Fight to Die (Harry Styles)

Three

Chapter 3

The sound of screeching metal echoes through the stone cells and hallways, waking me up from unconsciousness. My eyes open and I wince in the view of the blinding light shining through the bars of the small window above my head. A groan escapes my mouth as I attempt to sit up. My head aches and I instantly remember why. There is an almost entirely empty bottle of wine next to my pallet of straw on the cold stone floor.

I shake my head and scratch the back of my neck, "damn hangover."

"Maybe you shouldn't drink your sorrows," a voice says from behind the gate. I can't see whoever it is because of both the lack of light and also my head is killing me, blurring my vision.

"Maybe you shouldn't judge me," I tell him, laying back down and closing my eyes. Not even five second go by until I hear the clanking of keys and the screeching of a metal gate that woke me up in the first place. I groan in result of the earsplitting sound that echoes around me.

"Come on, Celt," the man says, entering my cell kicking me lightly in the leg. I don't react towards his faint hostility and because of that he kicks me again, this time harder. I groan for the fifth time this morning and turn over on my side.

"Why are you waking me up so early?" I ask him covering my eyes from the light.

The man scoffs, "you're going to Rome today and Galerius wants to make it there by dark. So get up or you'll miss breakfast."

I sigh and hesitantly sit up, raking my hands through my hair, "fine. When are we leaving?"

As soon as I get a good look at the guard, I realize that it is Maximus- the same guard I taught a lesson to last night. At the sight of his face, a smirk crosses my own. He left me last night like a child who stomps off to his room after being reprimanded by his parents.

"You're leaving in an hour," he says monotonously, not looking me in the eye.

I laugh quietly to myself and stand from the ground, not without first losing my balance and having to steady myself against the wall. I guess I still haven't slept off all the wine.

"Did you learn anything yesterday?" I ask him, crossing my arms over my chest, in amusement.

Maximus eyes me carefully and turns away, not saying so much as a word to me. He is scared of me, whether he realizes it or not, but I'm willing to bet he knows his fear.

I follow the guard from my cell and don't look back, aware that it is my last time walking through these hallways. It terrifies me to know that there will be such a great change in my life, but I know that it is where I need to go to attain my freedom.

I don't know where I am going to go if I ever get there. Going home to Britannia is not an option; there is absolutely nothing left for me there. Rome is where I will have to stay despite my hatred for their Emperor, Marcus Aurelius. But who knows? Maybe I will like the great city.

The breakfast room is almost completely full when I reach it. Every face towards to me when we walk in, Maximus behind me. He shoves me forward and scoffs, "you have thirty minutes. Try not to get your face messed up before you leave."

I know exactly what he means by that. Half the men in here either hate my guts because I killed their friend, or they admire and respect me. Given that, that is why I typically avoid coming in here at the hight of the morning when most people eat breakfast. When I do, like this morning, a fight usually breaks out and people get punished for it. This morning can't be one of those mornings.

Maximus leaves me and I walk toward the back of room where the counter to receive the food is situated. Every pair of eyes states after me as I make the walk through the center of the crowd. No one speaks to me and that is something I am quite okay with.