A Noble Captive by Michelle Styles

we are.’ She dusted her hands on her gown and started off down another path.
    Tullio caught her arm and turned her around so that he was looking directly into her eyes. ‘I believe there is always a choice, Helena.’
    There was something in her eyes—a mixture of hope and despair—something that was quickly masked. She pointedly removed his hand from her arm. ‘You presume much, Roman.’
    ‘You are right.’ Tullio allowed his hand to fall to his side, silently cursing his impetuous act. ‘I am a stranger, but I do wish to learn. Perhaps, if our people knew more about how much we were alike.’
    Her smile flashed, echoing the sun after a thunderstorm. ‘Come, see how the gods bless us. Neptune and Kybele approve of what we do. They refuse to let us starve, despite Rome’s intentions.’
    ‘Rome provides bread for its people. It cares about the welfare of its citizens.’
    ‘For its people, but not for us.’
    The scent of Eastern spices wafted on the light breeze. In the shadow of an olive tree, he could see a large number of amphorae clearly marked with Roman merchants’ names, containing everything from olive oil to fish sauce and thegrain—both the hard wheat, which was used for bread making, and soft wheat for pastry—being loaded into the warehouse. He thought of the people back in Rome who would have to pay inflated prices.
    ‘What will you do with all this—sell it to Rome?’ Tullio struggled to contain his anger at the pirates. First they stole, then they sold the goods at inflated prices because no grain reached Rome’s markets.
    ‘It is what the seafarers do.’ Her voice was hard. ‘We store their produce here until they have sold it on. Rome is their largest market, I believe. The sibyl prefers to keep the temple’s tributes for her people. She refuses to let them starve. If we did not have the gifts from the sea, then my people would die, Tullio. My people want to live.’
    ‘Pirates raid the Italian coast,’ Tullio said bluntly. ‘They kill innocent women and children, not caring about nationality. They seize what they can and burn the rest.’
    ‘Not the seafaring houses who store their goods here. Aunt Flavia put a stop to that. On the sea, yes, the seafaring houses do what they have to, but they do not attack on land.’
    She looked him directly in the eye. Tullio blinked. Either she was very good at lying or else she truly believed it. He saw the fervour in her eyes and decided it was innocence.
    ‘How can you be certain?’
    ‘My aunt banished two seafaring houses who attacked and murdered women and children.’ Helena held both her hands out, palms towards the heavens. ‘Our quarrel is not with them. She used her power with Kybele to curse them. Within six months, their kings had died, and their wealth scattered. Since then, the seafaring houses who store their goods in our warehouses have not attempted to raid the Italian coasts.’
    ‘I know of pirate raids.’ Tullio drew his mind away fromthe horror of six months ago and his subsequent vow to destroy those responsible. ‘They have not stopped attacking the Italian coast. It is too ripe a plum.’
    ‘They will not be from these houses.’ She started away from the warehouse, shoulders square and a distinct edge to her voice. ‘Rome makes war with many.’
    ‘Yet you condone the attacking of ships and the confiscation of those goods.’
    ‘It is a question of survival. Romans drove my people to this, and therefore we take what we can…from the sea.’
    ‘If there was another way…’ Tullio curled his fingers into a tight ball. He refused to lose his temper. He had to remember she had helped his men. And she seemed truly to believe that the pirates of these islands had not attacked the Italian coast. If that was the case, the sooner he spoke with the sibyl, the better. Perhaps together they could work to rid the seas. She had already taken the first step. ‘If another way could be found for your people to survive,