Mark of the Thief

  I jumped off the wagon while Felix shooed away some workers trying to open the back doors.

  "Nic is the only one who will manage this animal," he told them. "Make sure the others know."

  I didn't miss the glares from the men, but they didn't bother me either. I had the feeling that nobody spared much concern for the animals here. They weren't worthy to handle Caela. She was the emperor's gift.

  Aurelia hopped off the back of the caravan as soon as she saw me. "Your bird is as dangerous as you are," she said. "Did you hear her reaction when those soldiers tried to take you?"

  I grinned. "Oh, I thought that was you making such a fuss over me!"

  Her face reddened. "I'd never fuss over you."

  Despite knowing it would only make her angrier -- or perhaps because of that fact -- my smile widened. "Isn't that what you're doing right now?"

  She grimaced and marched over to Felix to collect her pay for the trip. I watched him place a single coin into her hand. She started to argue back, saying something about needing to feed others too, but he said if she didn't leave, he'd hire someone else next time. She gave me a quick glance before walking away. A sad glance that made me wonder if I'd been wrong about her before.

  When I pulled the back doors open, Caela reacted to the bright light with an angry squawk that startled me. I couldn't blame her. If she had lived in Caesar's cave for a long time, then I was sure that like me, she wasn't used to so many other people and the hurry of such a vast and complicated city.

  For the most part, it was an easy walk toward the amphitheater. However, there was nearly a problem when a patrician passed us on horseback. Caela reacted by flapping her wings and cawing a warning at the horse. I put myself in front of her body to keep her from charging at the horse, whose rider spurred him away. She squawked in irritation, but let me hold her back. Caela didn't seem bothered by anything else here, but she definitely hated that horse.

  "Are you trying to get us both in trouble?" I scowled at Caela, who was still craning her head to see where the horse had gone. Then as we kept walking, I felt her beak brushing through my hair, and I smiled. Caela was preening me. Her attempt at an apology perhaps. And in all fairness, I probably did need a lot of preening.

  We entered the amphitheater beneath one of its many massive arches, and then found the ramp leading to the hypogeum, which appeared to be an endless underground maze. I hesitated at first, and so did Caela. I didn't like the idea of going beneath such a massive structure. I had seen cave-ins at the mine when nothing at all weighed down the dirt over our heads, and it seemed impossible that even the gods could keep this behemoth of a building from collapsing on top of us. I already felt the heat rising from below, like a summer day in the underworld. I was used to the constant chill of the mines, not the oven that awaited me now.

  The smell assaulted me next. Wherever there is heat, there will be sweat, and most of the hundreds of men around me smelled like something that had died. Worse still were the animals in their stacked cages. I had no idea there would be so many. Where had they all come from? I wondered. Everything down here felt inhuman, including the humans. Now I was one of them.

  Caela started to back up, but others were behind us now. "No," I said, placing a hand on her side. "Remember that you're a gift for the emperor. He only wants to see you -- nothing bad will happen."

  Once we were at the bottom of the ramp, it was obvious which cage had been reserved for Caela. A massive gold nugget lay inside it, chained to the cage's bars. I had heard Caela's power against the metal walls of the caravan. If she wanted that gold, no chain was going to stop her.

  Caela forgot everything else around her and ran into the cage. Two other men near me slammed her door shut and locked it. I followed her to the bars and told her everything would be fine, but her attention was on the gold now. She had forgotten about me.

  I felt guilty for locking her in there, as if I had betrayed her somehow. But it had to be done -- they would've killed her otherwise. Besides, once the emperor saw her, she would be treated as well as she deserved.

  Felix found me sometime later sitting beside Caela's cage. I hadn't gone anywhere else because I wasn't sure where to go, nor would I willingly help with the caging of these animals.

  "Are you hungry?" Felix asked, and then shook his head. "From the looks of you, I don't need to ask."

  "What about Caela?" I asked. "The griffin -- will they feed her?"

  Felix frowned. "Not yet. But she will have her chance to eat."

