Prologue

70AD

"You have been practising, little one," Lazarus chuckled as Krista blocked his attack, her counter-response hitting her teacher against the side of his thigh. 

"I am not little anymore," Krista complained as their fighting session grew to a halt, "I'm taller than my brother now." She stated with an air of pride. 

Lazarus bowed his head in mockery at her achievement, "You are still little to me," He chuckled, his voice as sweet as honey, as he reached down and ruffled her hair.

His beautiful dark skin shone in the candlelight as she ducked away from his patronising hand and jabbed her wooden sword playfully into his side, "Dead!" Krista laughed as she got in a kill shot.

Lazarus reached down and scooped her up with one arm, holding her against his side, as if she weighed nothing more than a feather, "Time for you to go home."

Krista crossed her arms over her chest, still hooked under his arm, as Lazarus stepped out of his small hut and began the short journey back to her home. Lazarus and her father were close friends. Almost everyone who lived near them were friends. After all, slaves had to stick together, that was what her father told her.

"Can we practice again tomorrow?" Krista asked as she wriggled in his grip and he placed her gently back on the ground. She didn't need carrying like a baby.

"Of course," Lazarus chuckled as they strode side by side down the cobbled street, "You are my best student."

"I am your only student," Krista told him when she turned to ask him something and saw that Lazarus was no longer walking beside her. "Lazarus?" Krista frowned as she looked over her shoulder and saw him stood a few steps back from her. Turning around, Krista gazed up at her tutor in confusion. Stood rooted to the spot, Lazarus's gaze was fixated on something further up the road and there was an expression on his face that she had never seen before. It worried her a little. "Lazarus?" She called quietly, not sure what to do. 

"Krista," Lazarus gasped as if he had only just remembered that she was there, "You need to go home. Now."  

"But Lazarus . . ." Krista moaned. 

"Now, Krista!" Lazarus shouted at her causing Krista to flinch away in fear. Lazarus had never raised his voice at her but when she looked up she saw once again that his attention was on something else further up the road. 

Curious to see what had Lazarus acting so strangely, Krista followed his gaze and gasped. At the end of the road a company of horses had just turned onto their street with the city guard upon their backs. Krista had seen them before at midday in the centre of town but as they lingered at the end of the road, the evening darkness settling over them, their presence felt much more menacing. 

"Lazarus?" Krista whispered, "What do they want?" 

Lazarus's hand went to her shoulder and gaze it a small, comforting squeeze, whilst his eyes never left the men on horseback, "I do not know." 

Krista did not know how long they remained like that for. It could have been a minute or several but the air around them grew colder and Krista could feel herself beginning to shiver when one of the men kicked his horse forwards, his hooves clattering against the cobbles. Lazarus's hand tightened on her shoulder as the other horses approached, the sound of their hooves now a thundering beat in her ears. 

She was certain that they would stop. Why would they want to run them down? Surely, they had seen them? But as the horses grew closer their speed increased and she realised that the men were not going to stop. 

Krista called out Lazarus's name before an arm wrapped around her waist and she felt her feet come away from the ground. Gasping, Krista looked up to see Lazarus carrying her as he ran down the street, away from the horses. Ducking into a hidden side street, Lazarus placed her back on the ground. He was panting heavily as he looked down the road, hoping that the men would just continue on but as he watched he saw that he did not have much luck as the horses slowed and turned around. 

"Krista, you have to get home," Lazarus turned around, holding her shoulders. 

"What is happening?" Krista cried, her large eyes looking up at him in fear, "Why were those men chasing us?" 

Kneeling in front of her Lazarus gripped her shoulders and tried not to think that this could be the last time they would see each other. He had to give her time to escape, "I do not know. And there are probably more of them out there so do not trust anyone. Just get yourself home. Your father will know what to do." 

"But what about you?" Krista asked.

Before Lazarus could reply he heard the cantering sound of hooves and knew that they had run out of time, "Go, Krista. Run." Lazarus turned her around and pushed her up the narrow side street. He watched her for as long as he could, "Run, Krista!"

Glancing over her shoulder, Krista saw the entrance to the street become obscured by men on horseback. She wanted to turn around and run back but she heard Lazarus's voice in her head so she ran. Crying as she went, Krista ran all the way home, weaving her way through the immense crowds that now jostled in the streets. She had never seen so many people before. 

Recognising her street, Krista felt a surge of energy course through her body. Pushing her legs on a little bit further, Krista spotted the shortcut she used when she was in a hurry. Choosing to use it now, Krista cut through the space between two huts, ducked underneath the arm of a man who was using the hut to hold himself up, and emerged halfway up her street. 

Stumbling into the middle of the road, panting, Krista paused for a moment to gain her breath back. As she did so the wind in her ears receded and she began to hear screams filled with pain and anguish. Glancing through the gaps of the people that rushed past her, she began to see bodies lying on the side of the road. Gasping, she looked back at the two huts at the man she had ducked underneath of and saw that half of his face was obscured by blood. As she watched, his arm dropped from the hut he was using to hold himself up and he crumpled to the floor. 

Letting out a small yelp in panic, Krista took off running up the street. Her home was not far away and as she pushed through a thick group of people huddled together she came skidding to a halt when she saw that her hut was engulfed in flame, smoke billowing into the night sky. She stood and watched it for a moment, confused as to if this was truly happening. 

Focused on the fire it was not until a few moments later when her vision cleared and widened that she spotted her family sprawled on the floor in front of their burning home. 

