The Gladiator

'Get up!' Ajax ordered. Chilo leaned down from his saddle and grasped the prisoner's hair and hauled him to his feet. With a thrust from Chilo's boot, the man stumbled towards Ajax and the two Romans.

'You may not recognise him now,' Ajax stared at the men in contempt, 'but I believe you know Centurion Portillus, lately the commander of the garrison of Matala. I thought I might spare him so that he could confirm what I have told you. Here, Senator, the prisoner is yours.'

Chilo goaded Portillus towards Sempronius, who could not help recoiling at the soiled, stinking creature that confronted him. The senator swallowed and forced himself to control his voice as he addressed Portillus.

'Is it true?'

'Yes, sir,' Portillus mumbled, barely able to meet his superior's eye.

'Are they all dead?'

'Yes, sir.' The centurion's voice quavered. 'I saw them die. All my men. All the civilians, every last one of them, even the infants.'

'I see.' Sempronius glared at him. 'And is it true that you surrendered without a fight?'

'We had no choice,' Portillus protested.' They threatened to put us to the sword. You heard.'

'It seems they did it anyway.' Sempronius's expression be came severe. 'You have disgraced yourself.'

'Don't be too hard on him,' Ajax intervened. 'I betrayed him in turn. He wasn't to know '

'Wasn't to know what?' Sempronius spat back. 'That you should never trust the word of a slave?'

'What does my word matter? Or yours?' Ajax paused a moment.

'All that matters is that you know what the consequences are if you refuse to meet my demands. For the last time, Senator. You will surrender Gortyna to me. If you do not, then you and everyone else will share the fate of the people of Matala. You have until noon tomorrow to decide.'

He turned his horse towards the camp, then paused and turned back, gesturing at Portillus. 'I return this man to you. I have no further need of him.'

Sempronius looked briefly at Centurion Portillus and then cleared his throat. 'I don't want him. Neither I nor my men will be contaminated by his cowardice.'

Ajax shrugged. 'So be it. Chilo!'

'Yes, General?'

'Finish him.'

Chilo nodded and dismounted. He pulled out a broad-bladed dagger from his belt and advanced on Portillus with a cruel smile.

The latter's eyes widened in terror and he lurched towards Sempronius, the chains causing him to tumble to his knees.

'Spare me! For pity's sake, don't let him!'

Sempronius stepped back nimbly. 'Don't you dare beg me, you cur!'

Chilo stood behind Portillus and grasped him under the chin with one hand, and before Portillus could make more than a strangled whimper, the blade slashed across his throat. A great rush of blood spurted out and splashed on the ground. Chilo released his grip and stepped back. For a moment Portillus frantically clasped his hands to his throat, then he slumped back and rolled on to his side, his body trembling as he bled out.

Chilo wiped the blade on his tunic.

'Bastard,' the centurion who had accompanied Sempronius growled. He drew his sword and stepped forward.

'Put that sword away!' Sempronius shouted.

The centurion ignored him and advanced towards Chilo. 'Let's see how good you are against a man who can fight back!'

'Leave him!' Sempronius grabbed the officer's shoulder. 'I gave you an order, Centurion Macro! Leave him.'

Ajax froze. He was still for an instant, then twisted round in his saddle and stared at the Roman officer. 'Macro? Centurion Macro?'

His heart was filled with a rush of emotions. Bitter hatred, rage and a strange joyful exultation. His limbs trembled with excitement and there was an almost inhuman desire to throw himself on Macro and tear the Roman to pieces. Blood pounded through his veins as he raised his hands, fingers clawed, as if he would wring the other man's neck. Then the moment passed, and self-control struggled to control his thoughts. Not now. Not while there were higher stakes.

'Ajax, the pirate's son.' Macro nodded slowly, sword raised and braced to defend himself against any sudden attack. 'You remember me, then?'

There was a keening groan in Ajax's throat as he fought to restrain his rage.

'I remember you well enough, lad,' Macro continued. 'And I remember your father. When this is over, you'll share his fate. By the gods, I swear it... Unless you want to fight me now. Come on!' He raised his sword.' Man to man.'

Ajax was breathing deeply. His senses were heightened to a feverish pitch of sound, sight and smell, just as they always were in the arena when the signal to fight was given. Slowly, slowly he forced himself to calm his desire to hurl himself at Macro. Instead he eased his sword hand to his side, and sat erect, still staring fixedly at the Roman.

'We will have our fight, Centurion. Not here, not now. But the time will come. No god, no fate, no person would deny me the right to kill you with my own hands.'

Ajax abruptly turned his horse away and kicked his heels in, galloping back towards his army. His heart was filled with overwhelming resolve. When Macro was defeated, he would learn what it meant to die in the most humiliating, agonising ma

CHAPTER TWENTY

'Just what did you think you were doing back there?' Sempronius snapped the moment they reached his headquarters in the J acropolis. 'You were goading him. You saw his expression at the end there. He was insane. For a moment I thought he'd go for you with his bare hands.'

'Might have been better for us if he had, sir,' Macro replied coolly.

'Then I could have had him. With Ajax gone, how long do you think that ragbag army of his would hold together?'

Sempronius gave him a calculating look. 'What makes you think you could have beaten him? The man looked as tough as any fighter I have ever seen in the arena, and he's been trained to kill.'

'So have I. And I've had rather more experience at it. Besides, what good would all that gladiatorial training have been if he had lost his head and thrown himself into a fight?'

Sempronius nodded. 'I see. That's what you were counting on. That's why you provoked him.'

'Of course, sir. First rule of war - always try and get the enemy to fight on your terms.'

'Well then, I owe you an apology. For a moment I thought you had lost control of yourself.'

'Me?' Macro looked pained. 'Lose control of myself?'

'In any case, thanks to your intervention, I doubt that Ajax is going to be predisposed towards sparing anyone if he does take Gortyna.' Sempronius sat down behind his desk and turned to gaze over the city. Macro had given orders for torches and braziers to be lit along the wall, in case the rebels made any attempt to attack under cover of darkness. The usual watch had been doubled and the rest of the men were quartered in houses close to the walls. Some half-mile outside the city were clusters of camp fires, arranged in a great arc that enclosed the hills to the rear of it. As soon as night had fallen, several sections of men had been sent out from Gortyna to start sowing the caltrops along the approaches to the weakest lengths of the wall. Now there was a tense stillness as the defenders beheld the enemy host and waited.

Sempronius turned away from the window. 'If the city falls, he will take his hostages and kill the rest. I am sure of it.'

'Then we must make sure that we hold Gortyna.'

'Easily said, Macro. We have to think through all the choices open to us.'

Macro's eyes widened. 'You're not seriously considering surrender?'

'No,' Sempronius replied. 'But it is an option, none the less. We'll have to put the situation to the ruling council. They have to be told.'

Macro shook his head. 'Sir, if we let a bunch of civilians have their say, well, it's obvious they'll take the offer to save their skins.'