Prisoner Of The Colosseum

Chapter 3

Tightening the armour over her tunic, Liza turned to look over at the stands, her hazel eyes scanning the crowd. She gasped and covered her mouth slightly as she spotted Jane, a puppy in her arms, cleaving a way to the front row. Liza's shoulders sagged slightly as Jane located her, and started whooping and hollering at the top of her lungs. A couple soldiers near her snickered, and Liza bared her teeth back at them.

Jane had turned to look after another stray dog that had wandered into the crowd, so Liza tucked her helmet underneath her arm and started trudging towards the bench.

Her nose wrinkled in disgust as a couple boys attempted to strangle each other, and tried to sit as far away as possible. That was the only thing she had against being part of the guard of Rome. She was the only woman. Jane had taken to fostering strays and acted as a local vet soon after they had come to Rome - picked up by two random strangers after being stranded on a lonely road because their horses deserted them (Jane had thought they needed to have some 'freedom'). Liza had fallen in love with fighting, and after delivering weapons for a living, she decided to turn to training, and had worked herself tirelessly to get a position in Rome's army.

Lost in her thoughts, Liza leaned to her left to avoid a random rock someone had chucked, and she lost her balance, falling backwards. Liza landed with a dull thud, and spat sand out of her mouth. A shadow fell over her, and she looked up, her cheeks already burning.

It was Raquel.

With a name as ridiculous as that, you wouldn't expect him to go around acting like he owned half of Italy. Unfortunately, his delusional mind thought that he was an incarnation of Zeus himself. He was a stuck-up, egocentric, conceited idiot who had taken it upon himself to make Liza's life miserable.

Liza smacked away the hand he had stretched out towards her and got up, dusting herself off as she did. "Why do you always decide to show up at the worst possible moments?"

Raquel smirked, his nose inflating like a hippo, and his cheeks ballooning. "Or maybe I have impeccable timing. Anyways, we need someone here giving a love narration of all of your failures."

Liza scoffed. "Yeah right. You don't have a life as interesting as mine, so you just gotta follow me around like a goat? Or maybe this is your attempt at flirting."

Reddening, Raquel began walking away, his two goons, Luka and Lika following him. "You wish. One day, Liza, someone with real power is going to realise you're worthless, and squash you like a flea."

"So you admit you have no real power?"

Liza snorted as Raquel tripped slightly over the same rock that had narrowly missed hitting her. His entourage scooped him out whilst he muttered nonsense. Raquel had had it out for her since the beginning. He hated her, and while there had been nights when Liza had wondered why, the reason still remained unclear. He had sabotaged her on numerous occasions, spread rumours, put glass in her boot - that had earned her a trip to the infirmary, where she had been on bedrest for three days - and - and even slathered oil on the training equipment. That had left her out of commission for several weeks. The most valid reason Liza could come up with was jealousy. She was the best of their class, and had been awarded the best swordsman when they graduated to becoming full time legionnaires. That, or Raquel just hated her and there was no logical reason for that on this planet.

Turning around to go settle back on the bench, Liza jumped as she smacked into a guy behind her. She breathed a sigh of relief as she realised it was Dante. "Oh, my gosh, Dante, I am so sorry!"

He smiled, his dark chestnut eyes sparkling, as he tousled his chocolate-brown hair. "Liza! Don't be sorry, I love running into you!" Dante stuttered, and he fidgeted with his armour which dangled off of his slight frame. "Hang on, that came out wrong. I just meant that it's always great to see you."

Tearing her eyes away from his bronze arms, Liza giggled slightly, butterflies dancing around her stomach. "Thanks. It's always nice to see you too."

Dante's eyes rested heavily on her, his smile deepening, before he cleared his throat. "Umm, yeah, so, the general sent me to get you. He said it was urgent."

Liza's palms clammed up, and she chewed her bottom lip. "Did he tell you why?"

Dante seemed to have a little trouble focusing on her, and when he finally lifted his gaze to meet hers, it was melancholic and his brows were creased in worry. "He told me that it's an order from the emperor. You are going to be fighting in the Colosseum."