For the Empire (BWWM/HISTORICAL)

The Coup Pt.2

Arrius

I felt the weight of Jaliyah presence as she ignored me all evening.

Even sitting directly in front of her and attempting to raise polite conversation was met with clipped responses and glares of disdain. She had very right to be angry at me. i had broken her trust and betrayed her.

But i held no loyalty towards her just as she held none to me. I was angered that i even felt bothered by her new unfavorable feelings towards me

I was not a lovesick, weak boy. I was a man. A General. I did was i must for my empire just as she would have for her own. I tried to explain to her that the male had wanted me to end his life. She seemed to not care about anything i said. As if my word and everything about me was untrustworthy. I suppose i could understand. she was hurting it was obvious and the blame had to fall upon someone. As the one to have done the deed, That could be no one but myself

FLASHBACK

I looked on at the male before me, sizing him up. My gaze roved his frame from top to bottom. He was the house champion, The Stygian of Death they called him. Staring at him closely i could see the immense strength and power emanating off him. He would make a incredible soldier. if circumstances were different, Perhaps we would even have been close friends

However the reality was he was deemed a slave, a gladiator yet  a male that somehow had a place in the Queens heart

I wanted to know how. I wanted to know who he was to her. She had begged me to save him, cried for him even. He had to have meant something to her. It seared my chest to think that they had been lovers.

To the males credit he simply stood statue still. Not cowering or flinching as i studied him. The scowl i knew my face held had to have been disconcerting. Yet he appeared unbothered and unfazed

Either he truly was fearless or simply did not care

"How do you know the Queen?"

I witnessed  his eyes flash at my question as he hesitated to answer 

"SPEAK!" I barked

"I do not know her" He stated simply

"Do not mock my intelligence slave! She came to me tearfully pleading for your release. Such a thing would risk all our lives, yet she was resolute in her plea. A woman does not risk all for a male she does not know. So i ask again How. Do. You. know. the Queen?!" 

"She was...a good friend of mine.....in another life"

I considered his answer recalling  her tears and desperation. They indicated something far more intimate than that of a friendship. however i decided not to press about it. If they had been lovers as much as i hated the thought, They were no longer. She was a Queen and he a gladiator; had been for 10 years

"Don't listen to her plea. Do not try to help me escape this place. There is no reason to"

He had spoken without me asking a question which was a grave offense. But i ignored it as His words struck me as odd. He didn't want to be freed? Why?

"No reason? Surely freedom is reason enough?"

"There is no freedom waiting for me beyond these walls. Where would i go and do?. I have been here so long all i know is battle. I am dark as night and well know everywhere. Even if i escaped this wretched empire, going back to Africa will only have me forever trying to evade slaver traders whom might eventually recapture and sell me again.....And Jaliyah. She would face dire consequences if they ever found out"