To his relief, the prelate did not demand that he remain. The steward immediately lifted the chair from the dais and carried it away. While the other guests gathered about the prelate to fill the air with their further empty accolades, Linux went to find Jacob, who was attempting to conceal himself behind a pillar. His shoulders shook and his hands covered his face. Linux nudged the boy forward and discreetly departed.They returned to where the arena road joined with the main thoroughfare to Jerusalem. Jacob did not speak, and Linux did not question him.Linux had paid little attention to the games themselves. The sport of blood had never held him. Linux had a warrior's scorn for gladiators and the maiming of man or beast as entertainment. But for Jacob, a young Judean lad with no concept of Roman games, it clearly had been a terrible shock. The boy's occasional shudder indicated the level of his distress.The road traversing the Mount of Olives was still crowded with the people wending their way into the city.
