said. "Not yet anyway. Aurelia is here, hiding in the vines. You can't see her from the field, but she has another bow."
I cursed and didn't care if the gods heard it. "Again?" Was there an entire storehouse of bows in Crispus's fields that I didn't know about? "Where could she possibly have gotten a bow?"
"From Radulf, I assume. He's hiding there with her."
So he would keep her safe, which would've been comforting except that if he gave her a weapon, then he was expecting her to use it.
I made a turn, pretending to survey the Praetors just as Crispus had done, but my eyes were searching elsewhere. I didn't see Aurelia or Radulf, though I had no doubt they were here. But what I did see made my heart lurch into my throat.
Livia was hiding beneath some bushes with tears streaming down her face. By now, she was supposed to be miles away from this place. But she was here, and obviously terrified of being found. I couldn't let that happen, not at any price.
"What are we going to do?" Crispus asked.
"You're going to get out of here with Aurelia. And Livia. You'll see her hiding behind us." I was less clear about my own plans. I couldn't destroy the temple with my mother inside.
"Let me come in there with you. I can help."
"You can help by getting my sister out of here. That's going to be hard enough."
"I'll try, Nic."
"Let's go." Brutus had my mother by the arm. "Give me the Malice, and then you will have your mother."
"Just give him the Malice," Crispus whispered. "It's not worth the risk."
I nodded, but it only deepened the
pit in my gut. I could not give Brutus the Malice, even if I wanted to, for it was no longer inside the temple.
The Malice was with Livia. I had given her the key before the race, just as Horatio had given it to me. Then today, while I raced and put up a trick of light to make it appear that she was in the circus watching me, she had come back here and entered the temple, something which, until now, only she and I would have been able to see.
But she was supposed to have been back at Radulf's house by now, not hiding beneath a bush. The Malice was easily within the Praetors' grasp and not one of them knew it.
I needed the Malice to get my mother back. But revealing where it truly was would cost me my sister.
I walked past Brutus to enter the temple, but stopped long enough to give my mother a kiss on her cheek. She touched my shoulder when I did, her fingers digging into the skin with worry, which made it even harder to pull away and walk toward the temple. They would follow behind me.
Before we entered, Brutus called out orders for his Praetors to remain exactly where they were until we returned. I glanced back at Crispus, motioning with my eyes to where Livia was hiding, but I wasn't sure if he understood. Even if he did, I doubted there was any way for him to get to her without the Praetors noticing. Still, if there was a way, I trusted Crispus to find it.
Strange emotions rushed through me when I entered the door of the temple. It was different from how I'd felt when Aurelia and I had taken refuge in Caesar's temple in the forums. Back then, I had felt the guilt of being a thief who'd stolen the bulla from his cave, and the unworthiness of being an escaped slave. Now I considered the bulla mine and no longer thought of myself as an escaped slave. Instead, I felt a belonging in this temple, as if I had earned the right to stand here.
Which was a good thing. Feeling acceptable in this temple gave me courage to step forward. And right now, I needed courage more than ever before.
The temple was far larger than what it appeared to be on the outside. Indeed, from what I'd seen outside, it should have only barely fit me and Brutus, but then two Praetors stepped inside with my mother between them, and a dozen more Praetors could have followed and stood comfortably with us. Not that I wanted them here. I didn't even want Brutus here, and especially not my mother. This would've been much easier if I were alone.
Just as Livia had done this, alone. And I took extra courage from that.
At the far end of the temple was a narrow ladder leading underground. Atroxia's cries were coming from there. Nothing else was on this main level, no vase or statue or even a layer of dust as I would've expected to find after being buried for three centuries. The Malice was not up here, and probably never had been.
To retrieve it, Livia must have gone underground, into the temple's catacombs.
Before going down the ladder, I reached for Radulf with my thoughts and told him where Livia was hiding.
"You must take my sister back home," I said. "Aurelia too. Make her go with you."
A moment later came his response. He was connected to me through magic, but not to Livia. He could not find her without revealing himself. "If the Praetors know I'm here, a fight will start," he said into my head. "Nobody can fight while that temple is open. Do you understand?"