Passion and Sand: War of Fire

by Andromeda -

  Kaiser turned his head away as he put down the small child. He did not have the answers she sought, but he knew he couldn’t just sit by and allow Rome to continue its tyranny. Something had to be done.

  ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯

  Later that day, as he walked to the tent where their food was kept, a commotion before it, caught his attention. It was Aleron and his wife. They were arguing with several of the gladiators whose task it was to guard the food.

  “I have told you, we need extra tonight!” Aleron was shouting. “Our daughter is sick and…”

  “A Roman lie,” one of the gladiators spat. “As we all know that is all they know how to do.”

  “I am not lying!” Aleron protested.

  “What is going on here?” Kaiser asked as he approached the tent. “Why do you deny them food?”

  “This Roman claims his daughter needs extra food because she is sick,” one of the gladiators responded. “It is no doubt a lie, to steal more food from us!”

  “I know Aleron,” Kaiser said with a frown. “He would not lie. He is an honorable man.”

  “Honorable,” both gladiators scoffed. “He is a Roman!”

  “He is my friend!” Kaiser countered. “And will be treated as such. Give him the food, or forfeit your own.”

  Both men looked at each other, but parted, nonetheless, for Aleron’s wife to enter the tent to gather an extra portion of food.

  “You have my gratitude,” Aleron said to Kaiser. “But this…this shows me that my time here, my family’s time here, is at an end. We must leave.”

  Kaiser balked. “But…”

  Aleron held up his hand and shook his head. “No, my friend. As much as I wish to not have this happen, we both know that it must. These people do not trust me, and I cannot say how much it hurts to know that they do not consider me a brother after all I’ve gone through. But, you cannot choose your parents, I suppose.”

  “No, you cannot,” Kaiser sighed. “But it saddens me to see you go. All I can say as of now is…farewell.”

  Aleron clapped him on the back and smiled ruefully. “Don’t be sad for me. We will meet again, I know we will.”

  Kaiser covered his hand with his own. “I hope you are right, my friend.”

  When the day did come for Aleron and his family to leave, Kaiser made sure to give them a weeks’ worth of supplies, as well as two horses and a mule they had stolen. As he watched his friend leave, Kaiser felt a strange feeling inside him he had never felt before: sadness.

  He forced himself to not cry, as he felt the tears threatening to spill, but he’d rather die than let them fall. Yet, when Aleron left, he took some part of Kaiser with him, a part Kaiser had no name for.

  He prayed to the gods that they gift him and his family safe passage, and to help them find the home and farm they wished for. He prayed that they finally find peace in a cruel world that seemed to try so hard to take that peace from them.

  Chapter Six

  They never made it out of the territory lines.

  And it was all Aleron’s fault.

  He and his family had stopped at a local, public bath, as they had been traveling for days. The moment Aleron took off his tunic, all eyes turned upon the imperial eagle that was tattooed on his right shoulder.

  He should have known better.

  All gladiators had one, which marked them all as personal property of the emperor. Word had already gotten out that many of his gladiators, as well as personal slaves, had escaped. One just had to look at his shoulder, and they knew he was one of them.

  He and his family were seized instantly and transported to the nearest army base. Once there, the torture began.

  They ripped out his nails.

  Yanked out his teeth.

  Flailed his skin almost to the bone.

  Broke his nose.

  All this and more they did to him, yet Aleron stood firm and did not break. He would not, could not, betray Kaiser and the other escapees. He valued his friendship too highly for that.

  He almost did break, however, when the commander ordered his men to ‘take turns’ with his wife, and threatened to do so with his young daughter. The thought of these rough men violating the tender, young body of his wife and daughter, proved almost too much for him to handle.

  Yet, he did not break.

  He would not let Rome see him crack under its pressure, and in the end, neither was harmed. He, however, was not so lucky.

