Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 20872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 104(@200wpm)___ 83(@250wpm)___ 70(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 20872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 104(@200wpm)___ 83(@250wpm)___ 70(@300wpm)
“New rules,” he says, quickly changing the subject. “All gladiators must be chained while moving through the halls. The Emperor decreed it.”
I sigh as I turn around and place my hands through the bars. It’s the last time I’ll be in chains. I’ll make damn sure of that.
Septimus calls the guard over and he chains my wrists behind my back and my ankles together while I gaze into Elovissa’s melancholy eyes.
“I love you,” I whisper.
She whispers it back.
And with the opening of the gate, we’re separated again. There’s a guard on each side of me, gripping my biceps as we follow Septimus down the long dark hallway. He’s practically skipping and looking thrilled for someone who’s about to lose the biggest cash cow in all of the Roman Empire. He’s made millions of sestercii off of me.
“You sure, Septimus?” one of the guards asks. “He seems in fighting shape to me.”
Septimus turns with a sly grin on his face. “Have I ever let you down before, Thaddeus?”
An ominous sinking hits my gut.
“I bet all of my savings,” Thaddeus says. “Twenty-three sestercii.”
“Then tonight you will be feasting on dormice until your belly groans and fucking whores until your cock begs for mercy,” Septimus says with a laugh.
I stop walking and they all turn to me.
“You’re betting against me,” I say, almost too stunned to speak.
Septimus shrugs his shoulders. “You won’t survive this one, old friend.”
Dread hits me like a lead weight.
“What about Elovissa? What will happen to her?”
He steps back, knowing I’ll kill him if I get the chance.
“I sold her this morning,” he says with a wicked gleam in his eyes. “Neither of us will have use for her after this.”
I lunge toward him with a bloodthirsty roar, but the clubs of the guards come quick and hard across the back of my head. Over and over until I fall to my knees.
I fight against the rushing blackness, but even the almighty Kaeso Vinicius can’t hold it off forever and eventually… with my lover’s name on my lips… it takes over...
I have one hell of a raging headache as I stand in the arena with the afternoon sun beating down on me.
When I woke up, I was in the room I’m always in before coming out to battle. Septimus was nowhere to be seen. Neither were the guards.
I have no choice but to fight my way to freedom and get back to my lover. I’ll kill everything that stands between me and Elovissa. I promised her that she will not be a slave again, and I’m going to deliver on that promise.
The crowd is buzzing with excitement. It’s my last fight and anyone who’s anyone in Rome is here.
I’ve pictured this moment for years. The day I finally break the chains that enslave me, but now, dread fills my belly instead of excitement.
“You won’t survive this one, old friend.”
Septimus’ words echo in my head. What horrors does he have planned for me behind those iron doors?
“People of Rome!” the announcer hollers and the crowd explodes into cheers. “The moment you’ve all been waiting for! The greatest gladiator the world has ever known, Kaeso Vinicius, fights for the hundredth time!”
The roar of the crowd assaults my ears as I look up at the rows and rows of free men.
“If he is victorious, he will be set free,” the announcer continues to a wave of boos. “But if he perishes—”
The crowd explodes back into cheers. They’ve loved me for years, but the crowd is a ruthless beast and they want to see blood spilled. And since this is my last battle, the blood they want to see spilled is my own.
“If he perishes,” the announcer continues, “the soul of the great Kaeso Vinicius will remain in the Colosseum forever!”
I’m shaking my head as the crowd roars in approval. My soul will be beside Elovissa where it belongs.
“Behold, the supreme being who brings us this historic final match. Emperor Vespasius!”
Emperor Vespasius walks out into his box and waves to the crowd. He doesn’t get as warm a reception as I did.
General Gaius Agricola walks out and keeps his distance from the Emperor, sitting as far as he can from him, unlike yesterday when they were sitting side by side. It appears the diplomacy between them is straining.
I take a deep breath and turn to the Emperor as the crowd quiets. “We who are about to die,” I say with my sword in the air, “salute you!”
The Emperor nods to me and then takes his seat on his golden throne to watch the mayhem.
“Entering the Colosseum for the first time,” the announcer continues, “but no stranger to battle. He’s the undefeated, reigning champion of Gaul. Your Emperor is proud to bring you, Argiotalus Cerethreus!”
The crowd hollers as loud as I’ve ever heard them as the gates open and the largest man I’ve ever seen struts out holding a two-headed ax that’s longer than my lover. The sun shines off his silver breastplate as he draws a line in the sand with his ax and then lets out a savage roar to the crowd. They cheer this stranger on as the announcer waits for silence.