It would be interesting to see if next year, they would be happy to see him again and if they would remember the chant. He would have willed his winnings to Thad, but Thad was due to fight the last game in the season. Now that they each had money, it was prudent to have a will made out or changed before each bout. They were all trying to calculate how long it would take them to buy their freedom and came up with roughly two to four years, if they kept their popularity up and also their sponsors. Marco was sure that Dean would hit the magic number before them all, but he also had Zaza’s freedom to purchase.
She was allowed to visit their area, escorted by Dean. He was not allowed in her area. Normally, the couple snuck off and spent their time alone. Zaza was sweet and she was very pretty. Marco envied the couple. It was lonely without a woman and the gentle touch of one. He had been tempted to go down into the city with the other gladiators, but he couldn’t bring himself to touch one of the prostitutes. He shivered. He would just have to keep self-abusing. Maybe, once he was out of this place, he could meet a nice Italian girl and settle down.
He was sure Felix could hook him up and he grinned at the thought. He was stuck again by Felix’s generous offer to give them a place to go. Even Septimus had been invited. It gave them all hope and something to look forward to and to plan for. Marco heard the music shift and he shook off the jitters. He and Septimus had practiced a few moves that would wow the crowd, keep them happy, but also keep Marco from getting his head cut off. The gate opened and he looked over to Septimus, who looked even bigger in his gear. He nodded and then both men headed out to the sand.
Marco was hammering away at the big man and he was beginning to tire. He knew that Septimus held back a little when he brought his sword down to strike at him, but holy hell, it nearly staggered Marco. Septimus was beating his sword down onto Marco’s shield and he could feel the heavy blows resonate through his bones. He couldn’t imagine what it would be like if Septimus were to vent his full power and fury upon him. Marco knew it would only be a matter of a minute or two before he was defeated. The crowed was divided into screaming Septimus’ name and his own. He was glad that they were happy and didn’t feel cheated.
At one point, Marco had jumped on Septimus’ back and had hammered away at the helmet before he was thrown off. The audience had gone apeshit over it. He’d almost twisted his ankle on the landing. The two had practiced that move for nearly an hour. It had to look spontaneous and Dean had helped with that. He had new respect for Dean and his cheerleading talents. He’d heckled the guy for a long time when he’d first found out. But it had come in handy and for that, Marco was grateful. The coins were falling and he and Septimus had been going for well over twenty minutes.
He was panting hard but realized Septimus wasn’t even breaking a sweat. He could almost hate the guy, if he didn’t like him so much. Septimus was fairly humble when it came to winning. Since it was easy for him, Marco guessed it wasn’t a big deal. It was kind of like when he fought Philo, there was just no challenge in it. He pulled his attention back to what he was doing, he didn’t want to make a mistake and get his arm cut off. Septimus had done that to a guy earlier in the season, after Greg had been killed.
Septimus was raining blows down like a jackhammer and then the big man kicked out. This was where Marco would go down on his back and Septimus would place a foot on his chest. Marco landed with a bone shattering thud on the ground, the air was knocked out of him as his teeth clacked painfully. He felt the heavy foot of the big man and Marco lifted a trembling hand up and lifted two fingers in surrender and supplication. He watched as the emperor stood, palm up. Shock and horror radiated through his body when the emperor’s other hand swung up and a thumb grounded down in his palm. Death.
The crowd went wild, screaming and shouting their outrage and denial, it was a roar so loud that it went through Marco’s brain like a lance. He was stunned and couldn’t believe he was going to die. There was a shitty malicious smile on the bastard’s face as he kept grounding his thumb into his palm. Marco looked up at Septimus, whose eyes were opened wide in shock. It must have been a reflection of his own face. Around them, the crowd was screaming their names over and over and yet, the emperor stood grinning and waiting for his order to be done.
“Do it brother, make it quick. On my neck, on my carotid artery and it will kill me fast. Tell Thad and Dean I love them and watch over them,” Marco croaked out, feeling tears
