Gladiator of Rome (#1 in Gladiator Series)

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Krista had skipped breakfast, as well as most of the previous night's sleep, to fix the tear in her tunic that was keeping it from staying in place.

Her fingers were numb and scabs had begun to form over her knuckles where she had split her skin open on the Gaul's face.

Krista wished she would have split her skin by fighting the Commander but she didn't. And she would always know that.

She would always know that she was too weak to fight him.

Aided by the sunlight that filtered in through the archways in the arcade outside their room, Krista couldn't seem to grasp the sewing needle firmly enough to mesh the ends back together.

Her patience was wearing thin when she dropped the needle again.

Biting out a curse to the Gods, Krista re-threaded her needle and attempted to heal the tear in the fabric on her shoulder only to send the sharp point into her soft flesh.

"Ow!" Krista hissed when memories of the Commander's flesh against hers sprang free from the hold she had put them in.

"Quiet!" Krista snapped her head to the side as she pushed the memories away. They would not help her in her quest for revenge.

She had to be patient and free of emotion if she was to succeed.

Remembering what the Commander had done to her added fire to her cause but it also made her irritable and blocked her mind; she would be killed in an instant if she could not think clearly.

"Krista?" A quiet voice squeaked outside her room.

Krista shifted her body to the side until they could not see her face and she went back to the torn fabric.

If she did not fix this then she had no choice but to wander around naked until she was fitted for armour.

"Krista." The voice squeaked again but this time with more confidence as the figure stepped forward into her room.

"Leave," Krista growled under her breath; she didn't care who it was but she did not want to see them, "Now."

"I- I can help." The voice spoke again but Krista only grew angrier that they hadn not heeded her warning.

"Are you deaf!?" Krista shoutef over her shoulder to see Myra stood under her archway, her doe-like brown eyes watching Krista intently.

"I- I don't mean to intrude-" Myra began.

"-Then don't." Krista sighed as her anger lost its strength when she remembered what Myra had been through.

"It's just that I-" Myra trailed off for a second causing Krista to break away from her stitching to gaze up at Myra questioningly, "-I could fix that for you." Myra pointed a finger towards the tear in Krista's tunic.

But before Krista could utter a word, Myra had knelt in front of Krista and taken the needle from her trembling fingers.

Krista clasped her hand shut when she saw how much she was trembling, narrowing her gaze at Myra who looked up at her with sympathy.

"You do not need to hide it from me." Myra looked away as she undid Krista's shaky work.

"I do not hide anything." Krista lifted her head up and gazed outside.

It would soon be time for training and Krista could not wait until she felt that sword in her palm, so that she knew her place in the world once more.