by Hearst, Amy
“That is an unusual request, especially from you, Nardine. We have not utilized you much as a courtesan. There are other slaves who are much more experienced than you. Plus, as I told you before, you seem to be bad luck for the gladiators you do bed. I will have to have to ask the augur to decide it.”
“Thank you, mistress,” said Nardine. “That is all I can ask for.” Nardine had hoped Cornelia would agree immediately. Now, the decision would be determined by how a flock of birds flying in the sky looked to the augur. Discouraged and disappointed, Nardine looked to the future with only a small hope. If she could just get close to another gladiator, she knew she could convince him to help her escape.
Chapter Four
Abedi stretched as he arose from his pallet. Today would be another long day on the practice field, a place he still could not perform because of his leg. Fortunately, he could walk again. A slow process, he could feel his strength returning to his limbs. The physician told him this would happen, and that it meant healing had begun. But his newfound strength made him restless.
He possessed an active mind. He could look over the hill beyond the practice field and see the city in motion. If he looked in the opposite direction, into the fields on the other side of the ludus, he could imagine his native African delta stretching for miles in the other direction.
Other distractions existed, too, including those of the female variety. As Abedi washed his face with water from a pail by his bed, he remembered Nardine’s sweet smile and shapely body. He had seen her rare smile often enough to know a beautiful woman lurked beneath the troubled expression she often wore. He understood her sadness as a slave. He counted himself fortunate to be a gladiator and to be able to have some direct control over his own destiny. But it had come only after years of rowing a galley. He hated the water and would prefer to walk on the sands of the arena, even if they were drenched with blood.
Abedi had seen Nardine talking with Justinus the other day. He knew that Justinus liked men, so he did not suspect a romance between the two. He did want to learn more about Nardine, and find out what allowed her to face each day. She entranced him. So Abedi planned to confront Justinus that afternoon. Enough time had passed He would not look too anxious when he asked about Nardine. Abedi had been with many women in Africa and more than a few since then. He knew if he could find out a few clues about Nardine’s personality, he could attract her. But scarce opportunities existed to converse with her. Later that day, he sat down next to Justinus, who rested after a mock match. “That parry was superb, Justinus,” Abedi said.
“So tell me. What do you want? You’re usually not so free with your compliments.”
Justinus’ directness bothered Abedi, who liked to worm his way around a problem. “Well, I thought you could give me some advice.”
“Some advice? About my parry? I can demonstrate it again for you if you like.”
“No,” said Abedi. “I am looking for some advice about women.”
“Women? What would I know about women? Ah, you are talking about that slave who was bothering me the other day. Nardine, is that her name? She is a pesky creature.”
“Why do you say that?” asked Abedi.
“Well, if you must know, I might as well tell you. You’re not one to spread gossip. She is planning to run away and she asked for my help.”
This stopped Abedi. She might face death if caught, or at the very least a severe beating. “Why would she want to run away?”
“Who knows? She doesn’t like the mistress? She was carrying on with Gaius before he was killed, I believe. Maybe that has something to do with it.”
Abedi had known about Gaius, too. He had approached Nardine in the infirmary only after Gaius died. “Maybe,” said Abedi. “Maybe she just wants a taste of freedom.”
Abedi could understand that. He spent years chained in the bottom of a ship, and it created a constant yearning to run and keep running until he found a place he could live free. He kept his desire in check by exercise and by battling in the arena. That had to suffice for now.
“So, Abedi. Are you thinking about running away with her?” Justinus clapped him on the back. “She’s trouble, that one. Mark my words. Better to stay away from her and her damned blonde hair.”
“Did she speak of anything else?” asked Abedi.
“She told me she thought she and I could pose as a couple if we made it to freedom. And she asked me not to tell anyone of her plans.”
“I am glad you told me,” said Abedi. “I am not planning to run away. But I am planning to have that girl.”
