Read Online Wolf’s Empire: Gladiator by Claudia Christian and Morgan Grant Buchanan - Free Book Online

looked resplendent in red.” He gave a slight bow and then briskly strode away. Crassus was the type of upper-class Sertorian who made a big deal out of manners and gentlemanly behavior, at least what passed for that on Sertorius Primus, right up until you got in the way of what he wanted.
    â€œYou said you didn’t know him,” Marcus said after Crassus was gone.
    â€œWe were in the same year at the Academy. I haven’t seen him for a long time. Besides, you saw him. Who would want to admit knowing a creature like that?”
    â€œHe’s one of the Sertorians you’ve sworn to kill,” Marcus stated. It was an astute guess, as I’d never told anyone the names of any of the men on my list.
    â€œYou can tell?”
    â€œI saw how you looked at him. It was either love or hate.”
    â€œHow dare you make a joke of this,” I snapped. “You think I couldn’t take you in the arena? You think you’d have to roll over for me? I think you’re old and frightened.”
    He looked me over. I’d seen that expression before. He was assessing me, considering my ability.
    â€œI know what it’s like to hate someone so much it burns like acid in your mouth, and it’s not the way. Revenge will lend you wings, but they will carry you only so far before they fail. If you seek justice, then you might just survive. It’s an important distinction, Accala.”
    â€œI do seek justice, I swear it in Minerva’s name.”
    â€œWell, you can say it, but the doing is not always so easy. All right, then. Go and get changed. You’ll get your shot.”
    I was stunned. Marcus was so decisive. He never changed his mind.
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œWhat do you care?”
    â€œIt matters.”
    â€œYou want to know why I changed my mind? It was that trumped-up Sertorian turkey. You know what? That pompous ass was right. It’s not that they think you can’t kill if you have to. They’re not letting you fight because you’re a woman, and the stakes for the coming games are too high for the Caninine teams to be risking victory over a penis or lack thereof. You say you’ve got what it takes, well now’s your chance to put your money where your mouth is.”
    â€œI thank you, but what about the committee?”
    The six stone-faced judges for the Galactic Committee for Combative Sports—withered and intractable ex-gladiators, soldiers, and senators—there wasn’t an ounce of fondness for me among the lot of them.
    â€œLeave them to me.”
    â€œAnd you’ll list me as trying out for the Calpurnian team? What about the team leader? Will he take me on if I win?”
    â€œCossus Calpurnius Blaesus? I spoke with him this morning. You should have heard him cursing the Golden Wolves for being stupid enough to cut you. Don’t worry, it won’t take much to twist his arm. He’ll take you on if you win and, more, he’ll expect you to win the tournament for House Calpurnian.”
    â€œI’ll win him the moon and the stars if he’ll give me a shot at the Sertorians,” I said.
    â€œDon’t get cocky. We’ve clashed in practice many times, and you’ve never bested me yet. I won’t roll over for you out there. Stay focused. When we fight it’ll be for real.”
    He said it so dismissively, like life and death were nothing to him.
    And it was true precisely because of what Marcus had said—the stakes were indeed high. Faced with the problem of resolving a civil war without destroying the empire, Caesar Numerius Valentinius had conceived the idea of using the Games of Jupiter to decide the winner. Over fifteen days on the emperor’s chosen arena world, the strongest fighters of the great houses would compete in chariot races, beast hunts, and gladiatorial combat spread out over a lethal obstacle course set to test the mettle of the bravest Roman. The teams would be arranged to