The Defiant Ones

by Anna Keraleigh

  He was still too near. His body radiated warmth that seemed to singe her. She longed to feel his hot flesh against hers, void of clothing, and the thought made her angrier. Larina should not feel such things and yet her body yearned for him, as did her heart. By the Gods, this man was dangerous. Larina didn’t speak. When Brennus moved away, she straightened her spine and kept her lips shut.

  The Romans had passed and the crowd that had gathered to see them go began to disperse and initiate the chores of the day. Larina sagged against the wall, trying to slow her rapid heartbeat, but the gentle caress between them lingered.

  “Come, lest we be discovered before the mission even begins.” He began to walk off.

  Larina followed. She was unable to let go of what just happened, of what her mind and body had admitted. Larina, queen of the mighty Amazons, wanted a man, a gladiator, a fucking Gaul. The underworld had indeed frozen over.

  They traveled quickly through the streets and made their way to the eastern part of the city. There were fewer guards about and only a few noble Romans. Most were peasants and a few less fortunate sobbing in the streets. It was not as she remembered, though her view of Rome was brief. Brennus stopped at the third stone home. He glanced around before knocking on the door. The slight effort made the wooden door rock against its frame. The holes in the stone walls were windows and on the second floor, a petite woman stuck her head out, black hair hung in a stringy wet mass. Her breasts were bared to all eyes.

  “Who calls?”

  “I search for Titus. A large man of great smile and bigger nose,” Brennus said with a grin.

  The door suddenly opened and the description came to life. The man was taller as Brennus, well over six feet. His nose was flat and large on his face and he had an old scar down his forehead. The man stood there silent, his plump lips open in shock.

  “I see the ghost of a long-ago friend.”

  “You have not lost wit. I am yet with the living,” Brennus whispered.

  “You have aged not, yet I stand as an old man and we were of the same birth month. You are a ghost. Have you come to take me to the underworld?” The large man grabbed his chest.

  “Titus, do I have a story to tell, and not even the Gods would believe such a fate. Invite us in so I may occupy ears.”

  Titus hesitated and then stepped aside.

  Larina was ushered inside, and she scowled at Brennus as he did so. First, the man kissed her and now he pushed her. “Foolish prick,” she mumbled, but doubted he heard. He and Titus were hugging like long-lost brothers.

  The room they entered was of low class. There was a bench and table made of shabby wood, along with a few candles nearly worn down to the wick. The floor beneath her feet was concrete but the numerous cracks were packed with dirt.

  “Speak so that I may understand how this came to be. Last I saw of you was in the arena. You foolishly saved the life of a woman to be executed by your own hand.”

  “’Tis a long story.” Brennus sat down.

  Larina followed, glancing around as he related their strange tale to his old friend. She sat for a few moments but quickly moved to the opening in the wall. The sun was shining on the streets of the city and a small black cat was walking along the edge of the street. A young boy was behind it, humming some song with a bucket of water slopping about in his arms.

  “You came to save Nova?”

  “Have you seen her since my disappearance?”

  The room became very quiet. Larina turned around, staring at the men as she leaned her hip against the window.

  “I have. I spent much coin to put her under the grass.”

  Brennus turned pale, his lips parted, and a soft gasp escaped. Despite the screaming in her head to stay put, she moved to his side. Her hand moved to his massive shoulder.

  Titus continued, “She passed from this world only a few years ago. The Antonine Plague ravaged this city and she was among those taken. Apologies for such bad news.”

  Brennus’s lips floundered open and closed but words did not sound. It was a few moments of silence before he sat straighter. “You paid hard-earned coin to bury her properly. That is a deed I shall never forget.”

  Titus nodded and city noises grew. People were bustling out there. Someone offered grain at a low price while another spoke of a fresh batch of slaves for auction.

  “Her death was a hard blow but she did have a good life before such travesty. The man she called dominus laid claim to her as his body slave. She was well cared for and even bore a child to the man.”

