Chapter 16

Artorius spent his few spare minutes looking to the moon and thinking about Krista, knowing that it was the same moon that rose above her head as well.

Krista was always on his mind but tonight was different; he did not know why.

Maybe because he did not know where she was or what was happening to her but he prayed to all the gods that she and their child were safe.

Artorius knew how the chances of Krista ever being safe were minimal, the woman seemed to look for trouble, but he hoped she was safer than normal.

Right before they had parted ways, Artorius got to feel his baby move, kicking against the palm of his hand so fiercely that Artorius could still feel where it had tingled across his skin.

Gazing at the palm of his hand in wonder, it was not long before his name was being called and he was rushed back into the chaos.

If Pompeia had been able to inflict this disease on his people then she could easily win the war but as it was, the disease was born of their own actions.

Overcrowding, poor hygiene . . . Artorius kicked himself for not seeing it earlier but there was nothing he could do about the past.

No matter how hard he tried.

"Here you go," Artorius smiled at a young girl who called for water which he retrieved for her; her body was only small with pale blonde hair that was drenched with sweat and her skin was pale.

As the girl drunk from the cup he held, Artorius lifted his head and gazed around the tent where the people had been placed and suddenly felt overwhelmed by his task.

Coughing fits filled the air until he could hardly hear himself think; the air smelt of sweat and sickness and his skin crawled every time he touched their skin; it warm with sweat but cold at the same time.

Once the girl had slipped back into a restless slumber, Artorius left the tent and began to search for Frieda.

Artorius, Frieda, Leonidas and Cato had so far escaped the sickness; whether it was by their standing that they did not share in all the things of the masses or because they had simply gone through too much to fall to illness.

Either way, Artorius was glad that someone was still standing as they sorted through the hundreds of people and tried to separate the sick from the healthy.

Stood on an incline, Artorius looked around the camp when he spotted it. Rising smoke.

It was hard to see it against the night sky but the clouds of grey smoke were growing until they blew in front of the moon and stood out brilliantly.

Leaving camp immediately, Artorius rushed through the forest as his mind ran with possibilities.

Roman scouting group but he quickly dismissed that idea; even Romans were not stupid enough to locate their position.

Forest fire but soon that idea was thrown away as the smoke seemed to only stay in one place.

As Artorius whipped through the trees, the rising flames assaulting his sight, a final thought came into his mind and the thought made him falter.

Slowing down to walking pace, Artorius walked into a small clearing where Frieda and Leonidas stood, along with Cato, and gazed solemnly at the funeral pyre that had built.

Artorius swallowed in unease as he caught sight of the row of bodies that lay peacefully on the ground behind them.

Their eyes closed and looking to the sky, respectively lying by each other.

He knew it had to be done. Their bodies were diseased but it also allowed the people an honourable death.

They could now rise to the Elysium Fields and meet their family unlike so many gladiators who had not been allowed the proper burial.

No one spoke a word as Artorius took his place next to Frieda and joined them in silent prayer for those who now burned.

* * *

Night had passed with Krista gaining very little sleep as she could now only rest on her side to accommodate the rapidly growing stomach that limited her movement.

But today was the day that Krista found the cure for the others and nothing would deter her.

Not even the words of an archer.

Diomed grumbled all through the breakfast, trying to sway her from her decision but Artorius should have told him before he agreed to this task that such a feat was impossible.

Artorius had tried to sway her from many of her decisions and failed in the process.

So Diomed trudged along behind her reluctantly, unable to leave her alone or else insight Artorius's wrath.

They had made camp a mile from the city walls the night before and left early that morning, leaving the horses to roam whilst they continued on foot.

The City of Aquae Lucus was drawing closer with every step and whilst Krista's pace was confident and determined, the pace of Diomed was very different.

"Krista, I would have words," Diomed rushed to speak as they continued to grow closer to a city that was swamped with roman soldiers.

"I would not," Krista simply told him, keeping her head facing forward as the high walls erupted into view.

