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But she was out there, somewhere.

And he was going to find her.

He started to run out but realized he was still dressed in his mail loincloth and shoes. The wind was picking up outside and the clouds were starting to gather, sure signs of a summer storm, and among his other fears, he was concerned that Esme would get caught in it.

Quickly, he stripped out of his clothing and donned leather breeches and a tunic, the first clothing he could find. Yanking on his boots, he rushed out into the pre-dawn morning.

As it turned out, Lilia and Isadora had alerted their husbands, and Titus found himself with several of his friends willing to help him search. As the patrons still filtered out of the Ludus Caledonia, the warriors who had fought all night went on the hunt for a lovely Spanish lass who mattered to Titus very much.

By the time the sun rose, a storm had rolled in and the rain was pounding.

But Esme was still missing.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The rain was pounding.

In the brown broadcloth dress that Lilia had loaned her, Esme was soaking wet as she headed into Edinburgh along the same road she had traveled to reach the Ludus Caledonia.

She was in mud up to her ankles and cold, but none of that mattered.

Nothing mattered any longer.

Her goal was simple – she was going to make her way to the docks north of Edinburgh and see if she could get work on a ship heading for France or Navarre. There were docks in Leith, she remembered Lady Ayr mentioning, so that was her destination. She was going to go home, back where she belonged, and forget about brutal Scottish dukes and beautiful gladiators who let every woman in Scotland sample that beauty.

She was going to forget about Titus.

If she could.

It was just after dawn. Esme had been walking perhaps two or three hours at the most, since leaving with the droves of carriages and horses departing the Ludus Caledonia after the games were over.

It had been easy to lose herself in the crowd, filtering out into the night, before finally leaping onto the back of a carriage as it puttered down the road. She had been able to ride a little way until the coachman caught her and made her get off, and she had been forced to resume her walk.

The rain had come heavily just before sunrise, and she’d ducked into St. Eustace’s Church for a few minutes, just to get out of the rain, before heading back out into the weather. She probably could have remained longer at the church, but she wanted to put as much distance as possible between her and the Ludus Caledonia.

She wanted to forget she’d ever known the place.

The road into Edinburgh was the same one she’d traveled before, so she ended up walking off the road, near the trees, so she could hide if needed. The trees also provided a little bit of protection from the rain and, at one point, she found a branch on the ground that was thick with needles. Picking it up, she used it to shield herself from the weather.

But she was still very cold and very wet.

As the sun began to rise, Esme started to sneeze, knowing she’d caught a chill but trying to ignore it. Her throat was starting to feel scratchy, but she ignored that, too, unwilling to surrender to any illness. She had to make it into town and find shelter, perhaps in another church. Surely a church would let her dry out and wait for the storm to pass. Her stomach was also rumbling a bit, but she couldn’t address it at the moment.

One problem at a time.

The mud was thicker as she walked nearer to the trees because of the drainage, so she was forced back onto the road. The rain was starting to lighten up and the clouds were parting in spots, emitting bright sunlight onto the wet, green earth.

She dared to turn around, once, seeing the green hills behind her, the hills that concealed the Ludus Caledonia. But seeing those hills brought tears at what she’d left behind, a life she’d been so happy with. She was already grieving the loss.

But there was no use in looking back.

She passed another church, a small one, and she decided to stop because her body was crying out for rest. Her scratchy throat was growing worse, as was her sneezing, so she thought it might be best to stop for a while. Perhaps she could regain her strength a little if she were only to rest. Given that she hadn’t slept all night, her exhaustion was compounded.

The church was small and dark, but the door was open and she entered timidly, looking for a quiet corner. It was dank and cold inside, but it was better than nothing at all. She went straight to a corner near the door and sat down, leaning against the cold stone, just to close her eyes briefly.

Sleep claimed her before she realized it.

She wasn’t at the Ludus Caledonia.