***
"Darling," I called, grabbing her attention.
"Yes..." She hummed, too concentrated on the flowers she was watering to look at me. And here I thought that my jealousy ended with human beings but yet, here I find myself being jealous of these plants.
"You are getting bored, aren't you?" She paused with her watering to look at me.
"Is it truly that obvious?" She sighed, running a hand through her hair and I nodded my head, taking a step closer to her and helping in brushing her hair away.
"Well, I can't help it. I'm not allowed to leave the palace walls and while it is a beautiful palace, I haven't seen the outside world for five months. And here I thought, my parents, were the overprotective ones that sheltered me too much. And I am also the same child that said she would grow up to be an explorer,"
"An explorer?" I raised a brow, being able to imagine that in perfect light.
"Yes, an explorer. Although, I threw that dream away long before I decided to marry you... But anyway, why are you asking me something so obvious all of a sudden?" She reminded me of why I was here in the first place.
"I was thinking to leave the palace walls tomorrow," I said in a monotone voice as if talking about the nice Roman weather.
A long, very long, silence followed my statement and my once calm face morphed into a grin as I laughed at my wife who hasn't looked this bewildered since the first time I proposed to her out of nowhere.
"Are you serious? You are not joking with me, are you? Because if you are then I'll slap you," She stepped forward, clutching onto my chest as I continued to laugh at her, somehow managing to shake my head at her words.
"I was getting bored too, doing nothing but work every day. So, to have some fun I was thinking of visiting an amphitheatre tomorrow,"
"An amphitheatre?" She asked, raising a brow and I nodded my head once more, surprised by her sudden crestfallen face. What? All Romans loved watching gladiators fight, including me. But then again, my wife wasn't exactly an ordinary woman.
"What is it?" I decided to ask her.
"Huh... Oh, it's nothing. I've visited an amphitheatre before, once when I was younger with Julius and my parents... And I thought it was fun... Until one of the men died," She frowned at the memory and I sighed, smiling at her as I ruffled her hair.
"What?" She asked, holding onto my hand that rested on her head and moved it away to interlock our hands together. Putting the can that she was using to water the plants down, we both moved to walk around the large expanse of land together.
"I don't think I have appreciated how beautiful you are," I mumbled more to myself rather than her or anyone else for that matter.
"You tell me that I am beautiful every day. When it comes to calling me beautiful, no one has you beat," She laughed and I laughed with her, not at all surprised by that fact, just as it should be.
"I'm not talking about physical appearance, flower... Not once in my life have I met a woman so wild and yet so gentle. Of course, my attraction to you may have started with your beauty, but I can now confidently say that there are other aspects of you that I find much more beautiful," I paused in my steps to look at her, placing a hand on her cheek as I kissed her forehead.
"Who knew that the Emperor could be such a poet?" She chuckled, kissing my cheek.
"Only for his one and only Empress," I whispered to her, kissing her cheek and she laughed.
The next day was a beautiful day. I was planning on changing my mind about going to the amphitheatre but Ria had said she wouldn't have minded and so, here we are. Now that I think about it though, I didn't really want her seeing the death of someone, she didn't need to be scarred over some silly entertainment.
We were both dressed up and I even wore my golden wreath on my head today but all of today's plans almost went right out the window when I saw Ria looking as beautiful as ever in her fine clothing.
The crowd cheered loudly as Ria and I went to sit down, many of them waving at us and Ria, being Ria, happily waved back to as many people as she could while I leaned back on my seat and waved Linus, one of the many guards that came with us today, over to me.
"Is everything alright, your imperial majesty?" He asked, leaning his head down so he could hear better.
"Make sure no one dies today, including the competitors. I do not want Ria to witness any of it," He was surprised, to say the least, by my words but quickly gulped it back and nodded his head, running away to do as told.
"Where is Linus going? He looks to be in a hurry," Ria asked me while her eyes were focused on her personal bodyguard and I bit my tongue in an attempt to hold back the jealousy. Must she always be so worried about people who shouldn't matter?
"He needs to use the bathroom," I gave an excuse and she coughed out a laugh but turned back to look at the crowd anyways, believing my lie.
"It has yet to start but I am already so excited," She leaned forward, grinning ear to ear at the centre stage where the match between two gladiators would be taking place.
We sat at the best seats of one of the best and largest amphitheatres, called the colosseum, sat in a place where the sun wouldn't blind us with plenty of tasty snacks ranging from olives and grapes to wine and meat.
When the noise of the crowd picked up, I turned my head away from my wife to look at the stage where the black gates were pulled up and a man dressed in armour walked out, his body the size of an ape, a large shield and long sword gripped onto his hands.
Another man walked out, smaller than the ape-like man but still on the muscular side, his height and stature, like mine, going above the average Roman man.
"Who do you think will win?" Ria asked.
"The smaller man," I replied without a beat.
"Really?" She seemed surprised as I nodded my head. "You seem quite sure," She narrowed her eyes at me and I chuckled, picking her hand up in mine to kiss her knuckles.
"Let the fight begin and you will understand why," I whispered to her.
And so, the fight began on the horn of a trumpet.
The audience stood up, screaming without delay but above all else, the battle cries of both the gladiators rang the loudest and I intently watched, leaning forward on my chair.
They slashed their swords, put their shields up, dodged and cartwheeled out of the way, the smaller man using speed against the bigger man's brute strength. Raising his sword, he used the hilt to slam it back into the bigger man's abdomen and in his moment of pain, the fight had already been won.
Raising his sword, the man thrust his sword down and without a beat of hesitation, the bigger man's head was no longer connected to his body. His head rolled along the dirt on the stage and the crowd was losing its mind.
"I think I'm going to be sick," I snapped my head around to look at Ria as she jumped off her seat and ran off, covering her mouth with her hands and Julius, her brother, ran with her.
I stood up too, watching after my wife with a ticking jaw, my temper waning as I fought not to lose my calm exterior. Linus! That jerk! After I told him so clearly to not let there be a single death in this arena today!
"Linus!" I yelled and the man didn't miss a beat to run up to me, noticing my sudden foul temper. I knew I shouldn't have brought Ria with me today, this place wasn't for her.
But Linus, this man that clearly did not understand how to follow orders, he wasn't going to live to see another day unless he came up with a valid and believable excuse.
...
KEYWORDS:
Amphitheatre- A circular or oval open-air venue with a central space surrounded by tiers of seats for spectators; used for entertainment, performances, and dramatic sports.
Colosseum- An oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world today, despite its age.
Gladiator- A gladiator was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their lives and their legal and social standing by appearing in the arena.
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