Since watching Logan collapse in the center of the Circus Maximus, Marie had been positively frantic. As he was carried from the arena by a pair of soldiers, Logan hadn’t so much as twitched. The instant that they had begun carrying him from the field, Marie darted through the crowds towards the nearest exit. She had to get to the gates of the gladiatorial arena as soon as possible to collect Logan from Reynaldo.
“Please return him safely to me, Artemis,” Marie murmured under her breath as she wove around passing citizens who had just attended the match.
Marie cried out in alarm as she was shoved aside by a rather burly man and nearly knocked to the ground. She was caught by another man, Marie nearly fainted when she saw who had caught her.
“You must be careful, lady,” Divinicus Panites Scott said as he helped Marie get herself righted. “It would be a shame for someone as beautiful as yourself to be trampled by the crowd.”
“Thank you, sir,” Marie mumbled, not meeting his eyes. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
That was the last Marie was to see of her fiancée. Or so she hoped. Quick as she could, Marie disappeared once more into the crowd as she fought her way towards the gates where she was to meet Reynaldo and Logan. Only the gods themselves would know whether Logan was alive or not when she saw him again.
Holding the two cloaks she wore about her body tightly, Marie hid herself in a shadowed corner where the stone wall met the gates. She pulled the hoods up as well so that her face was shielded from any passersby. There was a commotion coming from deep within the structures built against the walls that surrounded the practice arena. Marie could only guess what was happening and prayed that no one was questioning Reynaldo as he attempted to bring Logan to the gates.
“Please be alive,” Marie moaned, unmindful of the tears that streamed down her cheeks. “You have to be alive, Logan.”
Suddenly, a large figure loomed in one of the doorways. In the fading light, Marie could barely make it out. Her fears were halted when an arm fell to the side revealing three long blades protruding from the knuckles.
Logan.
Straining her eyes in the dim light, Marie was able to make out the stumbling movements of his legs as he staggered weakly beside Reynaldo.
“Thank you, Artemis,” Marie said softly under her breath as she watched the agonizingly slow journey that Logan and Reynaldo made to the gates. “Thank you for saving him.”
Each time Logan cried out, Marie felt her heart break a little more. She could feel his pain as though it were her own and longed only to hold Logan once again in her arms. To heal him and make him well once again. To Marie, it seemed to take forever for Logan and Reynaldo to make the relatively short journey from the buildings to the gate. As they got closer, though, Marie could see the pain as it flashed across Logan’s features. It wasn’t just expressed on his face, but in his every muscles some evidence of his agony showed.
“Lady Marie,” Reynaldo hissed as they neared the gates.
Choking back a sob, Marie stuck a hand through the iron bars. “I am here, Reynaldo. Is he... is Logan all right?”
“He’s alive,” was the only answer he gave.
“At least he is that,” Marie whispered back.
Reynaldo guided Logan into a shadowed area that Marie could not see from her place on the other side of the wall. As she strained to see inside, a narrow metal door to her left was opened. Moving swiftly, Marie slipped inside the door, closing it almost completely behind her.
Seconds later she was at Logan’s side, one hand cupping his cheek the other sliding up and down his throat. “Thank the gods you are alive,” Marie moaned, standing on tiptoe to brush a kiss against Logan’s forehead. He moaned softly and turned his head towards her.
“I was able to bandage the worst of his injuries-- the one on his stomach and arm --but that is only to keep the bleeding in check. They will need to be stitched later.... You are wearing the second cloak?” Reynaldo prompted, pulling Marie from her thoughts. Moving swiftly, Marie removed the outer cloak and handed it to Reynaldo. Speaking in hushed tones, Reynaldo continued, “Good. I need you to support Logan while I cover him with the cloak. I will also have to wrap his hands so that he doesn’t accidentally cut something with the claws.”
“Can you not just remove them?” Marie asked as Reynaldo transported Logan’s weight over to her. She held Logan close, unmindful of the blood, and lovingly ran her fingers through his hair in a vain attempt to soothe him as he pressed his face against her throat.
“It will take too much time to remove them,” Reynaldo informed her as he pulled a large section of linen from his tunic and began wrapping it around Logan’s right hand. “More time than we have. I have the necessary tool to remove them, but it can not be done here.”
Marie nodded her head, pressing a soft kiss against the corner of Logan’s mouth as he moaned in pain. “Then you will have to show me how it is done before we leave.”
“There is no need,” Reynaldo said quietly as he moved to Logan’s left hand.
“And just why not? You can not seriously expect Logan to wear these horrid things the rest of his life,” Marie snapped, suddenly very angry at the man.
Reynaldo was still busy securing the linen on Logan’s left hand and didn’t look up. “Of course I don’t expect Logan to live with these things on his hand. That’s why I’ll remove them when we stop for the night.”
That bit of information caught Marie completely off guard. “What do you mean ‘we’? You are not coming with us.”
“I am,” Reynaldo contradicted her. “I spoke with Lady Jubilation earlier today and she was able to procure the necessary supplies. There is no way I could allow you and Lady Jubilation to travel the countryside alone with Logan in this condition.”
“We will be fine,” Marie insisted.
Slipping an arm around Logan’s waist and pulling the other man against him, Reynaldo extracted the other man from Marie’s arms. “I am. This is not up for discussion. Now is Logan properly concealed?”
