After scratching on the last letter for the new item, I blew lightly to get rid of the excess chalk dust. Interest had slowly started to catch up on the Solis ingredients, so I wanted to have another option that was maybe a little less decadent than the Janus. And honestly, I was partial to the chocolate myself.

  I stepped back to look at the slate stone menu. "There we go!"

  The list of specialty drinks was called the Wall of Honor and the drinks were named after certain gladiators. I had wanted to pay homage to some of the greats of the arena. A while ago, Felix, Ursus, and a few others had started a fund to help families of gladiators who were killed or permanently maimed. I donated half from each specialty drink sold to the fund.

  “New menu item?” It was one of my regulars, if it wasn't too early to call them that. “What's this one?”

  “It's called the Maximus, made with walnuts, dates, and chocolate. It might actually be my favorite.”

  She pouted. “Oh no. I'll just have to come back…again.”

  With a satisfied smile, I turned to gather some of the glasses left on the tables. Heavy clouds covered the sky, promising rain and making for slower business, it seemed. Not that I minded, because it gave me a desperately needed chance to focus on preparing ingredients.

  I lit the torch near me and placed some of the candles out to add some warm light back into the gloomy day.

  And just as I finished, the soft plink of raindrops came down. I looked up, admiring the frames of glass panels. They covered the exposed courtyard above the trellis of grape vines. It was something I'd nearly overlooked until Saturnia stopped in one day during construction. She'd looked around and blurted out, "What happens when it rains?"

  A group of boys, probably only a few years younger than me at most, stumbled in. They laughed as they pushed each other out of the way to escape the rain. Beyond them, across the stone path, I could see the training ground slowly turn to mud. A flurry of shushes and more shoves followed as they lowered their voices, looking around the courtyard.

  "Woah, it's really cool in here," one whispered.

  Then they looked at me before another storm of whispered shouts broke out. It ended when they pushed one of them forward. Handsome enough with red-gold hair, brown eyes, and a square chin. He approached the counter.

  "Hey," he said, giving me a smooth smile. He flicked the damp hair back from his face and locked his eyes on mine.

  "Idiot," one of his friends whispered. "You're supposed to—"

  "That's just his way of saying he thinks you’re attractive," another one cut him off to address me.

  I raised my eyebrows and gave a cheeky smile. I could see they were slightly drunk. "Oh, he does?" I flicked my eyes back to him. "Tell me more and I'll give you a free drink."

  His smile froze and his face flushed as he started stammering. His friends sighed collectively and pushed him out of the way. "He's never gotten that far before."

  I snickered with them. "So, what brings you in? Here for smoothies or just to get out of the rain?"

  The first one recovered and elbowed his way back in front of me. "Actually, we were hoping to see Ursus! We had all just dared each other to get tattoos for him."

  Someone punched his arms. "You can't just tell a pretty woman you like that you're more excited to see someone else. Especially a man. Or that you got his name tattooed on you. Ugh, I knew it! This whole thing was a stupid idea. Why did I let you guys talk me into something so permanent?"

  Another shoving match ensued. "What do you mean? It was your idea to begin with!"

  "Oh. Right."

  I cleared my throat, fighting back a laugh. "If it makes you feel better, I'm also a big fan of Ursus. Why don't you show me your tattoos?"

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  Excitement lit up their faces and suddenly they were in various stages of undress.

  I gaped in surprise. “No, wait—”

  But it was too late. Their garments were pulled back to show me the fresh, reddened markings on their forearms and shoulders, thighs, and even a chest. It was a mix of his name, phrases, and even the gladiator's signature items like his helmet.

  Then the not-so-smooth talker pulled aside the the top of his tunic and turned around to point at his back using his thumbs. "Check this out!"

  What was supposed to be Ursus Regulus in giant letters across his back was instead misspelled as Ursus Ragulus. My eyes widened and I bit my lip, wondering if I should say something. The others caught my eye and all of them shook their heads quickly.

