Chapter VIII

The Bitter End

The next morning I was walking towards the chamber of the dominus and the domina to help Naevia to prepare for leaving to the new arena. As I was walking, I suddenly started to feel incredibly sick. I managed to grasp a column just when I bowed to throw up on the floor. When it ended, I kneeled on the floor from the surprise and exhaustion. A moment later, I felt a small hand on my shoulder and I turned to look at Naevia who looked at me with worry.

"What's wrong?" She asked as she rubbed my upper back.

"I'm alright." I muttered, still feeling slightly ill. "It must have been something I ate."

"Maybe you should see the medicus." Naevia adviced as she helped me stand up.

"No. I'm sure it will pass." I assured as I looked at her. "If it gets worse, I promise I will go to the medicus."

Naevia nodded as she followed me to help the domina get ready to leave for the games.

Some time later, both Naevia and I were standing on the pulvinus of the new arena behind the domina and the dominus as they gazed at the massive arena.

"Have eyes ever beheld such a sight?" Batiatus praised.

"The laurel crown of the Republic." The magistrate spoke.

"Its majesty even more evident when viewed from the pulvinus." Varis bragged. The despicable man.

"A great honor to be invited by Tullius." Lucretia gushed with a believable smile on her face.

"One I fear undeserved, yet he is a difficult man to turn from."Batiatus joked with a smirk.

"A fact well known to all present." Cossutius stated, with annoyance clear in his voice.

"I am surprised by his delay." The magistrate remarked. "The opening of the arena has been the only subject on his tongue. Now he stands late to his own celebration."

Moments later Vettius, followed by Solonius walked to the pulvinus, causing all of the romans to look at them. "Apologies. Tullius regrets he will be absent altogether."

"What could wrest him from so high a perch?" The magistrate inquired and Vettius nodded. "Pressing concerns abroad in Antioch. His departure was unexpected."

"The arena would not exist without Tullius." Lucretia chimed. "We would not be standing here, if it weren't for his actions."

"We should halt the celebrations until his return." Batiatus offered

"Agreed. I shall adress the crowd." The magistrate began, but was immediately interrupted by Vettius.

"Tullius sends hard instruction for ceremony to carry without him." He spoke, causing the romans to frown in confusion. "This arena was a gift to his beloved city. He would not see misfortune stand in the way of giving of it."

"A most gracious offer, well recieved." The magistrate nodded. "Come. Haunt Tullius' place by my side, possessing his spirit for the occasion." He continued as he gestured to the empty chair beside him.

"Again, I must offer apology." Vettius explained. "I make preparations to follow Tullius to Antioch."

"And what of your ventures here?" Batiatus wondered. "Your ludus?"

"I am retiring from the lowly call of the lanista," Vettius spoke, clearly trying to annoy Batiatus. "in favour of station more befitting a man of breeding."

"What will become of your men?" Cossutius inquired. "They fight this very day."

"I would not see your brief labours turn to naught." Batiatus spoke with a slight smirk. "Solonius and I can make fair offer to divide them."

"Deeply appreciated, yet unnecessary." Vettius smirked as he turned to look at Solonius. "Solonius and I have already come to terms."

Batiatus looked at Solonius in confusion. "Terms?"

"I have transferred deed to all my gladiators to Solonius," Vettius explained causing Batiatus to glare at Solonius. "under whose noble banner they will fight this day."

"You are indeed blessed, Solonius." The magistrate spoke. "Your ludus now stands above all others in sheer numbers."

"May the gods continue to show favour." The old lanista nodded as he glanced at Batiatus.

"I must take my leave." Vettius spoke as he turned to leave. "Give good Solonius all consideration towards future games. Tullius and I will have it so."

"You are overly generous." Solonius told the young man as he put his hand on his shoulder. "Come. I would see you away." Solonius then turned and walked away with Vettius.

"The boy all but runs from us." Varis spoke as Batiatus and Lucretia looked at each other until they turned to look at Varis.

