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“Can you see the men?”

“Aye,” Lilia said. “There is a fence. It is where people will go tae inspect the combatants for the night before making their wagers. Or, you can see them when they are finished for the night.”

“Will they be gathered there now? The fighters, I mean.”

Lilia nodded. “Probably,” she said. “Why?”

Esme grinned. “Because I want to see Titus,” she said. “The only time I ever see him is when he is fighting, but I would like to see him after his fight. He was magnificent, don’t you think?”

Isadora had been listening. Given that all of the women who had come to the Ludus Caledonia to see Titus would also be over at the staging area, she didn’t think it was a good idea for Esme to go over there.

“It will be very crowded,” she said. “Ye probably willna be able tae see him. Let’s go back tae the cottages and wait for the men there.”

But Esme was caught up in the thrill of victory. “I just want to see,” she said. “If it is too crowded, I’ll go back to the cottage. But I would like to see where the men go after a fight. It all seems so exciting.”

Isadora was shaking her head but she didn’t want to say anything more, concerned that Esme would get suspicious and she would end up explaining something she didn’t think it was her place to explain. What Titus did with women was his own business, but Esme… she had such a pure view of the man.

She thought he was a hero.

Isadora was afraid that view was about to be tarnished.

“It will be very crowded,” she said again, weakly, as they were jostled by the crowd around them. “I think it would be better if…”

Esme flashed her a grin. “I will not be long, I promise,” she said. “I just want to see, just this once.”

Before they could stop her, she was off. Isadora and Lilia watched her go.

“What do we do?” Lilia hissed.

Isadora grunted unhappily. “We’d better follow her,” she said. “At the very least, we can divert her attention if it looks as if Titus is about tae spend time with one of those rich whores who come around.”

Lilia rolled her eyes and dashed off, pursuing Esme as the woman headed towards the staging area. Isadora quickly followed.

Oblivious to her friends’ concern, Esme was nearing an area at the end of the arena where there was a big, iron fence. She could see people milling around it, but as she drew closer, she began to see all of those well-dressed women who were in the front row of the lists. She could already smell the perfume.

Curious, she pushed her way through the crowd until she came to the iron fence, which was poised on an overlook with the staging area down below. Looking down, she could see several men milling about, some having fought that night. She didn’t see Titus, but her vantage point wasn’t very good.

She could, however, see an iron staircase leading from the staging area up to a gate next to the iron fence that was guarded by a pair of sentries. As she watched, one of the gladiators came up the steps and through the gates, and the women surged in his direction. They were pawing at him, slipping him coins, and he seemed more than willing to go along with them.

That’s when Esme realized who the women were.

What they were.

And that’s when she started paying attention to the chatter.

“Where is The Eagle?” one woman cried. “We want The Eagle!”

Other women chimed in, demanding The Eagle. Esme knew that meant Titus and she was baffled about these women demanding Titus. Certainly, he was gorgeous to look at, but it never occurred to her that they might be here for him. Titus wasn’t that kind of man…

Was he?

As Esme stood there, increasingly confused at what she was hearing, a woman a few feet away was speaking loudly to her friends.

“They say he never takes the same woman twice,” she said. “I was fortunate enough tae have The Eagle last month and the man turned my legs tae water. I couldna walk for hours afterwards.”

She and her friends tittered lewdly. “I’ve not had him yet!” one whined. “I’ve heard he has a manhood as big as a rutting stallion. I’ve heard he can go all night and all day and never rest!”

Her friend, who was seemingly a Titus expert, nodded emphatically. “I just bent over, spread my legs, and let him do the rest,” she giggled. “It was like mating with a bull.”