Guardian of Rome (#2 in Gladiator Series)

Chapter 42

Chapter 42

The pair commanded attention and power as they stood and inspected them all, their eyes filled with hatred.

They were the symbol of strength; a son and daughter of Mars.

Covered with the blood of their enemies, Krista and Artorius were formidable.

Krista’s long dark locks fell over her shoulders, her sword resting by her side as a small pool of blood gathered on the floor.

Dressed in the colours and amour of the Roman Empire their aim was to kill each of them and yet everybody in the room was perplexed by the magnitude of the feat they had just achieved.

Placed inside the arena to be executed, the defeated Gladiatrix and her general should surely be dead.

And yet here they stood after escaping the Colosseum, a possibility the architects promised should not have been possible.

Senator Germanus found himself intrigued enough to ask but as he parted his lips to speak, Pompeia stepped around Gaius in shock, her eyes wide with fear, and stepped towards Krista.

Krista turned her head and gazed upon Pompeia with disgust but, still, she said nothing.

Germanus assumed Pompeia would ask the question that was occupying everybody’s thoughts but instead she chose a different path.

“Arrest them!” Pompeia flung her arm in Krista’s direction, her voice screaming at Gaius; at anyone.

Germanus looked across at Gaius and gave a small shake of his head.

Gaius remained where he was.

Pompeia’s eyes flickered over the commander with shock but she did not get to ponder his lack of action before everybody’s attention was drawn back to Krista.

After nearly ten minutes of silence, the Gladiatrix took her first step into the room.

Her eyes trained only on Pompeia, Artorius stepped alongside his leader, protecting her.

Once they cleared the steps and entered the room, Krista was less than six feet from Pompeia but neither spoke.

Germanus and the other senators watched on in perplexion at the way Krista and Pompeia watched each other; as if there was an entire topic of conversation they had missed.

German could feel his brows furrowing slightly in confusion when Gaius intervened.

“No further,” Gaius instructed Krista, placing his sword across the front of Pompeia in an imaginary barricade.

Krista did not break her eyes from Pompeia but she stayed where she was, the air growing warm and heavy with the scent of blood and sweat.

“It is not possible,” Pompeia muttered under the intense glare of Krista, her blond head shaking in denial.

Krista remained utterly silent, as if a conversation with an Empress was too low for her to muster the right amount of energy.

Artorius stood by her side, his eyes now trained in Gaius but neither made a move towards the other.

The scene felt civilised and yet the swords, blood and emotion in the room was contrary to that fact.

“You were defeated! I beat you!” Pompeia’s voice stared to rise in anger, “We beat you!”

Krista tilted her head slightly but the Gladiatrix was not interested in speaking of strategies.

“You wanted to beat us,” Artorius offered the answers when Krista seemed unable, or unwilling, to, “And therefore it was easy for us to fool you.”