How To Tame An Empress (BOOK I)

Chapter 12 - That Unveiling Possession

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"What did you say your name was again?"

"Claudius Marcellus, your imperial majesty." He spoke clearly, not daring to raise his head to meet my gaze as I hummed my response to his answer.

"How long had you been a gladiator before you started working here?" I could not put my finger on it, but there was something about this man that irked me.

My council meeting had just finished for the day when I noticed that this familiar man was present, standing close to Julius as he observed the goings of the meeting with a keen eye. I found myself telling him to stay back to further question him.

Since I last saw him, he was much cleaner this time. With all the sweat, grime and blood washed off his body, he was cleanly shaven and wore the uniform of a praetorian guard.

"Approximately for one year, your imperial majesty. Although, I did not partake in as many matches as I had originally thought I would." He answered as I hummed once more, leaning back on my seat.

"From what I had seen, you fought well. Not only did you stand firm against such a large opponent, but you played with him as though he were a toy. I would go so far as to say that you could potentially put up a fight against Julius or even Tiberius, two of my best men." I nudged my head to the said men who were standing at the side as they watched the scene unfold, slight offense on both of their expressions.

"Perhaps even me." I mumbled, succeeding in getting a reaction out of him.

"I would never dare to even dream of that, your imperial majesty." I chuckled, hiding the fact that I did not believe a single word in that sentence.

Claudius Marcellus, he said his name was. I did not trust this man one bit. But that was all the more reason for me to keep him close.

"So, who taught you to fight so well?" I went back to the curious topic at hand, beginning to grow bored of the conversation as I stifled a tired yawn. I should end this conversation soon so that I may return to Ria. How I missed that woman. 

I have grown increasingly worried for her ever since our day out to the amphitheatre; She has not been eating well, and what little she would eat, she would only end up throwing up, but more than any of that, I did not like how she was trying to hide it from me in her attempt to stop my worries. If this continues on then I will have to call the doctor despite her protests.

"A number of different people. My first teacher was the leader of my troops when I had been training to be a soldier, after that it was some fellow gladiators, and most of it was from observation where I then self-taught myself."

"You put a lot of effort into fighting." I noted.

"It was all for my desire to survive, your imperial majesty."

"And now? What will you fight for now that survival is guaranteed?" I could not help but ask, watching as he lowered his head, responding like the answer had been obvious.

"I have fought for survival. Now I wish to fight for something worth living for. Though, I have still not found what that may be." I chuckled at the honesty of that.

Standing up, I walked down the steps until I was stood directly in front of him, his eyes meeting mine for a split second until they cast themselves down, and almost in a mocking way, I raised a hand, placing it on his shoulder in a way that friends did.

"You are a free man now, Claude, as I shall like to call you. I hope you enjoy your new life. I look forward to hearing about your accomplishments in the future, but for now... I have a mischievous wife that I wish to go see." Patting his shoulder, I went to leave the room, pausing for a moment beside Julius.