The weather was improving and after the long winter months cooped up on the estate, the family was eager for a chance to get out and visit the town again. It was March and celebrations in honour of Mars and the new military season were taking place in the nearby towns. There would be a real holiday atmosphere and Maximus was taking them to Emerita Augusta where Serena's elder sister now lived; her husband was a leading councillor and city worthy. It was an opportunity for a family gathering as well as the chance to let the ladies shop and buy some new clothes and other fripperies, while Marcus wanted to try his hand at the horse races that would be held in honour of the God, the Equirria. In his youth Maximus had triumphed and it gave him a sharp knot of pride that his son would be taking part in this traditional contest.

The journey was two days' - they stayed at the home of a distant cousin on the first night and rode into the large estate just before dusk on the second day. Maximus was uneasy about Serena even though she had traveled in a covered carriage and he had tried to make her as comfortable as possible with rugs and pillows to support her. The road was bumpy and full of pot holes after the winter frosts; it was not the ideal environment for a woman in her condition. She never complained but that didn't make him feel any better. He knew if she was suffering she would just keep it to herself where other women would make a song and dance about nothing.

His first action was to slide off his horse and hurry to check on her. She seemed pale but was smiling when he lifted her gently down; she would not let him carry her, insisting on walking. Aulus immediately ran over, down from the wagon where he had been with his nurse, and he demanded that his mother hold him. For once his father was sharp with him, picking him up roughly, handing him over to his nanny and ignoring his wail of temper.

Serena sighed but did not dare oppose her husband in public, especially before her brother-in-law. She would not undermine his authority however much she felt for her little boy. It was the way of things and Aulus had to learn. That night however she was grateful to sleep in a bed and took her leave early, drained by the journey. Maximus stayed up late drinking with her father and the other men.

Bella was left to amuse herself with the other young people. Her aunt Cora had two daughters still unmarried who were about her age. Veranilla and Octavia were pretty, rather silly-headed girls, who thought themselves the real sophisticates as they lived in the big town and regarded Bella as a country girl. It never occurred to the younger woman that they might have been jealous of their young cousin with her radiant beauty, tall slender litheness and the startling light green eyes that radiated from her golden- skinned face surrounded by its wild mane of dark curls.

They found subtle ways of reminding her about her age (Veranilla was sixteen and betrothed, Octavia was fifteen), her lack of worldly experience and her birth - which was just slightly scandalous, although it made her father seem dashing and a ladies' man. In their rooms, they chatted to their guests.

"Tomorrow we shall ask Calvus if he can escort us round," Veranilla announced as they played with hair ribbons and styles

"Who's Calvus?" Bella asked.

Veranilla simpered. "Septimus Calvus, my intended. Father thinks the world of him and will judge him to be a fine escort for the young women. However he wants to get me alone. He's got rooms in town. So you two can do what you like. As long as we leave and return together..."

"Rooms?" Bella gasped. "Are you going to...? You know? Do you let him...?"

The girls giggled. "Well, he can't do everything. I have to be intacta on the wedding night but there are lots of other things we can do..."

Bella didn't know what to say. She had no idea what Veranilla meant. She knew about kissing and sex, of course, but was there anything else? She didn't dare ask but decided to listen carefully and see what she could find out.

"I want to hook up with this boy whose father owns the tannery. He's called Priscus. He's so gorgeous. We can go and hang around there and see if he's around. Last time I was in town he whistled at me and asked me my name but my mother chased him off. I'm not wasting this chance..."

Bella felt a rush of excitement. Her father would simply die if he thought she was wandering around a big town alone but she didn't care. The thrill of doing something really daring thrilled her too much. After all, there was Marcus riding in the big race in a couple of days with young men years older than him - when she was just as good a horsewoman as he was - but she was expected to sit by boring Serena who would be even more tedious now with her pale face and long suffering expression. She thought she was the only woman ever to have a baby. If she kept her hands off Father then maybe she wouldn't be in that predicament anyway...

"...Well, I think he should restrain himself. Aulus is hardly weaned and there you are again!" Serena's mother muttered as the women sat on the porch waiting for the men to round bring the carriages on the following day.