"Vettius has always been little more than Tullius' pet." Batiatus joked, though he still looked slightly angry. "Is it any wonder he runs to heel when leash is jerked?"

The other romans laughed.

"Let us put absent friends from mind, and turn towards the golries of the day." The magistrate smiled as Lucretia and the others sat down in their seats while Batiatus walked away from the pulvinus, most likely to speak with Solonius.

Some time later Solonius came back to the pulvinus with Batiatus following and they both took their seats. I saw Lucretia share a few words with Batiatus, but I didn't hear what she said. A moment later we the booing from the crowd.

"What has the crowd in such a state?" Batiatus inquired and Lucretia turned to look at him. "Sextus announces executions before the games begin."

We watched as four slaves were dragged onto the sands, but I couldn't really see what they all looked like, only that two were men and two were women. I looked at Naevia beside me, not really wanting to watch the executions.

"Is that not one of yours, Batiatus? The girl on the end. What was her name?" Cossutius calmly inquired and both Naevia and I immediately turned to look at the slaves on the sands as we took a few steps closer to see clearer.

"Diona." Both Naevia and I whispered, not quite believing what we were seeing. When I quickly glanced at the roman, I saw a smirk on his face.

"Diona, yes." The disgusting man spoke.

"Apologies, Batiatus." The magistrate apologized. "The girl was only rounded up this morning. If you wish her removed to be dealt with personally..."

Naevia and I looked at Batiatus, hoping for him to do something, but we were devastated when he spoke. "No. Let her death stand as a warning to all others who would seek to betray me."

I grasped Naevia's hand as we were forced to watch the slaves. We didn't hear what the romans said after because we were both looking at Diona, hoping she would meet our eyes. When she did, tears started to roll down my face. Just when I thought our lives had changed for the better, this happens. We watched as the executioner slowly thrusted his sword into the necks of the slaves, taking their lives while the crowd roared. As the executioner got closer to Diona, I squeezed Naevia's hand as hard as I could, both trying to seek comfort from each other. When the executioner got to Diona and put his sword on her neck, both Naevia and I were surprised to see Diona give a small smile and a nod toward us as if she wanted us to go on without her. We both gave a slow nod to her as tears pored down our faces, and a moment later we watched as Diona gave her final breath as the executioner pulled his sword away from her neck and threw her on the sand, with blood pouring down onto the ground.

No POV:

Below the arena, Gannicus was sitting on a piece of stone, waiting for the fights when Oenomaus came to stand beside him.

"You will face Tasgetius and Synetos in the match before the Primus." The doctore spoke and the gladiator looked at his swords. "Our days have been filled. Show all of Capua why you are considered such a prize. Fight, and honour the House of Batiatus."

"There are many things I would die for." Gannicus spoke as he shook his head slightly. "Many things I deserve to die for, yet this house is no longer among them."

"Then fight for her." Oenomaus spoke, causing Gannicus to look up at him. "Every life you take. The blood you shed. She will be up on the pulvinus watching you."

Gannicus stood up and looked at his old friend with determination. "Then I shall fill her eyes."

Oenomaus gave Gannicus a small nod until both men turned to look at another gladiator.

"Crixus!" The doctore spoke as the man he called, stood up. No longer did Crixus have the tangled hair or the rugged beard. Now he had short and clean hair and his face was smooth."You are first. Ready!"

Crixus slowly stood up as he held onto his sword and shield. Then he walked to Gannicus and the two men looked at each other.

"Gannicus." Crixus started. "There is something I have to tell you before I go out there."

"What might that be?" Gannicus asked, grasping his swords, ready to defend himself against the gaul.

"I merely wished to give you my blessings." Crixus assured.

"For what?" The celt frowned.

"I recieved quite the lecture from Cassandra yesterday." Crixus spoke. "Apparently I have to believe that you're good enough for her."

Gannicus smiled slightly. "She did, did she?"

"Yes." The gaul continued as he took a step towards Gannicus. "She seems to trust you with her heart even though I do not. She told me that trusting her would be enough."