*****
The following day, Nardine worked in the infirmary. Abedi hobbled around on his cane and bothered her as she fulfilled all the duties the physician gave her.
She couldn’t say why, but something about Abedi put her on guard. She had to admit his chest was broad and his legs like trees. Except something more than that attracted her. Perhaps his steely dark gaze drew her to him. His eyes looked like limpid pools full of tan leaves.
He treated her like a queen. His gaze caused a tingling in her, one that began low in her belly and spread throughout her midsection and her breasts. She could barely believe her attraction to Abedi so soon after Gaius’ death.
“My beautiful tranquil little flower,” said Abedi. “Where are you going on this fine morning?”
“I’m staying here all day, Abedi. You’ll have your fill of me before the day is through. The physician said it’s time to put the cane down.” Nardine suspected he stayed in the infirmary specifically to follow her around.
“Can you help me?” asked Abedi, laying his cane by a pallet. “I need your support.” He smiled at her.
“Abedi! You don’t need support from me, a big strong gladiator like you! I should be leaning on you for support!” She smiled, allowing him to put his arm around her shoulders, and they hobbled down the corridor together.
Abedi pushed her into a tiny alcove and up against a wall. “My beautiful goddess. At last we are alone.” He smiled again, and Nardine couldn’t help noticing his eyes, lit up by the light from a small window. She should have pushed him away, but for some reason, she didn’t.
“Abedi. We’re not alone. There are other patients just down the hall…”
Abedi silenced her with a long, expansive kiss that radiated throughout Nardine’s body. No one had ever kissed her like this before. She vaguely wondered why she felt so comfortable. If one of the other gladiators had tried this she would have screamed and pushed him away. Yet this kiss went on. Abedi explored her mouth with his tongue and then drew away.
“My lily flower. You taste as good as you look. I was not wrong.” Those dark eyes flashed, and another smile spread slowly across his face.
Nardine gently extricated herself. “Abedi, we can’t be seen like this. I would be severely punished by the mistress.”
“But my dear, you won’t be punished after I win my next match and request you in my bed.”
Nardine shied away at that. “You have to win first. And in order to win, you have to be able to walk. Let us return to the infirmary. As they walked slowly down the hall, Nardine remembered how the kiss made her feel—as though the stars in the sky raced around and around as she ran beneath them. The dizziness hadn’t left her, even now. No, she wouldn’t forget Abedi.
Chapter Five
A new worry confronted Nardine. Her courses were late by two or three months. She had always been quite regular, so she knew she must be carrying Gaius’ child. Her dream had come true. But if she revealed her pregnancy to the mistress, her child would be taken from her and most likely sold. She must hide her pregnancy for as long as possible. Perhaps she would have time to escape, and be able to keep her child.
While she ate her breakfast during the early morning, Cornelia strode into the kitchens. The mistress awakened at all hours of the day and night. “Nardine, I have good news for you. The augurs say allowing you to sleep with a gladiator will bring the house good luck. They sai
d it might even bring a baby! How do you like that?” Cornelia laughed. “If that happened, it would be good luck for the house, as you would be bearing another little slave for us!”
“That would be…interesting, mistress. I am grateful to have won your trust. I look forward to finding another gladiator to warm my bed.” She hoped that gladiator would be Abedi. But fortune had to favor her for that to happen. She wanted to put her plan in motion before anyone suspected her pregnancy. She still wasn’t certain Abedi would be the man who would set her free.
*****
As the weeks passed, Nardine became more and more tired. She knew the baby inside her grew and drained her, so she took special care in her kitchen duties and at the infirmary. She double-checked all the vegetables she sliced and all the beds she made to assure everything looked perfect. She could not risk a very observant Cornelia finding out about her pregnancy
One day by the well, the woman who brought herbs to the kitchen approached her. Mila had been coming to the kitchen as long as Nardine could remember. In addition to selling herbs and vegetables, she also served as a midwife. Nardine sat on the edge of the well, wiping her forehead and taking a moment’s rest.