"Father! Mother!" Krista cried out, her voice swallowed up by the surrounding screams, as she took a step forward and saw that her parent's faces were being pushed into the muddy earth by a boot upon the back of their heads. As she looked up from the boots resting on her family's heads and towards the guards they belonged to Krista felt, for the first time, true anger burn through her body. 

As her hands fisted by her sides Krista felt something in her right hand and looked down to see that she was still carrying the wooden sword Lazarus had given her to train with. But as she gripped it tightly now she knew that it was useless against the steel blades of soldiers and yet she could not just stand idly by. She had been training with Lazarus, she knew how to handle a sword- she had to at least try. 

Looking around her, Krista spotted a pair of horses left unattended by the side of the road. She assumed that they belonged to the men who were currently using her parents as footrests. As she looked closer she spotted the handle of a sword sticking out of a bag by the horses saddle. Deciding in the split second what she was about to do, Krista dropped her wooden and hurried across the short distance towards the horses. 

Keeping close to the huts, Krista kept herself hidden amongst the shadows and, with the guards attentions diverted, she managed to sneak right up next to the horse. Calming the horse quietly, Krista stepped up by its side and saw that the leather bag was thankfully hanging low on the horse's side allowing Krista to reach out and wrap her fingers around the cold hilt of the sword with ease. As she began to pull the sword straight out of the bag Krista had to reach up onto her tip toes so that she was tall enough to clear the bag without alerting the guards to her presence. Unable to see where the guards were Krista relied on her hearing and as she did so she head the whimpering of her brother and the pleadings of her parents which only enraged her further. 

Finally the sword cleared the bag and Krista held it in the air for a second before the weight of it pushed her arm back down to the ground. Holding the hilt with both hands, Krista tested lifting the blade back up and found that, although it strained her arms, she could hold it enough for what she needed to do. 

"Krista, no!" her father shouted but it was too late, Krista had plunged the sword up into the guard's back, the tip of the blade protruding out the front of the man's chest.

Krista's arms began to ache with holding the sword and her breath was coming in gasps from the exertion of pushing steel through armour.

"Krista!" Her father screamed as he jumped to his feet, throwing the dead guard off his back and throwing her out of the way as a pair of horses galloped towards her.

Krista stumbled over her feet, crashing down beside her mother and brother as sand flew up into her eyes.

When she finally looked up she saw her father was now stood over the dead guard's body.

The sword Krista had used was now in his innocent hands as the horses circled around him, blocking his escape.

"Your name!" A man that reeked of authority and importance, with silver armour and a red-feathered helmet, eyed her father curiously.

"Ibicus," Her father swallowed around the lump in his throat as the horses continued to surround him.

"Anybody that can kill one of my guards must be a talented fighter, Ibicus." The important man slipped down from his horse, his guards following, as he stared her father in the face, "We need good men for the arena."

Krista had heard of the arena; she had always wanted to go but her father forbade her.

"No," Her father reacted too quickly, fear leaking into his strong voice.

"No?" the captain sneered, "Too cowardly?" He turned and unsheathed his sword, pressing the tip of his blade against her brother's neck, "Maybe we could persuade you."

"No, please!" Ibicus screamed, taking a step forward and it seemed the man had listened because he released her brother and turned back to his horse.

But just as Krista thought they were going to leave them alone, the captain suddenly turned back around and jammed his sword down through the back of her brother's skull and into the sand beneath.

Her mother let out a heart-wrenching scream as her entire body shook; her hands covering her mouth in pain whilst Krista just stared at her brother. She could see the sword protruding from his cheek, blood oozing down the blade before pooling in the sand.

"Argh!" Her father screamed, raising the sword in his hand as he aimed for the captain's back but he was too slow.

Just as the sword had started its descent down, the captain removed the sword from her brother's head and sunk it into her father's neck, blood spurting out onto the man's face.

Krista's world was collapsing around her so fast she couldn't breathe.

She was hyperventilating as silent tears fell from her eyes and she could do nothing but watch her father bleed to death.

"Bring the woman and the child," The captain removed his sword from her father's flesh and wiped the blood from his blade, "We could always use more whores."

Krista glanced at the sword still resting in her father's dead palm, as his lifeless eyes watched Krista, wracking her body with guilt.

Spotting her chance as the guards turned their backs, Krista got to her feet, leapt over the dead guard's body and swiped the sword from her father's palm.

It was heavier than her wooden one and made her arms ache as she gripped it with both hands.

Slashing the blade across the guard's back, Krista forced him to turn and raise his sword to block her attack.

But Krista was small. And with a quick roll to her left she was able to avoid a blow to her head and drive her own sword up into the man's stomach.

The blood poured down onto her hand, warming her cold skin, when she heard her mother scream her name and Krista looked up to see a sword descending down upon her head.

Krista's eyes were wide with fear as she saw the blade advance steadily before it halted barely a hair's width from her scalp.

"Wait!" The captain smirked as he held the sword away from her head, "There is fight in this little girl."

Krista didn't like the way he was looking at her with those moss green eyes which sat strangely in his head below his black hair.

"Take her to the others," The captain smirked, "She will make a fine addition to the arena."

"NO!" Her mother cried as Krista was picked up off the ground, her sword falling from her fingers, and strapped to the captain's horse.

"Mother!?" Krista screamed as she sensed she was being taken away.

"Mother?" Krista's voice crumbled as the horse was kicked and she was carried away from her family.

"Mother!" Krista craned her neck around the captain's thick body and saw the glint of a sword in the moonlight as it descended into her mother's long and slender neck.

The blood was hard to see in the darkness but Krista felt her reality being torn in two; she couldn't believe what had just transpired within a few short moments.

This was the last time Krista would see her family and it was her fault.

Her family had died because she had picked up a sword.