Lucius' head spun as the ominous crash of the closing gates silenced the entire courtyard. The men around him shifted nervously, their chatter slowly dying away. Above their heads, several vultures flapped over from the arena to settle on the walls, croaking ominously as they watched the men below.
A rattling sound echoed across the yard as the main portcullis opened and several guards carrying piles of wooden staves walked in, followed by none other than Jator, who was in turn followed by Macoro's litter.
Lucius gulped as his heartbeat began to speed up. He pressed himself back against the wall of the courtyard, feeling the rough brick cut into his back through his tunic. It was still cold from being in the shade, and it chilled him.
The men pressed towards the guards with the staves, nudging Lucius along with them. He tried to resist, but ended up falling on his face, getting stepped on repeatedly.
"EY!" Lucius heard, then felt himself being pulled up by the scruff of his tunic and clouted across the left ear. He looked up to see Arus glaring at him.
"On your feet, BOY!" Arus yelled. He dropped Lucius on his feet and thrust a wooden staff into his hands.
"First lesson." Arus said, raising his own staff up to an attack position. "Unless you're dead... Never fall to the ground!" The older man lunged, jabbing Lucius in the chest. Lucius stumbled back, tears springing to his eyes.
As Arus brought his staff up again, Lucius took a frantic look around. The other pairs were doing similar drills, taking turns attacking each other with the staves.
"Second lesson." Arus continued. "Never let your eyes off the person you're fighting!" He lunged again, and Lucius tried to clumsily sidestep, but the staff threw him off balance, and Arus' weapon cracked him over the head.
"Pathetic." Arus growled, shaking his head. "Absolutely pathetic."
Snickers erupted from the pairs around them. One tall soldier to Arus' right leaned over and said something in greek, which must have insulted the old man, because he frowned and used his staff to cleanly sweep the other man's feet out from under him.
The other men laughed and began to talk more in greek, pointing at Lucius. Arus laughed, leaning on his staff and replying.
Lucius flushed as he recognized some of the phrases, meant to insult him. He clenched his staff in his hands.
"They say you won't last the week, boy." Arus said in latin so Lucius could understand better. "I personally agree. They made a mistake sending a child here to be buzzard fodder."
Lucius' anger grow. If Arus didn't think him a worthy opponent, he would at least give him something to feel in the morning.
Shifting his weight ever so slightly, Lucius widened his stance. He felt the weight of the staff in his hands, shifting his grip. When Arus turned his head to look at an african behind him, Lucius lunged forwards and struck.
The staff arced perfectly, cracking down right on the old man's skull and echoing around the courtyard. Everything froze.
"Now you've done it..." A man said somewhere.
Arus turned back to Lucius, his face completely expressionless. Lucius tried to swallow his fear.
Then, Arus began to laugh.
"Well done, boy. Threw my lessons back in my face, didn't you?" He said, slapping Lucius on the back. The men around them began to laugh, also clapping Lucius on the back.
"What's all this?" A new voice said. Lucius gulped as Jator stepped through the men, grinning evilly.
"My, my. The palace brat hit the old man. You're losing your touch..."
"Lay off. The boy was learning a lesson." Arus growled, seemingly unintimidated by Jator's mass. Jator turned and hit the old man across the face.
"For your cheek, old man. You may be the master's favorite, but I think you're a little too comfortable with where your head is."
"Are you saying that I should get my head out of my ass one of these days? Impossible, the last fight wedged it there." Arus laughed loudly, wiping the sweat from his brow.
"I'm saying your head should roll in the sand the next fight." Jator growled. The ugly look on his face showed he would have loved nothing better than to stab Arus repeatedly.
"Ah, well... Maybe you'll get your wish one of these days. The gods work in mysterious ways." Arus said, turning around and walking away from Jator.
The large guards' lip curled, then he lashed out, hitting Lucius across the face. Caught off balance, he dropped like a stone. This time there was little laughter from the men.
"Perhaps you should go back to the palace, boy. I hear they have an opening in the pigpens." Jator growled.
"They only have an opening because you were so blind as to spit the pigboy instead of a pig." Lucius replied, glaring from his spot in the dirt. Before he knew it, Jator's sword had arced down an inch from his left ear, burying itself in the ground.
"Is that a challenge?" Jator asked, a wicked grin on his face.
Lucius gulped.