  So I got to my feet and followed Felix, who led me up the ramp and back outside. I was so grateful to be away from the fetid heat that it would've been enough just to stay here in the open air, but then, he had also offered me food.

  As we walked, Felix gestured to a throng of people gathered on a corner of the road who were holding out sacks of coins and yelling at one another. Felix asked if I knew what they were doing, but I only shrugged.

  "Setting up their bets for the games," he said. "Mostly on which gladiator they expect to win. By the end of the day's events, some wealthy men will have lost everything as a lucky plebian walks away with his toga and his home."

  I squinted into the sun to look at them. "It looks like a mob."

  "It is a mob," he said, then stopped and looked down at me. "All of Rome is a mob. The emperor and his senators prance about as rulers do, but they know how fragile Rome really is. Without the Praetors, it would've collapsed already."

  "Praetors?" I asked.

  Felix motioned around us. "They're the ones who really run this empire. The Praetors are our judges, governors, and administrators. They provide bread for the bellies and distraction with the games. But that's only their public face. In private, they are --" He stopped, as if he couldn't force out the rest of his words.

  "Are what?" I asked.

  "They are dangerous!" He drew in a sharp breath. "But Rome needs them. Without the Praetors, the mob becomes ... a mob."

  I thought about Radulf's claim back at the mines, that he would crush the empire in his fist. Were the Praetors part of his plan? I wondered.

  We walked in silence until Felix pointed to a wide hill in front of us. "Do you know the name of that place?"

  I shrugged, but held my tongue. How would I possibly know that?

  "It's Palatine Hill, the center of the seven hills of Rome. The emperor has his palace there, but that's not why I'm showing it to you. That, my friend, is the most sacred place in Rome. Do you know why?"

  I figured it had something to do with the gods, because as far as I could tell, everything did in the Roman Empire. But I knew nothing else.

  "A thousand years ago, the twin sons of the god Mars, Romulus and Remus, decided to form a new city on this very spot. Romulus stood on Palatine Hill. Remus stood on Aventine Hill, behind it. Whichever twin saw the first bird would know he was the rightful king."

  I pictured Caela in my mind. More perfect than any bird of the skies, or animal of the land.

  "As the story goes, Remus saw the first bird," Felix continued. "But immediately after, Romulus saw a flock of ten birds. Which was the greater sign? Each brother claimed the right to the throne. As Remus and Romulus fought for control of the land, Romulus killed his brother, then founded the city of Rome on that spot." Felix eyed me sideways. "Before you can understand Rome, you must understand where we began. We are a product of our history of violence, betrayal, and blood."

  I was still thinking of Caela, the way I had abandoned her in that cage. "I know about the execution of criminals at the games, and the gladiators who battle one another," I said warily. "I know those animals must be sent into the amphitheater as part of the battles, but what will happen to the griffin? Surely she is not part of the venatio. She is a gift to the emperor, right?"

  Felix drew in a breath and released it with a sigh. "In two days, the emperor will be watching the games. Then he will see who is stronger, his mighty gladiators or the griffin, animal of the gods."

  I
closed my eyes and tried to absorb the horror I felt. The venatio was a hunt -- Felix had told me that, but I had never thought it included Caela. Inexperienced and too eager to please, I had just led Caela into a cage to await her turn to die. I had only one friend left in this world, and with that betrayal, I was already becoming a part of Rome.

  Eventually, Felix led me to his home, a small wooden box behind a loud tavern and within perfect view of a much larger, fancier building called the Ludus Magnus, where the gladiators received their training. Felix gazed around the spare furnishings of his home and sighed. "It isn't much, but it's what I've been given."

  Maybe it wasn't much to him, but I had trouble believing an entire room had been granted to only one man. One day, I would achieve something like this for myself. I would have my own four walls.

  Felix picked up a tunic from his table and handed it to me. It was no fancier than my current one, but it was clean and would hide the mark on my shoulder.

  "Thank you," I said, already changing out of my old one. I couldn't wait to be rid of it.

