Season of the Gladiatrix

by David Adkins

  “Who will kill Gracchus?” I asked Solanus and Fruji.

  “The three of us together,” Solanus replied. “Now let us ride for Surrentum.”

  *

  It was late afternoon and we could see the villa of Marcus Gracchus perched high on a hill overlooking the spectacular coastline, though it was partly hidden by a forest of pine trees. We paused to make final plans and for Solanus to address the men. “We will leave our horses here and make our way cautiously towards the villa,” suggested Solanus. “If we have the element of surprise on our side we will have a huge advantage. We will assess the situation when we are close to the villa.”

  The horses were tied and secured and then we made our way slowly and carefully up the hill towards the villa until Solanus raised his hand for us to stop. “Fruji and Hylas come with me and we will take a closer look.” We followed Solanus and crawled through the shrub and long grass and drew closer to the villa. Eventually we stopped with the villa less than one hundred yards away. We stared at the mansion and at the several outbuildings, appraising the difficulties. There were two guards placed at the entrance to the villa but no sign of any further guards. However, we could hear the sound of many voices pervading the air from the direction of the outbuildings.

  “I took part in the search of those outbuildings when I was last here,” I whispered. “They have bunks and are no doubt being used by the bodyguard while just those two keep an eye on the villa.” I realized that the main difficulty was eliminating the two guards without alerting the main bodyguard in the outbuildings.

  Solanus seemed to have come to a similar conclusion and turned to Fruji. “Some of your men carry bows. Are they good?”

  “Several of them are excellent marksmen,” confirmed Fruji.

  “This is what we will do,” stated Solanus. “We cannot get near those guards without being seen but we can take them out from that vantage point over there.” He indicated a rock to our left. “Hylas, Scolus, and I, plus your two best archers will crawl up there. If your men can hit their targets first time then there is a good chance we will not be seen or heard. The five of us can then run to the villa and dispose of Gracchus. Fruji, I need you first to make your way with the rest of the men around that grassy escarpment and surround the outbuildings. As soon as the alarm is sounded they will come running out of the buildings so have any further archers you have at your disposal ready to unleash their arrows. Then you would have to engage the rest of them in battle. Now all of you put on your hoods and make sure you can see well enough.” We all obeyed; Solanus had become our natural leader, and we pulled the hoods over our heads making sure the slits for vision were more than adequate.

  “Would it not be better done under cover of darkness?” asked Fruji. “Then we could creep up on those two guards.”

  “Yes, and that was my first thought, but then it would all be so much more chaotic. We could not pick off the bodyguard as they emerged from the buildings and for all we know they may outnumber us,” replied Solanus.

  “You do not wish me to be at the kill of Gracchus?” asked Fruji.

  “No, I need you to take charge of the assault on the bodyguard. Scolus will do the talking in the villa as we planned. Hylas and I will kill Gracchus.” He looked at me.

  “We will,” I agreed.

  Fruji nodded and we crawled back to the rest of the men who were waiting for us further down the hillside. Fruji issued some orders and then left with the bulk of our force taking the detour towards the outbuildings. We gave them several minutes to get into their required positions and then we made our way to the rocky outcrop. When we also were in place Solanus looked towards the outbuildings to be sure that Fruji and his men were ready. Solanus then turned to our archers. “Notch your arrows and pick different targets, and when I lower my arm let fly.” He then addressed Scolus and me. “As soon as the arrows hit their targets we run at top speed towards the villa.” He turned to the archers. “Then you will drop your bows, take up your swords, and follow us as quickly as possible. Is everybody clear?” We all nodded. He raised his arm and looked at the unsuspecting guards lounging lethargically in the slightly fading light. Dusk was arriving and we could not delay. The archers placed the shaft of the arrows in the rests and pointed their bows, taking very careful aim. They were ready and Solanus swiftly lowered his arm.

