Erwin was applauding with the rest of audience.

He decided whom Levi would fight. Erwin had to choose somebody who would be strong enough, but not too strong. Levi was, after all, new gladiator and although he was very good, Erwin didn't want to risk.

He decided to match Levi against three weaker Titans. They were well known as tall, giant men with inhuman strength. Erwin even heard the best of them were capable to crush a man's skull in one hand.

And although Levi's opponents were weaker than other of their kind, they were still titans.

And Levi literally destroyed them. They didn't even scratch him. Erwin was really proud and for the first time he actually enjoyed the games.

And the crowd was like crazy. Shouting Levi's name so loud, Erwin almost had to cover his ears.

„It looks like Levi was a good investment after all." Nile's voice was not for once with any negative emotion and only a bit of admiration could be heard in his voice. Erwin found it somehow nostalgic.

Erwin smiled at him. „It does, doesn't it?"

After that Erwin, as the owner of the winner, had a short speech to people. He promised them that they surely would see Levi again and that they would see even better show. They shouted his name together with Levi's. It was a very pleasant feeling.

Then that he shortly said goodbye to others and headed home. Levi didn't travel with Erwin – it wasn't proper for a slave to be in a carriage with his master.

They didn't meet that day again because Levi wanted to be alone with his three friends and was too tired to speak with Erwin after that.

The blond sat in his living room, reading in his chair.

After few minutes, he noticed one of Levi's puppies – Armin was his name if Erwin remembered correctly – was watching him from the door. When Erwin looked at the boy, he tried to quickly leave but Erwin called after him: „Kid?" Armin came back, holding a bowl of fruits, probably sent for it by Petra, who was preparing Erwin's dinner.

„Yes, master?" Armin seemed to be a little shy.

Erwin smiled and pointed to the seat opposite him. It was a bit like déjà vu since between them was the same chessboard on which Erwin taught Levi how to play.

„How do you like it here, Armin?" Erwin asked.

The younger blond gulped, clearly thinking what answer is right.

Erwin spared him of it and said: „You are missing your homeland, aren't you?"

Armin bit his lower lip, before he said: „Not really, master."

Interesting. „How come?"

Armin hesitated, didn't want to answer. „We... Um... Before we were captured, we were just... um... We travelled from a village to a village and people hired us, usually to help on a farm but sometime we helped protect them from riders. But we didn't actually had home."

„I see." Erwin nodded. „How long have you been with Levi?"

„I know him since I was four years. My parents were exemplary executed and there was a woman in village that voluntary took care of few orphaned children. She raised Levi and he was helping her to take care of us. When she died, Levi thought here was no reason to stay in the village and we left."

„So, you all were orphans?" Erwin made sure.

„Yes, master." the boy nodded.

The older blond thought few seconds about it. Erwin was so fascinated by Levi and he wanted to know more and more about him. It was like a drug – the more he knew about Levi, the more he wanted to know.

„Um, master?" Erwin realized that Armin was looking into his eyes. „May I ask what you are planning to do with us?"

Erwin smiled: „Levi's going to fight for me for few years and you will work in my house. If everything will go as planned, I'll give you freedom."

The second day, Erwin had to visit a town because of his work as a consul. When he got back, he was hungry and not in a mood. He and Nile Dawk disagreed once again. He also spoke with the author of the latter which was asked for military support in. Author explained Erwin why was suddenly need to have more military force in the Gallia and Erwin eventually decided to lend him some of his units.

When Petra gave the blond the dinner, he felt a bit better but not much. He needed a distraction. So he told Erd to get Levi and went to the living room.

When Levi arrived in the door, Erwin pointed to the chess. „I thought we could play one game or two."

Levi was covered in sweat again. Both of them knew he had to train a lot if he wanted to survive in the brutal games and thus Levi didn't spend a day without training.

Levi grunted: „I thought maybe you would let me use your bath and not that filthy thing you call water which I must wash in every day."

Erwin raised his eyebrows.

The barbarian and him looked into each other eyes for few minutes. Both of them knew what Erwin wanted from Levi, but the smaller male was too proud to give it to him right away. Then Levi gave up and closed his eyes, saying: „Please."

Erwin tried not to smile: „Of course you can, Hannes will take you there."

