Royal Blood, Rich Love » Places

         After an hour of walking around his room and being yelled at constantly by his sister, Marcus could almost walk as if he had sustained no injury at all. That is, if you count grabbing onto any object to help keep you up "normal".

"Gods help us." Aurelia sighed as she placed her hand on her forehead and shook it slightly. A wealth of her blonde curls brushed against her elbows as she did so.

Her brother turned to her in annoyance. His gaze met hers and she immediately looked down. He was in his early twenties, and although he was only a couple years younger, she still acted like a child at times. Everything was a game to her and he seemed to always be put in the center of it as well. She could be mature and play her part when it was expected, though she was more of the rebellious type than the obedient.

As the morning carried on, Marcus eventually made his way to the training arena outside and practiced with the others. He was quick to make friends amongst several of them and got some good sword time in before the sun had even reached the center of the sky. He tried his best to hide him limp and to put more weight on his leg, though he was rather unsuccessful. The wound sent a shooting pain through his leg with every step. He needed time to practice more on it, but that was exactly what he didn't have. Some of the older or more harsh men made jabs at his condition and even took several unfair swings at him. He expected nothing less. Nothing is fair in gladiator fighting.

Aurelia watched her brother from one of the doorways. Some of people that he practiced with were easy competition for him, even with the injured leg. If he leg was healed there was no doubt in her mind that he would be able to defeated the majority of them without having her take his place. But they didn't that kind of time. He was facing the hardest competition any gladiator had ever met. He wasn't even a condemned man, but simply did this for "sport". The thought of it sickened her.

After a few hours, Marcus came limping over to his sister for a short break. The two went into the dining area and got some water and a few slices of bread. They shared small talk over who would be easy competition in the arena and who would be more challenging, assuming that Aurelia made it out of tomorrow alive and Marcus wasn't killed for letting his sister impersonate him.

When they returned, they noticed a commotion starting. All of the gladiators were joined in a scatters clump around one man. And he was asking for Marcus.

"And who's asking?" Aurelia spat as she shoved her way through all the sweaty men.

"Please excuse my sister." Marcus added, stepping beside her. "I'm Marcus Valerius."