“Your obsession is dulling your edge,” Aemil snapped. “End it. Leonidas wins, you concede he’s better than you and did you a favor letting you live. You win, he never comes back here. He’ll be dead to you.”
“Can I break his limbs?” Regulus asked eagerly.
“Whatever you want. But I decide the victor.”
Aemil released us. We broke apart, my heart hammering. Though I’d sworn off death, the impending fight ramped up my excitement, letting blood burn through me as it hadn’t since I’d left the Circus of Gaius a free man.
Praxus, so new to the ludus that I’d never met him, rushed forward with two wooden practice swords. He shook with nervousness as he handed them to Aemil, who inspected them and tested their balance.
“Evenly matched.” He gave a nod of approval to Praxus, who looked as though he’d melt under it.
Aemil handed a sword to Regulus who nearly ripped it from his grasp. I took the other more quietly, my mind already focused on the coming fight.
Lucia, the murder, Priscus, my new life … faded. Nothing mattered at the moment but battling a fully trained gladiator.
This time, I was ready to win.
The sword might not be metal, but it was heavy, the tip whittled to a point. Aemil believed we’d learn to avoid being stabbed if the swords truly cut. Regulus could kill me with the wooden blade if he tried hard enough.
I shucked my boots and tunic, facing Regulus in my loincloth. He did the same. I flipped the sword, its leather-wrapped hilt familiar against my palm.
Regulus tossed his sword from hand to hand. The look in his eyes told me he’d do his best to kill me this day.
Aemil instructed us to stand ten paces apart, and then he stepped back to referee. He’d done this so many times in my life that I had the sensation I’d never left this place. Regulus and I were sparring, demonstrating to the newer fighters what to expect in the arena.
“Fight!” Aemil yelled. He balanced on the balls of his feet, ready to watch and follow us. We might fight to the death, but only within the rules.
We circled silently, eyeing each other, two predators waiting to strike.
Regulus kicked dust with his bare right foot, as he liked to, a ploy to distract his opponent. In the arena the action swept sand upward to sting though the eyeholes of the helmet. We had no helmets today, but the dust headed for my face before I turned sharply to avoid it.
Regulus had expected this move to slow me down and give him a few seconds to find his opening. So I attacked him.
A shout rose from the watching gladiators. I rammed Regulus with the side of my sword, my body following to harden the blow. I’d timed it to get under his reach, and felt him smack my naked back with his wooden blade.
Before he could do more than scratch me, I shoved him away, resuming a fighting stance to wait for my next opportunity.
Regulus immediately launched himself at me, but I’d seen him coming. He’d given himself away with the tiniest shuffle to his back foot, which most would not have seen. He’d made the same mistake on the day of our last bout.
I met him, smacking my sword hard into his chest. Regulus had raised his arms to stab down at me, and I caught him with my powerful shoulder, lifting him and sending him backward and to the ground.
A gladiator of lesser skill than Regulus would have been finished, my sword at his throat. But Regulus was up again, legs flashing as he sprang to his feet.
His breath was ragged, but so was mine. Sweat trickled into my eyes, and I gave myself a slice of time to step back and wipe it away.
Regulus followed me and struck again. I met him blow for blow, our bare arms used as shields. Aemil hadn’t given either of us any defenses except our own adeptness.
We slammed together then burst apart, and I hammered him mercilessly. In my final fight, I’d gone easy on Regulus, wanting to defeat but not hurt him beyond Marcianus’s skill.
Today, I decided to end this. He would realize why I’d been primus palus and that he’d never have taken the title if my benefactor hadn’t chosen to free me.
I heard the roar emerge from my throat as I drove Regulus across the yard. He parried my strikes well but could not get his sword