Serena sighed and did not answer. Cora laughed.

"Mama - she never got a sniff of a man for years - be reasonable! It's not his fault if his seed is highly efficacious! One look at my brother-in-law and it's a wonder that wasn't enough even to fertilise my aging womb!"

Her mother swatted her arm. "You are incorrigible! Your daughters will hear you! But I still feel that at your age he should take a little slave girl and visit you sparingly. Or pull out..."

"Mother! Please!" Serena gasped. "Just stop interfering. You had five living children yourself!"

"I was younger than you."

"I am not yet thirty!"

"You are almost thirty. Many women are grandmothers at that age!" 

Cora laughed and clapped her hands to quiet them down. "I'd watch that little bastard of his, if I were you. She's too pretty for her own good. Mark my words she'll be hitching up her skirts for some likely lad before you know it...."

"How dare you refer to our daughter like that!" Serena gasped. "She is not a bastard! I adopted her long ago, as you very well know. I will not have you speak of her in that way...!"

"He got her on one of his slaves. Grow up! You can't keep the slave out of them, you know. No morals..."

At that Serena stood up, rather quicker than she should have; she felt lightheaded. "Unlike you, Cora? Who has such fine morals?" Serena looked piercingly at her elder sister who blushed, but she refrained from enlarging upon her sister's past affairs. "And as my husband was once a slave then what can we expect for any of our children? Obviously he is nothing but a stud from a gladiator barracks, used to pleasuring rich ladies. You can't keep the slave out of him, can you?"

At that, she stepped out on to the courtyard where the carriages were being assembled. Maximus came over. "Are you alright? You appear flushed. Are you sure you feel like this trip? I'll take them if you'd prefer a day resting."

Serena smiled. "I want to go. I am bored with resting in the house! Stop fussing! I'm either too pale or too flushed. Are you never satisfied?"

Maximus stepped back, a little surprised by her snappish tone. With a shrug, he lifted her up into the open carriage and then called for the others to join them. When all were seated, he mounted his horse and with the other men, the caravan wended its way slowly towards the nearest town.

Maximus consented to allowing Bella to join her young cousins on their walk around the town as they were accompanied by Calvus, Veranilla's betrothed. He was a man in his early twenties who had served three years already with the legions and was now back at home pursuing his legal career. Maximus was not overly impressed by the rather arrogant young buck but he looked more than capable of conducting himself appropriately - but just in case, he told Marcus to go along. The five set off while Serena took a gentle stroll down the street where all the shops were situated in the company of the older woman with their young son carried by a slave girl. Maximus had tucked a leather pouch of gold into her palm and told her to buy something extravagant for herself. He doubted whether she would. Serena was little interested in possessions for herself.

When they left, he walked along to the gymnasium and spent the morning working out and then bathing; it was some time since he had enjoyed the experience of a public bathhouse and he realized how much he had missed such pleasures in his quiet life on the farm. He lingered longer than he might previously have done, having a decent haircut and his beard trimmed, a massage and then lying on a couch idly chatting with some of the men he met there and his relatives who had also taken the opportunity. It was good to be in the company of men again.

Around midday, he went looking for his family; they had made a rather loose arrangement to meet in a tavern which was famed for its cuisine. As he strode through the streets he felt free and at peace; wandering unknown if not un-remarked. Many woman stared at him or caught his eye and gave him a winsome glance and he found himself grinning back, enjoying the chance to flirt, a spring in his step. A girl on a fruit stall called over "Hey, handsome, catch!' and tossed him an apple; he caught it and winked at her, as he carried on through the crowds, crunching on the fruit, full of the simple sense of the goodness of life and his ease with his world. His former existence of power and command, prestige and status seemed far from him - and nothing on earth would induce him to return to it.

Just then he saw Marcus up ahead, leaning against a wall, his back to his father. He was talking to a very young woman, a little curly haired peach of a girl with a spirited demeanour and bright lively eyes. She was not a girl he knew and by her dress and her open confidence, he suspected she was a shopkeeper's daughter, used to mixing freely with the general public, not shy and demure like the daughters of the men of his class, kept largely in seclusion. He smiled to himself. Marcus was almost fourteen and it was time he learned to deal with girls. It was unlikely he would act upon his instincts yet but it would do him no harm if he did. He was a rather reserved boy, much as he himself had been at that age - and a spirited peasant girl might be just the thing to bring him out of his shell.

