"I did not care for Varinius' hand upon you." "Nor I." "The girl, Naevia." "What did he say?" "Dead." "The slaver told not of her death, but of her suffering in the mines!" "I stand with Crixus." "And will see Naevia from bondage." "I move for vesuvius." "Those that would live, join me." "Noble Varinius!" "I offer apologies." "My soldiers have been set to higher purpose!" "Into the mines, quickly!" "At this very moment, they close on Spartacus!" "You're safe, you're safe now." "Crixus?" "Take Naevia to a safe place!" "Naevia!" "Halt!" "Swing around to the left!" "I got her!" "You made me run." "I fucking hate running." "I would see Tychos to ground." "Far from Roman hands." "More come." "Right!" "There is no time for it." "It does not fucking matter." "We shall all join him soon." "Spartacus shall fall." "Is that not the reason for my presence in Capua?" "To shit with reason." "The absence of your troops from the games was an insult to good Varinius." "The Republic would bear far greater slight, were I to turn from purpose." "Seppius has been searching for the Thracian for months." "How came you to divine he would make attempt on the mines at Lucania?" "Because the gods themselves presented it, through voice of humble servant." "Lucretia?" "Her counsel moved my hand." "Perhaps your course was justified then." "I pray it true." "Otherwise offense has been made upon the ramblings of a madwoman." "We have moved past this, Ilithyia." "In spirit, at least." "Let us make it a thing of the flesh, with celebration." "Here within these walls, to pay tribute owed." "An excellent notion!" "Well received, yes?" "It would stand the more grievous insult to refuse." "You honor me." "The honor is mine." "I only thought to help." "By plying that preening shit with celebration in our own house?" "Our house is in Rome, Gaius." "And I would speed return." "With Varinius' support, you will have Seppius' men." "Now worth their weight in piss." "When Marcus returns to us with Spartacus as Lucretia " "You place too high a value on her." "She will drag us to ruin when it plummets." "Lucretia continues to prove herself worthy of such estimation." "Would that my own wife held the same." "Spartacus." "She needs a moment." "She needs to fucking move." "How quickly would your feet carry, after months condemned to that place?" "She is not alone in needing rest." "The lack of it sets nerve to edge." "We will find higher ground, better defended if set upon." "Can you walk but a little more?" "She will make it." "Come on." "The weight of her increases with each step." "Perhaps it is time to lighten burden." "I swore a promise to Crixus." "She is the man's heart." "Would you again tear it from his chest?" "Crixus is dead." "And I would be free of his woman, before we fucking share the same fate." "We move for Vesuvius, to rejoin Agron." "All of us." "Speak of this again and the Romans will be the least of your concerns." "Tychos." "One of the lesser men." "Let him serve as a warning." "That Rome is not so easily defied." "Their numbers dwindle." "Yet ours follow at more rapid pace." "We still hold the greater sum." "Spartacus and his men are gladiators." "A handful of your men would stand pale shadow against one" "Roman soldiers know something of death, and the dealing of it." "Do not measure their worth against common slaves." "Slaves, true." "But far from common." "Move absent proper force... and see the rank of the dead swell." "Your men are spread too thin throughout the forest." "A single man carried by swift purpose could return with reinforcements..." "Carry word to the other squads." "We do not rest." "Tribune" "See this to its end in the name of Gaius Claudius Glaber." "Turn from your charge, and I'll put a sword in your fucking back." "Varinius is a man of the highest regard." "See his cup always full and all desires met." "Am I understood?" "Domina." "Yes, Domina." "Bathe and prepare yourselves." "Seppia." "Apologies, I was not told of your arrival." "None required." "I came seeking Lucretia's counsel." "A thing desired by many it would seem." "Your words set her to path." "Mine?" "You are forever extolling the virtues of marriage." "Wisdom of years has finally proven master over fatuous youth." "You've found a husband so quickly?" "If the gods bless such a union." "I shall entreat them on your behalf." "With their favor, Varinius shall be yours." "Varinius?" "Is he not handsome?" "And tall and strong and of means?" "The form of a man every woman longs to call her own!" "He would make a husband to rival all others." "I must prepare myself for his celebration." "I would catch his eye, and with it see the rest of him swiftly follow." "You have made impression upon her." "As have you." "No longer is pilgrimage needed to Delphi." "Those seeking the consideration of the gods need only bow to the Oracle of Capua." "I am but humble vessel, offering a mere taste of their will." "Then Seppia shall find tonight a bitter draught." "Varinius is a praetor." "As is your husband." "Yet Varinius rises more quickly, and one day shall hold title of consul." "The wife of such a man must possess refinement and poise." "Traits yet lacking in a