  The news made Brennus jerk and look up. “A son…I have a nephew? Do you know his fate? Where does he dwell?”

  Titus held up his hand. “I do not know. I have not had the strength to travel there for some time. The roads are treacherous. All the soldiers are on the Noricum Province fighting the fucking barbarians.” Titus spit at the mention of the enemy. “Much has come to light this day. Stay. Rest.”

  * * * *

  “Turn thoughts from darkness.”

  Larina’s voice broke through the gloom in his head. The day had started so well, he even managed to kiss her, and then disaster. His little sister gone from this world. Forever. It made his heart squeeze inside his chest and threaten to shatter, never to be whole again.

  “There is but one path, Brennus.” As she spoke quietly, she moved from the doorway of this little bedroom toward him. “We must spill Roman blood and rescue your nephew.”

  He stood at the window, staring out at a fading sun, a fragile hope crushed. “’Tis not something I would ask of you. The chance of success is too low.” Attacking a villa so close to the city was madness. He would not risk her life for his quest.

  “If not for you I would already be under the grass, head severed from body. I do not believe that would be a good look for me.”

  The slight humor made him turn toward her. “You would risk life to repay my rescue of you?”

  “I would do it…to get us both out of this fucking city and back on that ship. Only then will we both be free.” Larina sat on the only object in the room, a small cot with a thin blanket atop it.

  “And what of your tribe? Will you return to the Amazons?” Larina looked away and he shifted even further toward her. “Share thoughts.”

  “Not thoughts. Titus’s knowledge. He told me the Amazons are no more. They have perished from this fucking world, never to reawaken.” She bunched her hands into fists and ground her teeth. “I will spill Roman blood, as much as I can, before leaving this land.”

  Brennus took a chance and sat beside her. Based on her previous reaction he thought she’d push him away. His hand was placed atop hers and she held it. The silence stretched but it wasn’t awkward, only filled with unsaid words. He eased his touch from her palm and up her arms. His fingertips slid up her soft skin toward her elbow and she flinched as he moved his hand to grab the back of her neck. Then without thought, he pulled her close and held her. If she fought him he’d let go, he promised himself, but she stilled. Her ear against his chest, her breast pressing against him. They sat there together, dark thoughts roaming as the sun set on a city they hated.

  Chapter Five

  The same moon they had watched rise was now above their heads. Larina felt the presence like a weight. The moment darkness ruled the night, she and Brennus had left Titus’s home. The plan was rather simple. Kill Romans, save his nephew, and flee to the ship. She knew that in time someone would be powerful enough to defeat the Romans. Perhaps in another time jump with that ship she’d be able to witness such a thing and revel in their blood spilt.

  The hood she wore covered her bright auburn locks as they weaved quietly through the city. The villa was but a long walk from the city and the path was not lit with torches nor secured by Roman shits. Animals ran freely here and any man with ill intentions could roam equally as unencumbered. Or woman, definitely a woman. One that had found her entire tribe was destroyed and the world she knew torn apart. Tension rose as they made their way
through trees and brush. Larina needed to fight. She needed to spill blood and kill, to avenge all her fallen sisters.

  “You are without words,” Brennus said as they moved swiftly.

  “I am but filled with anger.” And all she had was this little knife. She’d still take as many as she could.

  “As am I. Many Romans will die this night.” He growled the words as they came upon their destination.

  The villa wasn’t overly large. Two guards were on top of the stone wall surrounding the home. She could see no more. “If we are quiet in our attempt at killing them, we would have much-needed weapons and advantage.”

  “There may yet be more guards inside.”

  “There could be over a dozen.” Larina stood, an evil smile on her face. “But not even that many could best the Amazon queen and the fucking champion of Rome.”

  He smiled and stood. “Then let us take life.”

