Braxen moved up beside me, his stare locked on Merrick. “You know that flag?”
“Bright red.” Merrick didn't seem to hear us. “Red as the blood that would flow until the flag went down. I have to get the King. Take the King, and the flag will go down with him.”
“Holy shit,” I whispered. “It can't be.”
“Merrick!” Rune shook Merrick.
Braxen slowly turned back to the gladiator. “I can hear them.”
“What the fuck is going on?” Rune growled.
“They cry for death,” Braxen said. “And they cheer when I give it to them. Even though I'm their enemy.”
“Oh, Gods,” I whispered as shivers ran over my body.
“Impossible,” Rune growled, his stare going from Braxen to Merrick. But then his head swung back toward my nemesis. “The silence. That terrible silence.”
“Rune?” I called to him.
Rune went to his painting as Merrick went back to his. Yes, his. Theirs. The paintings were of their lives. I couldn't deny it anymore. I had painted a scene from their old lives. One for each of them. These were the men they once were. The men who had done enough good in their lives to have rated the notice of the King of the Underworld himself. Or maybe it was their bad deeds that had gotten noticed.
No. My guys were good. They'd been chosen for their honor and bravery. These violent scenes screamed of death and war, but good men fought too. They fought to defend themselves and the people they loved. Their country. Their kings. Sometimes their own survival. I looked at the gladiator. My gladiator. Then I remembered my fantasy.
“Oh, fuck,” my voice had gotten softer and softer. Now, it was barely a breath.
Braxen still heard me. He hadn't heard Rune, but he heard me. He turned to face me and his expression sliced through me. It was so lost.
“Brax?” I hurried to him and took his face in my hands. “Are you all right?”
“Yes,” he said. “Thank you, Lomasi. You've given me a great gift.”
“I have?”
“You've shown us who we were,” Merrick said as he joined us. “I remember now. Not everything, but enough to still the questions.”
“What questions?”
“Of who we were.” Rune looked over at us, his face bleak for a second. But then he blinked and let out a soft exhale. “It's hard to live a new life knowing you had an old one.”
“And not knowing anything about the old one,” Merrick added. “But you gave me a glimpse. And a name.”
“My old name doesn't matter,” Braxen said. “I know that I fought valiantly for my people, so valiantly that my enemy enslaved me just so they could watch me kill again and again.”
“Brax, I'm so sorry,” I said.
“Don't be.” He leaned down and kissed me. “From what I saw, it wasn't a terrible life. I was treated well, even given . . .” He cleared his throat. “Company occasionally.”
I blinked. “They brought you whores?”
He grinned. “No. Women of means paid to be with me.”
“Holy fuck,” Merrick said. “Really?”
“Really.”
“What do you remember, Merrick?” I asked.
“I was an adviser to a prince.”