  The arrows flew soundlessly through the evening air towards their targets. The languid guards did not see them coming and when the arrows hit their targets they slumped noisily but lifelessly to the ground. I felt hopeful that the groans and the sounds of their bodies hitting the ground, which seemed to be loud to me, would not have been heard in the outbuildings. I was astonished at the speed of Solanus as he reached the stricken guards first. They were probably already dead but he ran them through to make sure. The rest of us quickly joined him and as yet no alarm had been given. The wide, engraved doors to the villa of Marcus Gracchus beckoned.

  *

  We pushed the doors open and ran through the vestibule towards the main room of the villa. Servants and slaves dived out of our way as if we were demons from hell. I could not help thinking that this was where Solanus’s father had met his deserved death. The door opened and an almost naked woman stared at us in horror and then screamed. We burst into the room through the open door and the scene that met our eyes stunned us for a moment.

  There were several more scantily clad women gyrating provocatively on a raised platform at one end of the room. The three senators were lounging on couches entangled with naked females and it was difficult among all the moving limbs to see which one of the three men was our target, Marcus Gracchus. One we had interrupted in the state of copulation and he peered at us through disbelieving eyes. Another, who had been stroking the legs and buttocks of a compliant female, reached for his sword and ran at Scolus. The third, who I discerned to be Gracchus, disentangled himself from his female companion, grabbed his robe, and backed away from us to the rear of the large room. Scolus easily defended himself against the feeble attempt of the elderly senator to cut him down and he disarmed the man. Scolus shouted orders and his men then threatened some servants who had entered the room while Solanus and I slowly walked towards the cowering Gracchus, who then dived behind a curtain; we approached slowly and cautiously. I pulled the curtain open and stared at a small door. Gracchus had a secret way out of the room and perhaps out of the villa. Solanus cursed and kicked the door open.

  We ran down a few steps and along a narrow corridor, which I felt sure would take us out of the villa and into the grounds. I could now hear a great deal of noise outside and I quickly realized it was the sounds of battle. The servants, it seemed, must have raised the alarm and alerted the Gracchus bodyguard to our presence. My fears were realized as soon as we burst into the open where we were immediately confronted by three of the bodyguard. I cut one down with a decisive thrust into his stomach while Solanus engaged the other two. It was mayhem as I looked about me. Solanus had dispatched one of his adversaries and was now engaged with the other. All over the grounds there were individual battles taking place and I realized that in numbers the two sides were evenly matched. Then I saw the fleeing figure of Marcus Gracchus heading towards the pine forest that surrounded the grounds of his villa. Our men were busily defending themselves and were unaware of the absconding Gracchus and I knew it was down to me to prevent him from escaping.

  I went after him and dived into the pine forest in hot pursuit. It was a maze of trees but I could hear his footsteps pounding across the forest floor. I ran at top speed following the sounds of fleeing steps and heavy breathing. He was nearly twenty years older than me so I was confident he could not outrun me and escape. It was just him and me in the pine forest and I remembered with satisfaction all the times he had tried to murder me. The sound of breathing drew close and I moved more cautiously towards my prey. He was leaning against a tree gasping for breath when I caught up with him.

  I had caught him just in time, for dus
k was turning quickly into night and in the darkness he would have been almost impossible to find. He looked up and saw me and even in the darkness of the forest I could see the fear in his eyes, like those of a cornered animal. The world and the cool night air all seemed empty and there was just Marcus Gracchus, the eminent senator, and Hylas, a mere guardsman, and one of us must die. It would be Gracchus, and I raised my bloodied sword and moved towards my quarry.

  “Wait,” he called out. “Take off your hood. I wish to see the face of the man that murders me.”

  I wanted him to see my face. I wanted him to know who was about to take his life. I removed my hood. “I am not going to murder you. I am going to execute you.”

  “Hylas, I thought it was you. One is much the same as another. Look at the sky, Hylas.”

  I hesitated. What was man saying? Had he gone mad? I stayed a safe distance from him because I did not know if he was armed, though I doubted it, and I looked up at the heavens. Stars were scattered like jewels on the dark side of the sky and on the other a full moon shone from the south casting a hazy light over the dark forest.