  Larina moved rapidly to the wall’s edge. When the horn wasn’t sounded, she glanced behind her. Brennus was on the opposite side, already hauling his heavy body up the tree. Larina was quick to follow. She moved with grace and more speed than him. Her destination was met silently and with success. They were now in position. It was a moment to catch her breath and then she shoved her hip against the nearest branch. The tree branch wiggled and caught the eye of the Roman shit on guard.

  “Oy, did you see that?”

  Brennus shifted and that tree moved.

  “I saw that.”

  The guards disappeared from their perches. They moved cautiously in either direction. Larina counted his steps, knife in hand, anger upon her very soul. Her breath slowed as her legs tensed and she leaped toward him. His body broke her fall and they landed with a hard thud on the wall. The knife she held slammed into his neck over and over. Blood, warm and sticky, covered her arms and sprayed on her neck. The guard didn’t even scream as he died, she had too badly wounded his throat. When Larina looked up she met the beautiful blue eyes of Brennus. Blood was upon his bare chest.

  Success.

  He nodded his head, moved to his butt, and then slipped down the wall into the shadows. It seemed the plan was in action. She followed down her own wall. The shadow engulfed her form. Before her was a modest-sized area of sand with a few flowers and vases for decoration. The place looked worn and old. Stone pillars held a roof over a balcony and the arched doorway stood unguarded. She waited a moment, taking in her surroundings. A flash of something moved to her right. Brennus. She heard the thump of a body and saw the brief flash of a smile upon his lips.

  Time to make good on her promise. Kill Romans.

  Larina charged across the sand, images of her sisters’ faces forming in her mind. She stood against the wall, hearing footsteps. She waited for the person to come toward her. When he was in the doorframe, she spun from hiding, slamming her little knife into his stomach. The guard’s mouth opened and his eyes widened. Larina grabbed his sword from its sheath and used it to pierce his chest. He fell in a heap as she continued down the hall. There were only six rooms, and thin curtains covered the arched entrances.

  Brennus came from the first room on the left, his sword bloody.

  Larina smiled and parted her lips. The yell was a traditional Amazonian battle cry and it pierced the quiet night. Two guards came forth, both dispatched by Brennus before they could glance at her. Then came a few slaves. She drove them back into the room without harming them and then their target appeared.

  “What the fuck is the meaning of this!” The dominus of the house stood before them.

  Brennus grabbed a handful of his white robes, pushing him roughly against the wall. “We seek words.”

  His white hair was plastered against his head in sweat and he floundered about absent direction. “Who…How…I.”

  “Still your tongue until you hear my question.” Brennus pushed him into the nearest room. “Secure the slaves. I would not have them flee and alert anyone to our presence.”

  Larina nodded. That sounded a lot like an order. She frowned. It was what she had planned to do anyway, so technically she was not following a man’s orders. She pulled the curtain down, exposing three frightened women. “How many slaves reside in this villa? And do not think to use a forked tongue.”

  The tallest of the women stood forth, her body barely covered by cloth. “I am of highest position here.”

  “Then speak and see your lives spared.”

  She swallowed hard, her dark hair long but without shine. “There are four slaves remaining. One should still be in the rooms below. She is being punished for her disobedience.”

  Larina scowled. Roman shit. They thought they could control everyone. “Sit.” She placed her sword against the stone wall and used the ripped curtain to tie each woman’s hands and then their feet. Then she went in search of the disobedient slave. Larina walked past the room where Brennus was taking out his rage. “Be sure to learn answers before killing him.” She spoke as she passed.

  “He will give answers!” he yelled back.

  She found the small set of stairs that led to a dark room. The light was a single torch and the room stunk of rot. Larina feared this slave was already gone from this world when she came to the bottom of the stairs. Her sword was at the ready should that bitch be lying. “Are you yet alive?”

  “Depends what you call alive.” The voice was female, deep, and it made Larina freeze.

  She knew that voice. Larina’s lungs filled with air as she gasped and the lump on the floor moved to form a woman. “Cassia?” One of her fellow Amazons! She lives?

  “I think my wit has finally crumbled.”

