What could she say to bring him back? Nothing, silly girl. The night had been fearful, then baffling, then as near to wonderful as she had come in many years. Before he reached the street, before he could look back and find her watching, she slipped under the stone arch into the barracks, then stepped aside and leaned back against the wall. She was not ready to trade the beauty of the night for her ugly cell. Moonlight played over the dark green grass and striped the portico around the field with bands of white and black. She could smell the damp grass, and it recalled to her mind the way that Cato smelled, of grapes and fertile soil. Her shoulders dropped and she leaned her head against the stone. The night was hushed, with no sound but the trill of unfamiliar night birds, wrapping her in their sleepy song and loosening the tightness she strove to retain around her heart. When Cato had first appeared in the doorway of Europa's triclinium, Ariella's heart had leaped with the ridiculous thought that he had come for her.