Levi left without saying thanks and Erwin waited for him. He planned to have a relaxed day tomorrow so he didn't mind staying up late tonight.

The barbarian came back after half of hour. His raven's hair was wet and his pale skin was almost shinning in the lights of candles and torches. It looked almost like a moon. He looked more attractive than Erwin ever remembered.

„I spoke with Armin." he said calmly. „He told me that you had taken care of them. That was very generous of you."

Levi didn't bother to answer. Instead he slowly walked to the desk and sat opposite Erwin, moving with his white pawn.

They played in silence for few minutes. Erwin calmed his mind and was in so good mood, he even considered letting Levi win.

"I was wondering." Levi didn't look up from the chessboard. "What means this painting everywhere?"

The blond looked at the wall. There was the greatest painting in the house. It was drawn from the perspective of a great white wolf. The wolf was looking at a city at night.

"This one has roots in Roman culture. It's connected to how Rome was founded, according to legend." Erwin looked back at Levi. Silver eyes stared at the painting now.

"And how was Rome founded?" Levi asked, moving with his knight and taking Erwin's pawn. He was getting better and better in the game. It happened once or twice that Erwin had to actually come up with a different strategy.

Erwin straightened up in his chair. "Well, I don't like the story and I'm sure you'll dislike it as well but if you want to hear it…" Levi said nothing and so the blond continued: "It's about two brothers. Romulus and Remus were their names. Their mother was Rhea, daughter of king. Her uncle seized power and so killed all her brothers and male heirs and when she gave the birth to the twins, Amulius abandoned them to die in a river. But they didn't die there. A female wolf found them ashore and she suckled them, fed them. Later they were found by a shepherd and his wife. They raised them. Later they had become popular and were natural leaders, each one of them had a lot of followers.

After they discovered the truth of their birth, they slayed Amulius and restore the kingodom and put their grandfather back at throne.

Romulus and Remus didn't want to wait to inherit the kingdom and chose to found a new city. Unfortunately, they disagree at the place where the new city should be and because none of them wanted to climb down, there was a fight during which Remus was killed.

Then Romulus founded the new city a named it after himself, Rome."

Levi looked into Erwin eyes. The silver was piercing into him. It made Erwin feel like Levi could see his soul. It made him uncomfortable, so he lowered his blue eyes and moved with his rook, capturing Levi's knight.

"Is every Roman story about brothers killing each other?" the smaller male raised eyebrow.

A chuckle escaped through Erwin's lips. "Not all of them but the most I'm afraid although there are few good stories too."

"Any examples?"

Erwin smiled softly. "Have you ever heard about Icarus?"

The following day, Erwin got up really lately. After he and Levi finished playing they actually had a nice talk. Well, 'talk'… Erwin was talking most of time, Levi was listening. The blond told him a lot of stories about his gods. About Jupiter, who (how Levi brightly pointed out) could not keep his cock in his pants most of time and the rest of the gods had to deal with consequences, about Minerva who was Erwin's favorite, about Mars and about a lots other gods. Levi seemed to be enjoying it and Erwin did as well.

After he had breakfast in the morning, he headed with his guards to the city. He had some work there and then there were games. The blond didn't sign up Levi for them because fighting two days in a row wasn't healthy. True, Erwin had experienced it more than once but that was on a battlefield. And battlefield was not an arena after all. On battlefield, Erwin had his legionnaires whose task was protecting their commander. Levi fought on his own, with no one by his side. Erwin had the feeling that the barbarian would not want anyone on his side anyway.

In addition this game had a different program. And despite Levi was himself a wild animal, Erwin highly doubted that he wanted to fight tigers and lions.

Games with a man fighting an animal were pretty popular too, but usually the first fight of a gladiator ended with him as the dead one. Erwin had the theory that the longer these gladiators were alive; the grater was their chance to survive another fight against the wild beast.

Hanji wasn't at the games because she left the town heading to Pompeii with the emperor and Mike had been terribly busy lately. There'd been some trouble in Macedonia and he had to solve them. It looked like Mike wasn't going back anytime soon.

And due to their absence, Erwin felt very, very uncomfortable. They were the only two people he fully trusted and could share anything with. To be without them felt like being without his hands.

