Talos_An Ancient Roman Reverse Harem Romance

by Nhys Glover

  “Then we will wait out the fire. Like everyone else,” I finally replied.

  “You have no more bandages...”

  I nodded. I had run out just before dark. Now I was next to useless. Maybe if I got some rest I might be able to heal again in the morning.

  “I need to sleep for a while, Ramus. Maybe then I’ll feel rested enough to move on from here. But right now... I just need to rest a little.”

  He nodded and took my bag from me. Placing it down on the marble floor of the portico, he gently pressed me down so my head rested on it.

  “Sleep then, Little Mistress. You deserve it. I will keep guard.”

  And so I did. Though the stone was hard beneath me, my body ached, my stomach growled and my mouth was like a desert, I fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.

  Chapter Seven

  TALOS

  The smell of burning woke me before the sun did. Even in our sweltering little box of a room, I could smell it. And every alarm bell rang inside my head. I should not be able to smell smoke. Not in here.

  I rose and replaced my sandals. The others shifted on their camp-beds. Restless, I tried the door and found it unlocked. It was not unusual for the cells in this wing to be left unlocked. We were not new captives desperate to escape. None of us was Spartacus. Like the freedmen who had sold themselves into the arena for a certain number of years, we were here willingly. After all, we had been given our chance at freedom and turned it down, hadn’t we?

  The school’s barracks were several stories high and ran along the four sides of the training field. All but for a small section near the front gates, which was left for the viewing area. Behind the stands was the armoury. Both it and the gates were heavily guarded, day and night.

  I prowled along the dark corridor, sniffing the air like a wolf. It was stronger out here, I was sure of it. But where was it coming from? Following the sound of clattering plates and clanking metal I knew meant the kitchen slaves were hard at work, I sought answers from the only people yet awake.

  I entered the kitchen already as hot as an inferno from the cooking fires. I caught the arm of a passing slave. His skin was slick with sweat.

  “I can smell burning,” I told him worriedly.

  “Not in here. Outside. Big fire in the Circus. Been burning most of the night, so they say. Them Christians did it. Started the fire to fulfil some prophesy or other.”

  The slave jerked his arm to free it from my hold, and I let him.

  My mind reeled. A fire? In the Circus? Wasn’t that below Palatine Hill where Accalia was staying? How bad was it? Surely bad enough, if I could smell it in my closed-in cell.

  My restlessness increased. We’d be safe enough out here in the field of Mars, but what about all those wooden insulae in the centre of the city? Those places were just waiting for a stray flame to set them alight.

  What could I do? Nothing. I was locked away in the ludus. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t leave to go check on Accalia.

  Even if I wanted to? Of course I wanted to! I hadn’t seen her for six very long weeks. Ever since our last contest. Every day the gnawing need to see her grew. I could barely sleep from missing her.

  I felt someone come up behind me and immediately knew it was one of my pack-mates.

  “Hungry already? Your stomach is a bottomless pit,” remarked Orion, coming to stand at my side.

  His blonde hair was dishevelled, and his eyes were still sleep-crusted. He’d followed me without taking time to wash his face in the small bowl we kept at the door to our cell for just that purpose. The small table it stood on, and the chamber pot beneath it, were the only furnishings we had beside our camp-beds. But that didn’t worry us. We were used to living simply.

  “Can you smell it? The city is burning.”

  Orion’s blue eyes widened as he took in my words.

  “I came out when the smell woke me. It’s in the Circus. That’s below where Accalia is staying.”

  “The patricans’ domi will be safe enough. It’ll be the insulae that’ll go. She’ll be safe enough,” Orion said, just as I expected. But I could hear the note of uncertainty in his tone.

  “Fire knows no class division,” I muttered.

  “But stone domi will withstand it better than wooden insulae,” he countered, grabbing up the ladle on top of a cask of watered wine and serving himself some.

  A passing slave scowled at him, but Orion ignored the man. There was a pecking order here in the ludus, and kitchen slaves were at the very bottom.

  “Maybe... but what if Accalia tries to help? You know her. If she thinks someone needs her she’ll put herself in danger to offer assistance.”

  Orion sighed heavily and rubbed at his eyes. “Her uncle won’t let her put herself at risk.”

  I lifted a brow at the absurdity of that statement. No one stopped Accalia from doing what she wanted.

  “All right, maybe not. But there’s nothing we can do about it. We can’t just walk out of here, you know. Not even if there’s a fire.”

  I fisted my hands in frustration. If there had ever been a time when I felt my lack of freedom it was in moments like this. All I wanted to do was check on her. To make sure she was staying safe.

  “We could ask the lanista. It’s not like we’re going to run off. And we’ve earned a privilege or two after all the money he’s made off us so far this year,” I argued.

  Orion sighed again and then yawned, stretching his big arms over his head. “If he’s supervising the training this morning you can ask. Although maybe the fire will be under control by then.”

  “Maybe.”

  But by the time the training session was over the smell of smoke and burning had gotten worse. In fact, it interfered with our practice. It was hard to draw in the air you needed during heavy exertion when it was filled with smoke.