Maximus smiled to himself and made sure his son did not see him. The last thing a boy wants when he is trying to seduce a girl is his father breathing down his neck.

Bella was bored. She had imagined that this chance to explore a big town would    have been a rather exciting and slightly dangerous thrill but it was not proving to be so. First Marcus had attached himself to their group and she knew he would have something to say if they tried to get away on their own. But eventually he had wandered off when he got talking to a girl who flashed a smile at him from across the street. No sooner had he disappeared than Calvus and Veranilla had stolen off to his rooms and that had left just her and Octavia. But Octavia had bumped into a young officer she knew called Barinus, home from his legion, and the pair had gone for a drink in a tavern. Octavia had told Bella to stand at the door and keep watch; and she had been stuck here loitering in the shadows since then, bored to death.

"Hey, pretty one...you looking for business?" A swarthy man slipped in next to her, his hand round her waist and his mouth close to her ear. He smelled of garlic and onions.

"I'm just waiting for someone..." Bella protested, trying to shake him off.

"Yeah...and you just found him...come on, little one, don't play hard to get. I'll give you a silver coin if you let me up your skirts..."

Bella struggled but he had her by the arm.

Just then: "Leave her, my friend. She is my wife. She waits for me..." The man and Bella both turned their heads in the direction of the voice. A young man with golden hair stood there, his face impassive but his hand resting on the haft of his knife in a warning stance. With a shrug her captor let her go.

"She should have said. How was I to know?" But he moved off quickly enough unwilling to engage with the young man who exuded such confidence in his physical abilities.

Bella rubbed at her arm where she had been held. "Drago!"

"We meet again. And you are still wandering in places that are dangerous. I cannot always guarantee on being there to rescue you!" he smiled, his eyes dancing.

Bella pouted. "I can look after myself!"

"Oh, I am sure you can, my sweet thing. And I am sure you would not have been taken down that alley way and raped had I not come along. Beg pardon for my presumption!"

At that she tossed her mane of thick curls. "Thank you for helping me. But I am not giving you a kiss this time!" she warned.

Drago burst out laughing. "And I am not asking, my lady! Now where is your family? Your slaves?"

Bella shrugged.

"You are lost?"

She shook her head.

Drago raised an eyebrow at her. "I see. You have wandered off by choice, have you? May I escort you back to a place of safety...?"

At that moment, Octavia emerged with her gentleman friend; she was highly surprised to see her little friend with such a man. "What are you doing speaking to a person like him? Can we not trust you for a few moments without you doing something silly? Good day, sir!"

Summarily dismissed, Drago gave a curt bow and stared out the young officer who sought to intimidate him, before turning on his heel and striding off. Octavia said a fond farewell to her companion and they made an arrangement to meet the next day at the horse racing. He was competing but she would wait and meet him after he rode. Once he had departed. Octavia took her hand and the two girls ran back to Calvus' rooms to call for Veranilla and return back to the rest for lunch.

"What are you thinking of chatting to someone like him on a street!" Octavia gasped.

"Well, you picked up that soldier..." Bella protested.

"He's an officer not a piece of street scum like that fellow! Not that he wasn't pretty enough, but seriously...have you any idea of how to behave as befits your new station in life?" Octavia mocked.

Bella winced at the comment. She could not but hear the insult implicit in her adoptive cousin's voice. There was little she could say to defend herself even if she hadn't been talking to him in that way. He had stepped in and saved her from a very nasty incident- she was not so naïve that she could not recognise that. He might be a rough and untutored man but he had honour and integrity - more than Octavia's soldier who would take a decent girl into a common tavern un-chaperoned!

"Take a look over there! The one eating the apple..." The man raised his eyes from his goblet and focused at the person his companion had indicated. The listener was a grizzled man of maybe fifty, his face heavily scarred with a huge frame solid as a rock. The speaker was a smaller man, lean and wiry with the hooded look of a viper.

