Peace, At Last

"You know, I’d thought about it a great deal, but hadn’t come to a decision until a couple of nights ago" He didn’t say anything more.

"Well," Julius pushed him, "what did you decide?"

"What?" Maximum asked, jerked out of his internal reverie.

"Your decision," Julius replied, laughter in his voice.

"Oh, that. Well, before my Father was captured and sold as a Gladiator he owned a small farm outside of Thebes. I think I’ll buy out whomever owns it now and take up farming."

Julius leaned back for a moment, a weird look on his face. "That sounds . . ." he hesitated, trying to choose the right word, "Peaceful. I hope you get it." All of a sudden he sighed, as if the weight of the World had been placed on his shoulders. "No such luck for me. My life will be anything but peaceful. All I ever wanted to do was study, perhaps become a great Scholar. But, alas, it is not to be; I must rule the largest Empire on the Earth." He rolled his eyes. "Oh, joy," he said sarcastically.

Maximum clapped a big hand on his young charge’s still small, but now strong, shoulders. "You’ll make a great ruler. The greatest Caesar of them all." He looked Julius in the eye and spoke seriously. "You have the discipline, the knowledge, and above all, the compassion to rule greatly."

As both their eyes filled with tears, Julius managed to choke out, "Thank you, my friend." and they embraced.

They separated and moved away, Maximum to the Gladiator’s Barracks and Julius to the Palace, for the first time in three years.

As Maximum entered his room in the Barracks, Sarah was sitting at the bottom of his bed.

Sarah was short, voluptuous and very pretty, with red hair, green eyes and a heart-shaped face. They had been lovers for years. She was a hereditary slave, like him. But unlike him, she worked in the Palace as Personal Maid to the Caesar.

She was usually a fun loving girl when she came to him, but at that moment she had a serious expression on her face. "There’s something I need to tell you." She motioned to the space beside her on the bed. "You’d better sit down."

Maximum sat down beside her. "What is it, Sarah?"

"I was at the door to The Caesar’s bedroom, about to open it to clean, when I heard The Caesar talking. He was making arrangements for you to fight someone. I couldn’t quite catch who, I heard somebody coming down the hall." She put her arms around him. "I’m sorry."

Maximum just sat there in shock, not saying anything. Then he whispered, his voice barely audible. "I knew it was too good to be true. Why should The Caesar keep a promise to a nobody like me?" he asked bitterly.

"Oh, baby. I’m so sorry" she whispered.

Maximum threw on his armour listlessly. The survival fire that had sustained him for all these years had finally been doused. He reached over and grabbed his favorite weapon from the weapons rack, an identical pair of dueling daggers.

He pulled on his straps one last time and walked out into the glaringly hot Pit. He looked around and didn’t see anybody. He walked into the middle of the Pit and waited... and waited....and waited. Finally he snapped. He turned to the Pavilion of The Caesar and screamed out loud. "Damm you! First you break your promise to me and then you mock me? What do you want from me?"

Augustus motioned for the oppositions gate to be opened. Out stumbled Julius. Augustus motioned down to Julius. "That is your opponent. If Julius defeats you he shall be interred as Heir, but if you kill him you get your freedom."

Looking at Julius Maximum sighed and drooped down. Suddenly his head snaps up and he charges straight at Julius. As the two fighters clash Maximum pitched his voice just loud enough for Julius to hear. "Kill me. End this mockery. Please."

With tears in his eyes, Julius nodded just once and started a series of moves guaranteed to kill an opponent.

With a soft explosion of breath Maximum sank down into the sand, clutching at the gaping wound in his chest. "Thank you," he gasped out, then falls face down in the sand, dead and at peace, at last.