"Then you will not attack me again?" Gannicus joked, causing Crixus to smile a little.

"No." Crixus assured. "But if you ever hurt her, I will kill you so quickly you will not even see it coming." He continued, and from the look in his eyes, Gannicus knew it wasn't only a threat but a promise.

Cassandra POV:

Some hours later, the primus was upon us. Some of the men from the House of Batiatus had lost their lives, but most of them were still alive and well, Gannicus and Crixus among them. They had both done well in their fights and now they were no doubt getting ready below as torches were being places around the arena before the final fight between the gladiators of both houses. And I was becoming increasingly more worried for Solonius has twice the men Batiatus has. I hoped Gannicus and Crixus could put their personal differences aside for the night, for I did not wish to see either of them men dead. Moments later, the crowd started to cheer as the gladiators of both houses walked to the sands in new armor. When all of them had gathered to the centre, the magistrate stood up.

"Many have fought this day. Many have died, their blood staining the sands. Yet this arena towers above all others in the Republic. It is a vast beast. And yet it hungers!"

As the crowd cheered, I looked at the gladiators on the sands and I wasn't surprised to see Gannicus already looking straight at me, causing me to give him a wide smile.

"Two great houses face each other. Yet every man must ultimately stand for himself and himself alone."

Suddenly my gaze with Gannicus was broken when I saw slaves run to the sands while carrying jugs. They began to pour what looked like oil into a circle around the gladiators.

"What are they doing?" Lucretia asked.

"It matters not." Her husband answered her.

"Fire burns within their breasts." The magistrate spoke. "And it is fire that shall bind them in final contest!" He announced as slaves lit the oil aflame with torches while I looked on in shock. "Fall to the sands beyond the flames, and find yourself removed from the primus. Fall within them, and be removed from this world. Take position!"

As the gladiators took their positions, I watched in fear when I saw that Solonius truly had twice thhe men. When the gladiators were in two lines, ready to attack, I found Gannicus with my eyes and he was once again looking at me. He obviously saw the fear on my face for he gave me a nod and that wide smirk of his. I calmed down slightly as I waited impatiently for the fight to begin.

"Split heaven with the sound of your fury!" The magistrate demanded as he lifted his fist into the air. A moment later he quickly brought it down. "Begin!"

I immediately turned to look at the sands as the gladiators ran towards each other and started the fight. As the fight went on, I couldn't decide where to look for there was so much going on. Mostly I managed to watch Gannicus get beaten by Solonius' men. However, he quickly shook it off and began to do better. My gaze was shifted when I saw Crixus being thrown onto the sand, too near to the fiery ring. Luckily, he managed to get up and after, he and Gannicus both got rid of multiple men. I was shocked when I saw Ashur thrust his sword into Dagan's stomach, killing the other syrian. Although I knew they did not care for each other, I didn't know it was so bad. However, I was even more shocked when I saw Crixus hit Ashur's leg with his sword, snapping the syrian's leg bone. Then he threw the man onto the other side of the ring and suddenly ran towards the last of Solonius' men who had managed to throw Gannicus onto the ground. In a moment, he managed to get up and the two men fought against the giant man. Suddenly the man managed to slash his sword against Crixus' stomach, causing me to grasp Naevia's hand in fear for my brother.

Just when the large gladiator was going to give the finishing blow, Gannicus parried the sword with a large shield, while pushing Crixus so hard that he was thrown to the other side of the ring. I had never been as thankful for anyone as I was for Gannicus at that moment. I watched in both fear and hope as Gannicus tried to overpower the much larger man, but I was shocked when he recieved multiple hits onto his face until he was thrown onto the ground on his stomach. While I waited in fear for Gannicus to get up, the massive gladiator cheered. Just when I saw him trying to thrust his spear into Gannicus' back, the man suddenly rolled away and stood up. During what seemed like the blink of an eye, Gannicus snapped the spear into half and thrusted the sharp end into the larger gladiator's neck, causing blood to shoot out everywhere. After seconds of silence, the silent crowd jumped up and cheered for the magnificent end to the primus as did the dominus and domina. When I understood what had just happened, I threw my arms around Naevia's neck in excitement and after getting over the shock of me suddenly jumping onto her, she put her arms around my waist, obviously glad that I was so happy after the bad things that had happened during the day. Soon I pulled away and after a moment to catch my breath, I looked at the dominus and domina who were also excited for the win.