  Because he was an escaped slave and considered an enemy to the empire, there was only one fate that awaited him: death. He wasn’t afraid of it, in fact, he knew that as a gladiator, death could come at any moment, so he had learned early how to embrace it.

  The commander, under orders of the emperor, stated that he was to be crucified, and word was sent from miles around to tell that one of the emperor’s former gladiators had been captured. The idea was that the other gladiators and slaves would hear of it, and try to come and rescue him. Thus, Aleron and his family were kept under heavy guard until that appointed day.

  Aurora, who sat in the meeting when this was decided, quickly rushed to her rooms afterward to send a message to Ayanna. She had to word it very carefully, as she knew there were spies all over the palace. Some even had birds who attacked the imperial ones, then stole the messages to give to their masters.

  Carefully, she made the message to her ‘friend in the country’ sound as if she wished her to stay away from the imperial city for her own safety. According to her, several of the resident Jews were behaving odd as of late, and because of this, violence was beginning to fester.

  This was not a complete lie, as in some places within the city, in the Jewish grottos, tensions were tight over her father’s new religious law. It made the Jews pay even more taxes to Rome, a law that several did not like and protested hotly.

  So, she told her friend to visit a city she knew of. The city where Aleron was staying, and to find comfort within its walls and gates, which closed at sundown. She also told her friend that she would hurry, as the unrest she fears might boil over into a rebellion, and she would feel safer if she was in a Roman city.

  When the letter was finished, she poured wax to seal it, then pressed her ring against it. It was now bound, and Ayanna would know if anyone broke it, then tried to reseal it. She was an expert in that field, as she had to sometimes sneak letters between Aurora and Artemus.

  Getting the falcon, she tied the letter to its leg, then released it into the wind.

  ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯

  Ayanna was laying in Kaiser’s arms when someone cleared their throat outside of their tent. Kaiser frowned and tried to pull her closer, but Ayanna pulled herself away and pulled a gown over her head before she stepped outside. Damali stood there with the falcon upon her wrist and the letter in her hand. Ayanna thanked her friend before taking both. Feeding the falcon a piece of meat, she opened the letter and began to read. Her heart froze in her chest.

  “Oh no,” she whispered.

  “What?” Kaiser groaned as he sat up. “What is it?”

  She read him the letter, then translated the meaning for him. When she was done, all the blood had drained from his face.

  “We have to save him,” he said, putting on his clothes.

  “Kaiser…,” she said warningly.

  “No, Ayanna,” he said sharply. “I’m not going to listen to you this time. We must go and save him. He is my best friend. I can’t just let him die!”

  “I’m not saying we do that either,” she said. “But please…think clearly for a moment…”

  “I am thinking clearly!” he snapped at her. “If it wasn’t for me, Aleron would still be here, and not in the hands of those Roman pigs! I am going to save him, and that is that!”

  Grabbing his swords, he left the tent with her following behind him. He was not thinking clearly, she knew that, but he never listened to anyone when his temper was aroused. She knew, however, that unless she talked some sense into him, then this was go
ing to be a suicide mission.

  “Artemus,” Kaiser yelled out. “Artemus, where the hell are you?”

  Artemus emerged from his tent, sleepy-eyed, though he walked over to him. “What is wrong?”

  “They have Aleron,” Kaiser answered anxiously. “We have to go and save him.”

  “You will die if you go out like this,” Ayanna said. “Kaiser, if you but just listen to me for one—”

  “I said be silent!” he roared at her, his anxiety of losing his only true friend bringing out his temper.

  She looked at him in surprise. Never before had he spoken this way to her, and she did not like it. “I am trying to help you,” she said through gritted teeth. “But since you don’t wish to listen to what I have to say, then fine. Go get yourselves killed!”

  Turning on her heel, she stormed away, shoving people out of the way. Kaiser instantly felt waves of shame wash over him, and he wanted to go after her and apologize. Yet, that feeling was quickly drowned out by the warrior inside him, who was yelling for him to go and save his friend. He would have to make up with her later.

