Gladiators of Rome:Short Stories

II

II

They had been travelling for days as Frieda's fingers curled loosely around one of the bars and stared out through half-closed eyes at the forests around them, imagining that she could see herself slipping through the bars and darting off into the distance. That dream however slipped further away with every hole the carriage wheels caught, jolting her back into the real world where guards walked beside the carriage and horses walked behind them ladened down with various treasures and supplies.

Her parched tongue darted out to touch her sore, split lips as she saw a guard drinking from an animal skin. She had learnt that asking for water led to quick but hard hit around the head.

Turning away from the hope of the forest and the tactless guard, Frieda's head lolled heavily on her shoulders as she glanced at those around her. Eoghan was sat beside her and he saw her despair.

"You shall be okay," Eoghan reached across and took her hand in his, "I'll protect you."

Frieda looked down at where their hands touched and she felt her heart give a heavy sigh, knowing that she was no alone. She thought about how she and Eoghan had been playing in the fields in Britannica a few weeks earlier, not really worrying about the other, whereas now all they had was each other.

Fatigue and hunger seeped into her muscles as the carriage rolled on, morning turning into afternoon, when they heard a shout up ahead.

She did not understand their words and began to dismiss it automatically when she noted the expression on Bradan's face change. He shifted closer to the bars from where he was sat opposite her and looked up ahead. It was the most life that any of them had shown since leaving the city.

"I can see a building," Bradan told them, shoving his hair out of his eyes, "It's very large, with a high wall."

Frieda craned her neck over her shoulder to look but there was no space for her to turn and her muscles protested at the sudden movement. Sitting back, she tried to imagine it instead but her imagination was lacking and her energy had left her. The other people began to stir from their own thoughts as they heard Bradan speak; detailing what could possibly be their new home. The carriage rolled on and Frieda thought that they must have surely passed the building by now when she felt the horses upfront begin to slow and there followed some more shouting.

Bradan's cheek was pressed against the bar as he stared out eagerly, "We are approaching the doors."

Frieda's heart began to beat a little faster as she turned to Eoghan and they shared a look of apprehension between them.

"The doors are opening," Bradan relayed and everyone began to shift uneasily, apprehensive of what their future held for them when the guard beside them hit the side of the bars with his wooden spear, pushing Bradan back. Frieda flinched away from the bars as they began to roll forward once more.

Everyone's eyes were looking outward as they passed through the doors and beneath a wall as thick as she was tall. After days of staring out at dark forests and muddy ground Frieda was forced to squint as the sunlight glared painfully off of a yellow stone floor.

People were speaking around them but she was transfixed by her new surroundings when she heard the unmistakeable sound of the doors being shut, trapping them inside, before the back of the carriage was opened and the steps set up once more for them to disembark.

As the hatch at the back was wrenched open, they could see a guard on either side waving them out. Their faces were thick and brutish, their lips opened wide as they shouted at them. Frieda had been the first to enter which meant she would be the last to leave as she waited for everyone else and, despite the fact that she had already been in there for days, as she saw everyone else leaving the putrid air inside the cage began to suffocate her.