Call to Juno (Tales of Ancient Rome #3)(12)

“I don’t see why you’re so annoyed. Last year you wanted to do the same when you rode north to speak to the League. And the people were buoyed by my words. They want to do more than defend Veii.”

“Driving the Romans from our lands is different from invading their city. We need the Twelve to unite.”

“Do we, Vel? Thefarie is helping our allies, Capena and Falerii, to oust the Romans from their territory. Aule Porsenna is leading the Tarchnans to assist him. Once the Capenates and Faliscans are free of their enemy, we can join forces to march on Rome.”

“When did you become a general, Bellatrix? You don’t know what you’re talking about.” He pulled the circlet from his head, tossing it onto the mattress. “Capena and Falerii are also under heavy siege.”

His words stung. He never denigrated her. And his coldness made her heart thump against her rib cage. Now it was her turn to be silent, lost for words.

“Your fervor only emphasizes my failure to rout Camillus and feed my people,” he continued.

She swallowed hard, realizing the nub of his anger was not just her failure to recognize all obstacles. She’d injured his pride. “That’s not true. The people voted you to be lucumo because they believe you will deliver them.”

“How? My army was slaughtered. It was the largest in Veii. I’m left rallying generals from different clans. And if we don’t get supplies, it’s not just food that’s denied us. Do you think we can conjure arrows and swords from air?”

“I never thought to hear you sound defeated, Vel.”

“And I never thought to hear you want to see Romans slaughtered. Do you understand what you are asking, Bellatrix? Do you want the land of your father put to flame and seeded with salt? For your cousin Marcus to be paraded in my triumph and executed?”

She sucked in her breath. His mention of Marcus cut through her. Only her love for her cousin had restrained her from wanting to see Rome destroyed. But the Battle of Blood and Hail had changed her. Two specters from her past had returned that day seeking to steal Vel’s life: Marcus Aemilius Mamercus and Appius Claudius Drusus. One was her kin, the other an admirer who had once claimed he loved her.

It shocked her that her husband might have been slain by her cousin. And she would always remember how Drusus had attacked Vel from behind. At least that coward was now dead, dispatched by Mastarna even when Vel was suffering the agony of a near-mortal wound. “Marcus was ready to kill you when you were on your knees injured. And he told you I was dead to him. I doubt he’d show mercy to us or our children. Why should I feel compassion for him?”

“So you’re saying you’re disappointed I spared your cousin?”

“He showed no compunction to slay you! I don’t know why you stopped Arruns from killing him.”

“He wanted to avenge Drusus’s death. Besides, the battle was over. I saw no need to send him to his gods. And I thought you would want it that way.”

She pointed at his arm. “At least Marcus was prepared to fight you face-to-face. You were lucky to survive Drusus taking you unawares. Do you now regret killing him?”

“No. But the manner in which he attacked me was just the way of war. There are always men who forget honor on the battlefield.”

She stood inches from him, her height enabling her to look level with his eyes. She was annoyed by his reasonable attitude toward two men whose hatred was so deadly. Irritated, also, at his reluctance to countenance attacking Rome if given the opportunity. “Do you know how traitors are executed in Rome, Vel? I’ll be thrown from the Tarpeian Rock, named for Tarpeia. She opened Rome’s gates to the Sabines because of her love for their king. Don’t you think the Romans will compare me with her?”

His brow furrowed in puzzlement. “Why do you raise this?”

She reached over and picked up the golden tesserae from the table, fingering their worn surfaces, the numbers inscribed in words that were nearly rubbed away. His talismans. His luck. “You sent Arruns to give these to me after my uncle forced me to divorce you. You gave me the chance to see if the goddess Nortia wished me to return to you.”

“Yes, and I’ve been grateful to her ever since that she signaled she wanted us to be reunited.”

Caecilia took a deep breath. “I was fearful on the day. Danger awaited me in Veii. To be suspected as an enemy among your people if I returned, while having my people resolve to punish me as a traitoress . . .” She closed her palm around the tesserae. “I crouched on that dusty road to toss them. How hard my heart was beating, not sure if Roman Fortuna wanted me to choose duty or Rasennan Nortia wished me to forsake all for love.”

Vel covered her hand. “I know all this, Bellatrix. Why are you telling me again?”

“Because Fortuna reclaimed me that day, Vel. But I chose you. I gave Camillus and his hawks an excuse to blame us for a war.”

He squeezed her hand so hard the edges of the dice dug into her. “You defied the goddess of destiny?”

“No, I believe Fate’s intention was that I disobey her. Nortia brought me back for a reason, as you’ve always claimed.”

He broke from her, sinking into the chair. “Bellatrix, you may have doomed us.”

“No. I’ve given us a purpose. For Veii to defeat Rome.”

He clenched one armrest. “You’ve set us an impossible task. You’ve angered Nortia.”