Guardian of Rome (#2 in Gladiator Series)

Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Krista lay on her side, her skin damp as she moved the fur off her naked body and tried to move into a more comfortable position. Her swollen belly was becoming tiresome. Artorius was like a sturdy, warm wall behind her, his arms enclosed around her like a shield. His leg thrown possessively over hers after their love-making made it too awkward, and honestly, too unwanted to move.

After so long away from him, Krista's heart had cracked when she found him again, the soft insides threatening to engulf her and the babe that now moved inside her like he was doing his own training session on the sands. Her hand absently drifted to the round swell, her thumb brushing back and forty softly.

The tent was dark with no sconces lit and the air smelt of damp that made her nose crinkle, but despite her sensitive nose, it had become her newest sanctuary. After weeks of living with Diomed in the forest, with nobody to account for but themselves, it felt strange to Krista to be back at the head of an army, and she was hiding. She would never admit it out loud, but it had been a relief to be able to forget the responsibility for hundreds of souls for even a short time.

Disease had ripped through the army which minimised the number of souls she was responsible for.

Nevertheless, Krista was thrust back into her role as leader and, as a result, her fears came crashing into her like a tidal wave.
She had just over four hundred people looking to her to feed them, clothe them, and protect them. And with three months until the babe in her belly came into the world, she felt like she was being stretched far too thinly and eventually there wouldn't be enough to reach, she would tear.
The entire scheme was growing impossible in Krista's eyes. She was failing.

She should have been here to protect them from the disease, but instead she was sent away like some weak female because she was with child.
More than once, this pregnancy had caused her some ill fate, but it seemed to make Artorius happy. When he thought she wasn't looking, she would sneak a look out the corner of her eye and find him staring at her mid-section with something close to pure happiness twinkling in his eyes. It made her chest feel tight with envy. He had no physical connection with the babe, except for the way he'd reach for her stomach whenever he was near enough, and yet she could tell that he'd accepted and welcomed the babe before they were even here. She knew if anything was to happen to them, Artorius would cease to exist. They would take a chunk of his soul with them. His body would remain, but his soul would be lost.

Artorius's love for the babe was why Krista continued, praying to gods she'd forgotten about that she started to feel even a slither of what Artorius felt.
Meanwhile, the three month mark provided Krista with a time frame to work against, and she was determined to see it through.
For Lazarus and her family who could not be here to hold her hand like she desperately wanted.

Closing her eyes and moving deeper into Artorius's embrace, Krista attempted to gain a few hours of sleep when her eyes fluttered back open as shouting drifted into her tent from outside drawing her out of her self-imposed isolation.

A soft growl rumbled out of her lips as she was forced to roll and dip to the edge of the bed, her legs sliding out from beneath Artorius and resting on the rough rugs. Shoving her arms into a robe, she tied the material close around her belly, and strode towards the entrance, sliding her sword off the wooden desk as she passed.

Holding the sword by her side, the tip pointed to the ground, she lifted the tent fabric to the side with her other hand and stepped outside. "What is happening?" Krista demanded as her eyes took in the crowd of people gathered outside her tent, torches flickering in the air.
She looked expectantly at the men before her, no one saying a word but seeing their eyes drift lower towards her middle had her raising the tip of her sword towards their faces, "My face is up here. And you still haven't told me what is going on?"