  Cassia was covered with filth and blood, her body a mere shell of the great warrior she used to be. Larina couldn’t speak. Her legs felt like collapsing as she took a few steps toward her old friend and cut the ropes that bound her. “It is I who have lost sense. I thought all of our tribe was gone.”

  “Most.” She coughed, the movement making her body jerk and twitch.

  Larina helped Cassia upward. The woman was but skin and bone. It was a trek getting her to the steps and Larina nearly carried the woman up the stairs. “Do you know of their locations?”

  “In pits discarded by the Romans.” Cassia coughed again.

  Larina forced her onward and moved her to the room where Brennus still beat the dominus of the house. She used his well-padded bed to lay Cassia down.

  “You made a friend?” Brennus asked as he used the disregarded robe to wipe the blood from his hands. The dominus was cowered in a corner, tears and blood upon his face.

  “I’ve found a friend from long ago.” Larina was livid. Her body hummed for violence and vengeance. “Did you find answers?”

  “I did,” Brennus said as he moved from the dominus.

  “Good. I would take my fury out on him.” Larina approached the man and let out a growl that would make a grown man piss himself.

  * * * *

  Brennus stood idle. He didn’t dare interfere. Larina struck the dominus over and over again while his heart weighed heavy at the answers he received. The dominus had told him his nephew yet lived. He only had to look in the arena, on the sands, at the champion. Brennus had escaped that life by the will of the Gods but they had replaced him with his nephew. Demus. At least he had a name and a gladiator school location, but the security was impossible to defeat since the escape of Spartacus. Each gladiator would be chained and there would be no real weapons among them. Now what choices did they have? What path could they possibly take that would lead to rescuing him?

  “Present your knife. The small one.”

  Brennus lifted a brow. “His screams would alert anyone nearby.”

  “Then I will kill them as well.” She practically spit the words. “That…broken soul is a woman of my tribe.”

  Brennus glanced at the bed where the woman lay, and he handed over the small knife he brought from the ship. “Take care to cover his mouth. I will check the other rooms.” That made four sl
aves, which meant there was still one around here somewhere. A male to be in charge. He found the man in question by turning the corner as he prepared to flee into the night. Brennus threw his sword. It flew through the air end over end with perfected aim from gladiator training and the arena. The smaller man was struck in the shoulder. His cry rang out into the hushed night.

  Brennus heard a similar scream from inside that room as he trussed up the slave and carried him to the women. They would be fine for a few days in there, hidden from prying eyes and unable to spill lips about the attack.

  Now he just had to get Larina. The woman that made his cock rise and fall in the same moment. Her touch was like the Elysian Fields and her wrath enough to make him hesitate the next time he attempted to kiss her. The male slave struggled against his bonds so Brennus placed rope around his ankles as well. “Stay here, remain quiet, and you will live to see another day.”

  Chapter Six

  Oxygen hissed out of Larina’s parted lips quickly. She was covered with the dominus’s blood and reveled in the warmth of it. This Roman shit had four of her tribe and Cassia was said to be the only survivor. Three women, warriors she had trained with, friends she had laughed with, were gone by his hand. He had died screaming silently in as much pain as she could muster. Cassia was asleep on the bed, her body curled up in a small ball. It still shocked Larina as to her condition. She placed the knife on the ground beside the bed and placed the sword down. Her hands were shaking. She fisted and then opened them. Adrenaline was easing and left only the weariness of the day.

  “Will you sleep with the blood of our enemy fresh on your skin? I have heard such tales about Amazons.” Brennus spoke from the door.

  She had actually forgotten about him, focused solely on torturing this cunt of a man. Well, the dominus had a cock no longer. She had taken pleasure from his every flinch. “We do not.” She turned toward him, struck silent by his handsome appearance. Even with scars and dried blood, he was attractive. He wore only his lower armor and she could see the way his chest gleamed in the torchlight. Muscle upon muscle built for survival, much like her.