Heart's Desire

Chapter 11

A few weeks had gone by and Odessa has been slowly stopping by to train. My father was at first against it, but since we did have a lot of space for her, he came to see reason. She was pressed for time after all, with the challenge being less than two months away.

"Are you nervous?" I asked.

"Kind of," she said, wiping some sweat from her forehead.

I was watching her train and she was going at it for a while now. She'd come every day at the same time and train for hours on end. Once she was done, she'd head to the Colosseum and do some fighting there. Afterwards, she'd come back here to rest and relax in the washroom. The water was warmer than most pools of water here. And it helped relax her sore muscles. I'd sometimes massage her shoulders if they were really tense. Just like her arms, her shoulders were strong and dense. No wonder I am falling for her. Wait? Falling for her. Am I really admitting that I have feelings for her?

I know I have them, but I am still confused on if it's either admiration or attraction. I guess it's moving closer to attraction now. I was attracted to her physically, as well as how she treats me. With long nights of training, she'd find me asleep on some pillows nearby. I'd find myself in the morning either in my bed or with some blankets on me. My father told me the times that I ended up in my bed were because of him. He'd never allow Odessa near my room.

Speaking of my father.

"Y/N," he called to me as he walked by where Odessa and I were.

"I'll be right back," I said and rushed towards my father.

"Yes, father?"

"I spoke with Aetius' father and he is on board with an arranged marriage."

My heart dropped, but I tried to remain neutral, even though I wanted to scream at my father. Scream that I didn't want to be married to someone like him. Despite me not knowing a lot about him, but the night of the party proved more than enough. How he treated Odessa because of how she looked. He was probably scared that she could take him down with one punch.

"F-Father," I said, trying not to yell. "C-Can we talk about this?"

"What is there to talk about? If you want to discuss logistics of your marriage, I suggest you bring it up with Aetius. Which he is here now."

I followed my father to where he was standing. He was admiring some of the statues of my father. Of course. He was getting brownie points. The other sons that were here the night of the party weren't even considered to be a choice. Granted, Aetius' father works directly with mine. So of course my father would be warmed up to the idea of him marrying me.

"Good afternoon, Y/N," he said.

"Afternoon," I said.

"I'll let you two talk about the marriage," my father walked off.

"You wanted to talk about the marriage?" Aetius asked.

"Yes."

"What about it?"

"What if we get married in name only?"

"Married in name?"

"Such as we only marry because it is necessary."

"What about an heir?"

"I will only produce an heir and then afterwards, we can go on to date and screw around with whoever we want."

Aetius glared at me for a second. Afterwards, his eyes slowly widened, his head nodding as well.

"I see," he said.

"What?"

"You don't like men, do you?"

"Pfff, what?" I laughed. "What makes you think that?"

"The only people I see you mingling with is Odessa."

"And?"

"No one else."

"Maybe I am good at hiding a potential relationship with someone else."

Aetius wasn't buying my bluff. He shook his head as he circled around me.

"What would happen if word gets out that you and Odessa are an item? The entire empire would be up in arms. Especially since most of them still do not accept her as a gladiator."

"So? She's a strong person."

"When it comes to herself, yes, but when it comes to the people she cares about, she's weak."

"And? Is that a bad thing? She loves her family. Loves the people who are close to her."

"There is no room for weakness, not even as a gladiator. One slip-up out there and it could cost you your life. If Odessa shows even the slightest hint of weakness outside of that Colosseum, everyone will be on her. No one will let her live it down and people will exploit that until she is no longer a gladiator."

"Have people been trying to do that?"

"They have. But they know they can't use her family as leverage. They tried that with her father and he managed. They tried with Odessa and she remained stone cold. No wonder why they have that last name."

"She can handle it."

"Oh yes, towards her she can, but what if it was directed towards you."

"What are you saying?"

"The empire has never had an issue when it comes to heritage. There have been no issues of the daughter or son being attracted to the same sex. There was an arranged marriage, both the daughter and son were wed and they produced an heir for the empire. The same story all the way down to you," Aetius stopped circling me and was now in front of me. "And what would happen if your father heard about this? Heard you only wanted to marry for the name only. For convenience. For the throne."

I stood there. He had me there. I didn't know how to answer that. I wasn't really asked that. I didn't really think about it if I was going to be honest. I knew that if Odessa and I started something, that would be the end of my relationship with my father. He'd have me out of the empire entirely. There was no such thing as the daughter of a Caesar be married to another woman. The entire family line would be gone at that point and since my father doesn't have any male relatives, an entirely new person would take over. Which wouldn't be a bad thing, but this spells for a lot of issues in the future if this does come out.

"What are you offering?" I asked.

"You and I get married, as planned. And you will never worry about me outing you to your father about Odessa."

"And what about my friendship with her?"

"You never see her again."