“You should not tax yourself, Nardine,” said Mila. “It is not good for the baby.”
Nardine looked up, alarmed. “How did you know? I have told no one.”
“The signs are all there. You are usually filled with energy. You are a hard worker, Nardine. I have never before seen you shirking your duty, even to sit quietly by a well. And I saw you by the stables the other morning, expelling your breakfast.”
Nardine had tried to be so careful, and yet Mila had seen her. What if someone else had?
“Oh Mila, you must keep my secret. If Cornelia finds out…”
“I know,” said Mila. “She will take your baby. Unfortunately, that is the babe’s future, whether you like it or not. And Cornelia will find out. But not yet, and not from me.” She pulled a small ladle from her bundle and scooped some water from Nardine’s pail, handing it to her to drink. “Refresh yourself, and try not to worry. Having a baby is always frightening the first time. “
“Mila, I want to go away from here. I want to raise my child on my own.”
“That is not wise. If you plan on escaping, you had best not plan on raising a child. Who would take care of it while you worked? And work you will to earn your way, that I promise you.” She pulled a small vial from her package.
“I will give you this. Drink all of it. In a few hours you will start bleeding and will bleed for three days, if the babe is not too far along. Then you will be rid of it. Do it soon, so it will be sure to work.”
“I could not, Mila,” Nardine said. “I could never kill my child. I want this child.”
“Nevertheless, take it with you. You might change your mind.”
So Nardine took the bottle and concealed it in the pocket of her shift. “I must return to the kitchens, Mila. Once again, I ask you to tell no one about my pregnancy.”
“You can be assured I will not.”
As she returned to the kitchens, Nardine hung her head. The whole interlude with Mila depressed her. If Mila could tell she carried a baby, Cornelia would discover it soon as well. She would keep the bottle only for an emergency, although she could not imagine what that emergency might be. Mila made her doubt the wisdom of having the baby which depressed her even more.
*****
Abedi wanted to get back into the ring. His leg injury had not healed completely, but he began trading blows with the other gladiators in the practice yard as soon as he could. The other men pushed him to his limit, forcing him to his feet when he fell and slashing as hard as they could at him with wooden swords.
After practice one day, he approached the doctore, who trained the gladiators.
“I need to speak with you. I want to be back in the arena as soon as possible. I will be ready in time for the next match.”
“We will see,” the doctore said. “That leg is far from healed.”
“Other men fight with injuries.”
“Yes, and most of them fight and die. That will not serve the house, nor, need I mention, you.”
“But you said yourself how strong I looked today.”
“You are indeed strong, Abedi. I was merely surprised that you appear to have recovered so quickly. That was an agonizing wound.”
“But again, as you said yourself, I have recovered!”
“All right, Abedi. I will put in a good word for you with the master. Remember, you are not only putting the house at risk, you also put my reputation at risk as well as your own. If you lose and somehow survive, it will not go well for you.”
“That I know,” said Abedi. He would fight in the next series of matches at the arena. After that, he and Nardine would be together.
*****
Abedi looked across the sands of the area at his opponent. A hulking brute from Gaul, about the same height as Abedi and just as big, walked toward him. Abedi would have to slaughter the gladiator, named Vax, in order to secure a night with Nardine. He wanted to prove himself to the other gladiators — that he could fight and had recovered from his injury. But mostly, he wanted to impress Nardine. He desired her to look forward to this night as much he did.
At the signal, he strode into the arena as the crowd roared. A Thracian had just killed a savage gladiator from the far west, the land of barbarians. The spectators thirsted for more blood, more excitement.
Unlike other gladiators, who usually carried at least two weapons, Vax held only one — a large club he wielded high above his head. Abedi knew he could break bones with that club, or bash a man’s head in. Vax knew of his leg injury. Gladiators got that sort of news before the match, if not the crowd. Abedi had almost defeated the limp, however. No one in the audience seemed to notice it.
