The Gladiator

'Where are my bloody manners?' Macro muttered to himself as he jumped to his feet and hurried to pull a spare chair over towards the table. He patted the seat. 'There you are, Miss Julia. Sit you down.'

'Thank you.' She let out a deep sigh. 'So, then, where is my father, and Cato?'

'Gone, miss.'

'Gone?'

'To Gortyna. Soon as we got here we heard that the governor, his staff and senior officers were caught up in the earthquake. Killed most of ' em outright. Your father said he had to take charge of things at once. He and Cato took two of the horses from the stables and left as soon as they could.'

'Typical,' Julia said with a trace of bitterness.' No last word for me, then?'

'Er, not as such, no.'

'And Cato?'

'Oh, he said to be sure to send you his love and that I was to take care of you until he got back.'

Julia stared at Macro and shook her head. 'You're a poor liar, Macro. Better leave that sort of thing to people who are trained for it, like my father.'

'If you say so.'

Julia looked round the office and then through the window towards the hillside opposite the acropolis. A handful of fires had already been lit and tiny figures clustered about the glow of the flames. 'I could hardly believe what I saw on the way up here,' she said quietly. 'I thought we had had it bad on the ship. But this?'

'We did have it bad on the ship, miss. We're lucky to be here. But you're right, it must have been terrifying when it struck the port.

Portillus told me there was a bloody great roar and a rumbling sound, and then the buildings started to shake and collapse, the weakest and oldest ones first. Naturally, that was where the poorest people in Matala were packed in. Thousands of them are buried under the ruins. Then, as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. Poor souls who were left alive must have thought it was all over.' Macro shrugged.

'Until the wave hit the port, and swept up through the gorge some distance, destroying everything and everyone in its path. Portillus reckons that as many again were drowned as had died in the earthquake.'

Julia stared at him for a moment, then she shook her head and muttered, 'Dear gods...What can they have done to deserve this?'

'Who knows the will of the gods?' Macro yawned. 'But whatever the people of Crete have done to piss them off, they've paid a high price.'

Julia glanced out through the window, her mind still struggling to take in the scale of the destruction she had seen on the way up from the ship. It was impossible to imagine that many more towns and cities had shared the fate of Matala. Suddenly she froze. 'Do you think it's over? Do you think it could happen again?'

'I've no idea, miss. I'm just a soldier, not a soothsayer.' Macro leaned forward and tried to sound reassuring as he continued.

'There's been no more tremors since we arrived. We can only pray to the gods to spare us any more suffering.'

'Yes, there is that. If you really think prayers can help.'

'Well, they can't hurt.'

'I suppose not.' Julia was quiet for a moment before she fixed her gaze on Macro again.' Do you think they're safe out there? My father, and Cato?'

'Don't see why not. They have their swords, and people have too much on their minds already without causing them any trouble.

They'll be fine, miss. Cato's a tough lad. He'll see that your father gets through to Gortyna, and then they can start sorting things out. Trust me, Cato knows what he's doing. They'll be all right.'

CHAPTER SEVEN

What the hell did we think we were doing?' Cato growled through clenched teeth as the senator tied his neck cloth tightly about the wound. 'We should have waited until light before setting off.'

'Shhh!' Sempronius glanced nervously at the surrounding trees.

'They might have followed us.'

'I doubt it. We must have covered at least two miles before the horse gave out.' Cato paused as another burning spasm shot through his leg. When it had passed he let out a deep breath and continued.

'I'm sure they'd have given up the chase long before then.'

'Let's hope so.' Sempronius tied off the knot and checked the makeshift dressing to ensure it would not slip. 'There. That should do it. It's my fault, Cato. I should have slowed the pace once we were clear. It was madness to keep galloping along the road in the dark like that. It's a miracle your horse didn't fall earlier on, or mine.'

'Well, we've only got the one now ' Cato smiled grimly. 'So no question of galloping anywhere.'

They had abandoned Cato's wounded horse back on the road where it had collapsed, bloody froth in its mouth and nostrils.