Free Gladiator: Vengeance by Simon Scarrow

he continued. ‘How long have you been in his service?’
    ‘Twenty years. I was fifteen when he bought me from a gladiator school. Caesar was a lot younger. Just starting out in politics. It was a dangerous time; he had powerful enemies even then.’ Festus smiled thinly at Marcus. ‘I was like you. He saw me fight in the arena and decided I had potential. I was taken to Rome to be trained as a bodyguard by my predecessor. A big Celt who was as swift and deadly as a cat despite his size.’
    ‘Oh?’ Marcus could not recall any mention of the man before and dared to probe a little further. ‘What happened to him?’
    ‘He went the same way that many do in our profession. He was killed in a street fight. That was when I was twenty. Caesar appointed me to replace him as head of his personal bodyguard. In time, I dare say you would have taken over from me.’
    Marcus raised his eyebrows. He’d had no idea that was the fate intended for him. He had always seen his relationship with Caesar as something temporary – a stepping stone on his journey to save his mother.
    ‘You still may replace me, once this is all over and we return to Rome,’ Festus continued.
    ‘I’m not going back to Rome,’ Marcus replied quietly.
    ‘No?’ Now it was Festus’s turn to look surprised. ‘Why not?’
    ‘It was always my plan to return home after I rescued my mother.’
    ‘Home? That farm on Leucas you told me about?’
    Marcus nodded.
    Festus sighed. ‘You’d best forget that, Marcus. You told me your father got into debt trying to make the farm pay its way, right? So the chances are it has been sold on. It’s almost certain someone else owns the farm now. You can’t go back there.’
    ‘But it belongs to us,’ Marcus protested angrily. ‘It’s our farm.’
    ‘It was. It isn’t now. That is the way of things.’ Festus tried to sound gentle. ‘You cannot return to the past, lad. The Gods have decided on a different destiny.’
    ‘No. I will return to my home. With my mother. I will find a way. I swear it.’
    Festus smiled sadly. ‘Very well then, Marcus. But one step at a time. First we must reach Athens and discover where Decimus is, and the estate where your mother is held. I had hoped we could find him without using official channels. There’s arisk someone might warn him of our presence if we do that. But it can’t be helped now. Get some sleep. There’s a long road ahead of us.’
    Festus settled back, arms folded behind his head, and closed his eyes. Marcus sat up a while longer, staring into the red glow of the embers, his heart filled with longing for home. The word conjured up so many feelings in his heart, with memories of all he valued most in the world. All the things that had been taken from him. The very thought of home had been a lifeline to him amid the raging storm of his life these last two years. The idea that there was no longer a home to return to filled him with anger and despair.
    It was a long time before the seething emotions began to subside. The fire had died out long before Marcus finally lay down, huddled beneath his cloak, to fall into a troubled sleep.



9
     
    They left the forest before first light and took the road south, leading away from Stratos. They walked fast, keeping a watch on the way ahead and leaving the road every time they saw other travellers. They bypassed every village they encountered so there would be no chance of anyone recalling that a man and two boys had passed through. The news of Pindarus’s death and the reward for those held responsible for his murder would follow hot on the heels of Marcus and his companions, so it was essential to remain one step ahead of their pursuers until they reached the comparative safety of Athens, over two hundred miles away.
    Once they had crossed the Achelos river Festus led them into the mountains of Aetolia, a largely uninhabited region where lonely shepherds tended the flocks of goats and sheepgrazing on the slopes. There