"Him?" grunted the larger man, pointing a knife at the man in question who had stopped to look at something at a jeweller's shop; he was asking a woman the price of a pair of earrings.

For a while the man stared and then stabbed the knife into the roasted rabbit lying on a platter before him. "It could be. Perhaps. I remember him as older. More worn. Heavily bearded."

"That was after years riding hard with the legions and leading battles..."

"...I saw him last in the arena. I have never seen a swordsman like him. You do not forget a man like him..."

"So? Do you agree? A man can shave his beard...it is as I remember him. When he was younger. I served with him in the campaign at ..."

"So you have told me. Follow him. See where he goes. Maybe someone knows his name."

The other man nodded and slipped from his place, eager to win the approval of his colleague. But he had no worries. The man in question was already convinced of the identity of the stranger in the street. Maximus. He had once stood in the bowels of the Colosseum and listened as the crowds cheered that name; he had watched as Maximus had strode through the throng of gladiators who had also been hailing him as the hero. Thraxus Pontus didn't have time for heroes. But he had a burning curiosity to know if he could take this man.

However that would have to wait. At first he had a very important job to do and then, perhaps, there would be time to test his theory about the great Maximus. It wasn't as if he could lose. There would be others there to pick him off if he proved too powerful an adversary.

For now he would sit and eat his rabbit and drink his wine. Then his little friend would return with the information he required. So simple, so easy. Who would have thought that the story was true, that Maximus had lived after all and had been fool enough to return to his own estates? Thraxus Pontus had known as soon as he had heard the rumour in a bar in a port on the eastern seaboard. Some drunken fool who had claimed his brother had been a guard in a villa belonging to the former empress Lucilla where the supposedly long dead gladiator had been taken to recuperate from his injuries.

So he had traveled here to see if there was any chance the man would hide back with his own people. And sure enough, the arrogant general had been so convinced of the success of his own ruse that he now lived as if he had no enemies.

But he did. And they would pay handsomely for the general - dead or alive.

"Where have you been!" Cora laughed as the young ones ran up to join them; they were on a private balcony above the street in a secluded tavern where a fine dinner had been set out for them. The party was large and jolly, children running about being chased by slaves, old people indulging the young adults, parents getting a chance to talk amongst themselves for awhile. Maximus watched them all and laughed, dangling his son on his knee. It was good to be part of a big family. He had no one of his own but Serena's family had always regarded him as theirs since boyhood.

"You took your time!" Serena whispered. "Look what I have bought!" she indicated a parcel wrapped in rough cloth. "Bella needs a few new stolas - she has grown rather buxom of late in the chest area and I noticed some of her things were rather tight and I got some cloth for Aulus - you know how he grows! And then I saw a cloak that would be so fine for Marcus...but I got nothing for you! That means I have to shop some more..."

Maximus grinned. "What do I need? And you should not be on your feet so much. Furthermore, I told you to buy yourself something- and you did not. It is a good thing that I bought something for you instead!" He pulled out the little bag with the gold earrings set with an emerald stone.

Serena gasped. "They are beautiful! But where would I wear something so fine?"

Maximus grinned and leaned into her ear whispering something. She slapped his arm. "Shame on you!" He laughed even louder at her feigned annoyance. "You are still a priapic boy!"

"Father to one...your son was fixing himself with a little honey in the town this morning...I wouldn't be surprised if he disappears off later...just you watch..."

Serena giggled. "What? Marcus has a girl? Who is she? How did he meet her?"

Her husband shrugged. "Who knows. Some shopkeeper's girl. No better than she ought to be..."

"You don't think he would...I mean...toy with her..."Serena wondered.

"He's a boy! Of course he might. I wouldn't worry. She has probably been around the streets for years..."

"Max, that's a terrible thing to say....she is someone's daughter!"

Maximus raised his hands. "How else do men learn? He's a good boy...he won't do any real harm...but you have to be amused. How they grow! A few years ago when I returned he would no more have thought of a girl than....and now! He's turning on the charm..." he shook his head and smiled. Serena smiled too. How precious such thoughts must be to him when he once thought he would never see his son grow up to be a man.