"Yes! The House of Batiatus stands fucking triumphant!" Batiatus exclaimed in excitement and then looked at the other romans. "Apologies."

"None required." Sextus laughed. "A most impressive showing."

"I do but honour this city!" Batiatus bragged. "And my champion continues to do the same."

"I have mind towards your man for my own games." Cossutius announced, clearly impressed with the fight.

"As do I." Varis agreed. "Listen how he ignites the crowd."

The crowd was cheering loudly and calling Gannicus' name while Gannicus had his arms in the air. He was clearly happy that he won but I had no doubt that he was extremely tired after such a long and hard fight. My face was almost hurting from the wide smile I had from the poverwhelming happiness.

However, the moment of happiness was quickly ended by Solonius' words.

"Would they not forever remember this day, and the men responsible for it, if Gannicus was granted freedom?"

I glanced at Naevia as we were both confused and then turned to look at Batiatus.

"Freedom?" He wondered, also confused beyond words. Solonius turned to look at him.

"I would have granted the same in deference to the crowd, had my man survived." He claimed as Batiatus and Lucretia looked at him in disbelief.

"An excellent suggestion." Sextus said as he turned towards Batiatus and Lucretia. "You can always train another gladiator. Yet to conclude the opening ceremonies with such a blessing..."

I looked at Lucretia in desperation, and when she turned to look at me, I shook my head, begging for her to do something. But before she had the chance to speak, Batiatus sat down.

"As I said, I but honour this city." He agreed and looked at Lucretia. After he turned away, Lucretia looked at me, and when I saw the troubled look in her eyes, I knew there was nothing she could do. I looked on as the magistrate stood up to address the crowd.

"Gannicus has proven himself to the city of Capua! Let him be rewarded... With freedom!"

I took a step forward to look at Gannicus and saw that he was staring me in the eye with his arms by his side in defeat. At first he looked at me with confusion, but when I saw from his eyes what his reward truly meant, tears began to fall down my cheeks. Gannicus started to shake his head as if ready to say no, but I shook my head with more tears falling down, trying to tell him that it was no use. He would have to leave the ludus. And he would have to leave me behind.

The next morning, I was just waking up in the chambers for me and Naevia, when I saw how high the sun was. The domina had ordered me to get some rest immediately after coming back from the arena. I had planned to sneak away to talk to Gannicus, but it seemed that the excitement had caused me to fall asleep. When I realized how late I had woken up, I got up from the bed as quickly as I could and barely managed to tie my dress together, when I was already running out of the room. When I got to the balcony, I only glanced to see if Gannicus was leaving yet. When I saw him saying goodbye to his brothers, I took a sharp turn and ran toward the stairs that led to the ludus, but before I could go down them, Naevia ran to me and suddenly stood in front of me as if to prevent me from going down.

"Naevia." I asked, desperate to get down to the ludus before it was too late. "What are you doing?"

"Maybe you shouldn't go down there." She whispered, but I would listen to none of it.

"I have to!" I exclaimed. "Please move away before it's too late!"

"Cassandra...-" She started to speak, but I quickly pushed her away and ran down the stairs towards the gate to the training grounds. As I ran toward it, I could see Gannicus had just said goodbye to Oenomaus and was just walking to the gate away from the villa grounds. Only moments before he could walk out, I ripped open the ludus gate and all of the gladiators turned to look at the metallic sound. But I did not glance at them, not even my brother, I was only looking at one person standing on the sand. Without stopping, I ran to Gannicus as fast I could and threw my arms as tight around his neck as I could, with tears flowing down my cheeks while he wrapped those familiar, warm and strong arms around me so tight that I almost couldn't breathe. But I didn't care.

