The Gladiator's Goddess (The Gladiators' Gifts)

by Hearst, Amy

  Abedi slowly crawled to his feet, facing down Hebides, who stood a few feet away, watching. Hebides drew his left hand through his own long hair, a gesture Nardine recognized as one of impatience. Perhaps if Abedi waited long enough he could bring Hebides down. But Hebides, taller and larger than Abedi, looked stronger too.

  Abedi pulled his short sword out and moved in, jabbing Hebides in his leg. This time, he drew blood and the crowd oohed. Hope skittered into Nardine’s awareness. Perhaps Abedi could defeat Hebides. She squinted in the sunlight to better see what transpired on the sands of the arena. She hoped Abedi would continue to flourish in the fight.

  Hebides countered with a blow to Abedi’s right leg. His sword bounced off Abedi’s shin, but Hebides got the worst of it when he stumbled and Abedi managed to stab him in the side. The crowd noise intensified, and Nardine smiled with a quiet confidence that Abedi would kill Hebides.

  Hebides arose, however, and could still walk. The wound didn’t slow him down much. He parried blows with Abedi then stepped backward to observe his foe and waited, using the sword to help him stand. As Abedi moved in, Hebides took up the sword with both hands and swung at his left leg, right at the old injury.

  Abedi went down with a whump! Lying flat on his back, he pulled his shield up to cover his mid-section. Hebides tried to slam his sword into Abedi’s left leg again, but he managed to move the shield just in time.

  Nardine watched as Abedi managed to climb to his feet once again, biting down on her lower lip. Small shivers of fear began to shake her insides. Now Abedi limped noticeably. He could no longer dance around Hebides and use his short sword to jab him. This time, he waited for Hebides, who walked around him, holding his sword at eye level.

  Hebides swiped at him, trying once more to inflict more hurt on his old injury. Abedi surprised him by moving in and quickly shoving his short sword upward into Hebides’ chest. Abedi backed away quickly.

  Hebides raised the sword and Nardine wondered whether he would manage to strike Abedi, who stood several feet away. But after taking two steps, Hebides toppled to the ground. Nardine watched as Abedi quickly walked over and knelt beside Hebides, his short sword at his neck. At first, it seemed Abedi would slit his throat; then she noticed he merely cut a cord from around Hebides’ neck. She watched as he shoved the amulet into the leather brace at his waist, and then stood to accept the crowd’s acclaim. Wild cheering sounded throughout the amphitheater.

  Nardine let out a long breath. She was one step closer to her dream of freedom. Abedi was still alive and had won a victory for the house of Marcus Antonius. She briefly wondered how the lanista would react to Abedi’s victory. Then, she refused to be distracted. She had to find her way to Abedi. Now. While they could still escape.

  *****

  Abedi tried to catch his breath. He’d defeated Hebides, killing him as he’d been instructed. He waved to the crowds as he strode off the arena floor. Next, he would collect his winnings. The master of coin distributed it to gladiators immediately after a victory at the match. Then the doctore collected it, and gave it back to the gladiators at the ludus.

  After he walked off the arena floor, he searched out the man who paid him. Runners, gladiators, and all of those who provided medical help crowded the area. When Abedi reached the bench occupied by the master of the coin, he did not see the doctore. Abedi saw a chance and quickly walked up to the man, his hand outstretched for his payment. The master gave him a bag of coins without any comment, and then turned to speak with a gladiator he’d been arguing with.

  Abedi picked up his bag of weapons and slipped out into the back hallway of the amphitheater. He calmly walked into an anteroom and quickly donned the white tunic he’d stored. Abedi shoved the coins into the weapons bag. He walked at a normal pace, out to a back exit of the amphitheater. Then he strode out of the amphitheater, and began to run.

  Chapter Eleven

  Nardine found her way to the bowels of the amphitheater. The baby cried and Nardine tried to quiet her, growing frustrated with all the noise surrounding her. She must find Abedi among all these people, or she might never have the chance again. She reached a gate to the area where the gladiators waited for the matches, and saw a guard. A hulking man with greasy black hair, he might have been a gladiator himself at one time.