  “Hylas, the stars exist for eternity but we men are on this earth for only a very brief time. I am rich beyond the wildest dreams of a man like you but you can be rich too. Make the most of the short time you have in this world and live life to the full. I can make it happen for you. I give you my word that I will make you one of the wealthiest men in Rome if you return to the villa and say that you could not find me. I will disappear into the forest and the darkness but I give you my word that my promise will be fulfilled.”

  “Your word means nothing to me and even if for one moment I thought you would keep it I would still kill you.”

  “You would not kill an unarmed man,” he whimpered. “That would not be a very honourable thing to do.” He was still trying to bargain for his life.

  “I will make an exception in your case.” I lifted my sword again.

  He sighed and fear returned to his eyes, only to be suddenly be replaced by a look of hope. I saw it and it saved me. I ducked under the blow that was intended to kill me and stumbled but, as I fell, I lashed out with my sword cutting a swathe through the slim torso of my antagonist. It was one of the dancing girls. The dagger she had meant to plunge into my back fell from her lifeless hand and she collapsed slowly to the ground as the blood seeped freely from the fatal wound. For a second I was stunned, which gave Gracchus time to pick up the dagger and back away.

  I recovered my balance and poise. “At least now I will not have to kill an unarmed man but, sadly for you, a dagger is no match for a sword.” He backed away again and in desperation threw the dagger at me. His aim was not good and it whistled harmlessly past my ear. He picked up a rock in each hand and threw one at me and I weaved out of the way. He ran at me wielding the other rock like a madman intending to shatter my brains with it. I drove my sword deep into his stomach, stopping him in his tracks, and felt the vibrations up my arm as his life force deserted his body. This powerful man of Rome crumbled like a child’s doll at my feet and blood flowed freely from his wound staining his white robe red. I looked down at him. Never again would he place a price on my head.

  “Hylas,” he gasped, and I knelt down to hear his dying words.

  “It is not over, she will…” he groaned as the blood gurgled from his mouth. His body twitched and trembled and Marcus Gracchus was dead.

  I stood and stared down at his corpse. What did he mean? I shrugged. It probably meant nothing and was just the final ramblings of a dying man. I dismissed the empty threat from my mind.

  Solanus burst onto the scene and looked down at the body of Marcus Gracchus and the dead dancer. “It is done then,” he said.

  I nodded. “It is done.”

  “Put your hood back on, Hylas, and come back to the villa. The Gracchus bodyguard have been killed or have fled. The battle is over.”

  *

  I walked back to the villa in a daze. Solanus walked at my side in silence; I think that he knew that killing did not lie easily on me. Having to kill the girl was unfortunate and weighed heavily on my mind but at the same time I felt strangely fulfilled. I had avenged Paulinus and Macro and the others who had died at the orders of Marcus Gracchus. I could now stay at the villa at Tibur because I wanted to and not because that was the only place my safety was assured.

  As we approached the villa I saw some bodies on the ground in the gardens close to the mansion. “Did we have any casualties?” I asked Solanus.

  “Two dead, one seriously wounded, and two with minor wounds, including Fruji, but thankfully most of the bodies belong to the Gracchus bodyguard and a couple of servants who were foolish enough to join in the fray. Those of the bodyguard who escaped will soon spread the news of the probable death of Gracchus. The two senators are bound up inside the villa,” Solanus informed me. I saw that the rest of the frightened servants and slaves were lined up outside the villa looking apprehensive and wondering on their coming fate.

  “Mission accomplished,” I sighed as Fruji approached us.

  “Gracchus is dead,” Solanus informed him.

  I looked at Fruji with some concern.

  “Just a flesh wound to the shoulder. I will be fine,” he informed me.

