Gladiators of Rome:Short Stories

VI

VI 

"Frieda . . ." Diomed drew her name out cautiously as he watched her strip the uniform from the dead Roman's body that lay at his feet, their actions lit only by the moonlight filtering in through the open tree branches above them, "Frieda, I'm not sure about this." 

"Why?" She asked, not pausing as she hoisted the tunic over the man's head and let his lifeless body slump to the ground afterwards. "Oh, there's blood on this," she muttered to herself concerned, not listening as she tapped her chin and pondered for a moment before she just shrugged and said, "Just tell them that it's mine if they see it."

Diomed decided not to tell her that she wasn't bleeding so the blood could not be hers but he was fairly certain that she would just cut herself to make it more convincing and he did not want that. "Frieda, will you listen to me, this is not going to work."

Frieda looked at him with her blue eyes, captivatingly glinting in the moon light, "Why do you say that? I think this could be our best plan yet."

"For starters, there is just two of us!" Diomed exclaimed, praying she would see sense, "And there must be at least a hundred soldiers in that garrison if not more camping nearby for this upcoming war with Calgacus." 

"Well, ninety-nine now," Frieda joked, pointing to the dead centurion at her feet, which just earned her a very unamused glare from Diomed. "Look, there was not that many of us when we fought Pompeia and-"

"-and we lost," Diomed reminded her, "Krista had to be captured and nearly killed to defeat Pompeia. I do not wish for history to repeat itself here." 

"Do not fret, it will not," Frieda sighed, ignoring the way her stomach flipped a little when she heard his concern for her but she dismissed it, "There is just the two of us. With you disguised as a guard and me your prisoner we will easily be able to slip inside and find Alena. We can get in and out without anyone even noticing us."

"And how do we get out?" He asked to which Frieda paused, she had not thought of that, "It is the middle of the night yet I doubt they will take kindly to two "slaves" just being marched out the door without orders." 

"We will make up a story like we have before or I shall just have kill more guards, it does not matter to me. One more dead Roman does not matter to me." As the words left her lips she realised who she was speaking to and apologetically looked across at Diomed, "You know what I mean," She muttered defensively. Diomed just looked away, trying to not show how her comment cut at his insides. Did she think that about all Romans, including him? But then he remembered that Krista was Roman and Frieda would die for her. But Krista had been a slave, not a soldier like he was.

"Diomed, I cannot leave Alena in there and I need to do something before Eoghan screws it all up," Frieda hurried on. 

"We do not even know if Alena is in there, Eoghan has not seen her in an age," Diomed emphasised as he stepped over the dead body at his feet and stood in front of Frieda, their chests less than an inch apart. Diomed swallowed around a lump in his throat as he smelt her hair whilst Frieda just stared at his chest, "Are you going to risk everything in an unplanned mission to possibly find out your wrong? You- we could be killed in there, Frieda." 

"I need to know," Frieda looked up at him in that moment Diomed felt like he had been punched in the ribs. Her eyes were larger than he had ever seen them and a thin layer of tears covered those wide orbs as she let her guard down for a few brief seconds. It had the desired effect and Diomed conceded defeat. He could not deny her anything, even their possible death.

"Okay," Diomed nodded but to his surprise they just stood there, looking into each others eyes beneath the moonlight, their warm bodies drawing closer together as the cold air caressed their skin. He looked from her cerulean blue eyes, dark in the shadows, and down to her plump lips. How he wished to press his own against them and to feel Frieda return the gesture, but the moment was broken as Frieda turned away. Diomed saw the proverbial fences come back up around her exterior as she picked up the Roman's uniform and thrust them into his arms.