“I thought I was gonna tear my face off,” Thad said and laughed, his eyes closed as the blade drew down the side of his cheek. The other men grunted in agreement. They were with the other trainees and spoke in English so the others couldn’t understand. Greg’s eyes slid over the biggest man among them, Septimus. He looked like a combination of Jason Momoa and Dwayne Johnson. He thought that the only person who could defeat him was Thad. Greg thought that if he fought the man, he’d bite his head off and shit down his neck.
“Cato said we will take the oath later and we’re gonna be moved to another cell,” Marco said, his hand going up to his bald head. He smiled in satisfaction.
“What is the oath?” Dean asked.
“It’s where we swear to live and die by the sword. That we won’t be cowards and pretty much do the best we can,” Thad said.
“It isn’t really a choice,” Greg laughed and looked at the others, who nodded and smiled grimly.
“Yeah, no shit. If you’re a coward, they essentially just extend the time of death they kill you. Felix said that about a week or so before we got here, one of the gladiators refused to fight, guess it was his best friend or something like that. Anyway, it made the emperor so mad that they brought up an elephant. They staked the guy out and then they had the elephant put his foot down on the guy’s stomach. They did it really slow until the guy’s guts and shit squirted out. The guy was still alive and they then let the elephant walk all over him until he was dead,” Dean said, now white as a sheet.
“Holy hell. That’s some sick shit. I remember about the guy and the molten lead down the throat. They are some sick cabrons here, that’s for sure,” Marco said.
“I’m here to tell you all, if you have to fight me and they make us kill each other, do me a favor and just slice my neck. Make it fast and know that it will be a kindness,” Thad said solemnly.
“For real, same here. At least I’d go to heaven and be out of this place,” Greg said softly and the men nodded.
“I just hope we don’t have to fight each other in the arena. Or, if we do, the emperor isn’t around. He is one sick bastard,” Dean said.
“Yeah, well don’t say that in Italian. There are some tattletales around. Some fucker told Cato that I’d taken food from the chow hall. Cato just said that I was to eat as much as I wanted, but not to bring it out of there. They didn’t want rats infesting the cells,” Thad said.
“It was probably that sketchy asshole, Claudius, he’s a sneaky little turd,” Dean said, his eyes sliding over to the short tree stump of a man. He had an overbite from hell and Greg wondered how the man ate.
“Yeah, just watch what you say in Italian. I see that Philo is back, looks like he’s shooting daggers at you, Marco. Watch your back, brother,” Thad said.
“You can be sure as shit that I will. I wouldn’t trust that shithead as far as I could throw him,” Marco said. Greg worried for Marco; he didn’t like the looks that Philo was throwing his way. Remus, who was Philo’s friend and who had tried to interfere when Marco was kicking Philo’s ass was one to watch as well. Greg thought that for the most part, the men only wanted to survive, by doing their best in the arena. But there were a few men, like Claudius, Philo, and Remus, that you had to watch your back. He had seen a few of the higher-ranking gladiators argue and a little dust up, but nothing major.
Their lives were going to be cut short, it didn’t help that there were others that wanted to do it more quickly. Greg sighed heavily. And looked up when several slaves brought in shoes and belts.
“Awesome, looks like we’re gonna be getting some shoes,” Dean said.
“Man, that’s great. My feet are tired of stepping on friggen rocks,” Marco complained.
“Hell to the yeah,” Thad said and laughed, taking the large sandals from an attendant. Greg turned as the attendant gave him a leather belt. The man had an awl and block of wood. He measured the belt around Greg’s waist and then took the awl and punched several holes into the belt. He then took a pair of sheers and trimmed up the belt. Greg buckled the three-inch-wide belt around his waist. He then squatted and placed his foot onto the thick leather sole of his sandal. It was a short ankle sandal and the leather laces were secured over his foot and held the shoe in place.
He looked over to Thad, who had the biggest foot among them. He was pleased to see that Thad was given a shoe that fit his foot well. He smiled, thinking about the nice Italian leather shoes that he had seen in the shops, both in Naples and in Rome. They were expensive and very well made and Greg had promised himself that he would buy a pair of the Italian footwear before he transferred out of Italy. The smile left his face and he knew after the last few months, that those who cared about him and loved him still grieved and still hoped. Suddenly, the joy of the day dissipated like mist in the sun. He sighed and swallowed.
Thad stood and walked around in his new shoes. He sighed, he was tired of standing in hot sand and stepping on sharp rocks. He wondered if he and his friends would have to share a bigger cell with the
