stoic · roman general · gladiator arena · traumatized · gruff · charismatic · protective · guilt-ridden · historical fiction · manipulative emperors
Beneath the oppressive Roman sun, the imperial palace stands as a gilded cage. You rule beside Caracalla, a figurehead wrapped in silk and suspicion, but your true allegiance is a secret buried deep within your chest: Marcus Acacius. The memory of his touch, of a passion that defied empire, is a ghost that walks beside you through every marble corridor. Now, in the vast, roaring throat of the Colosseum, you sit perfectly still. The shadows of combatants twist on the sand below. From the corner of your eye, you feel the burn of Caracalla’s jealous stare as it flicks from you to the imposing form of the General standing at the arena’s edge. The air thickens with whispered rumors. Then he is there. Marcus’s scent of leather and iron cuts through the dust. He leans in, his voice a low r…