Proud and strong he stood, with the sunlight upon his golden curls and the strength of a hero showing in his movements, but the centurions, both of them, stared at him as if they were in amazement.
"Thou art not dead?" said Julius.
"O jarl, let him take thy hand," said Caius. "Let him be sure of thee that thou art well."
"O Caius," said his enemy, "thy swordsman liveth. I have been misinformed. But how were his wounds that they have healed?"
"Scratches!" said Caius. "I have care for my gladiators after a fight that they may be ready again. Hast thou any to put against him for a thousand sesterces, man for man?"
"That have not I!" exclaimed Julius, looking hard at Ulric. "He hath cost me enough!"
Then, also, for he was cunning, he understood the looks of the other Saxons, closing around the jarl lovingly, and he ground his teeth, for the thought in his mind was: "They would slay half a cohort of my dwarfs. They would slay me, if Caius bade them. I would I had such a bodyguard that knew nothing but mine own will."
So thought Caius in his mind, silently, but he said aloud:
"O Julius, now the games are ended, and my mission to thee from Pontius is fulfilled, I will set out on the morrow for Jerusalem. The winter is here. What sayest thou?"
"The gods go with thee!" said Julius. "Also, if thou art wise, take with thee thy swordsmen. Thou wilt be safe by the way."