Chapter 3 - THE WOMAN WHO LIED TO SAVE HIM
Lucan emerged outside the city walls as darkness fell.
Umbra squeezed through the broken drainage opening behind him.
The lion was covered in dust and blood, but none of it appeared to be his.
Lucan ran toward the olive road.
His home was almost four miles away.
He didn't stop.
When he finally reached the hill above the cottage, his stomach dropped.
The front door was open.
“Mama!”
Lucan ran downhill.
“MAMA!”
The kitchen was destroyed.
Bowls lay shattered across the floor.
The table had been overturned.
Lucan found blood near the fireplace.
“Mama?”
A hand suddenly grabbed him from behind.
Lucan screamed.
“Quiet!”
He recognized the voice.
“Mama?”
Mara pulled him into a hidden storage space behind the stable.
She hugged him so tightly he could barely breathe.
“I thought they killed you.”
Lucan buried his face against her.
Then Mara saw Umbra.
She stopped breathing.
The lion stood in the doorway.
Mara slowly touched her mouth.
“Umbra.”
The lion approached.
Lucan stared at her.
“You know him.”
Tears filled Mara's eyes.
“Yes.”
“Who is Aurelius?”
Mara closed her eyes.
Lucan stepped away.
“Tell me.”
“Lucan—”
“Everyone keeps looking at me like I'm someone else.”
Mara looked toward the house.
“We need to leave.”
“Tell me who he is.”
She finally faced him.
“Your father.”
Lucan's chest tightened.
“You told me my father died before I was born.”
“He did.”
“You said he was a farmer.”
Mara shook her head.
“No.”
“A soldier?”
“More than that.”
She sat beside him.
“Your father was General Marcus Aurelius Draven.”
Lucan knew the name.
Every child did.
Marcus Aurelius Draven had been called the Lion of Rome.
He had commanded the northern legions.
Then he had supposedly betrayed the kingdom.
King Cassian had ordered his name removed from monuments.
People who defended him disappeared.
Lucan stared at Mara.
“They say he was a traitor.”
“They lied.”
Mara's voice hardened.
“Your father discovered that Cassian murdered his own brother to seize the throne.”
Lucan went still.
“He gathered evidence.”
“What happened?”
“He trusted the wrong man.”
Mara looked toward the distant city.
“Commander Varro.”
Umbra growled at the name.
Mara nodded.
“Yes.”
“Varro betrayed your father.”
She touched Lucan's scar.
“The night they came for Marcus, you were six months old.”
Lucan looked down.
“This scar?”
“Varro's blade.”
Mara's voice broke.
“Your father shielded you.”
“He fought six men while holding you.”
“Umbra fought beside him.”
“But Varro reached you once.”
“The blade cut your shoulder.”
Lucan touched the mark.
“Father saved me?”
“He saved both of us.”
Mara looked at Umbra.
“Then he ordered Umbra to protect our escape.”
Lucan swallowed.
“What happened to Father?”
Mara didn't answer.
“Mama.”
“I saw him fall.”
“Did you see him die?”
Silence.
Lucan understood.
“No.”
Mara shook her head.
“No.”
A horse whinnied outside.
Umbra immediately turned.
Torches appeared between the olive trees.
Royal soldiers.
Mara grabbed Lucan's hand.
“We have to go.”
They escaped through the rear field.
Behind them, soldiers surrounded the cottage.
Varro's voice carried through the darkness.
“Search everything!”
Lucan followed his mother toward the mountains.
Then he heard Varro shout something that made Mara stop.
“Find the woman!”
A pause.
“And remember—the king wants the boy alive.”
Lucan looked at his mother.
“Why?”
Mara's face turned pale.
May you like
“I don't know.”
But Lucan could tell she was lying again.
