Livia looked out on the field of people dressed in Roman armor and wondered why she’d agreed to this. The weather couldn’t be better for mid-October--clear sky with temps in the high 50’s. Everyone seemed to be in high spirits except for her. She consoled herself with the fact that she got to be outdoors instead of crammed underground. The reenactment took place on the wide-open fields of the security patrol training grounds. She stood outside the men’s locker room and waited for Lucas to come out with his armor on. She played the part of Sabine maiden and wore her stola again.

Epiphany and Corvin crossed in front of her. Livia’s heart lurched into her throat. She’d wondered after reading the post that Lucas had showed her if Corvin didn't hold the parade incident against her. However, Livia was too much of a coward to call out to him and put his regard for her to the test in front of all these people. What if he tucked his chin down and bid her a ‘vale’? Her heart couldn’t take it. Then Epiphany looked over her shoulder and caught sight of Livia. She smiled and tugged on Corvin’s arm. They stopped and walked over to her.

Livia took the opportunity to observe Corvin’s appearance. He wore polished lorica segmentata armor over a white tunic, which had a blue stripe around the bottom. His helmet had hinges at the temples where two long segments were attached to cover his cheeks. A fringed belt protected his front lower half but his legs were bare except for leather sandals. He carried the TARP parade shield--sky blue with a prancing deer on the bottom. A fancy garland was painted around the shield boss and the words “subvenire, sanare” were written across the top. It was the TARP motto: to rescue, to heal.

“Liv?” Corvin asked. “We didn’t know you were doing this.”

Corvin and Epiphany didn’t bother with the ridiculous nodding ritual. What did that mean? Was it an insult to skip the greeting? Livia should have asked that question before now. Why did Livia never think of these things until it was too late?

Livia shook her head. “I didn’t either.”

Epiphany and Corvin exchanged alarmed looks. Oh no. What had she gotten herself into?

“Who has been appointed your guardian?” Corvin asked.

“Lucas. My brother. Tell me, is there any way I can get out of kissing someone at the end?” she asked.

Epiphany looked panicked. “Usually, the girl asks her guardian to arrange who’s going to snatch her beforehand so she gets a kiss from who she wants. The rules are that a guy is disqualified from awards for excessive kissing.”

“What’s the definition of excessive kissing?” Livia asked.

“We all know it means french kissing,” Corvin said.

“There’s that at least,” Livia said. “Can I fight?”

Epiphany answered. “Some of the Aquila girls do. They go over the fight rules at the beginning so you’ll have to follow those.”

Lucas exited from the dressing room. Livia tried to ignore the pit of dread in her stomach. She forced a smile for her brother. “Hey, look at you!”

Lucas looked good in his armor, and it was obvious he’d been working out. His arms were defined with muscle and his shoulders were broader than the last time she saw him. He hadn’t been able to talk about anything but the reenactment since yesterday.

“Hey,” Lucas said, grinning. “You ready to do this?”

“As ready as I’m going to be,” Livia said.

Corvin extended his hand. “It’s been two years, hasn’t it, Lucas?”

Lucas accepted his hand and shook it. “Corvin, nice to see you here.”

“Liv has mentioned missing you. I’m glad you’re here,” Corvin said.

Lucas nodded. “Livia was nice to agree to this last minute.”

Corvin grinned and glanced at Livia. “Too bad I can’t join the other side. I’d steal a kiss.”

Livia gasped. Friends? Right? She didn’t want to think about this going into a fight. She glared at him. “Not without a fight you wouldn’t.”

Corvin laughed. ”Don’t fight too hard. It’s a game.”

“A game where I get kissed against my will,” Livia muttered.

Corvin’s brows furrowed in concern. “I can do some last-minute arranging. Do you want me to put in the word with anyone?”

“Seriously?” Livia asked. “I’m supposed to admit to you that I want to kiss somebody--”

“That’s not a crime,” Corvin said, eyes twinkling. “I’m willing to put a word in with someone.”

Lucas frowned. “Liv, I thought you were okay with this.”

