The Battlefield

The Rescue

The cart rumbled down the cobbled street, even though the people ran out of the path in fear of being run over by one of the best horses on land, it still wasn't fast enough for Miriam.

Soon, the tall entrance of the market came into view. Looking at her sleeping aunt for one last time, she couldn't help but feel regret for dragging her into her parents mess.
The glint of a dagger caught Miriam's eye that was carefully tucked away in her aunt's shawl.

Miriam grabbed the dagger and tucked it in her left sleeve, as she had dropped hers before.

The cart came to a stop right on front of the entrance. Miriam jumped off, and hurried into the marketplace.
Marco immediately set off to the villa, following Miriam's instructions.

The market was empty, shopkeepers abandoned their stalls, probably in fear of the goons. Miriam kept walking further, her hand up her sleeve.

I'm the distance, she could see a huge crowd circling what was obviously a fight scene. The cringe worthy screams and grunts emitting from the circle didn't help Miriam decipher who was being injured; Luca or the goons?

She broke through the circle, after a lot of pulling and pushing.
Miriam's gasp was caught in her throat when she saw the sight in front of her.

Five people caught Luca in the middle and each one threw punches anywhere and everywhere, while Luca tried to punch back at them but his attempts were in vain.

Miriam pulled her dagger out and stabbed one of the men in the shoulder. He immediately let go of Luca and grabbed on to his injured shoulder, screaming in pain. He turned around, his eyes blazing, to see Miriam take a lunge at his throat. That's the last thing he saw before falling down dead.

The other four members dropped to stare at her in surprise and anger. One of the men sauntered towards her as if seeing if testing her patience.

Miriam raised her blood coated dagger again but Luca punched the man, diverting his attention on him again.

The punching and kicking began again, but they threw Luca to the ground. Luca started struggling to get out of their grasp, and managed to stand up. The four men took a few steps back before running toward him again.
The synchronization of the men  scared Miriam to the core. Together they could do more harm.

They all fell on Luca again. It was eerily silent for a minute before Luca bellowed and threw the men off him. They all fell back, and Luca didn't waste a minute, punching the closest one to him until he fell unconscious.

The second one stood up, picking up Miriam's first dagger from the ground. He lunged at Luca but Luca caught his hand twisted the man around so it was the goon's body facing the dagger.

Fear was evident as day on his face, but it only lasted a second before pain replaced it after Luca plunged it into his heart.

The third man jumped on Luca, clawing his face. Luca tried to pry off his fingers, but Miriam stabbed the man in the back. She immediately let go of the dagger and moved back when the man reached behind him.

Luca took the man by his legs and flipped him over and the man fell on his back, his eyes bulged and became bloodshot as the dagger embedded itself further into him, before he stilled.

The fourth man took hold of Miriam's hair and dragged her back and placed his sword on her neck, just like he did when they first captured her. Miriam emitted a yelp. Luca's eyes were trained on the man's hand with the sword. The man kept walking back, putting Miriam in front of him as a shield.  In a blink, Luca caught the man's hand and twisted it behind his back. He dropped his sword to ease the pain.

Luca caught the sword before leaving two big gashes on the man's back, before throwing sand from the ground into it.  

The man fell face first onto the ground, screaming and writhing in pain.

Miriam backed away from the circle, reality sinking into her.

She just killed two people and seriously injured another. What was she doing?

Her eyes rolled to the back of her head, she swooned for a second before falling backwards.

Luca rushed to her aid, lifting up her body onto his lap. He carried her over his shoulder and out lectures market, leaving the stunned audience to clear up the bodies and report what had happened to an authority.
(///▽///)(///▽///)
Miriam woke up at the sound of  footfalls and breathing on the side of her face. She turned around on her back, and opened her eyes.

Feeling a presence next to her, she turned to see Mia looking at her curiously. Miriam smiled, "Hey Mia," she said.

Mia's face broke into a smile and she replied back merrily.

"How long was I sleeping for?" She asked.
Mia looked at the ceiling trying to put her newly acquired maths skills to use.

"Umm, two days....I think," she said looking at Miriam with a frown.

"Two days?" Miriam said with an overly surprise look on her face to amuse Mia. Mia giggled, Miriam pulled down Mia's face gently towards her and placed a soft kiss on her.

Meanwhile, Luca barged into the room in a rush. His eyes fell on Mia, feeling the need to scold her for disturbing Miriam when he heard voices. But after looking at Miriam's smiling face, he decided against it.

Luca walked over to them, picked up Mia and threw her on his shoulder upside down. Mia squealed and giggled while Miriam watched on with a glowing smile on her face.

Luca finally sat down on the edge of the bed, Mia still in his arms the right way up. "How are you feeling now?" He asked Miriam seriously.

"I'm okay, I don't even have a scratch on me. The question that meant to be asked is, how are you?"

"I'm okay, I'm a gladiator remember. What they did was a fraction of what we have to endure everyday." He said looking proud of himself.

"Okay Signor Show off! We get it!" Said Miriam rolling her eyes, before giggling with Mia.

"Wait!" Miriam said coming to her senses. "What will the King say when he hears of this?"
Mia seemed to sense the stress and worry hidden behind this sentence as all traces of humour disappeared on her face, matching Miriam.

Luca stared at Miriam emotionless, scaring Miriam to the bone. 

Suddenly Luca grinned, his eyes twinkling, all past tension that was built up disappearing around him. But it seemed like all his tension was passed over to Miriam. She considered whether the goons damaged Luca mentally.

"I'm a gladiator and an upcoming one. The King can't do anything to me or anyone I consider my own in case the people turn against him, because I'd have to quit fighting. And who can dare drop a gladiators blood apart from another gladiator? You know that their blood is as precious as gold!" He said smirking lazily. Miriam smiled back, knowing that they're in no immediate danger of being thrown into jail.

In the distance, the trio could hear objects breaking or shattering, creating a huge commotion between the servants and the uninvited guests.