Destiny
Esca was five when he first had the dream; the dream of a man who wore a wooden eagle around his neck. His father told him the man in his dreams was part of Esca's destiny. But Esca wondered: How could he possibly be fated to care for a man of Rome?
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I assumed Esca to be about twenty-four when the movie takes place.
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Esca was five when he first had the dream.
There was a man before him. Esca couldn't see his face, but he wore a beautifully carved wooden eagle around his neck. His voice was a sad timbre that pulled Esca in and made his heart jump.
The next time he had the dream was the night of his sixth birthday, two months later. He didn't remember anything more about the man in his dream, but he woke gasping for breath with tears on his cheeks and the sickening feeling that he wasn't going to make it in time. In time for what, he wasn't sure, but he was filled with dread anyway. Over the next few months, Esca had variations of this same dream. Sometimes he woke feeling he'd run a marathon, panic fueling his muscles. Other times, he woke feeling a terrible guilt deep in his bones, knowing that somehow he'd hurt the eagle man. Never did he see the man's face in his dream, or at least he never remembered it once he awoke.
He told his father about the dreams. His father told him to listen to the dreams, because it was possible that the man in them was part of Esca's destiny.
Then came the day of the terrible battle. A Roman legion came north, intending to conquer and control. Esca's father joined many of the men from his tribe and marched to do battle against the Romans, along with several other native tribes in the area. Dozens of men died. His father did not. When he saw Esca, his father's eyes were wide and curious, but he wouldn't explain himself to anyone.
It was from another survivor that Esca learned of the golden eagle that the Romans had carried with them. He wondered if it had anything to do with his dreams, and what it meant if it did.
Esca was eighteen when the Romans took his village. He fought as hard as any man in his village, but unlike the rest of his family…he did not die in that battle. Esca became a slave that day, a slave to the eagle people: Rome. He cried silently that night, in the cage the Romans held him and his fellow Britons in, mourning the lost souls of his people and hating the Romans.
He dreamt of the wooden eagle around the dream man's neck. He dreamt of blood and tears. He felt the cold water on his legs and the sting of rain on his shoulders and the burn of hot tears behind his eyes. He saw the symbol he'd seen on the enemy shield his father had brought back from the terrible battle so many years ago. He heard the clash of swords, the heavy sounds of hoof beats, swift running water, harsh breathing, the leaves crunching under his feet, a crackling fire. He heard the voice of the eagle man desperately shouting his name.
"ESCA!"
He woke in the dead of night, a name on his lips, but he couldn't remember what it was. All he knew was how his heart ached anew with the thought of losing the eagle man in his dreams, as well as his family and all that he had known before. Yet he wondered: How could his destiny be the eagle? How could he possibly be fated to care for a man who came from such a people?
For eight years, Esca lived as a prisoner of Rome. He watched how they treated their slaves: with cruelty, savagery, and contempt. They were made to do hard labor building homes and goods for the Romans. They were pitted against one another in battle for Roman entertainment. They were fed the scraps from Roman dinners and tortured for not following the Roman religion.
Esca hated Rome, the Romans, and all they stood for. They conquered the Britons because they claimed superiority. The Britons were savages who must be made civilized or be destroyed. The longer Esca was with them, the more his contempt grew. The Romans were the savages, the beasts, the ones who deserved to die! They were the rotten pits of humanity who held no ability to feel, to love, to pity! His hatred burned his insides, turning his heart black and blocking out all manner of dreams and hopes, leaving only the desires to be free, get his revenge, and die.
The day he thought would be his last turned out to be anything but. He lay on the ground with a sword to his throat, listening to the bitter crowd crow for his death. He shut his eyes and thought of his family: his father, his mother, his brothers.
"LIFE!" a man yelled. "Life!"
That day that should've been his last turned out to be the day he came back to life.
He was bought as the slave of the man who saved his life. As taught by his father, Esca pledged loyalty to the man in payment for such a debt.
It was shortly after the surgery on Marcus's leg that Esca saw the carved wooden eagle he wore around his neck for the first time. The gratitude, respect, and bitterness he felt toward Marcus all fell away in that moment, replaced by the memory of every dream he'd ever had. The mysterious man now was clear to him as Marcus Flavius Aquila, with his deep, sad timbre of a voice and his dark, guarded eyes.
This man was his destiny. God, whoever's god it may be, had shown him this path ever since he was a small child so that he could make a choice now. And so it was that Esca, at twenty-six years old, decided that for all his life he would do anything for Marcus. The charred wounds from his own internal fires were still there, but as they were together, Marcus slowly began to help Esca heal.
Esca's soul was bound to Marcus's. He trusted Marcus with his life. Esca was only slightly surprised the day he realized that he cared for Marcus more than he had ever cared about anyone or anything before. It was then that he swore to himself that he would stay by Marcus side; through anything, against anyone, no matter what happened.
For forever and always.
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fin.