"You can't leave." I spoke to him, desparate to make him stay.

"I have to."I heard him whisper into my ear. I pulled away so my forehead leaned into his and I could see that he was barely able to keep his eyes from tearing up.

"No, you can't leave me!" I begged loudly, not caring if everyone heard me.

"I have to, you know that." He spoke while I shook my head. "There's nothing I can do."

"No, there has to be something...!" I cried, but he put his hands on my wet cheeks.

"There isn't." He insisted with a lone tear falling down his cheek. I stayed silent, looking him in the eye helplessly. As I looked at him, I saw him pull his hands away and put them behind his neck. A moment later he pulled away the silver and black chain he had always had around his neck. He lowered his hands and took hold of one of my hands. He slowly opened my fist with his fingers and dropped the chain in my hand.

"I was given this when I became champion of this house." He explained as I looked him in the eye. "Hold onto it for me. You can give it back when we meet again."

"But when?" I begged and he leaned his forehead on mine.

"I don't know." Gannicus whispered. "But I know we'll be reunited one day."

"But when? What if I can't find you? What if...-" My ranting was interrupted by Gannicus covering my lips with his in a kiss full of desperation and passion but also agony. A moment later Gannicus pulled away and gave me that familiar grin.

"I love you, you know that?" He said he once again smoothed my cheek with his rough fingers. "I never believed I could actually find someone who could love me."

"Maybe most women ran away because of your overwhelming confidence." I managed to joke even though I was still crying a bit.

"What wouldn't I be confident about? I obviously have great skills in the arena." He spoke as a smirk grew on his face. "And elsewhere."

A deep blush appeared on my face as I saw a hand land on Gannicus' shoulder. We both turned to look at whose hand it was, and weren't surprised to see that it was my brother's.

"I don't want to hear you talking about those things." Crixus said, barely able to contain a smile. "Especially with my little sister."

"Crixus, enough." I reprimanded my brother, but the two men only smiled at each other.

"Don't worry, my love." Gannicus began, his name of endearment causing me to blush again. "Crixus and I are in an understanding about you."

"An understanding?" I asked in confusion.

"I only promised him that if he were to hurt you, I would kill him." Crixus explained as the smiles on both his and Gannicus' face grew. I only stared at them in disbelief as the two men grasped each other's arms in goodbye as they looked at each other.

"Take care of her for me, would you, Crixus?" Gannicus asked and my brother nodded.

"I will." He promised. "And don't forget. We still haven't had the chance to fight in proper contest."

"I know." Gannicus acknowledged as they let go of each other and turned to look at me. I glanced at both of them, and then looked at Gannicus.

"Make sure he behaves." Gannicus told me while nodding slightly toward Crixus.

"I will. Though I've had to make sure he behaves for years already." I smiled as I leaned closer to him. "I love you."

"I love you more." He answered as he gave me a smaller, but just as passionate kiss as before, and then slowly pulled away.

"We'll be reunited. I promise." He spoke as he still held onto the hand of mine that wasn't holding onto the chain.

"I know." I responded with a sad smile. Moments later he slowly let go of my hand and turned around, leaving me in my brother's arms as I watched the love of my life walk away from me for who knows how long. Months? Years? Decades? How long would I have to wait to have him back?

One day, a few weeks later I found out that he had left a piece of himself behind. That day, I found out that I was with child.

A/N (PLEASE READ!)

And there it is! This chapter and the previous one were both part of one big chapter that I decided to put into two because it was way too long. And unfortunately, this is the last chapter of the story, but DON'T WORRY! More is coming. I've already started to watch through Blood and Sand but it'll take some time until I finish it. Loving A Gladiator is the first story I've finished in a LONG time and because I'm super excited about this story, I might write short one shots that take place between Gods of the Arena and Blood and Sand, especially if the next part of the series takes a really long time to write. So if there are anything you want me to write a one shot about, put it in a review! :D