Livia backtracked. Lucas needed her to be on board with this. She didn’t want to ruin his fun. “Oh, I am totally okay with this! We are doing this!”

“If you are okay with this then tell Corvin who you want to kiss,” Lucas challenged.

“Tavian Hall is here?” she squeaked, face bright red.

“They flew in the same day you got here,” Lucas said.

Livia looked at Corvin. “Tavian Hall.”

Corvin nodded. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

“Is there a way she can avoid getting kissed?” Lucas asked Epiphany.

“She’d have to defeat all the fighters,” she said.

“How would that work?” Lucas asked.

“Well, the rounds last 8 mins each,” Epiphany said. “Once you catch a girl you take her to Rome base and sit out. Most guys go three rounds to have some fun fighting before they catch their girl. You can also get pulled out if you get a ‘kill’ hit. The judges watch on the sidelines and pull you out.”

“So, how many rounds are there?” Lucas asked.

“As many rounds as it takes to catch all the girls,” Epiphany said.

Lucas gave Livia a grin. “Wanna try for last man standing, Liv?”

Relief poured over Livia. “Really?”

“Yeah,” he said. “And if you decide after round four or something that you’ve had enough we can call Tav over. It’ll be fun.”

Livia nodded. “That sounds good to me.”

“You sure?” Lucas studied her eyes.

“Yeah.” Livia looked at Epiphany. “Okay, where do I get a weapon?”

“You have to win it,” Epiphany said. “Guys get automatic weapons. Girls have to win them from someone else.”

“You have got to be joking me,” Livia said.

“Nope.”

“This game is rigged,” Livia said.

“Um, that’s kind of the point?” Epiphany said.

Corvin returned right before the horn for round one blew. He came to Livia. “Alright, I told Tavian that you wanted to get snatched by him.”

“What’d he say?” Livia asked.

“He was agreeable to the idea.”

Livia didn’t even want to ask for the details. It was way too awkward. Instead, she glared at Corvin. “Do you realize that I have to win my weapon?”

Corvin smirked. “I did know that.”

“Do you have any advice for me on how to do that?” Livia asked.

“Well, don’t get the guys with the red bandanas around their arms until after the third round. That means they’ve got a girl waiting on them and there’s an unspoken agreement to lay off until round four.”

“Okay, so the guys without a red bandana are free game?”

“Yeah, but each guy wears a stripe on the bottom of his tunic according to house colors. Red is Taurus. Blue or Silver is Lupus, Green is Serpens, yellow or gold is Aquila. Go for Green or Blue. Aquila will probably be too fast for you.”

An announcer called for everyone to take their places on the field. Once the crowds had settled they went over the rules. There were only two sparring weapons allowed--foam practice swords and pugil sticks. Strikes to the face and head were forbidden. Strikes to the limbs were not considered kill hits but any tap to the trunk of the body with a weapon or hand to hand combat would tag you out of the game.

Then the horn sounded.

A shouting mass of men ran across the field pell-mell and jumped right into the fighting. There was a lot of yelling, but there wasn’t a whole lot of hard fighting. Laughter filled the air as playful taunts were exchanged over mock battles. Most of the girls were ignored at this point. They stood and laughed and gossiped as they watched.

Livia, however, was trying to select a target. She was looking for someone with a standard patrol infantry shield--red with a single lightning bolt down the center and two crossed spears. They were the gear for basic, first-year recruits and most likely to have the least training. She spotted one carried by a green-striped tunic youth.

The guy hadn’t expected her to approach because she was a girl. It was obvious that he was hesitant to hit her. It was too easy. When he swung down with the pugil stick Livia grasped the center pole in her palm and yanked. She broke his grip easily and claimed the weapon as her own. It was sweet to be Taurus.

“Hey!” the kid cried and tried to attack, but Livia had the pugil stick now. She spun it around, took a fighting stance, and tapped his chest within three seconds. A whistle blew. A ref called, “Green-stripe out!”

Livia laughed and made her way back to where Corvin and Lucas were sparring. The horn blew to end the round and the Romans retreated.

“Got your weapon, I see,” said Lucas.

