Mark of the Thief by Jennifer A. Nielsen Page B

— he’d talk until the soldiers eventually cornered me and it wouldn’t be hard for Sal to prove I was the boy Radulf wanted to find. Sal was a roach, and had abused every slave in the mines simply because he could. How many times had I wished to the gods he would get what he deserved?
    But not today. Sal could have killed me for trying to escape the mines, but he didn’t. I’d certainly given him plenty of reasons to do it before then as well. I had to help him now.
    The criminals were unshackled, then quickly sent up into the arena. I heard the hisses from the audience when they appeared, and I knew that one man was almost immediately attacked by an animal because I heard his screams for help right above my head and the cheering that followed. It was horrible, but at least it wasn’t Sal’s voice.
    If Caela and I did not leave in the next few minutes, she’d be taken to the arena and hunted down. Then Felix would come for the bulla, and for me. If we left now, we both had a chance to live, and yet I could not leave knowing I had let Sal go to his death.
    Caela would have to help save him. I didn’t know how to convince her to help, but I had to try. I started running to Caela’s cage, but was blocked by two soldiers on my way. Felix was with them.
    “I’m sorry,” Felix said. “Please know that I didn’t want this.”
    “What are you talking about?” I asked.
    “This!” One soldier grabbed my arms while another knocked the flat end of his sword behind my knees and sent me to the ground. I cursed at him and even threw out a punch until he swatted my mouth and got me in the servile position they wanted.
    While they bound my hands in front of me, Felix said, “If it makes you feel better, I’m getting no reward for the bulla. The emperor wants the people to see the bestiarius take it from you after your death and present it to him. He thinks that if Rome has any enemies in the audience, it’s the best way for them to know he has the power now.”
    “I’ve committed no crime,” I said, struggling against the ropes. A soldier behind me took exception to that and hit me in the back, forcing the breath from my chest.
    “You committed several crimes,” Felix said. “You stole that bulla and tried to escape your master at the mine. And only yesterday, someone spotted you eating a stolen apple.”
    I was still fighting, though I was quickly losing against the soldiers. “Those are all lies, Felix. You know they are!”
    “Not all of them,” he said. “A slave who steals from an emperor’s treasure has committed treason. If that emperor is also a demigod, then it’s heresy. There is nothing I can do to save you.”
    “What about Caela? She won’t cooperate for anyone but me.”
    “We’re counting on that,” Felix said.
    A fine brown horse was brought in by another slave, and even from her cage quite far from us, I heard Caela already squawking. One of the men at the lifts had explained why griffins hated both horses and men. The men, because they always tried to steal the griffin’s gold. And the horses, because they carried the men to their crimes.
    Despite my protests, the soldiers lifted me onto the back of the horse and then tied my feet to each foothold of the saddle.
    “If you try to slide off, this horse will drag you to your death,” Felix said.
    The soldier beside me laughed. “And if you don’t, that griffin will take care of it for you. She’s already angry.”
    They led me to a larger ramp normally used for raising sets into the arena, and immediately ordered the other slaves to raise me up. When it was halfway there, someone opened Caela’s cage.
    Caela thundered out of her cage toward the closest open entrance. The noise she made spooked the horse beneath me, and as soon as he was able to run, he rode us into the arena and took off into the jungle setting.
    I heard the deafening noise of the audience before I saw them, and once I did, I was amazed to see such a vast crowd all