  While the others finished up, I jogged over to the lanista talking to several guards at the entrance to the field.

  “Permission to leave the ludus,” I said when he looked my way, a question in his eyes.

  “What?” He couldn’t have looked more surprised if I’d offered to pleasure him in front of everyone present.

  “There’s a fire. I’m worried about our mistress. I need to check on her. You know well enough I won’t run off.”

  He scowled at me. “She’s no concern of yours.”

  “You know we saved her last year. She’s important to us.”

  “The fire’s in the poorer parts of the city. It won’t affect the richer areas.”

  My frustration was growing. I growled. “She’s not like other patricians. She’ll try to help. And if she does she’ll put herself in danger.”

  The smaller man crossed his arms over his chest and stared a challenge up at me. “You know what happens to slaves who get too friendly with their mistresses, don’t you? They lose their dicks. And more.”

  I growled again, fighting the urge to grab the smaller man and hold him up off the ground until he took me seriously. But I couldn’t do that. The guards would be on me in a second, which would mean my pack would join in. Then we’d all be locked up, making it impossible for any of us to get to Accalia.

  “It’s not like that. We’re loyal. You know what loyalty is, don’t you?”

  “I know when a woman fancies a gladiator. And that one sure seems to fancy you four. You should have seen her standing up to the manager before your last contest. Like a mamma bear protecting her cubs.”

  “That’s why we’re loyal to her. Ask any of the lads who went through the Master’s barracks in the last five years, they’ll say the same. She cares about us all. It’s no more than that. And I just want to make sure she’s all right. You want us co-operative, don’t you? Then give us this... An hour. I’ll be back in an hour.”

  I was pleading, but I didn’t care. The longer I smelled that smoke, the more my anxiety climbed.

  “Look, I’ll do you a favour. I’ll send a messenger to find out how she is. Will that do?”


  I growled again. But though I preferred to go myself, I could hardly complain. After all, I had said I simply wanted to make sure she was all right. A messenger could get me that information.

  I nodded and hunched my shoulders. “I’ll need to speak to him when he gets back.”

  The lanista began to fume. “Last time I looked I was in charge here.”

  I towered over him, using my full height to effect. “Last time I looked you made a lot of money from me and my pack. You can at least let us know if she’s all right. I need to hear it from the messenger!”

  The little man swore colourfully and turned on his heels. “I’ll send him to you when he returns. But you’ll owe me.”

  When I joined the others they were keen to hear the news.

  “Well?” demanded Asterius, who was as agitated as I was about the fire.

  “He’s sending a messenger up to her uncle’s. We can talk to him when he gets back.”

  “He wouldn’t let you go? Why? It’s not like you’ll run off,” Asterius complained, kicking at the sand.

  “Being bloody-minded. Times like this I realise just how much freedom we had back home,” Orion said.

  Typhon was prowling, his temper beginning to come to the boil. “Fucking bastard! It’s not like we wanted to go out whoring. She’s our mistress!”

  “Yeah, and caring about your mistress is suspicious. You know that!” Orion snapped at him in frustration.

  Typhon let out a furious yell and slammed his fist into one of the posts we used for practice. He yelped and cradled his injured hand in his other.

  “You break anything?” I asked in concern.

  I understood his fury and frustration. I’d been looking long and hard at the post as well. Anything to rid myself of this impotent fury swelling inside me.

  Typhon shook his head and hunched his shoulders. He wouldn’t admit it, if he had.

  We filed out to clean up and go for our midday meal. Sometimes it felt like we did nothing else but eat, fight and sleep. It got old fast.

  It was late in the afternoon before the messenger was sent to us. By then we’d been moments away from starting a fight with some of the bastards who were jealous of us. Never a wise idea.

  The scrawny kid ran over to us when we were removing our armour. He looked red-faced and filthy, his hair grey with ash.

  “You wanted to know about your mistress? Ennia Corva?” he panted out, leaning over to rest his hands on his knees.

  “Yeah. Is she all right?” Orion demanded.

  “She’s down at the fire. She was all right the last time her guard saw her.”

  “The last time...? What in Hades does that mean?” Typhon exclaimed, giving the lad a push so he lost his balance and nearly fell to the ground.

  I put a calming hand on Typhon’s shoulder. It wasn’t the messenger’s fault he carried bad news.

  The boy looked terrified. Even though he moved his mouth, no more words came out.

  “Now see what you’ve done,” Orion snarled. “Leave the boy alone and let him tell us what he knows.”

  Typhon swore and began hacking at the post with his wooden sword. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the pissant lanista heading our way.

  “When did her guard last see her and why isn’t he with her?” Asterius asked with deceptive mildness, using some of the charm we rarely saw these days.

  The boy relaxed a little and stood up straight. “Her two guards went down to the fire with her. But after they saved one woman, and it was clear the fire was going to be heading up the hill, your mistress sent one home to warn the family to evacuate. That’s what they were doing when I was there. Preparing to leave. The guard said his mistress was heading to the Forum to help with the injured. The fire was unlikely to invade that area, he said.”

  “The Forum is surrounded on all sides by wooden dwellings. It might not go up but everything around it will!” Typhon exclaimed, slamming his sword into the post so hard it shook.