She put her arms around his neck and kissed his lips. "Thank you for the gift. And tonight I shall wear them. Just for you - in the way you desire..." with a coy flutter of her eyelids.

Her father cleared his throat. "Are you two quite finished?" Serena and Maximus looked at each other and suppressed grins; his shoulders were shaking as he picked up a fork and began to eat, she was blushing and cast her eyes down. Serena's hand slipped onto his thigh beneath the table and her fingers walked across to his groin. He caught her hand and returned it the table with a sharp glance, his eyes gleaming, but his mouth set in a disapproving pout. But Serena was not fooled.

Bella had watched the performance of her parents with scarce concealed disgust. They were getting worse and worse - and they shamed her. Everything they did irritated her. Little Aulus came tottering round and put his sticky fingers on her dress; she pushed him away and gave him a surreptitious pinch. His nursemaid ran to pick him up and glared at the willful girl whispering, "I saw that, you little witch! If your father knew, he would..."

Bella simply turned away and twirled a curl around her finger nonchalantly. They were just so boring and her life was so restricted. She hated everyone.

That night after the busy day out, Serena retreated to her room fairly early with Aulus who was soon fast asleep by her side, his dark blond curls framing his pudgy little face and the soft little snaffle of his breathing a welcome sound. She read for a while but was restless and dropped the roll, dreamily staring into space, one hand stroking her son's warm little body and the other resting on the heavy swell of her unborn child. These days she found herself drifting often, her thoughts hard to discipline.

Images of Maximus in his many moods and expressions filled her mind: his serious pensive face when he had things on his mind, that deep languorous look he would give her when she raised her head and saw that he had been watching her from afar, his nostrils flaring slightly and his eyes dilating with erotic promise, the sweet smile that crinkled up his face and made his eyes dance, his concentrated look when he was working on something round the estate, pushing his body to its limit, refusing to accept that his injuries had slowed him down or made his joints ache when the damp crept into his bones. She loved his early morning face, when he lay half awake, idly rubbing himself against her, his hands beneath her robe, the warm sweet aroma of their bodies and the bed they shared. Then there was his late night face when he was tired and a little gruff, pulling off his clothes and throwing himself in beside her until she cradled his head and stroked the worried frown and he sighed deep and low. Would she ever tire of any part of him, her man who came back from the grave - or a place even worse than that?

The door opened and he came in quietly, stripping to his breeches and blowing out the candle, opening the shutters to let in the night air and the star-studded sky. He would not sleep in a confined space and always needed the sense of the outdoors close. It still pained her to think of the years he had spent his days in a foetid cell with barely any light, only allowed outside into the day to take his exercise or kill to save his life.

Serena watched him as he stared out at the night and breathed the still cool air.  Even now he carried an air of melancholy about him. She wished that she could change that - but it was part of his nature. She thought she loved that most of all.

"Come to bed!"

He spun round. "I thought you were long asleep." With a smile he sat down on the edge and ran his hand down his son's face; the little boy snaffled and curled up closer to his mother. "Carry him to his cot, Maximus..."

"No...let him lie with his mother. That is where he wants to be - and who can blame him?"

"He will wet the bed..." Maximus picked the sleepy boy and carried him to the window, loosening the cloth that bound him and holding his small penis. He whispered into the boy's ear a shushing sound and Aulus let go a stream of urine, his head lolling back against his father's chest. Maximus chuckled to himself and carried him back while Serena redressed him. "That boy can sleep..." he grinned as he pulled off his own breeches and returned to the balcony to urinate onto the ground below.

"Maximus! You are not at home now!" Serena giggled. "Use the pot!" He snorted in derision, finished and then rolled in beside his son.

"You know he is spoilt? When the baby comes, what will we do? He thinks his place is in our bed!"

Maximus lay on his back and stared at the ceiling, his arms above his head; he had been drinking with the other men and she could smell wine off his breath and recognized his slightly loosened state. "I would not care if they all slept in our bed every night. If I could keep them as babies forever in our safe keeping, then I would gladly do so."

"I think we might find it somewhat difficult to fornicate!"

He laughed. "Who says we have to do that in a bed?"

Serena punched him playfully. "You get worse with age. Go to sleep, you're drunk!"