  Felix next went to a cupboard and pulled out some drink, which he poured for me, and some bread and cheese. He placed them on a small table and then invited me to sit beside him on the floor. "Please," he said, motioning toward the items. "Have all you want."

  All I wanted was everything he had set out, and more. But I didn't reach for any of it. Not yet.

  "Why are you helping me?" I tried not to sound as suspicious as I felt. "None of the other slaves are here."

  "Is that how you see yourself, Nic, as a slave?"

  "Why does it matter how I see myself?" I folded my hands together. "You bought me. You ordered me to cage up a griffin who'll go to her death in two days, and I obeyed, because you own me."

  Felix hesitated a moment before cutting a slice of cheese, which he held out to me. I popped a piece into my mouth. It was one of the most delicious things I'd ever eaten, and I quickly ate the rest. He cut me a second slice, thicker than the one before, and offered it, but this one I held in my hand. None of this made any sense. Slaves were never treated so kindly by their masters.

  Then it became clear. Felix set down the knife and said, "I want to see that bulla now."

  Rather than answer, I ate the second slice of cheese. Not necessarily because I wanted it, but because I needed time to figure out what to do. I couldn't allow him to take the bulla from me. And I wouldn't let him give it to Radulf who seemed to know things about this bulla that I didn't. If Felix intended to take it, how much of a fight would it require to stop him?

  But refusing him didn't exactly solve my problems. Maybe I lacked enough good sense to keep from stealing the bulla in the first place, but now that I had, I also had to acknowledge that I'd waded into waters that were far over my head. I needed his help. After a little maneuvering with my arm, I withdrew the bulla from beneath the tunic and held it up for him. I hadn't looked directly at the amulet since hiding it. Now I realized the faint glow that had been there the first time I saw it was still there. I started to remove the bulla, then left it around my neck, just to be clear that it was mine. Which really, it wasn't.

  Felix leaned over and held the bulla in his hands. I waited for him to comment on its warmth or the vibration whenever it was touched directly, but he said nothing and didn't even seem to feel the difference between this and any other object. Even the glow seemed to escape his attention. He merely brushed a finger over the initials carved on the front and the griffin on the back, then let it fall back to my chest.

  "Do you know who that belonged to?" he asked.

  "Caesar," I mumbled. "It was his."

  "Did you know that Caesar used to claim he was a descendent of the goddess Venus?"

  For some reason, that struck me as funny. "Such a powerful emperor claimed to come from the goddess of love?"

  "Also the goddess of military victory. If Caesar was telling the truth about Venus, then he would have been more than a simple human. He may have even had some of her powers. What do you think about that?"

  It wasn't up to me to believe or doubt him. Nor could I see how it mattered. Caesar had been dead for almost three hundred years. Unless ... unless he had become a god, one of the immortals. Unless he was alive enough to whisper warnings from inside a sealed cave. I had not stolen the bulla from Radulf. I had stolen it from Caesar.

  I nodded and forced out the words that sat like a lump in my throat. "Yes, I believe that."

  "Good, because it's true. Venus is the mother of all Romans. She smiled upon Caesar more favorably than any other Roman before or since. And even when he was young, she gave him a way to draw upon the powers of the gods."

  My fingers wrapped around the bulla. I was barely able to comprehend the full meaning of what he was saying. "This came from the gods?"

  "Straight from Venus's mighty hand to his. When Caesar was alive, this bulla gave him wealth, brought him military victories, and provided him with the power to unify Rome and become the strongest emperor the world has ever known. But he began to believe too much in himself, rather than in Venus's power. His journals boast of his own abilities, not hers. In his arrogance, he removed the bulla and it became lost. Without the bulla, Venus's protections gradually abandoned him. Soon after, he was murdered by his own senators."

  "My mother told me about that, sir. Only a few months after the assassination, a comet appeared in the skies for seven full days, bright enough it could even be seen in daylight. The people said it was Caesar's soul, rising to join the other gods."

