Hadrian’s eyes flicked over her, and he moved to block the view of the rest of the guests. “That dress is indecent.”

“Really?” Sabina plucked at the white folds, half transparent now with water and sticking to her brown limbs. “Surely not, since Plotina chose it. She’d never do anything so interesting as to be indecent.”

Hadrian blinked. “Are you drunk?”

Sabina laughed, her hair coming down her back in a wet tangle and her dress slipping off one shoulder. “Perhaps I should be. Everyone else is.”

“Go home at once!”

“I was going to, Hadrian. You really think I’m going to rejoin the party dripping wet?”

“I don’t know half of what you do anymore.” His voice was suddenly cold. “I heard a great many rumors about your behavior throughout this campaign. Normally I would pay no heed to vicious gossip, but when my Empress has to tell me you have a taste for the company of common soldiers—”

“I believe you’ve dipped a toe in those waters yourself, Hadrian.” Her voice was still light, teasing. “More than once these past months I came to your tent and found a handsome half-naked legionary waiting on your presence.”

“That is not the same!” He lowered his voice and I shifted from one foot to the other, still pretending to ogle the acrobats. “Discretion is all in such matters. It is hardly discreet for a Roman matron of senatorial birth to appear at an important occasion like this soaking wet and half naked for everyone to ogle! Or to seek out the company of common soldiers for amusement. My career is just beginning to bloom, and I cannot afford scandal. Plotina thinks—”

Sabina’s smile disappeared. “Yes, Dear Publius, let’s hear all about what Plotina thinks.”

“She thinks it is time you started behaving yourself. And so do I.”

I risked a glance at that. Hadrian and his wife stood nose to nose, unmoving, until Sabina took the wine cup out of Hadrian’s hand and drained it. “No more wine for you tonight, husband. It’s making you quite fanciful. I shall see you at home.”

She turned and disappeared back into the atrium, walking with slow insolent grace. I could see the curve of her brown hip very clearly through the wet silk, the point of her shoulder…

“You will keep your eyes off my wife.” A cold voice stung me, and I saw Hadrian tall and icy before me. “I have observed it in the past, Aquilifer. She is not a whore for the likes of you to gawp at.”

“According to what you were hissing at her just now, she is a whore.” My mouth decided to jump in without consulting my brain first about whether it was a good idea. “And from the things I’ve heard around the Tenth, Legate, you aren’t far wrong. Lady Vibia Sabina, everyone knows she likes a rough—”