“Yep, the kid was scared to take a full swing at me. Too bad for him,” Livia said. She put her stick down to tie up the folds of her stola so she could move more freely.

“Wow,” Epiphany said. “First round? Really?”

“They’re going down,” Livia said, lifting her pugil stick to the sky. “Bring it on Romans!”

Corvin said, “You’re gonna have fans by the end of this.”

Livia rolled her eyes. “Highly doubtful.”

He shook his head. “Don’t doubt me, Fabulous. You’ll see.”

Livia scanned the crowds that surrounded the field. The Aediles office had erected temporary seating around the field. So spectators sat on multiple levels. Two white tents sat opposite each other in the middle of the field. The first was a media tent where a mass of photographers and camera operators camped to film the event. The second was a medic tent, Livia spotted several healers in TARP blue. Others wore bright orange shirts signifying their association with FORMICA, the other specialized unit of the Caesarean border patrol. The two units had an ongoing rivalry, which often expressed itself in humorous ribbing whenever the two interacted. Livia was sure the med tent was an interesting place to be right now. She felt bad for the standard clinic healers in white who had to be in the crossfires.

The Cornicen blew the horn to start the second round and Livia turned her attention back to the battle. The second round passed much as the first had. Except, Livia hovered near Lucas. He had the advantage of wielding a shield, an ancient circular one that differed from the rectangular shields around them with Caesarean insignia on them. Livia noticed a few more Aquila women had snagged weapons, but there were only a handful. The light sparring continued and no one got snatched away. Livia was grateful for the chance to warm up and remember how to fight again. It had been a long time since she’d sparred with anyone seriously.

Then the horn for the third round sounded. The atmosphere of the entire field changed. Some serious fights went down in front of the crowd. Guys hauled girls over their shoulders or pulled them up into their arms to carry. They all screamed with laughter, smiles on their faces.

Hortensius came in for a fight with Corvin. It made sense that he was slated to capture Epiphany. Both men grinned at each other wielding shields of sky blue and short foam swords.

Livia was distracted from their fight when a trio of Lupus house guys approached her and Lucas. They were in an arrow formation--pugil stick wielder flanked by two swordsmen. Livia almost snorted. Of course, Lupus house would be the tacticians.

“Lucas--” she muttered. “What do we do?”

Lucas’ eyes were darting back and forth looking for a weakness. “He’s holding his shield on the wrong side--” he muttered.

“He’s what?” Livia whispered.

“Limits their mobility. That’s where we need to strike. On my count hit the center of the right swordman’s shield.”

“Wait,” Livia hissed. “How hard?”

“Enough, to knock him over but not enough to hurt him,” Lucas said.

“I haven’t practiced enough to do that!” Livia hissed, ready to revolt. Livia had no idea what type of damage she could cause with the pugil stick since she’d never sparred with one before. Even a practice weapon could be lethal if you used enough force and Livia wasn’t going to experiment on a random kid.

“You can kiss him then,” Lucas glared at her.

“Fine. Count,” she growled.

“--three!” Lucas cried.

Livia disobeyed Lucas’ orders. He needed a man down. She’d get him down. Her way. She hurled the pugil stick like a spear. Her mark blocked easily with his shield but the point was to distract him. Livia dove towards his feet, ignoring the dust that puffed into her mouth. She snatched his ankle and pulled it out from under him. He fell to his back instantly but Livia had enough experience with hand to hand combat that she knew how to keep herself from injuring him. She took a hit from his sword on her forearm then snaked her wrist around the dull weapon and stole it from him. She tapped his chest with the flat side twice and he froze. He was out.

Lucas had taken the second guy out somehow and was sparring with the third. Lucas' shield clashed with his opponents. Lucas shoved, not at full strength but hard enough that his foe caught air. The Lupus kid yelped. He managed to keep his stance when he connected with the ground again but he was so spooked that he ran away.

Livia spat the dirt out of her mouth. Livia glanced toward Corvin and Hortensius. From what she could tell Corvin was pretty proficient with the sword. Corvin let his guard down in a way that made it obvious he did it on purpose, and Hortensius made a solid hit. The ref called Corvin out. He tossed a grin at Epiphany and walked off the field.

