The crowd cheered madly, their collective bloodlust now stoked.
‘Slaves!’ Batiatus barked. ‘Bring out the brazen bull!’
A hush fell over the crowd of diners as slaves wheeled out a huge sculpture, constructed entirely of brass. It was expertly wrought and looked as life-like as any living bull, yet its muscles and curves gleamed glossily against the flickering torchlight, the reflections of the burnished metal looking as slick as quicksilver.
Inside his suit of armour, Lucius broke out in a sweat of ice-cold panic.
Fly! Fly now, you fool, fly while you still have a chance!
A sickening feeling of dread burst inside him, rupturing like a pouch of rotten wine deep within his guts as both Octavian and Batiatus suddenly looked directly at him and focused their cruel twinned gaze on his steel-masked face.
‘Guards!’ Batiatus shouted abruptly, pointing a trembling finger directly at Lucius, ‘seize that man! Seize him and throw him into the brazen bull!’
61
SPARTACUS
‘Brother, please,’ N’Jalabenadou begged, wringing his hands together. ‘If we are to succeed in this, we must have you with us. You are the fiercest and most skilled fighter in this ludus … and perhaps the greatest gladiator that Rome has ever seen.’
Viridovix folded his arms across his chest and shook his head, his eyes burning and his jaw clenched with surly defiance.
‘Never. What you’re suggesting is not only foolhardy, it’s downright suicidal! I’m sorry, but I will not have any part in it. I do not wish to end my life nailed to a cross, writhing in undignified agony, and dying slowly over many agonising days. And that, I promise you, is the only possible outcome of this foolish plan of yours. Think realistically, General! By the gods, you sound like you’ve lost your mind!’
‘It will not fail if you are with us!’ the General insisted. ‘Why can’t you see this?!’
Viridovix spat on the ground.
‘And why can’t you see that it’s sheer and utter folly! They’ll crucify us just for talking of it!’ Viridovix’s eyes hardened as he continued, and he jabbed his forefinger into the General’s chest. ‘And what’s more, I’m getting really sick of you pestering me about this, trying to press me on it. You know what? I am happy with my lot in life! I’m a fucking champion of the arena! And I don’t, I repeat, I don’t want to go from being a god that the plebs worship to being a condemnedcriminal that they mock and throw stones at while I die on a cross! And why on earth would you fools want that either?! There is no hope for freedom, can you not understand this? It’s a lost cause, lost long before you even start it! There is no way to win against Rome. No way, none at all. And on top of that, have you idiots even tried to think about what you would do afterwards if, against all odds, this lunacy succeeded?’ Viridovix paused here to shake his head and scowl before he went on. ‘Yes, tell me this, General, since you seem to think you’re such a genius: let’s say you break out of this place, you defeat all those guards with their weapons and armour, with you lot dressed in loincloths and armed with nothing but kitchen knives – let’s for a moment imagine that this ridiculous madness actually succeeds – then what?! Then fucking what?! You’re just going to walk out of here, go and find that little spot in the countryside to settle down in, and have a nice happy little life, just like that? By Jupiter, are you really that naïve?
No, let me tell you what will actually happen. If by some miracle you succeed in this plan of breaking out, Rome will send an army against you. How can you not understand this? Rome will never suffer a slave rebellion. Never! You know this! You will be hunted to the ends of the earth, and you will not have another day of peace for rest of your life. You will have to sleep with one eye open, and a sword next to your pillow, for the rest of your days! Have you imbeciles thought about that?!’
N’Jalabenadou exhaled out a long, slow sigh and shook his head before responding.
‘Have you even considered that there is a world outside of Rome, Viridovix? That there are places that we can go that are far beyond the reach of the Roman Legions?’ The General’s face tightened as he spoke, and an uncharacteristic flintiness gave a hard edge to his eyes. ‘I see it now, my old friend, I see it clear as the light of the morning sun: you really have been broken. Long gone is the man who dreamed of nothing but freedom when he was dragged kicking and screaming into this ludus. You are a true slave now in mind, body and soul. You are no different from Crixus, who sits there in the corner on his own, staring at the wall in silence all day. There is no hope for you. None.’
Crixus, who was indeed sitting alone in a corner, turned and looked at the others as they mentioned his name. The expression on his face was as unwaveringly