  “Here is what we need to do,” he said, turning back to Artemus. “We take a small group, infiltrate the city and take him out as quickly as possible.”

  “That seems like a good plan,” Artemus said as he crossed his arms. “But you have forgotten many things: we don’t know the city. We don’t know how many guards are within the city. We clearly know this is a trap, so they are looking for us all. Oh, and did I forget that the only person who should have helped us, is the one you just severely upset? This is a suicide mission unless we get her help.”

  Kaiser frowned, though moments later, he sighed. Artemus was right. They needed Ayanna’s knowledge, and he had recently upset her. This was going to take a lot of making up.

  It did not take him long to find her, as she was where they kept the horses and was cleaning the mane of her personal mount. When she saw him approach, she clearly turned around and continued to brush her horse, ignoring him.

  “You know,” he said softly, “her coat matches your eyes.”

  No answer.

  He frowned and tried a different tactic. “You know, it would be nice if you gave us a hand so that we don’t all die…”

  Still no answer.

  At this point, he had to swallow his pride, take a deep breath, then hang his head. “I am sorry,” he said, “if I offended you. I shouldn’t have yelled at you. You did not deserve that.”

  “Go on,” she urged, though she did not turn to face him.

  “I was…acting like a master,” he said, “not your lover. You have helped me in more ways than I can count…and if anyone here deserves my respect, it is you. For that, I can never be more grateful.”

  She slowly turned to look at him, brush in hand, though it was clear she had forgiven him. “What can I do to help?”

  ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯

  The sun was low, as Aleron was led to the place where he would die. He could hear the sobbing of his wife and children, though he smiled at them. He did not want them to mourn him, neither did he want them to feel sad for him. They had tasted freedom, they knew what was out there, now he just wished it would find them again.

  As they laid him out, upon the cross, he held his breath as he saw them with the hot nails. They were going to be driven into his hands and feet, and for a moment, just a moment, he felt a great sadness on him. He had wished for freedom, wished to live just a simple life with his family, and now he could not live out that dream. All he wished now was that his son would look at him and see an honorable man, a man who fought for what he believed in.

  The pain was unbearable. Aleron’s silence was broken as he cried out in pain as the nails were hammered into his body. The pressure began to build as he was lifted, and left hanging on the cross with only a crude, wooden seat for ‘support’.

  “Here hangs Aleron,” a soldier yelled out to the townspeople below. “Former slave to the Imperial Ludus, traitor of Rome! Let all who look upon him know what fate lies to traitors.”

  Aleron coughed up his own blood as he felt the pressure building in his lungs. He knew that men who hung from the cross died of suffocation. If not the spear that normally pierced their sides that came from the soldier’s hands if they were not dying ‘fast enough’.

  For hours, it seemed, he hung from the cross, coughing and trying to pull himself up to breathe, but he could feel his spirit edging away. He could feel that he was dying, and he tried, very weakly, to cast one last look upon his family.

  He tried to smile softly at them.

  He tried to move his lips to mumble a prayer to the gods for their safety.

  What happened next was a blur.

  All he could hear was shouting.

  All he could feel was heat, like fire.

  Then he felt his cross being lowered, and when he managed to slowly open his eyes, he saw Kaiser’s face above his.

  Surely, he was with the gods, or maybe this was an illusion. There was no way Kaiser could be with him, but when the German reached out to touch his cheek, Aleron felt the warmth of his skin.

  “Kai…ser…?” he croaked, his throat dry.

  “Get him water!” Kaiser ordered. He was covered in blood, and smelt of burnt soot. “Hurry! Help me lift him, we have to get out of here!”

  The world faded, as Aleron once again slipped into unconsciousness, but when he woke again this time, it was in a tent. His wounds seemed to be bound, but the Roman knew his time in this world was drawing to a close.

  “Kai…ser…?” he said hoarsely, as he sensed the German was nearby.

