Guardian of Rome (#2 in Gladiator Series)

Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Every path they had taken now led to this.

Approaching quietly through the undergrowth, Felix knelt behind a thick bush and gazed up the slight incline.

The scouts had found them.

After a month of marching and travelling, Felix had discovered their camp. The gladiator that stood atop the hill, spear in hand as he watched the perimeter, was a marker.

Krista was here but they would not stay in one place for long.

“Remain here,” Felix whispered to the scout as he walked backwards, keeping low.

“Send a message to Commander Aurelius,” Felix spoke when he reached his men, a safe distance from the camp, “Tell him we have found the rebellion.”

After dismissing the foot solider, Felix turned and gazed back towards the direction where Krista and her men remained unaware.

They would bring the force of Rome down onto their heads and they would never see it coming.

This would be the end of their rebellion.

* * *

Grasping the chalice from the table, Gaius through the cup against the side of his tent; dousing the fabric in red wine.

“How long?” Gaius asked through gritted teeth.

He needed to salvage as much of this as possible.

When the man did not respond, Gaius turned and stared him down. “How long!?”

The small man jumped at the rage Gaius’s voice, “They shall reach Rome within the week.”

Gaius’s fingers found the wine vase and the pottery accompanied the chalice into oblivion.

“Leave.” Gaius ordered the man, hearing his feet scuttle away.

Oh, Pompeia, Gaius closed his eyes as he heard the damning news.

The Empress would soon have two of Krista’s generals in her grasp. And all by the hand of a barbaric Gladiator.

Gaius Aurelius, Commander of the Roman Legion, would be humiliated before the senate and the entirety of the Roman Empire.

The Commander who could not defeat an enemy, Gaius felt anger rise in his chest.

The Empress did not trust her own commanders to carry out her tasks. She no longer trusted Gaius Aurelius.

His worst fears were becoming reality; he shall be dispatched as easily as his predecessor if he did not earn a bounty bigger than that of the ‘Champion of Greece’ soon.

The task seemed impossible when a soldier interrupted his thoughts.

Gaius barked at the man for his intrusion, swiping the message out of his fingers for his own eyes to read.

Glancing across the text, Gaius felt his dark mood take flight and an excited anticipation take its place.

“Order the men to move out,” Gaius crumpled the parchment and threw it in the fire, “Tell them to take only their weapons.”

“Where do we march?” The man asked.

Gaius curled his fingers around the hilt of his sword that rested atop the table and unsheathed his blade, bringing the sword to rest vertically in front of his face.