  “What do you want?” he asked her.

  “I am searching for a gladiator. I must find him.”

  “You can’t go back there,” said the guard. “You are not allowed anywhere near the gladiators. And what are you doing with that baby?”

  “I need to find Abedi. He is a black-skinned gladiator. He just won the last match.”

  “I have not seen any black skinned gladiator. I can give him a message if you like.”

  “Tell him — tell him Nardine was here.”

  A hand came down on her shoulder. “Nardine. How —interesting to find you here.”

  Nardine’s heart dropped into her abdomen. She turned around to see Cornelia staring down at her. All hope fled as the mistress glared at her and at her daughter.

  “A baby. I see you have borne your child. All the better. Now we get two slaves back for the price of one.”

  A guard Nardine recognized from the ludus accompanied Cornelia. “Hold her, along with the child,” said Cornelia. “I will summon help.”

  Nardine slowly let out her breath and stared at Cornelia as she hurried away. Defeat filled her again, this time in a more permanent way. Now she had lost not only Abedi, but also her baby daughter Firi. She would be beaten and perhaps sold, never to see her child or Abedi again. How could this have happened? She had been certain the gods would have helped her find Abedi, and some happiness in this life.

  *****

  Abedi ran the entire way to Joseph’s home after leaving the amphitheater. He would not be a welcome guest, but he had a few things he wanted to say to Joseph. Joseph had allowed Nardine to leave his home. Abedi wanted answers.

  “You cannot stay here,” Joseph said to Abedi as soon as he arrived at the back entrance of his home. “They will remember me from the ludus and come looking for you.”

  “They don’t know where you live, Joseph! It will take them a while to find you, if they find you at all. By that time, I will be long gone. What I don’t understand is why you let her go. You knew I would be here, that I never would have sent her here if I didn’t plan to come afterward.”

  “It took longer than we anticipated. Myriah was getting tired of her, especially after the baby was born. And what I told you at the ludus was true. We did not throw her out. She ran away. But the biggest news is that she did not carry your baby. It was a white baby. You were not the sire.”

  “That is not news,” Abedi said. “I knew it had another father.”

  “Well, I’m not going to question you about why you are running after a girl who bore another man’s baby. But it did take you a long time to get here. We weren’t certain she was telling the truth after so much time had passed.”

  “You are right, Joseph. It did take a long time for me to get here. But I must find her.” Abedi had to acknowledge the truth. His leg had stubbornly resisted complete healing. He originally planned to follow Nardine to Joseph’s house after only a few weeks, but it had taken months for him to prepare to go back to the arena. And the doctore had been against it. “Where would she go? Have you looked for her?”

  “We did look around the marketplace,” said Joseph. But she spent most of her time here. She wanted to remain hidden. We had no idea where she would go. I gave her small amounts of coin. Maybe she went looking for you. Maybe she was at the arena today, watching your match. The neighbors knew of the event.”

  Abedi wondered about that. “If she went there, she could not have found me. They would not have left her in to see me. I hope she did not run into anyone else she knew. That would be quite dangerous.”

  Joseph nodded. “I don’t know how you will find her, Abedi. They will be looking for an escaped African gladiator,
and you will be easy to spot. You must be very careful.”

  Abedi smiled. “I am always careful, Joseph. And I will do what I can to find my second goddess. I already have the first one.” He lifted the amulet up from his neck to show Joseph. “She will help me locate Nardine.”

  *****

  A shiver of terror rocked through Nardine. Locked inside a cell, not far from where the gladiators lived, she pondered her future. This time, she had no chance of escaping. Nardine had been jailed since she arrived at the ludus two days ago. Her baby had been taken from her and she would be whipped before the ludus the next morning. Then, according to Cornelia, she would be sold. No one could help her, or her child. Tears rolled down her face as she looked at the moon, full once more, through the tiny window in her cell. Abedi walked somewhere under that same moon, she told herself. If only they could be together.

  A rustling noise distracted her. Nardine could not imagine who would be up at this hour. She could not see into the darkened hallway, but she could hear someone fiddling with the lock.

