I was in the middle of hauling in the crates of blackberries when excited yelling carried through the air. I'd made a detour yesterday to order more fruit to be dropped off this morning. By now they verged on becoming overripe, which gave a stronger taste and was better for smoothies. I moved to the courtyard entrance, curious to see what was going on in the training yard across the way.

  Corinna was standing on a platform with several novicii. They were armed with bows. She waved her arms and shouted over the noise.

  "Alright, shut it! As I said, they're training to become sagittarii and they need moving targets. That's where you come in, and you might as well learn something too. So put on a helmet that covers your face. The last thing I need is for one of you idiots to lose an eye."

  "But it'll be harder to see," someone called out.

  "Consider it part of your training then. Now, move. If I see anyone take it off, you'll be cleaning the lavatory for a week."

  They milled about, grabbing their equipment from the tables along the back. On closer inspection, I could see the arrow tips of the archers were actually padded in big bundles of cotton and wool. Bowls of bright pigments mixed with water sat in front of them.

  I crossed my arms, leaning against the low stone wall. This should be interesting.

  "If you get hit, go stand to the side. We'll use the colors to see who got the most hits. Winner gets a week of smoothies on me."

  Several cries of outrage came up from the targets. "Hey, what about us! We're the sacrifices!"

  "Alright, fine! Bunch of landicae. Last one standing also gets the same prize."

  Excited whoops filled the air as the novicii spread out, most fighting for space behind the various boards of wood propped up as makeshift cover. The unlucky ones tensed anxiously out in the open.

  Corinna caught sight of me. "Maximilia!" she yelled. "Give them the countdown!"

  Grinning, I put cupped hand around my mouth and held up the other. "Quinque! Quattor! Tres! Duo..." I held a slight pause before shouting the last one and clenching my fist. "Unus! Go!"

  Pandemonium broke loose as the targets began dashing all over with mostly mock panic. Although some of it sounded pretty real. There was a twang as the first volley of arrows was released. Groans filled the air as splatters of color bloomed on their tunics, the number of standing trainees quickly reduced.

  "Ow! Fucking bastards, that kills!"

  As the numbers dwindled, it became harder and harder for the archers to land a hit. Those knocked out from the competition shouted from the side.

  Someone dove behind cover just in time as at least three arrows bounced off the wood. For several breaths, there was a tense standoff as the targets peeked from behind their boards, afraid to get hit.

  "Whenever I say go, you have to run to a different spot," Corinna announced. "Go!"

  A few more were felled and hauled themselves off, gingerly rubbing where the arrows had made impact.

  "Go!" she shouted again.

  They sprinted out again and it became a cut throat competition. One novicius grabbed their friend to hold her in place—I recognized them as part of that trio from the other day. An arrow hit her in the back, staining the tunic with red paint.

  She fell to her knees. "Brutus, how could you!"

  "Sorry, Julia!" Brutus shouted as he ran away. "If I make it to the end, I'll share the prize with you!"

  "A tragic betrayal," a voice beside me said and I turned, startled. Flavia had appeared from somewhere, watching the training.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  "How long have you been standing there?"

  She shrugged. "Since it started?"

  I snorted in disbelief, turning back to the mayhem as Corinna shouted for them to run again. One of them sprinted straight for us but tripped. He fell down and reached out a hand toward us beseechingly. Dramatically. It was the third member of the trio.

  "Save me!" he shrieked.

  One arrow hit his leg and another thumped against his helmet. He collapsed flat to the ground in an anguished cry and I winced. Part of me wondered if he should give theater a try instead.

  His friend Julia ran over, trying to haul him away. "Stay with me, Antonius!". She collapsed, laughing, as he remained a dead weight in the dirt.

  By the end of the exercise, an archer named Antonina won the competition... and Brutus. He raised his arms in triumph, not seeing Julia march up behind him. She beat him over the head with one of the arrows, coating his hair with green. He tried shuffling away when Antonius ran up to hold her back.

  "Let go of me!" she shouted in feigned anger. "I'm not done with him!"

  It was hard not to smile at their antics as I resumed bringing the crates behind the bar. "Did you ever have to do that, Flavia?"

  She scrunched her face. "More than once. The bruises last forever."

  I glanced at her as she studied the menu. Her hand swept back and forth through her hacked up blonde hair and it stuck out in funky angles. She was a lot harder to read than even Quintus. "Going to get what you got before, or try something new today??"

  "Um, you pick."

  "Alright, let's see," I said. There were a couple of smoothies people hadn't ordered yet, because they had unfamiliar ingredients from Solis. But I knew they'd be a hit once people tasted it. "Take a seat. I'll bring it to you." The sound of rough laughter caught my attention. I looked up to see a group of four men around my age walked in.

  "I'm telling you, if she did it, then I could've done it,” the brown-haired one said.

  "Sure, okay."

  "I'm serious." he replied. "If that guy was an elite veteran of his people, and she took him down, then I definitely could've done it.”

  His friend, tall and broad, shoved him. "You nearly pissed on your own feet when you heard that sound, Livius."

  "I swear it came straight from the underworld." The third one had black hair.

  "You know I'm the best wrestler in the gymnasium," Livius continued, ignoring the insult. "No one else has been able to pin me down. If I was facing him in that arena, it would have been over the moment I brought him to the ground."

  The big one held out his arm to stop them. "Tatius, help out here," he implored the fourth one.

  "Why? He's probably right," he said as he looked around with disinterest. His tunic was impeccably white and a strong scent of rosemary drifted over from him.

  "Ha! See? I told you, Scipio," Livius grinned. "In fact, I bet my horse that I can beat her, too."

  I slowed mixing the blend, narrowing my eyes at them.

  "I don't care how good her technique is on the ground. She's just not strong enough," insisted the third one.

  "Maybe her technique on the bed will be better." Livius smirked and they all snickered.

  What was everyone's problem lately? I opened my mouth to argue when, without warning, he was lifted into the air. He squeaked in surprise, his feet kicking in panic.

  "Put me down!" His voice had tightened to a higher pitch.

  I laughed incredulously. Flavia had picked him up under his shoulders and lifted him high into the air. The cords of her neck were strained, but her arms were straight and didn't tremble. I knew she was strong—she fought as one of the most heavily equipped gladiators—but it was still impressive to see. The man was by no means short in stature.

  She held him there dangling for another moment before pushing him towards his friends. He stumbled against them before straightening quickly, rounding on her in anger.

  "What's your problem?" Livius spat. His face was flushed red. "Don't you know who we are?"

  I rolled my eyes. Not this question again. "Are you going to hide behind your family's name? Or stand on your own?"

  "She attacked us out of nowhere, vacca stulta." Stupid cow was the insult Scipio went with and I scoffed. "You'd think patrician men like you would know words can attack someone's honor, too."

  "That's what this is about? Defending her honor? She's a gladiator. Those landicae don't have honor. Why don't you bring her here? Right now and we'll settle this properly."

  I crossed my arms. "Making demands of the person you insulted. And wanting to fight someone who just got stabbed?" I clicked my tongue with a smirk. "So honorable."

  He made to shout again when Tatius held up his hand. "She has a point. Four months should be enough to recover and we'll even give her time to train. If she's not too cowardly, she'll send word and come to the Baths of Tacitus."

  Realization began to dawn on me. I'd really had no idea the type of people they were. The Bath of Tacitus belonged to the magistrate of Romachia, Secundus Tacitus. And it was mostly exclusive to the wealthiest patricians.

  He smirked. "My father owns it."

  I blinked. That meant he was Tatius Tacitus, the magistrate's son. “Oh.”