spoiled little girl." "Perhaps you would have me petition the gods for a different union?" "One closer to heart..." "The morning cock has better chance of crowing to such heights." "Your husband believes otherwise." "As does your father." "When Marcus returns absent Spartacus, you shall be revealed as what you are." "An empty vessel, barren of life and prophecy." "See yourself dressed for tonight." "I have no doubt my husband will wish to parade you about as favored pet." "Your husband's trust is valued gift." "Yet yours would prove the greater treasure." "Line them up." "The faith placed in me is not mislaid." "Spartacus proves where I predicted." "Praetor." "This is all that stand captured?" "Many more lay dead in the mines." "Your Gaul returns to you at least." "Where is Spartacus?" "He fled into the woods with a clutch of slaves." "Marcus gives chase." "Alert me the moment he is sighted upon road." "To the cells." "Move!" "Even aided by your divine guidance, he stands with empty hands." "He will yet find Spartacus between them." "The gods " "Your tongue writhes absent their purpose." "Was Naevia not found in the mines, as I foretold?" "And who so condemned her to such a place?" "Juno?" "Or a Lanista's wife, more earthly bound?" "Your prophecies bear the stench of opportunity." "Oenomaus   was delivered by your dead husband's man." "A toad who has seen his share of wounds." "I wonder if he could mend them as well..." "Do not think me the fool, as my husband and father." "You and I have unfinished affairs." "And I would see them draw to a close." "Get in!" "Again to this House of Piss and Shit." "A fate I alone should bear." "The risk was known to us all." "Fuck risk and fuck the fucking Romans." "I stand with you, in this life and the next." "The bonds of brotherhood." "They have always run deep within these walls." "Oenomaus!" "What has happened?" "How did you come here?" "I was a fool." "That now stands in fellow company." "Their fault lies only in following me on impossible journey." "Naevia lives." "We liberated her from the mines." "Love." "You fall to ruin for love." "She is my heart." "She is a woman." "A delicate creature at the best of times." "They are moved by desires unknown by the men that place trust in them." "She lives." "That is all that matters." "Shhh." "You are safe now." "You are safe." "You do not rest?" "I would not see another of us fall." "Not even the gods could have done more to prevent it." "A thought holding no comfort to the dead." "Naevia." "Liscus!" "Nasir!" "He risked life, to save my own." "A most impressive showing!" "It staggers to think this house so recently a tomb." "These walls truly present no evidence of witnessed horrors." "Such memories shall soon be cleansed from thought, never again to darken mind." "I long for such a day." "Let us hasten it with ample libation." "I fear Mercato may lose himself in the bottom of a cup, and forget that we are of position." "I would never make spectacle of myself." "Come then!" "I would test the strength of your resolve." "And my own as well!" "I have never beheld sour Gallienus in such high spirits." "This celebration already proves clever suggestion." "To be made brilliant, if Spartacus' capture were to be announced." "The gods may yet bless us this night with unexpected gifts." "Let us entreat them with wine and song!" "Our voices to carry to Olympus itself!" "This house once sat perched within its reach." "I have worshiped here myself upon occasion." "Good Cossutius." "I had not heard you were in Capua." "He comes for my games." "And to remove himself from the prudish eyes of Rome." "Both just cause." "Come." "Let us enjoy spectacle." "Truly a feast for the senses." "Even I stand speechless." "Then I shall seize upon rare moment, to honor noble guest." "Good citizens of Capua!" "Your Presence here in this house once stood cursed is testament to your courage and faith." "Faith not only in me, in the body of the Senate as well." "Represented by beloved Albinius and noble Varinius." "A man worthy of celebration for his generosity in providing distraction with games to ease troubled thoughts!" "See how they admire you." "The girl takes your counsel to heart." "And I repay your kind attendance with welcome news of retribution." "My soldiers return with news of Spartacus' imminent capture... and offer in advance the lives of the few surviving remnants of his most trusted men." "These gladiators... these slaves, were responsible for the deaths of many of your noble kin." "And they will pay.... with blood." "Praetor Varinius." "Pressing concerns forced hand in preventing my men from presenting at your games." "I offer you the lives of these enemies of Rome, to balm unintentional wounds." "Cut the pig!" "Come on, we want blood!" "Gratitude for this honor." "And for your tireless pursuit of the villain Spartacus." "Yet I cannot accept." "I cannot accept because to do so would rob the people of this city of deserved pleasures." "Let these men not fall here tonight in the honor of a single man, but in the arena before all of Capua!" "Water!" "Drink." "The boy fought well." "Would this were wine, to send him properly on his way." "You