"I am wakeful...I have an urge for a woman..." he muttered.

"Is that so? Will any woman do? Should I call one of the slaves?"

He grunted. "Don't be ridiculous, woman!"

"Should I...?" She reached a hand down over her son to touch his manhood; he pulled away.

"No...!" His voice was gruff now. "You are too close. We cannot take chances until you are safely past confinement. Don't argue with me about this..."

They lay awhile in the darkness but she knew he was not asleep. At dinner she had noticed a pretty little slave girl, a flaxen haired German with green eyes and a buxom body who had been giving him the eye all night. Once or twice Maximus' gaze had followed her a little longer than was acceptable and it had made Serena smile. He was a man after all and his body responded even where his will held him back.

When she heard his breathing level off and knew that he had finally fallen into sleep, she rose from the bed and hauled her son into her arms. He was very heavy for her but she knew that his nurse, Sulvia, was sleeping outside the door. Waking her, Serena asked her to take the child into one of the rooms where the other small children were sleeping and then come back to her. As soon as the woman returned she told her to fetch the little German.

Sulvia looked surprised at her request but hurried off to do her bidding. Shortly afterwards, the girl came to her, wide eyed and sleepy, her hair loose and like a golden wave down her back. For a moment, the sight of this pretty young thing made a dart of jealousy prick at her breast but she knew that she had to be strong - and realistic. In the future this might have to be a more common practice - she would not have him suffer, a man such as he.

"Have you been with a man tonight?" Serena asked. The girl shook her head. She looked clean enough. "I want you to share a bed with my husband..."

"Maximus?" The girl gasped and then struggled to suppress her smile. "Yes, my lady..."

"Do not wake him...Touch him and he will respond - don't speak...just let him do what he needs to do..."

The girl nodded and slipped beyond the curtain into the room. Sulvia put her arms around her mistress. "Come...you can sleep with Aulus..."

Maximus stirred, aware that he was being pleasured. He smiled and in his dream he was lying in a sun-soaked valley on a warm midsummer day. Serena was lying naked in his arms and then wriggling down to take him in her mouth. His eyes flickered open as he rolled her from him, eager to enter her. In the moonlight he saw tumbling curls of pale gold.

"Who are you?" He sat up with a start; the girl backed off, intimidated by his commanding tone.

"Your wife sent me..." 

For a few seconds he seemed not to comprehend what she had said and then he raised his chin at her. "Get out of my bed!"

"I'm sorry, my lord, if I did not please you..."

Maximus shook his head. "You did nothing wrong, child. You should not be here. You do not have to do this for me..."

"I want to. I like you very much. You are a very handsome man..."

"You do not even know me..." he replied, shaking his head.

"Do I need to know you?" she whispered, unsure of his meaning.

"No...I agree..." he smiled sadly. "That is not necessary for copulation...but...I do not do this, girl. I have no taste for using slaves."

"Your wife is heavy with child..."

"Then I must wait. As she must wait. And get a good night's sleep instead. Here..." He threw her robe over to her. "Dress...Go and find my wife...Say her husband waits for her..."

The girl wriggled into her tunic and bowed, running from the room. She found the mistress and gave her the message, scared that she would be chastised for failure. Serena just sighed and told her to go back to bed.

Re-entering their room, she came over to the bed; Maximus was sitting up, resting on the headboard waiting for you.

"Never do that again...!" he warned her, his face set rigidly. 

"I ...I...you are too stubborn...it is just relief...!" Serena argued.

"...Then I find it in my hand!" He hissed at her.

"No! That is not seemly..."

"There is nothing on this earth that will persuade me to betray you or take a slave. If you don't understand that fact about me then you do not know me at all..." he spat out aggressively.

"Maximus...!" Serena sobbed. "I just don't want you to suffer anymore...!"

He jumped from the bed and held her. "I am not suffering anymore! I have everything I want in life. This..." he cupped his naked genitals, "...this is not important to me. It is just an organ that fills and empties. This is what I am..." He took her hand and placed it over his heart. Their eyes met in the moonlight and she saw his intensity. "Do you know how it felt to be used as a vehicle for other people's pleasure? To be a raging beast, a bringer of death, just to please a crowd? How can I ask of any other human being to make use of their body for the sport of another? I am a man, not the sum total of my body parts. Serena, joy is deeper than that. True pleasure is not to be found in passing experience. I have waited years for you. What is a few weeks compared to that?"

