Arena by Simon Scarrow

Author:Simon Scarrow [Scarrow, Simon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Historical
ISBN: 075539822X
Google: eJk0AgAAQBAJ
Amazon: B00GU2RW9O
Publisher: Headline
Published: 2013-08-15T07:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Macro raced down a wide corridor alongside Bassus, away from the ludus training ground. At the end of the corridor the two men scrambled up a set of marble steps and stopped in front of a solid double wooden door fitted with ornate bronze doorknobs. Macro clasped the knocker, a bronze ring running through the mouth of a wolf’s head, and rapped three times on the door.

‘Who’s there?’ a muffled voice asked from the other side.

‘It’s Macro! For fuck’s sake, open up!’

There was a brief pause, followed by a series of metallic clanks and groans as someone fiddled with the heavy lock. Then the door creaked open to reveal Glabrio, breathing a sigh of immense relief.

‘Thank Fortuna!’ He smiled uncertainly. ‘Thought you might have been done for, sir.’

Macro brushed past the young soldier. ‘It’ll take more than a few barbarians to cut me down, lad. I’ve been sending men like Bato over to the afterlife for thirteen years.’

‘I’ve never seen anything like it.’ Glabrio shivered as he slammed the door shut and secured the lock. ‘I used to be with the urban watch here in Capua, sir. Putting out fires and breaking up fights outside the taverns, that sort of thing. Never thought I’d be fighting for my life against a mob of fanatical gladiators.’

A depressing sight greeted the optio in the lanista’s quarters. The few surviving guards from the skirmish huddled in a group in the middle of the room. Among them was Macer. They were in a state of shock, drenched with sweat and blood. The orderlies and household slaves stood further back, their wretched faces stitched with anxiety at the sudden outbreak of violence, their eyes collectively focused on Macro for reassurance that their miserable lives were not in immediate danger.

Macro noticed a dishevelled figure pinned down under a guard, who pressed down on the man’s back with his knees. The figure rocked his shoulders, trying to shake the guard off. His legs and arms were purpled with bruises and his curly hair was matted with blood.

‘Got one of the bastards, sir!’ the guard declared proudly. ‘The slaves found him hiding in one of the side rooms and alerted us when we got here. He was clearly intending to ambush us, sir.’

‘Urghhh,’ the figure croaked.

Macro thought he recognised the groan. He approached the man, wrinkling his nose at the putrid smell coming off his filthy skin and hair. At the optio’s instruction, the guard reluctantly slid off the man’s back and Macro lifted the figure by his chin to get a better look at him.

‘Pavo!’ he exclaimed. ‘What in Hades happened to you?’

‘Sir …’

Macro ordered one of the household slaves to fetch a cup of wine. A few moments later the slave returned and passed the cup to the young gladiator. Pavo downed the wine in one gulp while an orderly who had experience of working in the infirmary examined his injuries. The sutured wound on Pavo’s shoulder had been ripped open and resembled a pair of puckered lips.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.