  He was. Kaiser appeared in moments at his side, gripping his hand. “I’m here, Aleron,” he said. “I am here. We are going to get you healed and…”

  “Kai…ser…,” Aleron said hoarsely. “Stop…please…”

  “What?” Kaiser asked. “Why?” For the second time in his life, he felt tears in his eyes. The only other time was when Ayanna lost their child.

  “My time…has come…,” Aleron said with a dry smile. “I greet…the gods…”

  “A curse on them!” Kaiser snapped, though it was only out of pain and sadness at seeing his friend dying. “A curse on them, and all those who did this to you!”

  “Kai…ser…,” Aleron said softly. “Stop…listen to me. It…is not safe…for you to be…so close to Rome…”

  “I am not leaving!” Kaiser said firmly. “I can’t!”

  “No…,” Aleron said, weakly shaking his head. “I…do not say that. Find…a place…with distance. Then…build your army…defend those…who are weak…”

  Kaiser nodded. “I will avenge you,” he swore. “I will avenge you, and all those we lost today.”

  Aleron nodded. “You were…my best friend…”

  Taking one last deep breath, he exhaled, and passed from this world, into the next. This pain was almost equal to how he felt when Ayanna lost their child. Not only that, but the rage was there too.

  Kaiser wanted, now, more than anything, to kill any Roman he saw. He wished to show them the true meaning of pain and suffering. But he knew Aleron and Ayanna were right. Rome was too big right now to fight on their own. The rescue attempt along claimed half their fighters. They had to find a new location that was safe, then train themselves so they could take on Rome, and make it pay for all the sins it had done.

  Chapter Seven

  Aurora released the falcon into the air. The bird carried her latest letter to Ayanna attached to its leg. She had sent several recommendations for safe zones so the slaves would find refuge. Ayanna had sent her a letter, informing her friend of her son’s well-being and of their plan to further the distance between them and Rome. Aurora couldn’t agree better. What she lived for, however, was the letters that came with the information about her son.

  He would be almost three years of age now, and every day she felt as if a part of her was dying without him in her arms. She missed Artemus as well, but her son held
her heart, as he was the one item that was truly hers in all the world.

  A commotion outside her window made her lean out to try and get a better look, and what she saw made her frown. It was Aurelia, surrounded by a guard and they were headed to the palace.

  Fiery anger burned within Aurora’s heart, as she remembered what Aurelia did to Kaiser. What she did was assault, nothing less, as she had forced Kaiser to lie with her and it was because of her petty jealousy with her incestuous brother.

  Aurora left her chambers and walked down the halls where she saw Cornelius and her father waiting to receive the young woman. Her father smiled when he saw her and held out his hands for her to take.

  “Daughter,” he said as he kissed her cheeks.

  “Father,” she said with a gently bowed head. “What is going on?”

  “Your brother had been unmarried for a while,” her father explained. “And, we believe that now is the time.”

  Aurora blinked in surprise and looked at her brother. “Cornelius? What do you say to this?”

  “Aurelia comes from a wealthy family. She will help us hunt down those rebels,” Cornelius said almost in a monotone.

  Aurora frowned but said nothing. Instead, she turned to watch as Aurelia entered the Imperial Palace and bowed her head briefly to them all.

  “Your Imperial Grace,” Aurelia said to the emperor. “How might I serve you?”

  The emperor raised Aurelia’s chin. “You have been engaged by proxy to my son for a while,” he said. “It is time that the real thing take place.”

  Aurelia’s face lit up, but Aurora felt an uneasiness within her stomach. If Aurelia married her brother, then that would make her the highest lady in the land, save for herself. And when her father died, and Cornelius became emperor, then she would become empress and rule over her. That was a thing Aurora could not stand for. It couldn’t happen.

  The thought of Aurelia as empress, the selfish, highly spoiled girl that she was, would not be tolerated; it could not be tolerated. Aurora knew she had to do something, and it was either stop this marriage from happening in the first place or kill Aurelia.