"Oh...Maximus...!" 

He held her close and whispered into her hair. "Bed...sleep...and no more of your silly nonsense..."

Wrapped up in each other's arms once more, he stroked her belly and murmured. "However...I do approve of your good taste in women. She was a little honey pot...!" Serena elbowed him and giggled at his remark, adoring his playful teasing as much as his declaration of the deep love he felt for her. Maximus smiled as she dropped off to sleep in his arms but the smile soon faded from his lips as he lay back and thought about the time to come. He was afraid. Afraid of losing Serena. The only thing in life that had the power to frighten him was that this life they had might be taken from them again. He closed his eyes and prayed to his goddess to keep this woman in her blessed care and bring her through the coming labour, safe and sound.

The next day, the family took their seats at the chariot arena to await the final stages of the Equirria. They had seen the young men off on their cross country race, Maximus shouting last minute words of advice to Marcus as the young man spurred on his ride and made for the open countryside. Maximus had stood watching the line of horses raising dust before turning to rejoin the family. They made their way to the arena and took the seats that had been reserved for them by a group of household slaves. Serena squeezed Maximus' hand; she knew how hard he found it to sit in the benches and watch where once he had been an active participant.

Bella sat in the family group, feeling bored. She had that usual feeling of annoyance when Marcus was allowed to take part in events that she had to sit out. Why hadn't she been born man? She felt so isolated from her cousins who would have thought her mad had they known what she was thinking. Veranilla was hoping that her betrothed, Calvus would triumph and Octavia was looking out for Barimus. The rest of the family were laying odds that Marcus would follow in his father's tradition and carry the day.

As she stared around, Bella caught sight of Drago lounging at the entrance, leaning on a wall. She looked at the family members and they were all busy talking - so decided to take her chance to slip out and have a word with the handsome poacher. Running down the wooden steps, she surprised him. Drago jumped to attention and smiled as she approached. "Bella! I was....thinking about you..."

Bella smiled shyly. "I thought you would be in the race..."

He shrugged. "It would be difficult. I have no horse...I'm not a spoilt rich boy like..."

"Like my brother? Is that what you were going to say? I'll have you know that we're not exactly rich. Everything we have is the result of the sweat of my father's brow..." Bella wished she did not have such an urge to spar with Drago. But everything he said infuriated her.

"And the privilege of his class. I could sweat all my life and never hope to have a life like yours..." Drago mumbled.

"If you only knew the truth about my father and all he has suffered; he is an exceptional man...!"

Drago frowned. "Why are we arguing? I did not mean for us to argue! Bella...you should not be here with me. Your family will be angry with you. Go back..."

Bella blushed. "I wanted to see you. I also do not want to fight! Please, Drago...when we go home...can you come to our estate or shall I never see you again?"

"You wish to see me? Even though you know what your precious father would do if he knew?"

Bella threw back her shoulders and tossed her hair. "This is nothing to do with him! I do wish to see you..."

Drago smiled bashfully at her words. "I shall try. Look out for a sign. Then meet me by your postern gate in the heat of the day."

"Sign; what sign?" Bella asked. Drago pulled at a leather cord around his neck and showed her the totem on it. It was a piece of bone carved like a crescent moon. "A sign like this. Somewhere you do not expect...." He picked up her hand, placed a kiss upon it before turning and disappearing into the crowd. Bella ran back to their places and slipped back down. "Where have you been?" cautioned Sulvia suspiciously.

"Did they notice?"

"Lucky for you, no...but if you are meeting some boy then I warn you, you'd better take care. Your father will never forgive you if you disgrace him..."

Bella gave the servant her back and took no further notice of her whining. She knew the woman would not say anything. And even if she did, Bella would deny it. What proof did the old witch have anyway?

