into

months ago."
Aelia narrowed her eyes. "How did you manage that?"
Unidentifiable emotion flickered briefly in his eyes, then was gone. "That scar on his chin?" he asked. "You noticed it?"
She nodded.
"Well, among other things, I put it there."
Oh. "I thought you belonged to Xanthus?"
Jaw muscles knotted. "I do. But Bericus is a very good customer. He . . . Well, never mind."
"Rufus, who did you kill?"
For an instant, all she saw in his eyes was rage. Then he spat out something that sounded ugly. Again, the words in that other language he used set up flickers of near recognition.
"Honestly? No one. Except a bunch of men whose names I barely knew. That's why I'm still alive."
She just looked at him. When he lifted a brow, consigning her to the realm of mental defectives, she frowned. "What do you mean? Was that supposed to make sense?"
Wary distrust crept back into his eyes. "Haven't been to the arena much, have you?"
Something twinged in her mind, nearly breaking loose. She frowned again, but it was gone. Impatiently, Aelia shook her head. "No, I suppose not."
He sighed. "I was condemned to death for murder. I have no idea who I was supposed to have killed. I, er, was something of a stranger in town. Didn't speak the language, even."
"I see. It's a little hard to argue your case if you can't even talk to the judge."
A brief glint of amusement lit amber-green eyes. "You have an astonishing grasp of the situation, Aelia, for someone with no memory."
She felt herself flush. "I can't help it, Rufus. Sometimes, things bubble up out of the darkness before I'm really aware of them. Other times, I almost remember something, but it gets away before I can grab it."
He nodded. "I've heard amnesia is like that."
She studied him again. "If you were condemned to death, what happened?"
He adjusted his position against the wall. His face, its stillness, reminded her of cold, white statues she'd seen . . . somewhere. "They sent me out with a sword. No shield, no armor. Just a badly made sword, with a loose hilt, and my bare skin. Against leopards . . . Clawed me damn near to shreds, but I killed them. I don't remember exactly what I did. I just hacked and rolled. Slashed and ran. When it was over . . ."
He shivered. "When it was over and the cats were dead, they sent out three of their favorites to finish me off. Gladiators,"