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"Your chariot is too heavy with that bag Stupid slave boy, the lead is worth nothing!"

Not to his were different for ht save my life

Romans were fiercely loyal to their preferred factions, possibly even ames, they often placed bets on the chariot races To i, they created curse tablets, lead slabs with curses scratched into them Then they'd nail them to the wall of the circus or bury them in the dirt beneath the track I collected as ods didn't see the curses, then the gods couldn't enforce theht, straight to his face

Radulf hated that I wore the bag We'd fought over it since the first day I brought it to the circus, but I didn't care and I wouldn't give in He'd become convinced that it was a superstition for me, which was far from the truth There was no rooerous enough

"Carrying that bag around is ridiculous, and eeneral," he'd said only last night "Besides, the gods have already cursed you What more could they possibly do?"

I knew the answer to that question The gods could stop providing me with curse tablets each day

Still shouting insults, the white-cloaked charioteer tried to force ainst the wall I caled the some cheers from the audience I turned to thank the crowd, and then soht my attention

My younger sister, Livia, was in the stands, behind the senators' box Her golden curls always stood out in a crowd, a

nd they did now, as bright as ever Still, I was surprised to see her here Since we had coo, she and I had never been allowed outside at the saht it wouldthat with him, mostly because we both knew that's exactly e'd do

So as Livia here now, and on her own? As my chariot came closer, she turned to speak to a woman next to her and I realized it wasn't Livia after all But for the difference in their ages, it was someone who could have been her twin

My heart lurched into my throat Only one other person could look so much like Livia That was my mother, I was sure of it

"Control your horses or I'll have you thrown off this track!" another charioteer shouted as he passed me by

"What? Oh -- sorry" I shifted attention back to my horses, who had wandered into the outer track, and then I looked for the gates to pull out of the race They were behindalmost a full circuit, so I kept an eye on my mother as much as possible while the next turn came closer

I realized now that my mother wasn't in conversation with the wo at the track whenever she could Did she recognize me and knoas down here? Or was it simple curiosity about the practice? Maybe the answer didn't make any difference -- after all, she couldn't speak to me without the permission of her ood idea for me to approach her either But for the past five years, I hadn't seen her once, or even known anything about her new life There was no chance I would let her go now

The white-cloaked charioteer had edged ahead of , "This will teach you a lesson, boy!" And he steered his tea us hard into the wall My lead horse stumbled, and would take the others with him when he fell Seven other chariots were behind me At least one would trample me Probably on purpose