  The slave boy looked anxiously from Typhon back to the rest of us. He wasn’t sure Typhon would keep using that post for his practise.

  “That’s what’s happened. Well, it’s about to happen. Someone I spoke to on the way back said the fire has almost surrounded the Forum and even the senators’ domi behind the Forum are threatened.”

  “We have to go!” Typhon snarled, throwing down his sword and heading for the lanista.

  We followed in his wake, as much to stop him doing something stupid as to support him.

  “You got your news, now go get cleaned up,” the small man demanded as Typhon reached him.

  “She’s in trouble. The Forum is nearly surrounded. We have to help her,” Typhon said through clenched teeth.

  “She has a guard with her, and he’ll get her out of there before there’s a problem. You’ll only succeed in getting yourselves killed if you go after her.”

  “Right, so you’re concerned about our safety, are you?” Orion said sarcastically “If so, why were you willing to set us up to fight twenty men in that last contest? If not for Ac...Ennia Corva we’d likely be dead by now.”

  “That’s different. That’s your job. Going off after your mistress isn’t!”

  “Listen closely,” I said in my softest voice. Most people knew that when I used that voice it was time to duck. “If anything happens to her you will no longer have a Wolf Pack to entertain your emperor. Once the Master finds out you wouldn’t let us save his beloved daughter you’ll lose not only us but every one of his gladiators from this school.”

  For the first time the little man looked concerned. Obviously, he hadn’t thought that far ahead. “He wouldn’t. He’d lose a fortune!”

  “A fortune? Don’t you know that man at all? He doesn’t care about money. His daughter is everything to him. If she dies, so will his training program. It will all go!” I informed him as patiently as I could.

  “Look, it’s getting dark. If the fire’s still raging in the morning then –”

  “Then nothing! She might be dead by then! We go now!” Orion announced in a tone that brooked no argument.

  The little man seemed to realise he’d lost. He deflated like an air-filled bladder. “All right, go! But you better be back by dawn or I’ll declare you runaways.”

  We all growled at him then, but he crossed his arms over his chest, jutting out his jaw. “You heard me. You go tonight, then you better be back by dawn. Or else.”

  We didn’t have time for arguments. I turned on my heel and strode away, my brothers close on my heels. Hopefully, we’d be able to find our girl long before dawn and have her somewhere safe before it was time to return.

  Joy at the thought of seeing Accalia again warred with fear for her safety in my mind.

  Though we were all anxious to be on the way, we weren’t stupid. Our bodies were depleted and needed food and water. Who knew when we would see either again? So we ate and drank our fill and even prepared a few supplies to take with us. By the time it was fully night, if not fully dark, we were on our way into the city.

  There was no need for torches. The blazing inferno lit our path well enough. We strode purposefully south past the pleasure arcades and gardens until we came to Capitoline Hill. The Forum lay on the other side of it. We skirted the base of the hill, following a road that was as old as time itself. As we travelled, we passed hundreds of black-faced, desperate people, all pouring out into the Campus Martius, trying to escape the fire.

  Once on the other side of the hill we could see just what we were dealing with. Fire blazed on either side of the long, narrow Forum ahead. The only way out of it was the way we were going in. And forcing our way against the tide of frightened people was like trying to fight a rip. Or what I imagined a rip felt like.

  One of the oarsmen on the galley I signed on with, coming home from my trial, had told me about them. It seemed impossible to me that water could be stronger than a man, stronger than oarsmen. But I had discovered during that long, gruelling voyage that the sea
was more than just water, it was a living thing with moods that could quite easily kill.

  So, yes, fighting against the flow of people pouring out into the Campus Martius was like fighting the sea. But by hugging the edges we finally managed to make our way into the Forum, which was still overcrowded with the homeless.

  By now some hours had passed since the sun had set. A journey that would normally have taken no more than half an hour, had taken hours. And there’d been no way to move faster, though we’d tried.

  The Forum was a large open area designed for the plebs to gather to hear senators speak. Now, though, the milling crowds had no interest in hearing anyone speak, even if they could have made themselves heard over the wind, collapsing buildings and crackling fire.

  “We need to split up. There’s too many here to search together,” Orion yelled.

  We nodded and took direction from his hand signals.

  I took the far right quadrant, which included the temple. If she was to be found anywhere, it was there, I decided. But though I scanned every face as I approached the building, and then the bodies sprawled across the marble stairs and under the portico, I saw no woman or boy who looked like her.

  In the end, I began asking questions. After a few false tries I chose a grey-robed priest and approached him quickly.

  “I am looking for a healer,” I said.

  He grumbled under his breath before answering me tersely. “Wait your turn. Can’t you see we have our hands full already?”

  “No, no I don’t need a healer. I’m looking for someone. A healer who would have come to assist.”

  The priest blew out a tired breath and nodded. “A young woman dressed as a boy? A patrician from the sounds of her?”

  My heart accelerated. “Yes, that’s the one. Where is she?”

  The priest shrugged. “She worked with me here most of the afternoon, but just after sunset she and her man went to rest. I haven’t seen her since.”