Before anyone could make a comment, the roar of the crowd indicated the arrival in the distance of the horsemen. The entire family - Bella included- shot to their feet as the young men and boys rode at breakneck speeds towards the arena to complete one circuit before crossing the finishing line.

But there was no real doubt as to who would ride in first. How could the son of Maximus, trained in the equine arts by his father himself, not outshine other boys in this quiet country area, far away from the larger arena where men like them were tested? Maximus rose to his feet and said nothing as his son took the victory, dipping smoothly to collect the victory wreath and ride around with it on his head. Only the sparkling in his father's eye and the sheen of emotion in unshed tears gave him away as the man who should have died watched the boy whom he had believed was dead. What a moment of quiet joy it was for him!

Serena was more vocal, screaming out her son's name in her excitement; Maximus took her hand and sat her back down. "Not so excited....you must stay calmer at this time....you may do yourself harm!"

Serena rolled her eyes but she knew she was tired in the hot sun and his advice was sensible so she did not gainsay him. "It was a fine victory, my lord..." she exclaimed with a smile.

"No one's lord...your husband and friend, Serena, use my name...but yes...the sweetest victory of all! Just to be here and see this day that I never believed would be given to us all!"

The man and woman locked eyes, both unwilling to give public face to private emotions. Then he ran easily down to the ground level, vaulting like a younger man himself over the low wall onto the sandy floor, to greet his son warmly. Marcus slipped off his steed when he saw his father and the two embraced. The moment was seen by everyone there.

Bella watching impassive from her seat saw the pride on her father's face as he held his legitimate son and acknowledged his approval before the crowd. She was pleased for Marcus whom she loved dearly but could not shake away the knot of jealous bitterness that curdled in the pit of her stomach. She could outride her half brother. Always could. But her father would never look on her with such pride in her achievements. He would never love her like his real family. She was just a bastard got off a slave. A nothing. A non-person, raised above her station by virtue of his good heart. In fact she was less favoured even than a poor man like Drago - for he did not have the stain of slavery to mar his free status. A freedman was never a freeman to those who had never known the yoke.

Thraxus Pontus was also in the crowd, his eyes fixed on the man he had traveled so far to find. So easy in the end. No need to ask questions or raise suspicion. The name was being proclaimed before the entire city. Marcus Maximus Meridius. The son of the general himself. Pontus's gaze traveled back across the arena to the seats from where the former general had originated. So this was his family? The pregnant woman- his wife most likely - well, the man had gone without for a long time. Pontus knew the odd tales told of his fellow gladiator who had eschewed women apparently - and shown no interest in the services of young boys or catamites.  Rumour had it that his strength lay in his chastity. Some even thought he had been a Christian, although he had been observed worshipping his ancestors and praying to conventional spirits. But he had been an enigma to the others. Women were on hand freely to men such as they - whores, lower born women and even great ladies who wanted their barren wombs seeding behind their aged husbands backs or just a roll in the dirt with a man whose very sweat was said to bring power and good fortune. If so, what then would his semen bring? Pontus laughed to himself. A damn good fucking which is what they all wanted at the end of it, fine ladies or no.

So Maximus had a beautiful wife with another baby in her belly? She could be used as a lure. He would be easy to distract if anything happened to her. Then Thraxus noticed another young woman near to the wife. What a little gem she was! Couldn't be much more than thirteen, but tall and comely, black, black hair and pale green eyes against her golden skin. If she was his daughter then she would be a virgin still judging by her dress and her place at her mother's side. Pontus licked his fleshy lips at the thought of what she would taste like. New flesh. Ripe and clean. Unploughed and innocent. How she would fight and scream! And best of all - what would her father do if he thought her taken?

Suddenly Pontus lost interest in the wife. Not much fun raping a woman with a belly seven months gone. She wouldn't last five minutes. But that little honey...he could see her spread eagled for his amusement whenever he wanted her. She was strong and fiery by the look of her. And she would be arrogant, as all those high born girls were. But in the end, he would have her begging for it to save her life.

And then, when he had taken his fill, he would have her father's head for dessert. And a fortune for his pains. But for now, he would follow them home and make his plans. No need to hurry. This would be all the sweeter for the anticipation. He would not move until everything was ready and then there would be no room for failure.