Gladiator Heart Read Online Free PDF Page A

uncle’s compassion and understanding would be the only way to save herself from a life of misery and servitude.
    She took another heavy swallow of ale, finishing the drink this time. Her belch was hardly ladylike and she laughed as she imagined what a husband would think of such crude behavior. Would she be beaten? Publicly flogged and thrown into the arena with the Gladiators? She burst into a hysterical fit of laughter, while at the same time troubled tears burned her eyes. Maybe she was losing her mind. And maybe the Gods had answered her prayers after all by sending Tristan. He was one way to escape her awful fate.
    Hearing Valeria’s laughter, Tristan barged into his tent, ready to kill Angus for leaving his post and seeking out her company. He was surprised to find her seated alone at the table, laughing, with tears running down her clean face. Her wild mane of blonde curls had been somewhat tamed and her beauty was even more evident with the layer of dirt removed.
    “What amuses you so?” he demanded, still angry with her for trying to deceive him when he’d questioned her earlier.
    She sobered, ceasing her laughter and looking up at him from under her dark lashes. “Nothing.”
    “Were you not just laughing?”
    “No.” Her chin trembled as if she was about to cry, but she held back her tears.
    Gods!
    The woman was exasperating. Tristan marched over to the table and picked up his flagon of ale, not prepared to find it empty.
    “Did you drink this?” He turned it over and a single drop splashed on the wooden surface of the table.
    “Yes.” She smiled up at him, seeming pleased with herself.
    Well, at least she’d told him the truth. Perhaps the ale would help loosen her tongue. “Tell me why you were at the wall.”
    Valeria groaned and rested her head in her hands. “I already told you.”
    “I don’t believe your story.” Did she really mean to keep up with her lies? Had she been there to deliver a message from Rome? They often used women as unsuspecting spies.
    “Is it so strange that I’d want to see my uncle?” She lifted her head from her hands and looked at him. “He wasn’t coming back to Rome anytime soon.”
    Tristan crossed his arms over his chest and regarded her carefully, watching for any sign that she was lying to him. “There must have been a good reason for you to put yourself in danger.”
    “Aren’t you getting tired of asking me the same questions?”
    “Not until you tell me the truth.”
    “You want the truth?” She gave a deflated sigh. “I travelled to the fort to beg my uncle to change his mind about forcing me to marry.”
    Tristan bellowed a laugh. Her new lie was even less believable. “It’s been my experience that all women want to marry. You’d do better telling me the real reason.”
    “That
is
the real reason,” she insisted. “I have no wish to be wed to a stranger who cares nothing for me. I am not property to be traded and sold.”
    “Slavery is the only currency Rome knows,” he said. “You’d best get used to it.”
    The Gods knew Tristan had already treated this woman better than the Romans treated their slaves. He was sure she was of patrician stock, and she’d have a hard time convincing him that life was so bad for her.
    “How does what you’re doing differ from what Rome does?” Her blue eyes sparkled in challenge. “You attacked the fort, killed most of the men and will kill the prisoners you took, or sell them as slaves.”
    Tristan stared harshly at her. He didn’t have to explain his actions to her, but was she really so ignorant? “We are fighting to keep what is rightfully ours and has been since the dawn of time. When Rome marches upon our lands, kills our families and burns our homes and crops, we’re left with no choice but to retaliate. We’ve been forced into this battle, and therein lies the difference.”
    Comprehension dawned in her eyes, but she remained silent. A woman like Valeria wasn’t familiar with the