“So?” Philo said, panting hard as well.
“I just wondered if you had a chance to say goodbye to your mother, before they bring her out,” Marco said and laughed. He watched as Philo’s eyes grew large at the fat momma joke and then the man screamed and came at Marco with psychotic frenzy. He hammered at Marco and the blows were deflected time and again. He felt the sting as Philo’s blade grazed his thigh, but he ignored the pain. Philo was uncoordinated and all the while, Marco laughed at him. Then Marco saw his opening and brought the hilt of his sword up and under a narrow opening and caught Philo in his solar plexus. The man dropped like a stone and Marco was on top of him, his sword at Philo’s neck, the man’s eyes opened wide and his mouth open as well, gasping for air.
It was then that Marco heard the crowd, cheering and calling Atrox over and over. He looked to Scauras, who had his palm up. There was a long moment, as though Scauras really thought about it, but then gave the up signal and Marco got up and walked to the middle of the arena. The crowd was on its feet, flinging coins and flowers into the arena. A slave would pick up the coins and the money would be placed in an account for Marco. Gold and coins were never kept in the cells, they were kept on account for the gladiator, to use as he would. He heard the cries of the women, who vowed their love for him. He raised his arms in triumph and then executed an elaborate bow for the crowd. They roared their approval.
Philo limped toward the exit and then Marco followed. He lifted his helmet and saw Thad standing ready, he was up next. There was a wide grin on Thad’s face and laughter in his eyes.
“What did you say to him? Looks like he lost his mind out there,” Thad asked as Marco passed.
“I told a fat momma joke,” Marco said and sniggered.
“Can’t go wrong with those. The dumbass it just too easy,” Thad said and put on his helmet.
“Yeah, good luck brother, I’ll see you later,” Marco said and went off to seek medical attention for the slice on his leg. It was now stinging badly, as the adrenaline bled away. Thad was fighting a Murmillo from the second floor. The man was a low rank palus tertius. After today, Marco, Dean and Greg would be palus tertius and move to the second floor. If Thad won this bout, he would go up as well. Marco felt a heavy slap on his back and he turned and saw Septimus smiling widely.
“You fought well, Atrox,” Septimus said.
“Thank you, brother,” Marco returned and headed off. Septimus would be the last to fight since he was the highest ranking of their group. Thad compared the ranking to sumo wrestling. He said that sumo wrestlers went up or down in rank depending on how many wins and losses they had. Marco thought that sounded about right, though here, you might get killed. He saw Felix and grinned. Felix had won as well and would be advanced with the rest of palus tertius. Marco snorted; he was fairly sure Philo was kicking himself.
The man would have one more chance to advance to palus tertius this week, but he would be of lower rank than the rest. He hoped the man would lose, that way, he’d have to stay on the first floor. He saw Dean and his girlfriend, Zaza. They found out that Zaza was from Syria and had been a slave to a house in Rome. When a slave had tried to rape her, she had killed him. Her master was afraid she might kill his family and had sold her to the Ludus Magnus, where she became a female gladiator. She had been at the Ludus for over a year. The couple spent nearly every free moment with each other.
Felix said that the chances of Zaza getting killed in the arena were remote, though he had heard of a woman getting killed last year. The women only fought each other and the occasional dwarf. Felix did give the caution of the emperor’s prerogative, but the citizens of Rome would more than likely revolt over an arbitrary death of a female gladiator. There had been a lot of anger of the death of the woman last year. Marco was happy for Dean but Marco knew that their life expectancy in the arena may not be long lived. However, if Dean could buy his freedom and perhaps Zaza’s freedom, then the couple had a future. He shook his head over the notion.
He would get patched up and cleaned up. This evening, the winners of today’s games would go up to the third floor. Aurelius Scauras was holding a celebratory party for the new gladiators. This was where the men would pick up sponsors and supporters. The very rich would be there and the money and wine would flow. Moving to the medicus, Marco saw the old man and he grinned. The old guy was pretty good patching them up. He didn’t talk much, but was kind. There wasn’t a whole lot of kindness at the Ludus Magnus so he took it where he could.
Θ
Septimus watched the four strange men. They were very different but he didn’t understand why. He just knew he liked them. He liked Felix as well. He’d never had friends like this before. His life had been hard and then harder still with the annihilation of his family. Before he met these men, his mind was filled with rage and sorrow. He had never had someone to watch out for him and he returned the favor.
He thought that perhaps their friendship was rare. There were a few in the ludus,