Hortensius scooped Epiphany up into his arms. She laughed as he spun her around in a circle. She wrapped her arms around Hortensius’ neck.

Epiphany encouraged him. “You don’t get a kiss until you cross to Rome’s side, hero. Hurry up!”

Hortensius laughed and proceeded to carry her across the field. Maybe, this isn’t so bad Livia told herself. The boys get to show off their fighting skills. The girls got to have a fairy tale moment of being carried off and kissed by a strong man in armor. There was a certain romantic appeal there she recognized.

There was a fifteen-minute break after the third round ended. Livia went to the water table and swished around a mouthful and spat it into the grass. Most of the grit was out of her mouth now. She had a few bites of a banana and some Gatorade. Lucas downed an entire bottle of Gatorade.

He glared at her. “You didn’t listen, Liv.”

“I did too. You wanted the guy down. I did my job,” she insisted.

He shook his head. “Liv, no more going rogue. We’re a team. You want to pull something like that, tell me first.”

Liv nodded. “Okay, but you have to listen when I don’t want to do something--”

Lucas gave her a nod back. “Deal.”

“Whoa,” Livia said, looking around. “They like this three-round thing.”

“Yeah, well it’s been about 30 mins of fighting,” he said. “You’re in that stola thing you tied up but I’m in heavy armor. It’s starting to suck.”

The horn sounded.

Livia shouted, “For Taurus!” and ran forward twirling her pugil stick. She’d hung the sword she’d captured on the tie that circled her waist. It rested against the small of her back until she needed it. Lucas followed quickly on her heels. The fourth round of fighting was a lot tougher. There were more Aquila opponents and they were extremely hard to fight. Livia had to do all kinds of acrobatic moves to avoid getting hit.

In the beginning rounds, she didn’t fight directly next to Lucas, but as the fighting got tougher she tucked in closer to him. They held together fairly well until Lucas got tossed on his back. Livia stepped over him and took the hit on her pugil stick that would have ‘killed’ him. She nailed his opponent out. She hauled Lucas up to his feet, even though he was still out of breath. He’d gotten the wind knocked out of him.

“Stay with me, Lucas,” she said. “Watch my back.”

She pulled him around so they were standing back to back. Lucas leaned against her while he caught his breath. Livia took on an approaching Aquila kid while Lucas recovered on her back. By the time the ref called a kill hit she was panting with exertion.

Lucas swung them around and he took the lead while Livia caught her breath. The horn sounded for the end of the round. Livia and Lucas were both exhausted.

“Wow, Liv,” Lucas said. “This is rough.”

“Come on, let’s get some water,” she said.

They both guzzled down the liquid and then returned. Livia surprisingly was having a good time. It was refreshing to face a challenge that tested her strength and skill to this extent. Also, it had been a long time since she’d felt so connected with her brother. She liked feeling like she was on the same team as him. Livia and Lucas marched back out together. The field was mostly empty on their side now.

The horn for the next round blew. The last dozen or so girls had been captured. Only Livia and Lucas were left. Most of the Romans didn’t attempt to come to the fight. They milled around on the other side, resting. Those that were still up for a fight came jogging over.

“Hey! Um, you’re outnumbered!” a guy called. “About 50 to two.”

Livia cursed.

Lucas laughed. “We’re snowed.”

“You can take them Fabulous!” a voice yelled on their right.

Livia looked. It was Alexander from TARP. He wore a TARP t-shirt to show his support for his department. He was surrounded by a handful of other TARP agents too--Cam, Silvanus, Luccia, and Pallas.

They punched their fists into the air and started a chant--“Fab-u-lous!” Soon, huge swaths of the audience were joining them. Chanting her name and punching their fist into the air in a show of solidarity.

“Look at that,” Lucas muttered, amused.

Livia had to blink back tears as a wave of acceptance washed over her. She was part of them even if some people didn’t like it. She still belonged here on the field next to her brother. She kissed the top of her fist and punched it into the air in response to the audience and everyone cheered.