  “Who is there?” she asked. “What do you want?” She walked up to the cell door and looked at the man standing there. She could not believe what she saw. Joy filled her heart.

  “Abedi?” she whispered. “Is that you?”

  “It is me,” he answered. “Now keep quiet. We must not be heard.”

  “But how did you get in here? How did you get the key?”

  “Let us just say I have friends in high places. I heard of your plight from the medicine woman, whom I saw leaving the ludus yesterday. I knew they would be keeping you down here.”

  “But where are you planning to take me? I cannot leave here without my baby. They are going to beat me tomorrow, but I will not leave here without Firi.”

  “There is no time for that, Nardine. We must be away as quickly as possible.”

  “No,” she decided. “I love you Abedi, but we must at least try to get the baby. She is in the upper rooms somewhere. Better that you just leave me here than take me without the child.”

  Nardine could feel him staring at her, even if she could not see his eyes.

  “Fine,” he said. “But we must get you out first.”

  He got the lock opened and grabbed Nardine’s wrist, pulling her out of the cell and down the hallway behind him. Nardine could barely breathe. The other cells appeared to be empty. He left the key on the floor beside the exterior door and pulled Nardine outside. Rain fell from the sky, and Nardine looked around at the darkened ludus in the moonlight.

  “No time to tarry,” said Abedi. “Come.”

  She followed until they came to the rear gate entrance to the ludus. No guard patrolled this entrance since it was usually locked.

  “The jailer told me he would leave this door unlocked for me,” muttered Abedi. He pushed on the wide wooden doors and they slowly creaked open. Abedi hurried through, and Nardine followed. He grabbed her wrist again and they ran into a nearby clump of trees. Nardine fell to her knees on the soft wet grass, breathing hard and looking at the ludus, towering above them.

  “You stay here, Nardine. “If I am not back in half an hour, you should run as fast as you can. You can go back to Joseph’s if you wish. He will give you some money and let you stay for a short amount of time. Be wise and forget about me, and the child, if you have to. Where are they keeping the baby? Do you know?

  “I saw them give the baby to Claudia. She was going to keep the baby until they found a wet nurse. Perhaps Firi is in her chamber. That is all I know.” She told Abedi how to find Claudia’s chamber.

  “I will try to find her. If I am caught, all is lost,” said Abedi.

  “I understand. I know you will find her, Abedi. Now hurry. The night is slipping by.”

  Abedi left her, and Nardine waited in the dark copse of trees, praying to Abedi’s goddess, asking that she would help him find her baby.

  *****

  Abedi stole back into the ludus the same way he came out, through the back entrance and into the jail. He saw no one, and quickly made his way to a back stairway. After ascending it, he traveled up the stairway to the slaves’ quarters and walked halfway down a hallway to Claudia’s room.

  Claudia sat up as soon as he entered. “Who goes there?” she asked.

  “Be quiet,” Abedi answered, as he walked to her bed and sat down. “It is I, Abedi.” Claudia had met Abedi once before, when she worked for a day in the infirmary. “I am searching for Nardine’s child. Where is she?”

  “Why? You are not the child’s father, are you? What do you want with it? And how did you get up here?”

  “Lower your voice,” said Abedi. “Nardine is outside waiting for me. She wants me to take the child. But I must be very silent.”

  “How did you get Nardine out of the jail? She was locked in.”

  “Never mind about that. Just trust me that she is safe. Now where is the child?”

  “She is with a wet nurse. The first room on the left after you walk down the main hallway in the master’s quarters. It will be very dangerous to try to get the baby. What if she cries? You could waken the master.”

  “Don’t worry about that. Just don’t tell anyone I was here. You will hear of Nardine’s fate tomorrow. Just hope for the best.”

  “I will pray to the gods for you, for both of you. Nardine doesn’t deserve to be beaten, or to be separated from her daughter. I hope all three of you escape safely.”