"We shall be arrested on sight!" Diomed whipped out his hand and caught her arm, pulling her to a halt.

Krista gazed at Diomed with controlled rage.

"Krista, I implore you to stop. We can find another way in," Diomed urged, "Those soldiers have orders to kill you on sight,"

Krista arched an eyebrow, "Many have tried and many have failed."

Diomed sighed at her inability to grasp the situation.

"Do not fear, Diomed," Krista slipped her arm from his grasp, "No one shall recognise us,"

Diomed felt his shoulders slump as Krista carried on walking, leaving Diomed with a sick feeling in his stomach.

Artorius had told Diomed to trust Krista, that she had gotten all of them this far.

But the further Krista headed straight for a city of Romans, unfazed by the task ahead, Diomed was sure that she had gained those achievements through sheer luck rather than strategic planning.

Because this 'plan' wasn't fit for the word.

"Krista!" Diomed hissed quietly, afraid the guards would hear, as the gates to the city loomed in the distance.

Krista was growing irritated with Diomed's voice as he screeched in her ear. It showed he only trusted her so far but Krista understood his concern.

He had not known her for long and she did seem to be walking into the lion's lair but she had not survived the arena and Rome's soldiers without some tricks.

"Here," Krista growled in annoyance as he called her name once again, "Wear this," Krista pulled the satchel off her shoulder and removed one of the two floor length hooded cloaks.

Diomed caught the bundle in his hand and gazed at the fabric with mild surprise.

"When did you acquire these?" Diomed seemed baffled by the sudden appearance, confident that he had not packed them.

"You were sleeping," Krista rolled her eyes as she removed hers; the fabric was thick and the colour of moss.

Wrapping it around her shoulders, Krista hid her sword beneath the fabric and pulled the cord tight around her neck.

The hood was slightly too large for her head but it aided in hiding her face until the only thing that protruded from the cloak was her swollen stomach.

Krista hoped her 'condition' would gain them an advantage because the soldiers were on a look out for a Gladiatrix, not a pregnant woman.

At least, Krista prayed they were and that the news of her pregnancy had not yet reached Rome's ears.

But she had learned not to rely on hope entirely.

Diomed glanced at Krista with embarrassment but Krista shrugged it off; she would have been equally concerned if it was Artorius in her position.

Although, she may not have screamed his name in such a high pitch tone.

"Come," Krista started to walk again, her boots crunching against the dusty road, "Let's find this medicine and return to the others."

* * *

Pompeia looked worse than normal, Rheia observed as she waited in her room.

Her hair was curled and tied perfectly, her dress was impeccable and jewels lined her bosom. To anyone looking from a distance, the Empress appeared beautiful with no worries to trouble her mind.

But Rheia could see the frantic, mad-lost look in her eye and the way her fingers wrestled with the fabric of her shawl in earnest.

"Is there any news from that idiot girl?" Pompeia paced the length of her room, her eyes darting to the door.

Rheia could only imagine that she heard something but her gaze soon looked back to Rheia, expecting an answer.

"Which girl, my empress?" Rheia required some clarification.

"That simple niece of mine! My brother's bastard daughter," Pompeia shouted, "That girl! Have we received any word from her?"

Rheia mentally hit herself for forgetting the young Dianna; Rheia had glimpsed her briefly as she exited the city on her search for Krista.

She had appeared a doe-like creature with her father's looks and the arms of a seamstress. She did not strike Rheia as the killing kind but then neither had herself and looked where she had ended up.

"None, your highness," Rheia swallowed, "The last any one saw of the girl was at Marcus Threasius's villa over a month ago when Krista attacked,"

"Then we must assume that she has been killed," Pompeia sighed reluctantly as a plan she had initiated failed.

Pompeia had been certain that Krista would not have expected an attack from inside her camp.

Yet it seemed that the Gladiatrix was not as willing to die as Pompeia was to have her dead.

"Has Argus finished his training of the guard?" Pompeia poured herself a cup of wine and drunk it gladly.

