"Damned careless of you, Fulvio. You should have let my nephew help you with it."

The message was clear. The man nodded and wiped a little of the blood away with his hand.

"Glad we've cleared that up. Now, you and you"-he pointed a stiff finger at Gaius and Marcus-"come with me to my study. We need to discuss a couple of things."

He waited until Gaius and Marcus had walked in front of him before falling in behind. Over his shoulder, he called, "Get that old man somewhere to sleep it off, and keep that damned gate shut."

Marcus caught the eye of the legionaries nearby and found they were all grinning, whether in malice or genuine amusement, he couldn't say.

Marius opened the door of his study and let the two go through into a room lined with maps on every wall, showing Africa and the empire and Rome herself. He closed the door quietly and then turned to face them. His eyes were cold and Gaius felt a momentary pang of fear as the man focused his dark gaze on him.

"What did you think you were doing?" Marius spat from between clenched teeth.

Gaius opened his mouth to say he was letting Renius in when he thought better of it.

"I'm sorry. I should have waited for you."

Marius banged his heavy fist on the desk. "I suppose you realize that if Sulla had had twenty picked men in the street waiting for just such an opportunity, we would most likely be dead by now?"

Gaius blushed miserably.

Marius swiveled to face Marcus. "And you. Why did you attack Fulvio?"

"Gaius gave the order to open the gates. The man ignored him. I made it happen."

There was no give in Marcus. He looked up at the older man and met his gaze unflinchingly.

The general raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "You expected him, a veteran of thirty conflicts, to take orders from a beardless boy of fourteen?"

"I… didn't think about it." For the first time, Marcus looked unsure of himself, and the general turned back to Gaius.

"If I back you in this, I will lose some of the respect of the men. They all know you made a mistake and will be waiting to see what I do about it."

Gaius's heart sank.

"There is a way out of this, but it will cost you both dearly. Fulvio is the boxing champion of his century. He lost a lot of face today when you clipped him, Marcus. I daresay he would be willing to take part in a friendly fight, just to clear the air. Otherwise, he may well put a knife in you when I am not around to step in."

"He'll kill me," Marcus said quietly.

"Not in a friendly match. We won't use the iron gloves, because of your tender age, just goatskin ones to protect your hands. Have you been trained at all?"

The boys murmured that they had, thinking of Renius.

Marius turned to Gaius again. "Of course, win or lose, if your friend shows courage, the men will love him, and I can't have my nephew in his shadow, do you understand?"

Gaius nodded, guessing what was coming.

"I'll put you in against one of the others. They're all champions at some skill or other, which is why I chose them for the escort duty to the Senate. You'll both take a beating, but if you handle yourselves well enough, the incident will be forgotten and you may even gain a bit of standing with my men. They are the scum of the gutters, most of them; they fear nothing and have respect only for strength. Oh, I can just order them back to duties and do nothing, letting you hide in the shadow of my authority, but that won't do, d'you see?"

Their faces were bleak, and he snorted suddenly.

"Smile, boys. You might as well. There is no other way out of this, so why not spit in old Jupiter's eye while you're at it?"

They looked at each other, and both grinned.

Marius laughed again. "You'll do. Two hours. I'll tell the men and announce the opponents. That'll give Renius time to sober up a little. I should think he would want to see this. By all the gods, I want to see this! Dismissed!"

Gaius and Marcus walked slowly back to their rooms. Their initial levity had faded, leaving a sick churning in both their stomachs at what was to come.

"Hey! Do you realize I put a century boxing champion on his back? I am damn well going to try and win this match. If I can hit him once, I can knock him out. One good strike is all it takes."

"But this time he'll be expecting it," Gaius replied morosely. "I'll probably get that big ape Marius was leading around by the head earlier; that would be just the sort of joke he likes."

"Big men are slow. You're fast with the cross, but you'll have to stay out of range. All these soldiers are heavy and that means they can hit harder than we can. Keep moving your feet and wear them down."

"We're going to be murdered," Gaius replied.

"Yes, I think we probably are."

Tubruk was calmly accepting when he heard the news back at their rooms.

"I expected something like it. Marius loves contests and is forever staging them between his own men and those of the other legions. This is just his style-a bit of cheering and a deal of blood and everything is forgotten and forgiven.

"Thankfully, you haven't drunk more than a cup or two of wine. Come on, two hours is not long to get you warmed up and ready. You'd better spar for a while in one of the training rooms. Get a slave to direct you to one, and I'll find you as soon as I have some gloves. One thing-don't let Marius down. Especially you, Gaius. You're his kin, you have to put on a good show."

"I understand," Gaius replied grimly.

"Then get going. I'll have some of the slaves throw ice water on Renius-from a distance so that he doesn't go berserk."

"What happened with him? Why was he drunk so early in the day?" Gaius asked curiously.

"I don't know. Concentrate on one thing at a time. You'll have a chance to speak to Renius this evening. Now go!"

While the rest of Rome slept through the heat of the afternoon, the men from the First-Born legion gathered in the largest training room, lining the walls, laughing, chatting, and sipping cool beer and fruit juices. After the fights, Marius had promised them a ten-course feast of good food and wine, and the mood was relaxed and cheerful. Tubruk stood with Marcus and Gaius, loosening the shoulders of one, then the other. Cabera sat on a stool, his face inscrutable.

"They are both right-handed," Tubruk said quietly. "Fulvio you know; the other, Decidus, is a javelin champion. He has very strong shoulders, though he doesn't look fast. Stay away from them, make them come to you."

Marcus and Gaius nodded. Both were a little pale under their tanned skin.

"Remember, the idea is to stay upright long enough to show you have nerve. If you go down early, get up. I'll stop it if you're in real trouble, but Marius won't like that, so I will have to be careful." He put a hand on each of their shoulders.

"Both of you have skill and courage and wind. Renius is watching. Don't let us down."

Both boys glanced over to where Renius sat, his useless arm strapped to his belt. His hair was still damp and murder glinted from his expression.

Cheering began as Marius entered. He held up his hands for quiet and it came quickly.

"I expect each man to do his best, but know that my money will be on my nephew and his friend. Two bets, twenty-five aurei on each. Do I have any takers?"

For a moment, the silence held. Fifty gold pieces was a huge bet for a private fight, but who could resist? The gathered men emptied their pouches and some left for their rooms to fetch more coins. After a while, the money was there and Marius added his own pouch so that one hundred gold pieces were held in his great hand, enough to buy a farm, or a warhorse and full armor and weapons.

"Will you hold the bag for us, Renius?" Marius asked.