I was eight years old again, witnessing my first gladiator fight.

  Standing at the barred entrance to the arena, I watched him turn on his final opponent. He'd found me wandering the service tunnels beneath the amphitheater. And being a little kid, I didn't listen to his instructions to stay put until he returned.

  The sun beat down on their armor—a manica on the right arm, a greave on the left leg, and a plate over the chest. He abandoned the shield while his target, alone now, struggled against exhaustion to raise his own.

  It was a rare death match and the crowd watched with baited breath.

  Sand kicked up as his feet spun, filtering sun through it in flickers of gold. The sword slashed, glistening red, and my mouth fell open. His opponent dropped to his knees. A soft thump sounded when the head hit the sand, followed by the rest of the body in the opposite direction. The gladiator stood there, chest heaving and stained with blood. The brim of his helmet cast the face shield in shadow as two feathered plumes, one on each side, fluttered in the breeze.

  He was like an untouchable god. No, he was an untouchable god.

  I stared in absolute awe. But the moment was over in the blink of an eye. Turning, he made for the entrance, hardly waiting for the crowd's roar that shook the stone beneath me. Then the gladiator took his helmet off and saw me standing in front of him. His expression darkened.

  "Get her out of here," he shouted. "Capita stercorum! Shitheads, all of you. Why would you let her watch?"

  Hands hurriedly pulled me away and shoved a tattered doll in my hand. "Stay here. Wait for Felix," a voice instructed. All I saw was a flash of dimples and green eyes amidst the chaos.

  And I did wait without moving then, anxiously wondering if he was angry with me. The look on his face had been frightening and brought back unpleasant memories. Ones I'd believed he could've stopped if he were there. Shortly after, the gladiator approached me while I stared at the doll. He had washed off, but a copper scent still clung to him.

  "Little one, that is not something you should watch," he sighed.

  "Why not? Everyone else does. I've seen worse."

  He ran a hand over his beardless face. At the time, he was twenty-nine and was on the verge of hitting the height of his fame in both the province of Romachia and the entire realm. "Where are your parents?"

  The tattered doll stared up at me almost in accusation. Without speaking, I shook my head.

  "Are you lost?" Again his question was met with silence. "So you decided to come here?" Exasperation crept in.

  Nervously, I stared at him as my heart hammered in my chest. "You're the good guys who can protect me.” It was something that had made sense to me back then.

  “What makes you think the good guys are here?”

  “Aren't you?” My voice was small and shaky.

  The gladiator stared at me, a strange expression settling on his face. At that moment, he must have made his decision, although I'm not sure what compelled him. He crouched in front of me and spoke softly. "You have no home anymore, do you?"

  I squeezed the doll, trying to stop my tears from leaking. It hadn't been the first time in the past two days that I heard a blade split open flesh.

  "Well, as Fortuna would have it, I have a home now. I no longer have to sleep in the barracks." He reached out for my hand. His still had five fingers at the time. "Would you like to stay with me then?"

  Staring at it, I nodded.

  "Tell me your name first, little one. Mine is Felix."

  I hesitated only for a moment. "Maximilia."

  He straightened. "Alright then, Maximilia. Wait here. Meridius!" He turned and called out for someone. “I will return tomorrow. Take care of the winnings for me."

  The man glanced at me and understanding flashed in his eyes. He clasped Felix's face to touch their foreheads together before resting a hand on his shoulder.

  "It's as I've always said. The good things you do in life will echo in eternity. Go on. You've earned more than a few days off from training."

  Felix nodded and returned to stand before me, holding out his hand again with an unexpectedly nervous smile. "Ready?"

  This time I took it. And when I did, I became the daughter of Felix Vita, the champion of the Colosseum in the Imperium Aeterna.

  "Max."

  "Max?”

  “Hello? Maximilia?"

  The voice startled me from my memory and I blinked. Brown eyes twinkled at me, a wide grin bright against tawny skin. Saturnia spun around to look across the courtyard at the training grounds, her dark hair swishing at her waist. There, a number of young men and women sparred in sleeveless tunics.

  "Are you daydreaming about sexy gladiators already? I'll admit, it's a great view."

  I gasped in mock outrage, unable to hold back a snicker. "Saturnia Ameneis! Who do you take me for?"

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  "What? You're the great Felix's daughter. They'll absolutely be fighting for your attention. Or maybe they'll be too afraid of disappointing him. That's always worse than him being angry, somehow."

  "Ugh, you know my luck with getting attention,” I groaned. “And speaking of reactions, you just missed it. There was a food fight this morning. I never thought I'd see Ursus Regulus look so defeated when he stood before him."

  "And all it took was disapproval, huh? I'll have to remember that." She giggled mischievously and then shook her head, slamming her hands on the counter. "But a food fight? You just opened! You've got to be lying! "

  "I'm not! It was wild." I resumed cutting open a pomegranate. "Although it probably didn't help that I joined in."

  Her peals of laughter rang out and a customer glanced up from whatever parchment scroll they were reading. Saturnia composed herself, squinted at my hair, and burst out laughing again.

  "Oh gods, you really did!" she cried, wiping tears from her eyes.

  I grinned, elbowing her. "Laugh all you want, but that's how I got to meet Ursus and the Magnus twins and you didn't.” Then I pursed my lips. “That's what I was thinking about, Sat. Ten years after meeting Father, here I am with the best gladiators in Romachia as my customers."

  Even though it'd been my first time seeing them up close like this, I'd known exactly who they were. For the past several years, Saturnia and I religiously attended the major games in our province, and we knew those three were among the main fights. Most of the time they were a mercy fight—done until defeat or first blood. Death matches weren't common outside the Colosseum in Capitoline Hill since it was expensive to train and cultivate a good gladiator. When there was death here, it was usually criminals who fell or fighters against beasts.

