Descendants of Rome (#3 in Gladiator Series)

Chapter 29

Chapter 29

The sound of the raging fire and the screams seemed almost an entire world away as Lazarus led them through the maze of tents and campfires which had been allowed to burn low.

Lazarus made sure that Marcia was still walking beside him, lengths of her blonde hair running down her back.

Reassured that she was still there Lazarus looked back at their guests.

The two sisters were holding onto each other, their heads touching, as they progressed through the camp leaving only the two men that brought up the rear of their company.

Two of the other prisoners, a man and a woman, had broken off from their group as soon as they were free. They thanked Lazarus for his help but were confident to chance it by themselves and, truthfully, Lazarus did not care. It was less people for him to worry about.

"Stay close," Lazarus told them.

The man on the left nodded and jogged forward a few steps when he heard Lazarus's comment. He looked older than his years with red hair and thin arms.

The man on the right was the opposite with dark hair and a chiselled physique. His clothes had been stripped so he stood only in a loincloth and the mud had dried on his skin, defining his muscles.

He was constantly rubbing his wrists where the shackles had been.

Lazarus could not wait to be rid of them. Looking to the sky he noted the position of the moon and knew that they were already behind schedule.

Octavia would soon get the fire under control and the soldiers would return to their posts.

Lazarus let his eyes travel back over Marcia, her eyes straight ahead as if she was afraid to look at him.

Sighing, Lazarus led them through a few more tight turns before they came parallel with the fence; a three metre gap of grass, between the fence and the nearest tent, ran around the entire perimeter of the camp.

The red-headed man stared at the obstacle with fear, "How do we get to the other side?"

Lazarus answered by leading them along the wall, within a few minutes the gate loomed into view up ahead and they all broke into a small jog of excitement.

Marcia slowed to a stop beside him when she saw it, "Lazarus?"

"I see it," Lazarus held out his arms to the side to bring everybody behind them to a stop.

"What is it?" One of the sisters asked, craning her neck to see over Lazarus's shoulder.

"Romans," Lazarus answered automatically as his eyes scanned the area around them, they were in wide open space.

It only took one of the soldiers to look to his right and he would see them.

"What do we do?" Another asked but before either Lazarus or Marcia could answer the guard spotted them.

He stepped forward, spear in hand, to address them.

Dressed in Roman uniforms, Marcia and Lazarus began to slowly march towards him and the gate.

"Get into a line behind us and do not move," Lazarus snapped under his breath at the others, hearing them scuffle into place.

Marcia looked at him from the corner of her eye as they shared the same thought. If the guard looked at their 'prisoners' wrists and saw that they were unchained then he would realise something was not as it should be.