  “We will carry our dead and wounded from this place and it will never be known who carried out the attack,” said Solanus. “It has been a good day’s work for us and for Rome.” We left the villa much to the relief of the unharmed servants and slaves and made our way in triumph down the grass-covered hillside to our waiting mounts. “It is best we ride at night and make our way carefully back to Frusino,” suggested Solanus. “Then we can all go our separate ways.”

  We all nodded agreement and set off for Frusino. We buried our two dead comrades on the way in a place that their bodies would never be found. The light of the full moon made the journey possible and we wearily arrived at the small town of Frusino, still under cover of darkness, in just seven hours. It had been a long night and it was time for parting.

  “I will travel back to Rome with my men and report to Valerius Massala that we have successfully achieved our objective,” said Fruji, biting back the pain from his shoulder wound.

  “I will return to Singidunum,” added Solanus happily.

  “I will return to Tibur,” I said with similar joy. We had done it. We had bought our freedom from fear with the death of Gracchus.

  Solanus and I watched as Fruji and his men rode out of sight. Solanus then turned to me. “Hylas, I advise you to forget that which still tortures your mind.”

  “I doubt I will be able to, and, if the time comes, I will expect your help,” I replied.

  Solanus offered his hand and I took it. “What you expect and what you get may be two very different things,” he warned and rode away.

  I did not have the courage to return to the villa at Tibur straight away and face Aria and Corelia. I had used up all my courage for now and they would want explanations I did not feel like giving and they would be persistent. I decided to have a day’s rest before returning to Tibur the next morning and I booked myself into the same inn as I had stayed in on my way to Surrentum. It was only a day ago but it seemed so much longer.

  Tibur – Spring AD89

  Chapter 31

  I stayed the rest of the day at the inn and then spent the night there. I listened to the gossip of fellow guests, wondering if the word might have spread about the momentous events in which I had played a major part. The death of Gracchus was not mentioned among the guests so it seemed that his demise had not yet become common news. I kept a low profile with my ears ever alert, but heard nothing of interest, until it was time to retire to my room. I slept surprisingly well and decided to commence my five hour journey to Tibur immediately after breakfast. At breakfast there was still no mention of Gracchus and so I set off for Tibur as planned, knowing I would face the questions of Corelia and Aria and wondering how much I would have to tell them. I knew it would proba
bly have to be everything.

  I rode up to the gates of Villa Gladiatrix just as they were being opened. The carriage of Domitian emerged from the grounds of the villa flanked on either side by members of the Praetorian Guard. I nodded to Tero and smiled warmly at my friend, Cyprian, for they were the only two I recognized. Tero nodded back and Cyprian smiled but Domitian put his head out of the carriage. “Hurry, we must return to Rome in all haste,” he bellowed. There was no time for conversation

  Corelia was at the gate waving goodbye as the carriage containing her lover moved away at considerable speed. I approached her with some apprehension. She looked into my eyes. “We have just had news that Marcus Gracchus has been assassinated. Domitian has cut short his visit here for he fears Rome will be in turmoil.”

  “It will be good turmoil,” I said decisively. “Rome has been rid of a bloodsucking parasite.”

  “That parasite was my father’s paymaster,” she said.

  “Your father will continue to run the gladiatorial school.”

  “Perhaps. And what have you been up to these past few days, Hylas?”

  “I think you can guess, Corelia,” I said.

  “I can guess all right, as can Aria, and I can also guess that Solanus Fuscus put you up to it.”

  “Nobody put me up to anything. I make my own decisions.”

  “That has become increasingly true since I released you from my spell,” she observed.

  “I would still die for you,” I confessed.

  “I know you would, Hylas.”

  “The man tried to kill me many times and Paulinus and Macro are avenged.”

  “And you could have got yourself killed and Aria would have been without her lover and I would have been without my head guard.”

  “But I am here and intend to stay if you will both still have me, even though with the death of Gracchus I now have greater freedom.”

  She smiled and offered me her hand. “Kiss the hand of your mistress and then go and see your lover. Aria is in her apartment worrying about you.”