Wyatt was angry with him. He didn't need to hear the words to know it, though they were sharp and painful to hear when he did. Wyatt was angry with him, and Maximus couldn't even explain the truth. He was unaccustomed to dishonesty as a whole - certainly not with someone he cared for and trusted - but this time he simply could not tell Wyatt the truth.

Did not want to give the Capitol a reason to keep either of them from returning.

But for a man of honour, for whom trust and loyalty were his most important virtues, the words stung, despite. Hard and deep until they ached in his chest. And he could not let them slide idly by.

A few moments past as he acted as if he hadn't heard them, trying to get out of the grass, his mind churning. Only once they stepped out of the trees did he turn around - the pain on his face obvious.

"I am a gladiator, Wyatt." He said, his voice nearly calm but there was a pained edge to it. Words he could not say but that he wanted to. Words he would not, to save Wyatt the consequences. "You would have done the same thing, had our places been exchanged. I am here because we are brothers, and I will not see you fight alone. If you must take the risk then so too shall I. I have broken no vow to you."