  "That looks awesome," I forced myself to say instead, feeling guilty. "He has some great supporters! And as one fan to another, I'll give you a free drink, since yours is the biggest one out of everyone else's here that I've seen—"

  "The biggest what you've seen?" A voice called out.

  To my mortification, I looked up to see Corvus and Ursus himself walk into the courtyard. "Tattoo! Biggest tattoo," I jumped to say.

  "And here I was, just about to ask if you had changed your business," Ursus teased. "If we're trying to impress Maximilia, can I join?"

  He flexed and the group watched him in awe before clamoring for attention. Corvus just crossed his arms and stared at the scene of undress with what was clearly a skeptical expression and not just his eye. I pinched the bridge of my nose, sighing in exasperation.

  "I didn't mean to..." I trailed off before just shrugging and giving up. “Ah, stercus. Shit.”

  He caught sight of the back tattoo. "It's spelled wrong."

  "....What?"

  They all whipped their heads to look at him in a panic.

  "Corvus is just joking." I stepped in quickly while glaring hard at him. "He's like that sometimes. A really funny man."

  He caught on immediately, shifting like water. "It's spelled wrong because it doesn't say my name."

  They broke out into relieved laughter before eagerly showing Ursus their tattoos. The gladiator simply basked in their attention, soaking it up like a plant does rain.

  "Alright, my friends. Why don't you tell the beautiful Maximilia what you want?" He winked. "Allow me to thank you for supporting a humble gladiator like me."

  At that, I rolled my eyes and Corvus snorted. Ursus was the furthest thing from being humble. I worked on their orders while he recounted several of his favorite fights. They drank in every word. Honestly, it was hard not to when the man had won several death matches in the Colosseum already. It was why I looked up to him as much as they did.

  "It was the most ferocious beast to ever prowl the sands. After me, of course," Ursus said. "They had bred it to be a cross between a tiger and a lion. It was almost as big as a horse, so I got the chains in its mouth and rode it like one to chase after the chariots."

  My jaw dropped. "I can't believe I ever believed a word out of his mouth."

  Corvus chuckled, rapping his knuckles against the underside of my chin and I snapped my mouth shut. "Someone once told me to never meet your heroes."

  "Who is an insufferable flirt and a liar. I'm learning the dark side of my favorite gladiators," I said with a smirk as I put the drinks in a crate to carry them over.

  The corner of his mouth twitched. "Could still be the truth."

  I snorted before an uneasy realization struck me. "Right. Never meet your heroes. Because maybe one day they won't look as invincible," I mumbled.

  His blue eyes looked at me quizzically. "What?"

  “Nothing.” I shook my head to rid myself of the thought. “Just that if I listened to that advice, I'd never have met you or any of the others and that makes me sad to think about.”

  I brought the smoothies over to the group and Corvus joined them. I ignored his curious stare.

  Ursus took a big gulp and sighed in satisfaction, stretching. "I swear you put something special in it just for me, Max." His grin was far too sly and smooth. Like honey.

  Another round of whispers and elbows swept through the group and I rolled my eyes. "Don't confuse them, Urs. That's how rumors start."

  "Maybe I like that rumor."

  I finally glanced at Corvus. "Help me out," I pleaded.

  He just shrugged as he drank his smoothie. "The question is if you also like the rumor."

  I glared at him, feeling betrayed. Time to change tactics. I rounded the table to stand behind the not-so-smooth talker and leaned down to speak softly in his ear, yet loud enough for everyone to hear.

  "Thanks for calling me pretty earlier. I'm really flattered."

  His face turned bright red and it spread to the tips of his ears. I turned and sauntered back to the bar and didn't look back as his friends hooted and laughed. Even Corvus cackled.

  "Looks like you and Prax have some fresh competition for Maximilia. You might be a damned bear, but I heard he's got the biggest—"

  There was the sound of a punch followed by a smug groan of pain.