speak of him as if already gone." "Then he speaks the truth." "We have settled this." "Come to reason." "There is more blood upon the ground than yet within him." "Even if we carry him, he will not survive." "But he will leave a trail." "One that the Romans shall follow." "We cannot just leave him." "No." "We cannot." "You would take his life?" "I would but sever dangling thread." "It would be a kindness." "You will not touch him." "Then do it yourself." "Put him from misery, as you did Varro " "Crixus." "He survived worse." "Against Theokoles." "The boy too will live." "If his wound is sealed with fire." "A fire would call the Romans down upon us." "Then we must be quick, and be gone before they arrive." "And if we are not?" "We do not have enough men." "No." "We do not." "Find Agron and bring all to purpose." "We will follow as swiftly as we are able." "I fear it will not be swift enough." "Trussed as game awaiting slaughter, yet the man still eyes us as prey." "The fire will soon be put from rebellious eyes." "A fitting end to your games, Varinius." "It shall be a day etched in memory." "I cannot wait to see their blood spill upon the sands." "Nor I." "Yet should they not fall here, in the very place they robbed our beloved cousin" "Sextus of his life?" "A man dearly missed." "It is a pity he shall not be honored this night." "Would the greater honor not be before all of Capua?" "We are politicians, are we not?" "Let us come to middle ground, and see everyone satisfied." "Choose a single man, and let us make sport of him in memory of your cousin." "A most judicious compromise!" "Seppius is not the only one who stands injured." "The gods themselves took note of the horrors inflicted upon Lucretia." "And pluck her from the shores of the afterlife to voice their desires." "Should she not choose what blood is shed beneath roof she once claimed her own?" "She has been most sorely grieved." "If there are no objections...?" "What mortal dares defy the gods?" "Only one who would draw their wrath." "Varinius has seen fit to allow us a taste of the blood to come." "A single man, to be sacrificed to this house where so many lives were stolen by Spartacus and his jackals." "To be chosen by its former domina, the gods themselves guiding her hands." "The gods have chosen." "This one." "We shall draw lots, and cut but shallow to prolong the game." "Seppius to stand first, in honor of fallen cousin!" "Fuck the lot of you Roman cunts!" "Do not think that the gods have shown you mercy." "I but delay your passing, so that I may savor it." "My life is gladly given." "For Naevia's." "She lives?" "Far from your fucking grasp." "News greeted with joy." "I would have her hear of your final moments." "In the arena you held so dear." "And the crowd which once cheered your name spitting upon you." "And when you fall, it will not be as champion." "But as a common slave." "Absent honor and absent glory and your name forever lost to history." "Let this shit speak now of Romans!" "First blood has been drawn!" "Who stands next?" "!" "Remember, do not cut too deep." "I would not deprive everyone fair turn!" "Varinius in town but a handful of days, and already outshines your husband." "The man does exude presence." "The breast!" "But your heart was always set upon Gaius." "It is a deceitful thing that has led many astray." "Yet mistakes of youth need not forever haunt maturity." "You would see marriage dissolved?" "I do not hold such power." "That decision lies in trusted father." "Gaius is not without considerable fault." "Yet it would not lend favorably upon our name." "You carry his child, and he yet holds position of praetor." "He is not the only one with such title." "It would seem the gods favor less mature schemes." "Strike it from your thoughts, as I have from mine." "He is fading." "Fetch something for him to clutch between teeth." "When it is done, we must smother fire and move quickly." "I've seen that look." "And the blame it inflicts inward." "None other deserve it." "We chose to do this." "Even fucking Liscus." "Glaber does not send his men against Liscus." "He sends them against me." "And all suffer because of it." "Yes." "It is because of you." "That we are free." "What are you doing?" "We must close your wound." "I am to be branded with fire." "As a true gladiator would." "You have earned your place among the brotherhood." "Hold him down." "Do not cry out." "The fire!" "Quickly!" "Take my sword!" "Go!" "Come, it is your turn." "I have never held one before." "My brother would not allow it." "Well, then it falls to more experienced hands to guide you." "Come." "You do not care for your master's affections?" "I am slave to no man." "Yet you bow and scrape toward Varinius' purpose." "But aids me in pursuit of Spartacus." "I would have done so as well." "Absent attempt to fuck your sister." "Magistrate." "A word." "Hmm..." "Now place the tip against flesh, and feel it part at your desire." "I..." "I cannot." "Apologies " "Our honored guest asks too much of inexperienced hands." "Your wife does not shy from taking life." "That is how you sate desire, for love or vengeance." "Without hesitation." "It is a sight, is