The match began with Abedi striking the first blow. He carried a spear, a weapon he had first learned to use at home in Africa. He also had a knife in a holster on his lower leg. He held his shield in his left hand. Abedi ran past Vax, striking out at him with the spear and drawing blood when it pierced his left arm. The crowd cheered. Abedi scurried backwards, trying to gain enough time to plan his next move. Vax didn’t hurry. Abedi watched as Vax lifted his club and strode toward him. He raised it above Abedi’s head and swept down as Abedi jumped to the right, completely avoiding it. He jabbed the spear at Vax’s side when he landed but missed, then circled his opponent. Abedi could feel the sweat dripping down his forehead. Some of Vax’s blood had splashed on his face, so he swept it away.
Now, Vax headed for him in earnest. He stalked Abedi with the club poised in the air, ready to strike. Abedi turned around quickly and slashed at Vax but missed, just as Vax brought the club down on his shoulder.
The excruciating pain almost felled him. He managed to right himself by skipping away from Vax, who simply laughed. Abedi shook his head, trying to clear his mind of the sharp echoes of pain radiating upward from his shoulder. He had to snap out of his disoriented state to win the match. He walked to the side of the arena, where the runners kept water. Abedi picked up a pail of it and doused his head. The crowd sounds were mixed. Some people jeered while others applauded him. Afterward, Abedi took a deep breath, striding toward Vax; the brief respite gave him renewed energy.
This time, he focused on Vax’s legs. Abedi had learned a painful lesson through his own injury—if you couldn’t walk you couldn’t fight. He drew small amounts of blood that spurted out on the sand. Vax got angry and started swinging wildly. Abedi avoided the blows, but his energy wouldn’t hold out forever. He must injure Vax in a substantial way to even the score.
Abedi crept around Vax again, jabbing in and out with the spear as Vax twisted to meet each thrust with a swing of the club. Abedi could move quicker so he had a slight advantage. But Vax caught him again with the club, this time on his left hand. He jumped backward to avoid any more blows.
An enraged Vax used both hands to grab
the club and swing from right to left, attempting to crush Abedi’s mid-section. Once again, he kept missing. As he twisted around as a result of the swing, Abedi plunged the spear into Vax’s side. He stumbled, and then fell over. Abedi moved in for the kill.
But he didn’t make it. Using both hands again, Vax swung the club viciously, this time connecting with Abedi’s left leg, which he had injured earlier. Abedi, on the ground now and crippled by the blow, could not rise. Vax stumbled to his feet. Try as he might, Abedi could not get off the ground. He could hear the loud screams of the crowd, and could vaguely see a man at the end of the arena climbing from the stands into the ring. As Vax prepared to strike Abedi again, the magistrate rose and extended his arm. The audience would now decide the crippled gladiators’ fate. Loud cheers broke out all across the coliseum. The magistrate turned his thumb up, and Abedi would be allowed to live.
But he couldn’t walk, and he had lost the match. The doctore’s words haunted him—things would not go well for him if he lost the match and survived. Nardine would look down on him as a gladiator unable to achieve a victory. He could never help her escape with a crippled leg like this. He would be lucky to ever stand again. As the runners came and began to lift him onto a stretcher, Abedi hung his head. It would be a long time before he had the chance to fight in the arena again, if ever. He hoped his career hadn’t ended. He wanted a chance to redeem himself – to all of Rome, but to Nardine, in particular.
*****
Nardine watched as Abedi fell to the ground. Her stomach boiled as he took the hit, and a pang of pain exploded inside her. Abedi suffered not only in a physical way but also in an emotional one. He had boasted so much of bedding her that she almost felt pity for him – an emotion she knew he wouldn’t want her to experience.
Cornelia watched her closely during Abedi’s match, and struck up a conversation in the immediate aftermath. “It seems you have a particular interest in this gladiator, Nardine. What is it? Are you interested in another man so soon after your lover’s death?”
