"Let the fight begin" roared the voice of Emperor Commodus through the Colosseum. He waved his hand through the toga and sank back on his throne. Hearing this, a loud wave of excitement ran through the crowd. For them this was any other match except for the fact that the consequences wouldn't be limited to just one man walking out; this was a war of pride. A war which Marcus Antonius had brought upon himself as well the emperor.
Not long ago, the rudiarius Didius Julianus from a remote north province had proclaimed his love for princess Leora Augusta in front of the whole Colosseum. This had angered Marcus so much that without even consulting Commodus he invited Didius to a duel with an unknown gladiator. "All gathered here have seen what a ruthless fighter you are, and also your courage since you have dared to propose the princess in full presence of the public. Just a wave of my hand and my men will make you disappear from the face of Rome, but this is not how I want it to end. 7 moons from now, you will fight again, for your life, your honor, for the very last breath which you will take right here, for everything that you hold dear in your life. If you fail, I need not remind you of your fate, if not it will be the princess who will decide your fate".
The noise in the colloseum was increasing by the second, even as he stepped into the center of the arena he was not sure if he winning the fight would make him win over the princess as well. They had never talked, the only times he saw her when she came out for public visits or for her personal work to the city centre. But there was something in her which made him long for her, something which had made him restless since the day he had seen her. And it was this something which had driven him into the madness he was now in. Her long hair, flawless skin, petite black eyes ,long slender fingers with gloves on them, made him want to see more of her. Though he hardly got time from his training at the ledi, he somehow sneaked out at least once in a week during evenings and most of the times the effort was rewarded by the sight of the princess with her girl friends engrossed in some or the other thing. Every single time he saw her, he felt like going up to her and talking; but he knew that it was not only outrageous but would put the princess in a great deal of danger as it was considered inappropriate for strangers to interact so openly and then she was the princess so this all became even more stringent.
He shifted his sword from his right hand to the left waiting for his nemesis to arrive. He felt the rush of blood against his temple and his muscles which had contracted completely in a state of alertness, ready to attack at that very moment. He saw his opponent arrive. It's going to be a tough day and a tougher call, he though as he looked at the size of he gladiator against him which was almost twice his size.
The Emperor marked the beginning, and the two men rushed towards each other. One hungry for glory, the other for love. Armors clinked, swords flew at each other with full force, blood flowed, and with each blow in the arena the temper of the crowd rose and fell as if the fighters were the conductors of this huge orchestra.
At the end of a complete 90 bloody minutes, there was only one man standing. The crowd was ecstatic as this fight had been the most fiercely fought and entertaining than all. Initially the people had their prejudices on who should win, but towards the end nobody cared. All they did was scream, as loudly as they could.
Didius stood with a great deal of effort as one particular blow from his opponent had pierced through his calf muscle tearing it apart. But today was no day for pain. He had done it at last. If Marcus was a man of his word he would let the princess decide his fate. At least he would stand a fair chance that ways.
And Marcus did honor his word, he turned to the princess to ask her to decideDidius's fate. He was sure that she would always prefer him over any other man, and once she made that clear he would ask the princess to let the gladiator walk away free. As he turned to speak to the princess, he was stunned.
You didn't need weapons, armor, an army to win or lose a fight. He had already lost, he looked into Leora's eyes and could see them full of admiration and love not for him, but for the gladiator. He stormed out of the gallery clutching his toga in embarrassment.
"I will go down as the mightiest fool in all of Rome's history", he thought as he ran down the stairs towards the royal entrance.
Still standing inside the arena, Didius looked at Leora with longing eyes, how beautifully they had thought this over. Luck was indeed on their side as there could not have been a better execution of the script that they had written. The secret meetings, fear of the vigilant eyes, their undying love, the lion-hearted gamble had crafted a beautiful chapter in Roman history, in which he and Leora would go down as the prime characters.
They had fallen for each other the first time he had come to fight here, right in this arena where Leora had come to accompany her father. Their eyes had met and the conversation that ensued between the pair albeit a silent one had been enough to conceive this madness in each of them. What both of them didn't know was that someone else had made himself privy to whatever was going on between them.
"Was I good?", asked Didius as he moved closer to Leora.
"To the last moment, my love", she replied now holding his hand with a firm re-asserting grip.
As they walked out of the arena, both turned back and saw the Emperor standing in the gallery looking at them. Turning towards the Emperor, Didius gestured as if bowing down after a performance. Seeing this, the face of the Emperor broke into a slight smile. A slight nod from the Emperor reassured Didius that he had indeed done well.
"The boy has justified my faith, may be it is time for the next move", he thought and turned to walk away.
Marcus was standing at a distance bewildered at what he had just seen. Not everyone could have understood what had transpired but he was no fool. "My dear friend Commodus doesn't know that this is going to cost him dear", vowed Marcus and stormed towards his chariot.
to be continued....
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