it not?" "All of Capua laid at your feet." "It is not the view, but quiet respite from celebration that draws me." "And I have shattered it with prattling tongue." "Apologies." "Linger." "I would not sweep you from perch once your own." "It seems a lifetime ago I called it so." "Time flees from us all." "Leaving regret for what might have been churning in our wake." "I fear we share much in such regard." "A husband lost." "A wife..." "Dearly missed." "Let us turn to common joy, of friend and daughter." "Ilithyia." "The name fails to lighten troubled thoughts." "Give them voice, and see them fly to the heavens." "I have not the lungs to shout so loud." "Then whisper desire to me." "And I shall entreat the gods to see them satisfied." "Your counsel would be much appreciated." "Where's Fortis?" "We avoided one squad of Romans." "A second we could not." "I lost Fortis in the woods as we fled." "Which direction?" "The one which you travel in." "We shall break to the west, and hope to miss them before righting course." "And if we do not?" "Then they shall learn that a wounded animal may yet bare teeth." "You overreach." "And hot tears burn in result." "Turn from him." "And dry your eyes." "Let us leave this fucking house." "And see memory of this night fade in warm embrace." "Yes, brother." "Crassus, yes!" "Yes, I have dined and bathed with him upon many occasion." "A man large of coin... small of cock." "His wife has often spoken of it." "In far grander terms." "Seek more wine." "I shall join you presently." "Your eye flits from young to younger still." "If celebration stretches," "I fear to discover you with a newborn clutched in hand." "Ilithyia, I would not see my jest towards Crassus reach his ear." "And what do you offer to purchase my silence?" "What is it you seek?" "Favor for your husband?" "I have secured many for him over the years." "Perhaps it is time to place myself higher in concern..." "It would be well deserved." "Why do you chase after simple little girls, barely formed of breast?" "They are unencumbered." "Of marriage... and obligation..." "And if a woman your equal stood removed from such?" "We speak in ever tightening circles." "I would see them come to a point..." "My father never favored Gaius." "If a more suitable husband with equal title and greater promise were to make his intentions known..." "You play a dangerous game." "With stakes worth the risk." "Your name... wed to my father's... power and wealth to rival Crassus himself..." "Gain your father's approval to dissolve your marriage... and find me as wet with desire as you now stand." "Fuck the gods." "Fortis." "Back the way we came." "Liscus!" "Did I not fucking warn you?" "A serious wound." "But you should live if " "Call the remaining squad." "It will not make a difference." "Spartacus is possessed by the gods themselves " "Spartacus is here!" "Bear arms!" "You will draw them to us!" "And we will fight until the last drop of Roman blood " "I am not a Roman." "And I will not fucking die this night." "We must move before more come." "I am done running." "Do not fucking let this be for nothing." "Live... and see many Romans fall..." "You really believe this will save you?" "Maneuvering my father's cock inside you?" "You mistake intent " "Do not attempt to twist fucking word to advantage." "I will not be placed beneath your heel again, you withered cunt." "You think so low of me?" "Based upon lasting memory of blood and betrayal." "I've done many things to hurt you." "Because I was jealous." "Of your position and your beauty." "Your youth." "Moved by base passions which served only to wound my own heart." "I would do anything, Ilithyia." "To erase injury my actions have caused." "You remember what happened between us?" "I remember everything." "Do not think I will be so easily threatened." "Again, you mistake intent " "Mistake is yours." "I will dash your head against the stones as I did Licinia..." "Wait!" "With tales of how you lost wits and came to me." "Your father " "Will not mourn the passing of a faded whore." "He will dissolve your marriage!" "That is the reason I took him to my thighs." "To sway him to your cause of wedding Varinius." "That is what you desire, is it not?" "Even if it were, why would my father be moved by serpent's tongue?" "The gods speak through me." "He sees wisdom in their counsel." "I did it for you, Ilithyia." "To secure future for you and your child." "I would mend rift between us." "One torn by my own foolish hands." "Perhaps it is I that have been foolish." "To ever doubt such dear friend was blessed by the gods." "Laughter and drink have done much to dispel darkening gloom." "Good." "But yet I fear shall see split head come morning." "You stand satisfied then?" "In all things." "Let us set past aside, and look towards deserving future." "Words of significant worth." "Come, I would break more with you before sleep claims us." "Apologies for earlier doubt." "This evening has proven most advantageous." "Yes." "I long to see what dawn shall bring." "Vesuvius." "How far?" "Half a day's journey." "Take Nasir." "I will hold them back for as long as I am able." "No." "I stay by your side." "Naevia." "*"