  "No way." She swatted my arm as another customer walked in. "I can't believe you met them like that!"

  "That's why you should have agreed to help work with me!" I whisper-shouted before turning to the newcomer. "Welcome to Invictus Shakes! Since it's the opening day, smoothies are half-off."

  "Oh, really?" Her eyes lit up. The woman was adorned in jewelry, clearly a patrician. For some reason, the rich aristocrats were obsessed with being as cheap as possible. They especially loved free things. She squinted at the menu. "Oh the Bacchus sounds refreshing! Grape and plum. Can you do that with almond milk?"

  "Sorry, I only have whole, skim, or oat milk."

  She pouted. "What about cashew milk?"

  I smiled apologetically. "Maybe in the future, but right now I'm not able to have it on the menu regularly." It was too expensive to buy just yet, and it was too time consuming to make myself. A thought occurred to me. Maybe I could use the gladiators to help with that, if I could convince Felix to let me borrow them for whatever punishments they earned. Then I mentally slapped myself. They'd probably make a mess of that too.

  "Fine," the woman groused. "I'll do oat milk." She stomped away after dropping her coin on the bartop.

  "This is why I won't help you, Max," Saturnia whispered with a grimace. "I'd rather face ten lions in the arena than her. I get enough of it helping my parents with the bakery."

  The next customer stepped forward as I worked on the woman's order. He shared a look with the two of us, grinning as if we all shared an inside joke. "So, do you have almond milk?"

  I snorted before pausing. "Wait." I stared at him. Dimples and green eyes. Laugh lines framed them and his dark blond hair was cut short like most of the gladiators. "You're—"

  "Tiberius Pontius, the secutor!" Saturnia leaned on the counter, jumping up and down in excitement. “Right?”

  The man put his hands on his hips. "And you’d be correct," he chuckled. He was tall but well built. While he didn't quite match Ursus's brute strength, Tiberius was a faster and more limber, known for making every strike count with a punishing blow.

  "What I was going to say was that it was you who gave me that doll, wasn't it?” I exclaimed. “Twelve years ago now!”

  "Yes. It was my daughter's. It was supposed to be one of her baby toys...at least until a dog got to it." He coughed. "Sorry."

  I scoffed. “You could've plopped a frog into my hands and I would've held it. As a thank you that's over a decade late, it's on me today. Take your pick."

  Tiberius ended up ordering the same drink my father had earlier and I finished the Bacchus, placing it on the counter and calling it out. I turned my attention to making his drink while chatting. Normally there would've been games in the arena today, but it had been delayed for some reason and we speculated why before our discussion turned to the night's festivities.

  "Sat, ready to have a repeat of last year?" I teased. She'd tripped and fallen into a fountain.

  Her mouth opened to answer when the patrician woman marched up, a look of displeasure etched into her pinched face. She shook the empty cup at me. "This was simply terrible without almond milk. I want my money back."

  I stared at her in disbelief. "But…you drank the whole thing."

  "So?" she screeched. The customer reading glanced up again, visibly annoyed. "How else was I supposed to know if it was bad or not?”

  “That's the risk of trying new things, unfortunately.” I shrugged.

  “Excuse me? Is that how you plan to run this place? Do you know who my husband is? He could ruin your business in an instant!"

  "Look," I interjected before she could tell me just who exactly was her husband and how he could ruin my business in an instant. "I can't give you your money back. It was also already half-off. But come back next time and I'll give you the same deal for two more drinks."

  She threw up her hands, huffing. “I'm never—”

  "How about buy one and get a free one?" I offered quickly. Saturnia nudged me and I kicked her back. In the background, Tiberius turned around as his shoulders shook.

  The woman lowered her arms. "Free?" When I nodded, her face transformed into a sickeningly pleasant mask. "Well now! I knew you'd come around to good business sense." She flounced off, looking quite pleased with herself.

  Silence filled the air after she left and the reading patron grumbled in relief.

  "I think you're the real warrior here, Maximilia," Tiberius joked. "I don't know if I could have handled that any better. Expertly done." He grabbed his drink and put on a grandiose voice. "After all, it's all about knowing your enemy and attacking with precision."

  It was his famous catchphrase. Saturnia clutched my arm, shaking me, as he walked back to the compound. "He said it. He said the thing!"

  "And think about all the moments like this that you'll miss," I retorted as my head was rocked back and forth.

  She shuddered. "A misfortune I'm willing to take if it means avoiding people like that landica. What a cunt. But anyways, you and Felix are welcome to come feast with us tonight." She threw her arms around me a hug before leaving. "And I know I've said it so many times already, but I'm really proud of you for opening this place!"

  Thankfully, the end of the day came without a problem. Felix arrived, carrying a crate. It contained stacks of dirty glasses from the gladiators who had brought them over to the ludus.

  I rushed over to take it from him. "Oh, you didn't have to! I would've grabbed it myself."

  "Why not? Easiest part of my day."

  At the far end behind the bar, I turned the spigot in the wall. Water from the stream gushed out into a protruding basin.

  "Sat and her parents have invited us to join them for the new year festivities tonight," I said as I washed the cups out.

  Felix nodded, leaning against the countertop as he waited for me. It was the last task I had to do to close up.

  "Apart from this morning, how did it go today, Maximilia?"

  I dried off my hands and held up the hefty coin purse, shaking it with a grin he answered in kind. “Pretty well, I think. Ready?” It was time to spend it and get drunk.