Page 73 of House of Serpents and Slaves

She turned to look at me then, and the raw emotion in her eyes made my heart stutter. "Why did you do this?"

"Because I wanted to show you what we're fighting for. That there's more out there than just survival." I gestured at the view below. "Look at them all, going about their lives. Shopping, working, loving..." I swallowed hard, imagining us among them. Walking the market together, her hand in mine. Coming home to our own place at the end of the day. Simple things that felt like impossible dreams from where we stood.

"I wanted to give you something beautiful," I admitted quietly. "Something to hold onto when things get dark." What I didn't say was how beautiful she looked in this light, how the sunset painted her skin gold, how badly I wanted to reach out and brush those stray strands of hair from her face. How she'd become my something beautiful to hold onto.

"Thank you," she whispered, and her hand found mine in the gathering dusk. Her fingers were calloused from sword work, strong and sure as they intertwined with my own. We stood there in silence as the sun sank lower, painting the sky in impossible colors.

I'd seen this view many times in my years at the ludus, sneaking up here when the weight of chains became too heavy to bear. But seeing it through her eyes made it new again. Made mesee the wonder of it, the promise of possibilities stretching out as endless as the desert before us.

When she shivered slightly in the cooling air, I tugged her gently toward the blankets. We sat together, shoulders touching, as the first stars began to appear in the darkening sky. She leaned against me, just slightly, and I felt something in my chest expand and contract all at once.

This wasn't freedom - not really. Tomorrow we'd go back to our cells, back to training, back to fighting for others' entertainment. But for now, for this moment, we could pretend. We could dream. And maybe, just maybe, that would be enough to keep us going until we could make those dreams real.

I looked down at our still-joined hands and allowed myself to hope. I shifted slightly, knowing I needed to tell her about the arrangement with Drusus. My stomach twisted - I'd been putting it off, unsure how she'd react. "There's something else I wanted to tell you," I began, watching her profile in the fading light. "I've made a deal with Drusus."

She turned to face me, curiosity written across her features. "What kind of deal?"

"If I win the tournament at the festival, he's agreed to free me. With enough coin to establish myself as a free man." The words came out in a rush, and I watched her face carefully as she processed them.

"That's..." she started, then stopped. A smile spread across her face, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "That's wonderful, Marcus. You deserve it, more than anyone."

"You don't sound as happy as I'd expected," I said softly, squeezing her hand.

She looked down at our joined hands, her thumb tracing patterns across my skin. "I'll miss you," she admitted quietly. "You're like... family... to me. The only real family I've had since-" She broke off, swallowing hard.

My heart thundered in my chest as I gathered my courage. "Is that all I am to you? Family?"

She looked up then, meeting my eyes. The dying sunlight turned hers to liquid gold, and I could see everything she wasn't saying written there. "No," she whispered. "You're more than that. So much more."

I reached up with my free hand, cupping her cheek. "Good," I murmured, and leaned in to kiss her.

Her lips were soft against mine, tentative at first, then yielding as she melted into the kiss. Her free hand came up to grip my tunic, pulling me closer. I could taste the sweetness of the evening meal on her lips, feel the slight tremor in her fingers where they pressed against my chest.

When we finally broke apart, she rested her forehead against mine, both of us breathing heavily. "Part of the arrangement," I said, trying to gather my scattered thoughts, "is that I'll still train the gladiators. But I'm hoping to set up a small farm too, something to sustain myself."

"So I'll still see you?" The hope in her voice made my chest ache.

"Every day," I promised. "Just... from the other side of the training yard."

She turned back to look over the town, but stayed close, her body pressed against my side. "We won't be able to do this again though," she said softly. "Although I suppose you'll be able to watch me fight from the comfortable seats now."

I laughed and sat back on the blankets, tugging her with me. "What are you doing?" she asked as I pulled her down.

"Taking one of those comfortable seats," I said, guiding her onto my lap. I wrapped my arms around her waist, and she settled back against my chest with a contented sigh. The last rays of sun painted the sky in deep purples and crimsons, the stars beginning to emerge like scattered diamonds.

She fit perfectly in my arms, as if she'd been made to be there. I pressed a kiss to her temple, breathing in the scent of her hair - leather and sand and something uniquely her. "When I get my farm," I murmured against her skin, "I'll have a view like this. A place where we can watch the sunset whenever we want."

I felt her tense slightly in my arms. "Marcus..."

"I know," I said quickly. "I know it's not that simple. But I'll find a way. Whatever it takes, whatever I have to do, I'll find a way to free you too."

She turned in my lap, cupping my face in her hands. "Don't make promises you can't keep," she whispered, but kissed me anyway, soft and sweet and a little desperate.

When she pulled back, I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "That's not a promise," I said. "That's a fact. You and me, we're going to watch a thousand sunsets just like this one. Together. Free."

She was quiet for a long moment, her fingers tracing patterns on my arm. "Marcus... I'm not the kind of person who settles down." She turned to face me again, her expression earnest in the gathering dark. "I want more than that. I want to fight - really fight. In the big cities, maybe even the imperial city one day."

My chest tightened, but I stayed silent, letting her continue.

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