I could feel my hands trembling as his gaze pierced mine from across the room. I hated myself for doing so, I didn't even know his name. Why must he have this effect on me? I had to stop this, I had to; he was a gladiator, due to fight on the morrow. The thought of watching him die made me sick, my head began to spin as I imagined the scene. Then a thought struck me, but what if I saved him from such a fate? What if I could stop it? What if I bought him, that way, I could try to understand him and keep him close. I grabbed Ariadne by the wrist and hastily walked over to Master Graceus, never breaking the slave's gaze.

"Cassia, what are you doing?" The look on her face was a mixture of confusion and amusement.

"Whatever I say, go along with it, yes?" I whispered it into her ear, and she nodded in response. So many times she had witnessed my spur of the moment decisions, and knew better than to try and talk sense.

The short, fat slaver bowed when I met him. "My lady Cassia, how may I be of service?"

"Master Graceus, You may sell me that slave." I pointed to him, and my heart fell as the slave's face turned to disgust, "you are no better than the rest of them" his eyes whispered silently. Master Graceus looked bewildered.

"My lady, I'm afraid you would have no use for him, he is nothing but a gladiator, he knows nothing else."

I tried to make the slave see my true intentions, however my voice quaked with nerves. "He saved my horse when I rode here, my horse trainer is missing, and I wish for him to be my new trainer. Now do I need to go and fetch my father or can we strike a deal ourselves?" Graceus looked horrified and began to stammer.

"Oh, there is no need for that, I'm sure we can come to an agreement." I breathed a sigh of relief, I didn't even think that would work. I turned to the slave, who still had the same look upon his face. A price was quickly agreed and the slave was marched over to me, staring me down, as if daring me to instruct him. But by this point I had attracted too many eyes of the party guests, I could feel their judgemental stare piercing through the back of my head.

"Could you please follow me so that I may show you to the stables?" I tried my best to sound gentle and suggesting rather than demanding, however my voice failed me and came out as nothing but a whisper.

"You own me now. I have to follow you." He seemed detached and brutal, my plan wasn't going as well as I had hoped. Ariadne was called upon by my mother, and so we walked to the stables alone as the judgemental stares pierced the both of us now.

As soon as we were alone, I tried to explain myself. "You must understand, I don't think of you as just a slave, I just didn't want to see you die in the games tomorrow." I felt my voice stammering, why was he was having such an affect- first my hands shaking, now I can't even talk properly?

"Why would you care if I live or die?" He stood in front of me now, blocking my path, clearly anticipating an answer. I took a step towards him, closing the space between us and staring into his eyes. I searched for an answer, but I couldn't find the words. Why did I save him? Why do I care? Suddenly the ground began to shake, I heard a crash from the stables, and the sound of Veras neighing in horror. My face turned to one of fear, and we both sprinted towards the stables.

"I will go in, but all of your men have to leave, do you trust me enough to do order them away?" He paused at the door, unsure of how I would react.

"Of course I trust you" I dismissed the guards with a flip of the hand, ignoring their protests as the slave went inside. I waited for the Veras' cries to die down, my heart pounding in my chest. What if he didn't know how to deal with him? What if Veras killed him? His blood would be on my hands. Finally there was silence, I slowly opened the door and stepped into the stables.

There he was, upon my horse, looking as if he was born to be there, without so much as a second thought.

I madly searched for the right words. "How did you do that?" He stared down at me again, the mysterious look that hinted he was trying to tell me something else, but what?

"I asked him to." He paused, contemplating on whether he should continue. "My people were horsemen, I learnt to ride before I could walk" I was puzzled. Were? What happened to them, I was afraid to ask, but I feared he would tell me anyway.

"Were?"

"They were butchered, all of them, by Romans" I guess I should have expected that answer, no wonder all he knew was to be a gladiator, he had probably been trained since when he was first captured.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked." He leaned down from the horse and looked at me with sorrow filled eyes. I stepped towards him so that Veras' head was buried in my hands.

"What would a Roman know of loss and sorrow?" The blow was one of judgement, and it hurt.

"I can assure you I am no Roman, I am a citizen of Pompeii, I never want to be associated with them for they are all cheats and liars." I could feel a flush of red on my cheeks as I began to lose my temper.

"If Pompeii is free of the Romans, then why is their eagle everywhere?" His voice sounded attacking, why was he judging me this way?

"My father has to do business with them, despite my grave warnings against doing so." He seemed taken aback, but leaned closer.

"My father" he whispered "he would have killed every last one of them" I smiled at the thought of being free of Rome and all its inhabitants, stepping closer towards him.

"Lady Cassia!" There was a cry from the other side of the stable door. "Is everything alright!?" I turned to the slave, fearing the guards would harm him.

"If you don't get down, they will hurt you, no matter how much I may try and stop them." He didn't even seem to care, he just stretched out his arm towards me. I looked to his face for some sort of an indication of his intentions, but his eyes seemed to dare me to come with him. I reached for his hand as he gently pulled me onto the horse as if I weighed nothing.

