I finally had the freedom of a slow day and I tapped my fingers against the counter, trying to decide what to do. But honestly? I had absolutely no motivation to do anything at all. Maybe I could make my rounds through the ludus to check on my friends. They were probably in the middle of training, but it could still be fun to watch them.
My feet meandered through the ludus after I'd closed the shop early for the day. From what I could tell, everyone's training was focused on agility. The novicii were split into two groups. One advanced with training swords and spears across the grounds, while the other half tumbled, dove, and dodged away. Back and forth they went, switching roles as several instructors walked along with watchful eyes. Occasionally, they'd pause the training to make a demonstration.
I watched for some time before moving on to the rest of the complex. A number of the more experienced gladiators were starting an exercise that was a little more technical to increase their athleticism. It looked deceptively easy. But I could tell from the strain on their faces that it wasn't. If I went over to try, I'd look like a complete idiot.
Lengths of rope were tossed over a beam overhead, with a rock tied to the other end. The gladiators stood parallel to it, pulling the rope across their body with a straight arm to extend it out and away. At the same time, they had to lunge back, first with one leg sweeping diagonally across the body, and then again with the other. Which was repeated all over again for the other arm.
"It starts with your core," Felix said, nodding at me without pausing his instructions. "Where your control and balance should radiate from, not your legs. This drill is about all the movements happening at the same time, not one after the other."
I noticed Flavia and Quintus among them and I watched with interest. His execution was smooth, his right arm and legs moving in unison. But the opposite side wasn't as cooperative. He'd begin the motion, the leg sweeping back, but there was always a delay in the left arm pulling out at the same time. Sweat dripped down his temple. It didn't seem like he was aware of anything beyond the rope in his hand.
But Flavia struggled a lot more, along with several others. She'd start shaking immediately, fighting herself through every moment. One gladiator kept using momentum to begin his sequence while another was pulled off balance every time as soon as he lifted his leg.
"You, you, and you."
They stopped to look at my father.
"Move to the lighter stones." I could see their shoulders droop in defeat, but he shook his head sharply. "I know you can lift that rock. But this is about complete control over your movements, not strength. Out on that sand, any time your body limits you, you are at a disadvantage."
I grinned. This moment alone showed why many considered his ludus the best. It was also something that probably surprised a lot of people, given his reputation and image. From everything I'd overheard in the shop, the other ludi tended to have less patience. And little prioritization on anything that wasn't strength, stamina, or technical skills with a weapon.
He'd trained me the same way—firm yet encouraging, stripping away all the noise and distraction from what really mattered. It wasn't about avoiding doing something wrong or even about going through the motions flawlessly. I snorted. In hindsight, before he opened the ludus, I was probably his test for how to teach gladiators.
I continued on, following the sounds of thuds to see Ursus and Tiberius sparring. It was impossible not to feel absolutely intimidated watching them. They stopped when they saw me, catching their breath but hardly winded.
"Care to join us? Have a chance to lift your blade against your heroes?" Ursus said gleefully, opening his arms in invitation. Each was probably the size of my leg. No, thicker.
I shook my head and stepped back. "No. No, no, no. Definitely not. Even when I'm at my best, I know for a fact that I wouldn't survive long at all against either of you. And I'm so out of practice right now."
Tiberius grinned, moving closer. "This is all the proof I need to know intimidation really does work. Because I also know for a fact that you're better than you feel about yourself right now, Max."
"Does Felix ever train the two of you?" I backed away, trying to change the subject.
"Of course," the big gladiator said as he also continued to step towards me. His voice was calm and his smile charming. It was really disarming. "Even the best, like me, never stop learning. Which is why I think you should—ha!"
They both lunged forward at the same time with a shout. A small shriek leapt from my throat involuntarily and I spun to run away. The two of them didn't follow me, however. Instead, they just stood there laughing before resuming their sparring. Bastards. I rolled my eyes and slowed down to let my heartbeat settle again.
"Max?"
I poked my head around the corner to see Praxedes. She was sitting with the hem of her tunic hiked up her thigh. The stab wound was visible, a short but dark red line underneath the stitches. Her fingers carefully applied a balm to the surface.
"Need any help from me?"
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"No. Just surprised to see you here."
I shrugged. "It was slow out there today. And I honestly didn't feel like working. So I didn't."
"Well perfect! How about you walk with me? I'm not going to lose this opportunity for alone time with you." She winked.
Holding back a smirk, I agreed. "Fine. But as long as it's within Caelum's instructions. Last thing I need is to get on his bad side. He's not exactly patient when it comes to undoing his hard work, from what I hear."
"Oh, don't worry. I'll be fine," she scoffed. "And if I'm not, you'll be there."
She stood up slowly, most of her weight shifting to her other leg, and she grimaced. "Ugh. I've got to stop doing that but I can't help it.
"One thing at a time, Prax. I think the priority is to make sure you can even walk."