All Marie needed to do was pull the hood over Logan’s face and he appeared to be a drunkard, a rather common occurrence during the Saturnalia. “That should suffice until we meet Jubilation outside the gates.”
Together Marie and Reynaldo led Logan from the arena and into the streets. It was slow going as Logan could barely keep his feet under him. Marie slipped a hand to his upper chest to help steady him. As Logan’s moans began to increase in volume, Marie turned his head towards her shoulder to muffle the sounds.
“Shhh.... Quiet, my love,” Marie murmured as she slid his hand up his neck to cup his cheek. “You’ll be done walking soon, I promise.”
Logan stumbled then, nearly falling to the ground. It was only Reynaldo’s firm grip on Logan’s waist that kept him from going down. At that moment, the gates had never seemed so impossibly far to Marie. On a normal day, the walk from the Circus Maximus to the gates of the inner wall would have been nothing to Marie. She would have walked the distance without even thinking about it. As Logan staggered weakly beside her, the journey seemed so much longer.
Finally, as the massive iron gates came into view, Marie could have screamed with delight. It was only another fifty feet or so till the gates. On the other side, Jubilation was waiting with their horses and supplies. If she could have, Marie would have run. Without a doubt, this would be the final time that Marie would pass through those gates. This was her last night in Rome and there was nothing that could make her come back. She would die first.
“We’re almost there, love,” Marie whispered in his ear as Reynaldo turned them towards the gates. “Just a little farther then you will not have to walk any longer. You will be free.”
For one brief moment, as she peered into the shadowy depths of Logan’s hood, Marie caught a flash of his brilliant hazel eyes.
“I see the Lady Jubilation,” Reynaldo said just as they passed beneath the large gates that had been built to preserve the majesty of Rome and keep all invaders out.
Marie raised her head and began searching the milling crowds for sign of her companion. It took only moments for Marie to catch sight of the startling yellow of Jubilation’s dress as it peeked through the folds of her heavy cloak. With her, waited four horses, one of which already bore the burden of their belongings. As she met Jubilation’s gaze, the other woman had a wide smile on her face and was all but bouncing up and down.
“I feared that you would not make it here, Mistress,” Jubilation cried as the trio came to stand in front of the gathered horses. “I had an awful feeling that something had gone wrong.”
Marie heaved a great sigh and pressed her cheek against the top of Logan’s head. “No more than what could have gone wrong, Jubilation. My love is alive which is all that I could have asked for.”
“And if you wish him to stay alive, we’d best be on our way. It will take us at least two hours to get to where we are going,” Reynaldo informed the pair, already moving towards the horses.
Marie was quick to follow, not wanting to upset Logan’s precarious balance. “And just where are we going?”
Reynaldo stopped in front of Marie’s horse and motioned for her to get on first. “We are going to take the main road west. After about half an hour, there is a country road which forks off from it. This road eventually leads to a ruined temple that is no longer in use. We will camp there for the night.”
“But my aunt lives to the south,” Marie told him as she positioned herself as far back in the saddle as possible to accommodate Logan who would be sitting in front of her.
“As the Lady Jubilation has already informed me,” Reynaldo continued, grunting as he helped heave an almost unconscious Logan onto Marie’s horse. “In case your father suspects you have disappeared to your aunt’s house, we will take the west road rather than the south road. If your father wishes to take check for you south, he will take the south road and beat us to your aunt’s by three days. It is much safer this way, Lady Marie. I assure you.”
“I suppose you are right,” Marie admitted.
Mere moments later, all thoughts of routes and travel plans left Marie’s mind completely as Logan leaned back against her, moaning softly. Gently as possible, Marie positioned him so that he was leaning mostly against her right side, his head resting on her shoulder. Holding the reigns with her right hand, Marie used her left to help keep Logan steady on the saddle.
“Will you be able to hold him up?” Reynaldo asked as he checked the bandages around Logan’s middle and his arm.
Marie shifted slightly to see if Logan would pitch forward or lean to the side, neither of which happened. “I’ll be fine,” Marie assured Reynaldo, sliding her left hand up Logan’s chest to hold him more securely against her.
As Reynaldo and Jubilation mounted their horses, Logan moved his head slightly, causing his hood to fall off. Logan’s eyes were once again open and Marie noticed that he was staring up at her. At first Marie was almost bowled over by the amount of pain swimming in his beautiful eyes, but, beyond that, there was so much love and relief that Marie couldn’t contain the soft smile that lit her face.
“Marie...?” Logan mumbled, sluggishly lifting his arm to cup the side of her face. Mindful of the clawed blades, despite the protective wrapping of linen, Marie resisted the urge to lean into his touch.
“I am right here, my love,” Marie murmured, tilting her head to brush a gentle kiss against his lips. “You fought so bravely and you survived just as you promised. But now I want you to rest. Just sleep and we will take you to safety.”
Unable to argue, Logan allowed Marie to guide his hand back down to his lap. By the time Marie glanced back up at his face, Logan’s eyes were shut. She could only pray that he would sleep while they travelled so that he would not have to face the pain that she had seen so clearly in his eyes.
“Time to go,” Reynaldo announced, glancing back at Marie.
After first crossing the bridge that took them over the Tiber, they passed through the outer walls and were free of the city of Rome.