Rome in Flames by Kathy Lee

Author:Kathy Lee
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: SPCK
Published: 2016-05-12T04:00:00+00:00

– chapter xii –

In the arena

In the months since I had seen him last, Conan had grown taller and stronger. He was almost as tall as our father had been, though not as broad-shouldered. He had also become much more skilful with his sword.

‘How did you learn to fight like that?’ I asked him.

‘They make us practise every day. In a few days, I’ll be doing it for real.’ At this thought, the smile left his face. ‘But tell me, Bryn – are you all right? What’s been happening to you?’

I wanted to touch him, to hug him, so that I could feel sure this was reality and not a dream. But he wasn’t allowed to leave the arena. I leaned over the wooden parapet and we had a hurried conversation.

He told me what had happened since the day when we were sold. His first master, a farmer, had been a cruel man.

‘We couldn’t understand his orders at first. It wasn’t our fault – but we got punished every time we made a mistake. Once, Andreas cut a tree down when the master just wanted him to trim it a bit. He got a terrible whipping for that. What’s your master like?’

‘He’s all right. This is his son,’ I said warningly, although of course Manius couldn’t speak our language. ‘I have to look after him.’

Now Conan noticed Manius, who was gazing at him with hero-worship. ‘Looks like real hard work.’

‘Oh, it is. But what happened to you? How did you end up here?’

He said, ‘At Saturnalia, when everyone got drunk, Andreas and I ran away. We made it as far as that big port – you know, where we first landed. We wanted to find a ship sailing for home. But it was wintertime and people looked at us as if we were mad. Very few ships set sail in winter. We never thought of that.’

After several days of living rough, they were captured and sold again, this time to the owner of the gladiator school. He was always on the lookout for new slaves, for obvious reasons.

‘And it’s not such a bad life,’ Conan said. ‘At least they feed us well, and look after us if we get sick.’

‘Yes, and then make you fight to the death,’ I said. I could hardly bear to think about it. I had found Conan, but in a few days I might lose him again – for ever.

He grinned at me. ‘You only get killed if you don’t win the fight. I’ll have to make sure I win, that’s all.’

Manius was tugging at my arm. ‘Talk in Latin, not your foreign language,’ he ordered me. ‘Who is this? Is he from your tribe?’

‘He’s my brother.’

Manius was impressed. ‘I never knew you had a gladiator for a brother.’

‘Neither did I, until just now.’

Before we had time to talk any more, Conan was ordered away by his master. The following day, we went back, but he wasn’t allowed to talk to us. Perhaps his owner thought we were planning to help him escape.

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