Spartacus crossed his arms over his broad chest with defiant resolve, his countenance scrunched into an expression of disdain and seething anger.
‘I said, I’m not your bro—’
‘Yes you are,’ N’Jalabenadou interrupted, his voice steeled with the weight of an unspoken yet potent authority. ‘Whether you like it or not, for the time being you are a gladiator, just like myself and Viridovix and Crixus. Tell me, if you truly harbour the desire for freedom, will you be more likely to attain it if you are strong, healthy and highly skilled in the art of combat, or if you are sick and weak, broken by constant torture and lacking in fighting skills due to so much training time lost by being thrown in the underground dungeon? Think about that.’
Spartacus, scowling, brooded on this in silence.
‘You shouldn’t be encouraging such things,’ muttered Viridovix, who was calming down somewhat.
‘On the contrary,’ N’Jalabenadou said, ‘I should be encouraging such things. If there is any way that we will achieve our freedom, outside of death, it is through the leadership of one such as this. This one … he is different. I can feel it. I don’t know how, exactly, but I sense that his coming precipitates an event of great significance.’
Crixus, who had been listening to this whole conversation with increasing interest, it seemed, turned and stared at Viridovix, his eyes narrowed, waiting for his reaction.
‘Bah, that sounds like rubbish to me!’ Viridovix spat. ‘All that I see in this one is a walking corpse who’ll get skewered in his first fight in the arena. He thinks he’s too good for us, does he? Well he’ll get a sword through his belly.’
‘We will see, brother, we will see,’ the General murmured sagely.
***
Inside Batiatus’s Villa
Batiatus swirled the wine around inside his mouth, doing his best to coat every tooth and irrigate every gap between each of them before he swallowed it. Afterwards he closed his eyes, sinking into a warm haze of bliss.
‘Mm … this truly is a fine vintage, Octavian.’
Octavian couldn’t resist flashing Batiatus a smile laced with smugness and arrogant pride; his teeth shone with a flare of ivory brightness, catching the morning light, and the self-congratulatory hubris evident in that curling of his lips was mirrored in his eyes.
‘Only the best for a true friend. You’ll not find its equal in all of the Republic.’
‘I can believe that.’
Batiatus topped up his golden goblet with more of the wine, and then tilted the amphora toward Octavian’s goblet, but Octavian held up his hand in a gesture of polite refusal.
‘No thank you, Batiatus. I brought this gift for you to enjoy.’
‘And a most generous gift it was, Senator, along with the others. I thank you most generously for it! Now, you must forgive me for my bluntness, but as you know I am a military man, and we do not beat about the bush when it comes to battles and alliances. Why have you come here, bearing these gifts?’
Octavian beamed another beguiling smile at Batiatus, his pores oozing self-assured haughtiness; he was convinced that he knew what the result of this bribe would be before he even brought it up; making the request of Batiatus was a mere formality. Still, he enjoyed lubricating his marks well before he shoved his metaphorical member into them.
‘You are indeed a most renowned former soldier. Rome is exceedingly grateful for the many victories you won her, and—’
‘Senator, if you will, please answer my question; flattery does not sit well with me. You’d do best to state your intent in clear and unpretentious terms.’
A hint of anger flickered briefly across Octavian’s attractive features like an unexpected, half-seen streak of lightning at the farthest edges of a blue sky. As soon as it appeared, however, it vanished, concealed behind a carefully constructed mask of congeniality.
‘Very well, but I think you already know exactly why I’ve come.’
Batiatus sighed.
‘So, it’s the same old story. You want me to give up Lucius Sertorius?’
‘I will reward you most handsomely for his body, dead or alive, but preferably alive. My compatriots and I have decided to up our previous offer by fifty percent, and even for a wealthy man such as yourself, that is a tremendously generous sum. Come now, Batiatus, put these silly loyalties aside and give up the man. We know that you know where he is. We also realise how much you value his skill in finding you the best gladiators from the slave markets, and to compensate for this loss to your business interests we will provide you with any former champion gladiator you wish from the city of Rome to replace Lucius.’
‘I don’t need any more gold, Octavian,’ Batiatus muttered, exasperated. ‘How many times must I tell you this before you understand? And I don’t believe any man you offer me could be Lucius’s equal in terms of skill for discovering gladiators. He has an uncanny knack for it, the likes of which is a genuine rarity. And that is something that doesn’t come around very often in this business – trust me on that. Besides, despite what you are insisting, I honestly have no idea where he is. He comes here once every few months with a fresh gladiator from the slave market, and that is all I see of him. After our business transactions are complete, he vanishes once more like a phantom into the mists of the forests…’
Octavian gritted his teeth and tried to swallow his rising frustration. This was not going nearly as well as he had expected it would.
‘I don’t understand why you insist on protecting this, this vile criminal—’
Batiatus was quick to counter this.
‘Those are your personal charges. As far as I’m concerned, he is innocent of these murders you accuse him of. You have not been able to furnish your accusations with proof, and as I have known the man for years and can vouch for his character, he’ll remain