After the games – during which survived only one gladiator – Erwin intended to go home but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. The blond tensed up and quickly turned around. He instinctively expected an attacker but it was only Nile Dawk, frowned as always.

Erwin relaxed but only a little. "Anything you need, Nile?"

"Do you have time for a bath?" Nile said.

The blond raised his eyebrows. "Are you trying to seduce me? If so, it's not exactly working and I'm not interested."

"I'm not trying to seduce you, you fool!" Oh, Erwin almost forgot how easy it is to get Nile feeling awkward. The best part on it was his blushing face. "I'm just saying that we should go to the baths and discus something important."

This time Erwin frowned. "…In the baths."

"Yes." Nile nodded.

"You want to discuss something important… in the baths?"

"How many times do I have to say yes before your brain understands it?!" Nile huffed annoyingly.

"Alright, alright." Erwin's lips curved a little. If this sentence was said by someone else, he would be truly insulted and made sure that he had his revenge but from Nile's lips… it was somehow just how the things were.

After all, they used to be very good friends back when they were in legion. The two of them and Mike were in the same century, even in the same squad. That was of course before they had higher ranks.

"So, I'll meet you there tomorrow about-"

"Not tomorrow." Nile shook his head. "We must go there now."

Erwin frowned again. There was silence between them for few seconds. Both of them moved out of the way so other people who were leaving the loge could pass by them. "If you really insist, we can go there now."

The other man nodded and both of them headed outside the arena, into their carriages. As if there was an unspoken agreement that they would went there on their own.

When they arrived at the bath house, they ordered their guards to wait and went inside the building.

This bathhouse was one of the most luxurious in the whole Rome and the price per person was appropriate with this fact.

Erwin took off his cloths in the changing room and followed. They didn't speak right away. First they enjoyed the baths and after about half an hour they sat down in the sauna.

The hot steam was pleasant for both of them.

Nobody said anything for few minutes. Then, Nile said: "Emperor is coming back from Pompeii."

This surprised Erwin although he already knew that Nile wanted to speak with him about something important. "Already?" he asked.

Nile nodded. "It seems like a large sum of tax money just… disappeared."

Erwin frowned. He had the urge to ask if Nile was sure it wasn't his men who stole it but he did not do it. Firstly, he didn't want to be bitchy and secondly it looked like a serious problem. Moreover, when the emperor found out about the corruption between Nile and his men last year, he had been furious and since then, he had Nile very carefully observed their activity. And Nile actually tried to get rid of that corruption.

"Well, there are not many men with the access to the taxes." Erwin licked his lips as he was thinking about the situation. "Only few, not even ten."

"And do you know what is strange?" Nile asked. "That two of these men are dead. Suicides."

Erwin suddenly remembered the deaths of them. One happened three and the second one month ago. He heard the gossips. "That's bad."

"Very bad." Nile agreed. "I managed to follow the leads to these two men but the money…" Nile didn't finish the sentence. "I can't find anything."

"How much money?" Erwin asked.

"Enough to hire a small army." Nile answered. "And maybe this isn't the first year this happened. So if whoever stole it has the money from previous years too, the army wouldn't be so small."

"Shit." Erwin usually didn't swear, only in the company of certain people. And someone with who he had been in the battlefield was definitely someone he also could swear in front of.

The other man chuckled, but it sounded nervously. "Shit, indeed."

They both sighed and were quiet for another few minutes. Nile was the one who broke it. "What about that barbarian? Any troubles?"

The blond smiled a bit. "If only you could imagine."

It wasn't like Erwin and Nile hated each other which was popular opinion among people. Actually in their legionary days they were very close, but after their first return to the heart of Empire, they chose to go different ways.

It was like Erwin was the hound of the empire, often out of the Rome in the 'wild' countries and Nile was the watchdog, looking after the city and the safety of the emperor… well… most of time. Not when the emperor wanted to be with Hanji alone.

"Are you feeling it?"

The blond didn't have to even ask to know what Nile was talking about. "Yes." he murmured.

Something was definitely going on in the Empire and both of them were nervous because none of them knew what exactly it was.

AN: I planned this chapter to be out much sooner. Thanks you for reviews again, you are amazing guys :) Hope you enjoyed it. Also, I know that Icarus is originally from Greek mythology but I hope you'll overlook it… And about Nile… well… I think he is my favorite loser :)