Melody looked over at Cassius; they had been on Zevon for six months now. She had grown to love Zevon quite a lot.
They had a party about a month ago and met several of the other people who lived on this lonely planet. Jureal had turned out to be not only a real friend, but also a good source of information.
It had been just two weeks ago when Jureal had come to visit them again.
“Hey, Cassius and Melody how are you both doing?” Jureal asked him as he came into their home.
“Hey Jureal, we’re good. How are you doing?” Cassius had asked.
“Not bad. I heard some interesting information from the Goma the other day.” Jureal had said.
“Oh what is that?” Cassius had asked quietly.
Melody had felt the nerves begin to throb in her body. On more than one occasion Jureal had hinted about how much Cassius looked like a great warrior he had once seen at the Goma.
“Well it seems that Demetri, he was the guy who sold the tickets and promoted the fights. He was killed, there was a lot of talk about how the warrior, Cassius, funny he has the same name as you. But the warrior had supposedly killed him. However, you know that never made much sense to me. Why would a guy who had just won his freedom do something like that? Surely, it would be someone else.” Jureal had paused.
“Right it wouldn’t make sense that a guy who was finally free would kill the man who basically gave him that freedom.” Melody had said.
Cassius had cut her off with a look though.
“Yeah I agree.” Jureal had said. “So anyway, I thought perhaps it was a relative of the Lars fellow. Do you know anything about the Goma?” He had stopped and asked them both.
“No, besides the legend talk I’ve heard from some people in the past.” Cassius had stated cautiously.
“I have no idea, I’m from Earth.” Melody had looked at him and played dumb.
“Okay, we’ll you have heard of gladiators before right Melody.” Jureal had looked at her.
“Yes, the Romans on Earth used to have fights to the death.” Melody had shook her head.
“Well the Goma is the same thing, but in our Galaxy. The men who battle are often slaves, they’ve either been sold as slaves, or their families were slaves. The deal is that if any warrior can win 200 fights they will be set free. It isn’t a task that is easy to do. There have only been two in all of the history of the Goma. Mazart back around 100 years ago was the first fighter to complete all the fights. Recently, Cassius completed this same number of fights. This is where it gets interesting though. The night of the fights someone killed Demetri, and the signs all pointed to Cassius. I on the other hand had other theories about the guilty party. I thought that it would either be one of Lars’s relatives, he’s the man that Cassius obliterated in about 10 minutes time. Or perhaps an angry fan who felt they were cheated on a bet. I just happen to have the right connections and let it be known of my theories. It seems that the authorities hadn’t looked at the cameras in the building yet. When they pulled up the footage from that night, you know who could be seen clearly walking out of the building?” Jureal had stopped and studied them both closely.
Melody squirmed under his study, but sat tight lipped. Cassius had not said a word either.
“Well it was Cassius and his prize for the fight. About two minutes after walking into Demetri’s office was a hooded man. The kicker was when they pulled the office film though. The man who had come in was Lars’s younger brother, Marteen. Clearly on the film you can see Marteen as he slayed Demetri.”
“Oh really, that’s great news!” Melody had said.
Cassius had looked at Jureal, “So how long have you known I was the warrior?”
Jureal had laughed, “Since the first time I met you son. But I’m telling you I have a sense about anyone I meet. I can tell if they are a good person or a bad one. You my friend are indeed a good man. That was why I pulled my strings and made sure that the truth was discovered. You my man are truly a free man. If you want you can go back home.”
Cassius and Melody had been stunned further to find out that Jureal had once been an inspector for the authorities. If he had thought Cassius was really guilty, he would have called them in the day he first met them. But he had gone with his gut instinct and now Cassius could do anything he wanted.
They had decided they loved Zevon and would stay there most of the year. But had planned to visit his home planet once the baby was born, he wanted his parents to meet their new grandchild.
“What are you thinking about Melody?” Cassius interrupted her thoughts.
“Oh just thinking about how scared I was when I was first kidnapped. I never imagined that I would find love out in space.” She answered as she rubbed her belly.
“You know I was so upset when I first found out you were the prize. Boy was I a stupid man at that point.” Cassius laughed.
“But you’re not anymore!”
He grabbed her and kissed her deeply, “No my love I’m not, and I have the most amazing wife a man could ever ask for. I love you Melody.”
“I love you too Cassius.”
THE END