The gladiatrix eyed me. "You sound just like Felix."
It's something I'd been told a lot lately. But I ignored her, watching her stride instead. It was slow but measured, and I could tell she was concentrating on not favoring the injured leg. I stayed on her bad side as we made our way through the stables and out the gate to the road.
Praxedes stopped to look at the amphitheater. "There was a moment I wasn't sure if I'd walk out of there alive." She fell silent and I waited for her to continue. "But I just couldn't do that to Corvus. All that mattered was killing that warrior so I could go help him and make him stop worrying about me during his own fight, the idiot.”
Despite their antics, it was very clear how much they cared about each other. “I have a feeling that you both had the same idea.”
“That was terrible, Max. I never want to have to fight that way again. You can't be worrying about your companion in that arena, but I couldn't help it. I can't lose him."
It was a simple admission and not meant to be a topic of discussion. I let her words sink in as we continued walking. "Does it hurt a lot?"
"No. But it itches. Sometimes to the point that it almost makes sense that if I could just…cut it out of my leg, the itchiness would go away."
I snickered. "Yeah, that'll definitely make things better."
"But I'm mostly just annoyed. It feels like it's taking too long."
“Prax, you'd just gotten stabbed.”
She put a hand on my shoulder, and for a moment I wondered if she was trying to make a move on me. But when I glanced at her warily, her face was pinched in concentration. We began taking short pauses more and more frequently until a limp was impossible for her to stop from happening.
"I probably should have turned around a while ago. I forgot about the walking back part. Also, don't tell Caelum I went for a walk after his supervised training."
I bit my lip. "Want me to try to carry you? Go get a horse? Maybe pull you on a hand cart?” A laugh colored my voice on the last option.
Her grip shifted to slide her arm across my shoulder. "This is fine. Takes the wait off." But her words were clipped from pain.
We began to walk back. I grabbed her arm and my other one around her waist.
“Urs will be so jealous that you're holding me in your arms first.”
By now I could swear it wasn't really about me, but I held my tongue.
"Anyway, I'd never seen Corinna so unnerved before," Praxedes said with a half-laugh to cover the strain in her voice. "What happened for her to come back from getting a smoothie like that?"
"Oh, I was just overly nice and polite."
That got a genuine laugh out of her, sharp and clear, and I told her about the encounter as a distraction. Finally, we made it back inside the ludus and she collapsed onto her bedding in the barracks.
"Thanks, Max. I'm just...I'm just going to lie here for a while and not think about how much I can't do right now."
I patted her head sympathetically and left. On my way out of the ludus, though, I passed her brother just as he was about to enter the bathing quarters. He was wrapped in a makeshift tunic made up of pretty much only the toga that left his torso mostly bare.
"Interesting way to dress yourself, Corvus."
He turned at the sound of my voice. The long furrows of his injury were exposed, dark scabs raking across his chest and ribs. He was nowhere near Ursus in size, but still well built and lean. Any less muscle and the obsidian shards would've scraped bone. I winced.
"Well, lifting my arm up tends to hurt, so I'm trying to avoid that," he replied dryly. "Not exactly going to walk around in public like this either."
"What. You mean you don't want to join your sister and me for daily walks up and down the road for the public to see? We'd start a parade!"
His blue eyes peered at me. "If by public you mean just you seeing me half-naked outside of a bathhouse, I'm fine with that."
I felt a flush creep up, caught off guard by his teasing tone. He wasn't normally one to do that—maybe his head had been hit too hard during the fight. And then suddenly I was willing myself to have mastery over my mind instead of thinking about how the baths were a shared space.
“Running from the women throwing themselves at you?” I joked back.
“Max.” He ran a hand down his face. “I tried it a few times, but I hated being a trophy first. It never ended well.”
I grimaced. “Oh. That makes sense. What about other gladiators?”
Corvus grunted. “I had better luck there, but there's only two reasons why it ends. Prax, though—no matter who, the men always end up wanting to fight her.”
“Of course they do,” I muttered. “It happened to me too. As soon as they cared more about needing to know they could beat me, it was over. The swine.”
His brows knit together. “I'm—”
I cut him off, sulking. “Although to be fair, they were always more interested in Felix than me.”
He blinked, laughter and regret fighting for dominance in his eyes. "You, uh, walked with Prax?" he asked, deciding to just change the subject instead.
"Yeah, but she pushed it too much, so you might want to just check on her after."
Corvus began to cross his arms but stopped with a hiss. He sighed. “I need to get better. Her opponent was more experienced and I was just a distraction the longer it took me to end my fight."
Tilting my head, I felt the corner of my lips quirk. "Funny you say that, because that's pretty much what she said about you."
"At least I learned a lot from it.” His hand scratched absentmindedly at the edges of his scabs. “But I think the games will change soon and they won't ever be the same.”
So what are we thinking about Prax and Ursus?
