"I was granted freedom," he confirms. "For my good showing in a primus event, for my victory against many."
He considers his answer before going further. "I had been without freedom so long, it seemed an easier life. We were slaves, gladiators, and the burden of consequence and choice were equally removed from conscience. But with freedom, the weight of every misdeed, of every death, comes to weigh mind. I bore heavy regrets, and always the mark of my enslavement."
He turns his right arm over, showing the large B branded into his forearm.
"Freedom was tenuous - if I lost my proof of it, my rudis, I could be taken a slave again. I could not return home this way, and had no other skill except in killing. What purpose could I serve?"
no subject
He considers his answer before going further. "I had been without freedom so long, it seemed an easier life. We were slaves, gladiators, and the burden of consequence and choice were equally removed from conscience. But with freedom, the weight of every misdeed, of every death, comes to weigh mind. I bore heavy regrets, and always the mark of my enslavement."
He turns his right arm over, showing the large B branded into his forearm.
"Freedom was tenuous - if I lost my proof of it, my rudis, I could be taken a slave again. I could not return home this way, and had no other skill except in killing. What purpose could I serve?"