  “So do I,” said Abedi. Then he backed away out of the room and into the hallway again. He crept silently past the doorways of the other sleeping slaves, down the hallway and up another staircase. He had to push through a wooden door to enter the master’s chambers. Abedi saw no guard posted there. He walked down a narrow hallway to get to the main hallway, and turned to his left. The room in question was right there. He could see the cradle from the hallway and hear the snores of the wet nurse in the bed beside it. Abedi decided quickly not to kill the wet nurse but to try and take the baby silently. Firi cooperated, merely gurgling when he picked her up. He walked out of the room as the nurse turned over, groaning. Abedi raced down the main hallway and into the narrow one, where he came face to face with the lanista.

  Antonius picked up a torch from a wall sconce. “Abedi! What are you doing here, with that baby? Where did you go after the match? We thought you had run away.”

  “I did run away, master. And I plan to run away again.”

  “Get back down to your cell, Abedi, before I call the guards. And give me that baby. I have no idea what you want with it, but it belongs in its bed.”

  Abedi pretended to hand the baby to the lanista, but then rolled her to the floor as gently as he could and grabbed the lanista around the neck with his left arm. The lanista began jerking his arms and legs, trying to pull Abedi’s arm off him, but Abedi overcame him.

  He used his right hand to cover Antonius’ nose and mouth. The master slowly began to weaken, and dropped the torch to the floor. Fire spread along the rug down the hallway. Abedi tried to keep an eye on the baby, who remained silent, as he crushed the life out of the lanista.

  Remarkably, no one seemed to be aware of what transpired. When the lanista died, Abedi threw his body to the floor, picked up the baby, and ran down the hallway. Smoke whirled around him as he ran. He reached the wooden door and pushed through, scurrying down the three flights of stairs and into the jail area, where he fled to the back entrance.

  In what seemed like no time, he dashed out the back gate and ran into the copse of woods. He saw Nardine almost immediately, who clasped him in her arms, kissing him as well as the now crying baby.

  “You found her,” she said. “I am so, so glad, Abedi. Thank you.”

  “You should be glad, my princess. It was no easy task. I had to kill the master to get her. We must leave. We will go to Joseph’s. There is a fire inside, so they will be distracted for a while. But we must leave now, and leave no trace. Only Claudia saw me. So they will think you somehow got the baby, killed t
he master and escaped.”

  Nardine quieted. “So be it. Let us be off. Is Firi well?”

  “She is fine. I dropped her when I had to fight off the master, but I don’t think she is injured.”

  “She looks fine. And she is crying. Let us leave.”

  Abedi led her through the trees to the other side of the copse, where he had tied a donkey to the tree. He helped Nardine mount, covered her with a cape, and handed her the baby. He put his own tunic on and began to lead them to the Via Appia and Joseph’s house.

  Joseph’s astonished look when he opened the door made Abedi laugh. “I told you we would come back,” he said. “All three of us.”

  The baby squalled just then, and Nardine hushed the child. “We are sorry to inconvenience you, but it will only be for the day. We had a long night and are exhausted.”

  “Do not worry,” said Joseph. “Myriah and I do not mind. We are happy to see you again, Nardine. We are happy you are safe, both of you, and the child.”

  He led them to a back room, carrying the cradle the baby now slept in. “There,” Joseph said. “Now you will all have a chance to rest for a while.”

  He left the room, and Abedi smiled again. “Now, finally, we will have some time together. And the freedom to do whatever we like with each other.”

  Nardine smiled up at Abedi. Now that they were alone, she shuddered a bit, wondering what would happen.

  “You are shaking, my little goddess,” said Abedi. “There is nothing to be frightened of.”

  Abedi picked Nardine up and carried her to the narrow pallet beside the cradle. “We will find room for the both of us,” he said, laying her down and then crawling in beside her.

  Both of them paused for a moment. Finally they had the time and space to make love. The silence echoed above their ragged breaths.

  Nardine put her hand on Abedi’s cheek. She kissed him, quietly and deeply, and he responded. He put his arm around her back and pulled her closer. They kissed again, and began to explore each other’s bodies.

  Nardine put her hand against Abedi’s massive chest, running it down to his waist. Solid muscle met her touch. She climbed on top of Abedi as he grasped her waist, lifting her. She came to rest on Abedi’s lap. She sat up, as he massaged her breasts. She smiled.