I wrapped my arms around his chest, feeling it rise and fall as he breathed deeply. He sped off into the night, pushing through the closed gates that opened the path away from the palace. I had never known Veras to ride this fast, but it was as if the slave was just riding him as fast as he wanted, as if Veras was in control. We sped through the city, the lights of candles blurring from my vision and the cries of the guards faint in the distance. None of them can catch me now. We reached the peak of a hill and stopped as he jumped off the horse and held out his arm again to help me down. We sat upon the grass, the warm summer's breeze rustling my hair, and stared out at the city with all its shimmering lights. I slowly leaned to him, as he gently placed his arm around me, drawing circles with his finger on my upper arm.

"All this, and I don't even know the name of my kidnapper" I laughed, and I could feel him tremble slightly as he chuckled too.

"Milo, my lady Cassia" I frowned at the stupid formality.

"Please don't" He turned to me in confusion. "Call me my lady I mean, I'm just Cassia." He smiled and turned his face to the grass.

"Well then, just Cassia" He paused and smirked at the remark. "You never answered my question, why do care if I live or die?"

"I hate the games, it's stupid how men must fight and die for entertainment. That, and I care for you too much to see you fall" The last part just sort of fell out like word vomit, and I hated myself for saying as soon as it came out. But he reached out and touched my face then, turning it towards him. Slowly we both leaned in, and I saw at him glance at my lips and then at my eyes again… Then the cry of men and horses close by scared us and made me jump. His face turned to the ground, and sadness became riddled through it.

"If they catch you up here with me, regardless of whether you own me..." He let his voice trail off, and stood up to get back on the horse. I gently came up behind him and wrapped my arms around his chest again.

"I will tell them it was my choice, and that I forced you to ride with me, that I ordered you to take me." He turned to face me again, the sorrow still written over his face. His mouth opened to speak, but no words came out, he was clearly considering his options. We had a choice, we could stay here, wait for them to catch us, or get back on the horse and ride as fast as Veras could take us, not stopping until we had to.

"So what we do now then? Stay or go?" He stared, at me, waiting for my response, and I paused, but hell, what's the worst that could happen?

"Let's go, I don't want them to catch me just yet" He grinned from ear to ear, clearly hoping that was my answer.

"As you wish la-" he paused, remembering what I thought of honorific titles, "Cassia". He leaped back onto the horse, pulling me up with him. We rode faster than I have ever seen a horse ride, I could feel Milo relax upon this horse, as if this represented his freedom, represented a place no one could take from him.

But Veras could not run forever, and eventually the guards caught up to us, Corvus fuming at the front of the pack. I could see the way Milo stiffened when he approached, the way the rage inside of him seemed to be boiling over almost so he could not contain it, struggling to keep his calm.

"My lady Cassia, what I may I ask, are you doing with this" he paused to look Milo up and down with disgust, and I could feel the blood boiling within me too "this slave?"

"That is none of your concern, I did not ask for a rescue party, I commanded Milo, whom I own, to take me out for a ride so that I may breathe the fresh air. He has committed no crime, I was not harmed, so there really was no need for you to ride out here." He glared me down and grabbed my wrist, yanking me towards him. Milo stepped between us, a stupid mistake, he should have known better than to stare down a Senator.

"There is no need for you to grab her like that, let the lady go." Milo stood firmly in front of me, and I ripped my wrist from the Senator's grip.

Fire seemed to flame within Corvus' eyes. "You are a slave. You are nothing. You do not give me orders. Or did your little ride with lady Cassia make you forget that." He almost spat in Milo's face, and I could see the pain writhing on Milo's face as he tried to contain his rage. Corvus turned to his guards, barking orders. "Put him in chains, I will deal with him when we get back to what these Pompeii dogs call the palace."

"No! Please, just let him ride with me, he will do me no harm, I hired him as a horse trainer, and Veras is easily spooked up here, I need someone who can easily calm him down riding with me. Please Corvus, he meant no disrespect."

"If that is the case my lady Cassia, you will ride with me while one of my men rides your horse as he is so easily spooked as you say, but Milo will be taken back by my men, punished for his actions, but he will be allowed to tend your horse overnight. However, he is a gladiator, in the ring is where he belongs, so he will fight at the games tomorrow. That is final." He began to storm away, when he turned back to flash me a smug smile that painted his face. "But remember my generosity tomorrow morning at the games when I ask of you a question. Understood?" I nodded, and tried to hold back the tears that threatened to flow from my eyes. The very fate I had tried so hard to save him from is what he must face tomorrow. Everything was for nothing. I was stupid to think that I could ever save a gladiator.

So tell me what you guys thought of this first chapter- hopefully the first of many! I wanted to try and really stick to the characters but also allow for character development, so your view on how realistic it was would be great. Also I haven't decided which path I want to take yet for this pair, so I guess you will just have to wait and see! :P Thanks guys xx