  "They called it the Divine Star. But its journey did not end with Caesar's death." Felix pointed to my shoulder. "That is the mark on your back."

  I leaned forward, certain I had heard him wrong. Was he saying that Caesar himself had marked me? Why?

  Felix rested his arms on his legs and looked directly at me. "When I held that bulla, I felt nothing. But your hand is rarely an inch from it, and even now, you can't let it go. Tell me, is there any magic left in the bulla?"

  My heart pounded. I wanted to lie to him. A convincing lie would allow me to eat the rest of his food in peace, and then go back to Caela's side. The right lie would end this conversation and any special interest in me. The problem was that I had more questions than ever before, and only the truth would get me any answers.

  So I nodded. "There's some magic left, but not much. I can feel it, but that's all. Maybe when Caesar put the bulla aside, Venus's power left it."

  "Or maybe the gods have waited three hundred years for someone else to pick it up. Someone with Caesar's mark on his back perhaps. You got that mark from the griffin? She is a creature of the heavens, you know. Only something born of the gods could give you their magic. The magic is stronger than when you first felt it, correct?"

  I couldn't deny that. But stronger wasn't necessarily a good thing. I hadn't told Felix about the whispers in the cave, warning of the curse that came with this bulla.

  Felix clasped his hands and said, "You come to Rome at a dangerous time. The foundations of our empire are crumbling, and we are so large that if we collapse, the entire world may fall with it. For centuries, the barbarians have run in fear, but now they gaze at our walls and see cracks have formed. We are not as strong as we once were."

  I pressed my brows together and tried to absorb everything he was saying. Having seen the greatness of Rome, it seemed impossible that it could ever fall. If it did, I couldn't imagine anything but darkness would replace it.

  Felix continued, "Emperor Tacitus can see the cracks in the empire, but he doesn't know how to fix them. If only the gods would help him, but they have been silent. If he had a touch of their power perhaps ..."

  Felix's voice drifted off as his eyes fell to the bulla. I wrapped my fingers around it, letting the vibrations travel up my arm.

  "Sir, whatever you think I can do with this bulla, I can't. I certainly can't use it to save an empire."

  "Can you use it to save yourself? Because people have been searchi
ng for that object since Caesar's death. Some want it to expand this empire, others want to destroy it. And if they know you can use it --"

  "But I can't use it! I'm nobody. Just a slave --"

  "A slave who happens to be holding the most powerful magic the empire has seen since the days of Julius Caesar! And you're right, Nic. You are nobody to this land. No one will fight a war to save you. No one will care if you fall. And if the enemies of this land surround you, even with that bulla, you will have no chance against them on your own."

  I felt dizzy. "No one knows I have it. Or even that it's been found."

  "Not yet. But how long can something like this remain a secret? Do you think anyone would hesitate to kill you in order to get that bulla?"

  My head was already swimming, but I croaked, "Then I will throw the bulla away. Destroy it!"

  "Something created by the gods will not be destroyed by a mere human. Besides, if you are captured by the enemy, how much torture can you endure before you convince them it's truly gone?"

  This was what Valerius had warned me about. I was in a great deal more trouble than I realized. Because keeping the bulla would destroy my life. And getting rid of the bulla couldn't save it.

  "What should I do, then?" I asked.

  Felix smiled. "Give it to Emperor Tacitus. Let him bear this burden for you. He can protect the bulla, and use it to destroy our enemies."

  "How? You can't feel the magic. If he can't either, then it'll do him no good."

  "He believes the leader of his armies, General Radulf, will know what to do."

  "Radulf?" I shook my head. "He's the enemy, Felix. He tried to get this bulla for himself. He would use it against the emperor, against all of Rome!"

  Felix leaned forward. "How do you know that?"

  "I heard him speaking to one of his men. He intends to destroy the empire!"

  Felix waved a hand in the air. "We'd better hope to the gods that you heard wrong. General Radulf is extremely powerful. If he were to turn against Emperor Tacitus, that would be a cause for concern. But so far he has remained loyal."