To Death Do Us Part

The king stood up from his throne, holding a long staff, he raised his arm. The crowded amphitheater went quiet. Two prisoners stood in the middle of the arena; two brothers stood side by side. Guards in their golden armor stood behind each one with their swords drawn in the event someone tried to escape. The two prisoners were covered in sweat from the midday's heat. The aroma of death still lingered in the air from the previous arena battle.

The king spoke. “You have been found guilty of theft and murder. I will leave it to God to decide which one of you dies as punishment for your crimes.” There is a whisp of chatter amongst the crowd. “The rules are simple: The first round is hand to hand combat. If a second round is needed, you will each be given a dagger. If we must do the third round, you will both be beheaded by the lictor.” The crowd cheered.

The two brothers turned and looked at each other in disbelief. At least one would be dying that day. And if not, both would be guaranteed shortened life spans.

The crimes the two were convicted of did happen. They were both there for both violations, and the two of them knew they would have to pay the price for their participation in the crimes.

Marcus, the younger of the two brothers, had the more worrisome look on his face. He had fought with his brother, Titus, before and never won any of those make-believe battles. This time, it was not fake. And this time, one would surely die. Titus was also nervous. Of the two crimes committed, he was the thief, and his brother was the murderer. He knew Marcus had the ability and the know-how to kill.

The king raised his staff high. The guardsmen ran off the arena. The king brought his staff down, stomping the butt loudly on the ground beneath him, signaling the beginning of round one.

Marcus and Titus turned and faced each other. Marcus was unsure if his brother would try and kill him, so he took a defensive stance and waited to see Titus’ move.

Titus was thinking the same thing as Marcus. He waited to see what his younger brother would do. The two of them stood there, slowly moving in a counterclockwise circle, each waiting for the other to make a move. Marcus looked into the eyes of his brother and whispered, “I will not kill you.”

Titus did the same. The two of them were on the same page and believed if one of them would die that day, then both would surely perish.

The crowd grew impatient as neither of the men made a move on the other. Boo’s and hisses flew down from the stands. With each rotation the boys took, the king grew more irritated. He finally yelled out, “ENOUGH!” He motioned to the guards to throw a dagger at each of the men.

Marcus was the first to pick up his weapon. With the crowd cheering him on to kill his brother, he readied his sword. Titus bent down and retrieved his dagger. He, too, heard a chant from the people, hoping he would be declared the winner. Both brothers knew the crowd was only cheering for action. It did not matter to them who died; they merely wanted to see death brought to a criminal.

“If you die, I will surely kill myself,” Marcus said.

“And if you die, I will do the same,” Titus replied.

The two of them, once again, faced each other and moved in a slow circle. The crowd started to throw rocks and food at them, trying to entice a fight. Marcus lunged forward, pretending to fight or attack, forcing Titus to step back.

After several attempts at pretending to fight, the king ended the round. “STOP!” he yelled. “You two approach.”

Marcus and Titus brought their swords down and walked to the seating area where the king was. “Why are you two not fighting?” the king asked.

Titus spoke. “Your highness. We are brothers, and we do not want to kill each other.”

“Brothers?” the king said.

“I am the murderer. You should kill me,” Marcus said. “Let my brother go with lesser sentencing. Do not make him pay for a crime that only I committed.”

“No!” Titus interrupted. “We both committed the crimes together, your highness. Therefore, both of us should be condemned. But please, do not make one of us choose to kill the other.”

The king was in deep thought for a few seconds. “Very well,” he finally said. “I will show compassion and not put brother against brother in a battle to the death. If I am nothing, I am a sympathetic king.” He motioned to one of the guards in the arena. “Bring on the lion!” he yelled. “We will let the lion choose who will die first. The other brother can watch his sibling suffer the death that he will eventually endure himself.”

The two brothers looked at each other with fright. The crowd grew silent. The sound of a metal gate slowly opening on the other side of the arena filled the air. Everyone watched as a large female lioness scurried in. The crowd cheered as they anticipated at least one death would be imminent.

Marcus slowly moved left while Titus went right. The lioness saw the two men on the other side of the arena and laid down on her belly. She studied the movements of the boys trying to determine the first one to die. Instinctively, the men knew if the lion attacked one of them, the other would move to stab her before getting to the brother.

The lioness acquired her target—Marcus. Titus could tell Marcus was in trouble and took a step closer to him. Marcus knew the lion had chosen him to be her first meal. The large brown eyes of the beast never left his. She started to squint as if she was finalizing her choice. She raised off the ground by inches as she took the ready. In one quick moment, the lioness ran towards Marcus at full speed. Titus took off running in Marcus's direction in hopes of intercepting her before the first bite.

Marcus had only a second to react. His first move was to his right, but he saw the lioness continue to track him. He felt trembling of the ground from the weight of each step from the lioness as it got closer to him. When Marcus felt the trembling stop, he knew the lioness had leaped off the ground and was headed right for him. He turned and ducked into the fetal position. Marcus’ back was now towards the lion as he prepared for the pain of its teeth and jaws around his neck.

Marcus glanced up, and as if it were in slow motion, he noticed a man and woman in the crowd cheering. Next to them stood a small boy with his eyes wide. Marcus assumed it was his first witness to a mulling. Marcus closed his eyes and clenched his body. He heard the roar of the crowd yell but felt no pain. Marcus looked up to see Titus with his dagger in the side of the lioness. Titus pulled his sword out and got ready for another leap from the animal.

Marcus stood up and got his blade. He noticed the stab wound Titus laid on the lioness barely made a mark. The lioness was now angry and had her eye on Titus. Both men stood side by side, getting ready for the leap. The lioness's anger caused her to attack without a strategy giving the men the upper hand on the attack. When the lioness leaped for one man, the other brother would jab her with their sword. The lioness eventually became privy to the boy’s strategy and stepped back to draft her approach.

Now with several small punctures in her, the lioness laid still on the ground. She was bleeding slowly, and she felt weak, making her unwilling to fight. While the boys watched the lioness become immobile, the king informed the guard to release two more lions.

Titus was focused on the lioness as she slowly laid on her side.

Neither he nor Marcus saw the other two lions enter the ring. One lion landed on Titus’ right side in one quick run and leap, knocking him to the ground. Marcus saw what happened and went to protect his brother. He did not see the other beast who met him halfway.

Marcus looked over and saw his brother’s lifeless body being dragged and tossed like a bag of barely. He then felt the sharp points of a lion’s fangs penetrate his left arm; He saw one of his brother’s arms fly in the air; He heard the crowd yelling for more. Marcus took one more glance at the little boy in the crowd of people and saw his eyes had gone from being wide to now a squint as if he did not want to watch. Marcus noticed a tear in the boy's eyes, and then Marcus saw black.

The fight was short-lived, and the lions once again put another victory in their battle journal. At the end of the day, only the bones of Marcus and Titus remained, and a new stench filled the air. Most of the crowd had left the arena. The man, woman, and child Marcus had noticed in the stands remained to watch the lions feast on their kills. The man and woman had smiles on their faces as they discussed the day's event. The child continued to weep, not fully understanding what had just taken place.