"Yes, your highness," Rheia could bear testament to that by her aching joints and the bruises across her back.

"Excellent," Pompeia paced back across the room and stood on the balcony, gazing out at the city of Rome and beyond, "Tell him to prepare to leave. Immediately."

* * *

"Are you nearly finished?" Diomed called from the door for the tenth time.

Krista let out an annoyed breath as she looked at him from the corner of her eye, "Just keep watch,"

The guards had barely blinked an eyelid as they passed through the gates, on a look out for a marauding army of slaves rather than a pregnant lady.

Krista found herself thanking the child that was currently contorting her body to it limits.

The apothecary was larger than any Krista had seen; almost the size of a moderate stable with tables lining the room, filled with a range of extravagant spices and herbs.

There was even a half-decapitated pig resting on the table; Krista could only imagine what the fate of that poor creature was.

The apothecary himself had been very kind to see to her unborn her child, bidding them entry into his humble abode without a moment's hesitation; only confirming her suspicions that nobody was scared of pregnant women.

But the moment he laid a hand on her stomach, Krista quickly delivered a non-fatal blow to the side of his head that saw him being knocked unconscious.

And that's the way he remained; snoozing quietly in his armchair as she rummaged through his many bottles and jars.

Krista did not have the money to pay for the medicine and nor did she have the time to explain everything to a dithering old man who would ask her to repeat everything a dozen times.

And they would be long gone before the old man woke up and alerted the guards.

Krista had leant across the table for another jar when the door to the apothecary burst open and she reached for her sword.

"Diomed!" Krista hissed in anger when she saw him slip in through the gap and shut the door behind him, releasing her sword, "What are you-"

"Guards are coming," Diomed whispered pointing to the door where, on the other side, a patrol of Roman guards were heading their way.

"Have you found it yet?" Diomed whispered, trying to peer through the gaps in the planks of wood that had been nailed together to make a door.

"No," Krista snapped as she hurried around the apothecary, growing angry as he rushed her. It had to be here somewhere!

Rows upon rows jumped out at her as she scanned the contents; some had not been touched in so long that a layer of dust covered the glass whilst others had the tops removed from them, releasing a sickly sweet scent into the air.

Krista tried to remain calm but she could feel her pulse rising as she rushed to find the cure; this city was their last hope.

If the city of Aquae Lucus did not store the medicine then nowhere else would.

Krista turned her gaze to the next table when she spotted it; it was a jar no bigger than her hand with a wooden stopper as its lid.

The contents looked like thick black herbs that a farmer would pull from his fields.

Swiping the jar off the table and into her satchel, Krista rushed to Diomed's side when he looked at her, finger raised to his lips as he told her to be quiet.

Krista frowned, unsure of what he meant when, with the same finger, he pointed at the door.

"They're stood right behind it," Diomed whispered, swallowing around a lump in his throat.

Catching her lower lip in her teeth, Krista leaned forward carefully and peered through the gaps in the wood.

The sun blinded her momentarily as her eyes adjusted to focus on the crimson robes that billowed out behind the pair of soldiers that now stood between them and their way out of the city.

Krista could not see their faces but she spotted the swords at their hips and the helmets upon their heads.

She was fairly certain that they could jump these guards before anybody knew what was happening but if they failed then they would be trapped in the city.

Pompeia had increased the number of soldiers in all the major towns and cities.

Krista and Diomed shared an anxious look as they both knew what they had to do; they had to wait it out and pray the guards left before the apothecary rose from his slumber.

Krista was itching to leave the room and get back to camp when snippets of the soldier's conversation filtered in through the door and hit her ears.

". . . Commander Gaius Aurelius ordered the attack . . . a hundred slaves . . . killed out on the road towards Calabria as they marched to join the rebellion . . ."

Krista and Diomed looked at each other as the news fell on their ears.

A hundred slaves had been killed for trying to join the revolt.

They were no longer attacking her soldiers but rather playing vicious games, attacking innocent people who had not done them any harm.

Krista thought it was time she dealt with Commander Gaius Aurelius.