by S. E. Green
Ignatius nods. “Well done.”
“I concur,” Alexior quietly agrees.
Ignatius gets to his feet. “Zebulon’s ruthless. He’ll try to separate you. Don’t allow it. Acknowledge his strength. Crave victory.” He stabs his sword into the ground. “We’ll practice again tomorrow.”
A soft clapping has me looking up to the terrace where Bareket and Domina stand, sipping from goblets, and staring down at us. Ice trails my spine and I don’t stop myself from joining Sera’s scowl.
It’s nearly dark now and it’s only me, Sera, Alexior, and Ignatius on the training ground. How long have they been standing there watching us?
“We would like to see Ignatius and Valoria after their baths,” Domina announces, and my whole body goes still.
Alexior turns to me. “To the baths then.”
Ignatius and Sera start off and I stand rooted to my spot. “Why do they want to see me?”
“I don’t know.” Alexior goes about picking up all the practice weapons and putting them back in the large wooden box.
I think of Gem and Razo and what they made them do. I absolutely will not have sex with Ignatius. They cannot make me. They can send me right back to The Hole if they want.
Alexior closes the box and turns to me. “You will bathe and you will go up there. There is no other option. Know that if you refuse, Dominus will send you to The Hole and this time you will not return. You will go, and you will die there. Or he will kill you himself for amusement and your sister will never be located. Think about all of those things before you refuse their wishes.”
I physically feel myself hardening. My face. My body. My soul. I hate the person Saligia has made me into. I hate even more the person I know I’ll be when this is over. “Don’t you feel anything?” I ask with every angry molecule in my body.
Alexior doesn’t immediately answer and instead looks away. “Just go.”
~23~
Though Ignatius is not, my wrists are shackled before I’m led into a private room in the villa where Domina and Bareket wait. They both lounge on red fabric chaises in grand comfort, eating berries and gossiping. There are no walls to this room, only colorful bolts of fabric hanging from the ceiling and brushing the marble floor. They stir slightly with the cross breeze flowing through the villa.
I wonder if this is the room Gem and Razo had sex in.
There is only one house slave in here with us and I recognize her as the one who performed oral sex on Dominus on the terrace. She doesn’t make eye contact and instead fixes her light eyes at a place above our heads. I was right. She can’t be more than fifteen years old.
Neither Ignatius nor I say a word as we stand tall in front of Domina and Bareket.
Like the slave, I focus my expression, showing them I am not scared. I am not intimidated. And no matter what they make me do, I will act like I don’t care.
They will get no satisfaction out of their power.
“Take off your tunics,” Bareket commands.
I stay stoic as I lift my shackled wrists and slip my tunic off. Ignatius does the same. We stand in our undergarments, side by side, continuing to stare straight ahead. I concentrate on steady breaths so they don’t see my nerves.
Next to Ignatius, I am a dwarf. He is big. Enormous. And put together like a bunch of bulking, oddly shaped bricks.
“You,” Bareket nods to Ignatius. “Naked.”
I clench my jaw and in my periphery I see him step out of his undergarment and toss it on top of his tunic. I want to protect him from their leering eyes. But I do nothing except fist my hands, lock my muscles, and wait.
Bareket leaves her chaise and glides across the marble floor to where we stand. Her distinct pot and jasmine scent surrounds me and I want to gag.
She slips between us and her silky gown brushes my skin. It’s all I can do not to step away from the creepy intimacy.
She circles around the back of Ignatius, caressing her fingertip over his scars, his muscles, and then comes back to the front to do the same to his chest and his arms. She looks straight down at his penis and smiles.
“Looks like every part of you is huge.” Then she turns to me. “You’re so small compared to him.”
The muscles in my neck involuntarily constrict and she cruelly giggles at the anxious movement. God, I hate that I just satisfied her evil self.
The entry’s curtains open and Dominus steps in. “What’s going on?” he asks in honest confusion.
He didn’t know we’re here. That’s interesting.
Domina pushes herself up and sidles up to her husband. “A little nighttime fun.” She licks his ear lobe. “That’s all.”
Dominus grunts. “I want to speak with Valoria.”
His wife pouts. “Oh, all right.”
Relief washes through me and I very carefully, cautiously, reach down, grab my tunic, and put it back on.
As I walk from the room, I hear Bareket say to Ignatius, “Now touch yourself.”
I close my eyes and struggle against every desire in me to go back. Instead I force my feet forward to Dominus and his office. I walk in, and my steps falter when I see Alexior standing in the corner.
Beside him cowers Felicia, sniveling, her face covered in blood. Her swollen nose has to be broken. She blinks, dazed, and looks at me. I narrow my eyes.
Dominus lifts his left fist and caresses his fingers over his knuckles, drawing my attention to the blood smeared across them. My gaze flicks back to Felicia.
“You may go,” he lightly tells her, and she pinches her nose to stop the bleeding as she hurries out.
A warm breeze flows in from the terrace, but it doesn’t calm my nerves. What is going on?
“Alexior has brought a couple of concerns to me. First: Felicia’s lack of dedication, which,” he cleans a nail, “I just took care of.”
I quietly wait.
“Second: yours and Sera’s inability to work as a team.”
My eyes flip back over to Alexior. Why did he tell Dominus that? Sera and I did work as a team earlier. He was there. He saw it. If I’m in trouble, why isn’t Sera here, too?
Dominus takes his time pouring wine into a goblet, sipping, studying me, and the silence in the room grows. I want to tell him we worked as a team, I want to somehow diffuse this tension, but I do not.
Does he want me to get indignant? Does he want me to call Alexior a liar? I don’t understand, but something inside of me warns to keep quiet.
“You will fight as one. You will make it work. You will kill Zebulon. Do you understand me?” he asks.
I nod. “Yes, Dominus.”
“You win this fight, and I’ll have more than enough money to bring your sister here.”
Hope surges through me.
He sips more wine, rolls it around in his mouth, and then swallows. “Who knows, you may just become a legend out of all this. You may be the next Zebulon.”
I absolutely do not want to be a legend. I would never want to be another Zebulon. I would never live here in Saligia of my own choice.
Dominus nods. “You may go.”
I follow Alexior from the villa, through the locked gate, and down the stairs. When we are in the tunnel, he turns and unlocks my wrists.
“Why did you lie?” I demand.
He lifts his eyes to mine. “If I would’ve told Dominus the truth, he would not have pulled you from that room to praise you. To reprimand you, though, he would. It was the only way I could think to save you from what they had planned with Ignatius.”
His words wash through me. Warming me. Comforting. Nearly making me cry.
Alexior cares. Someone in this horrid hell cares.
Something way inside of me unravels just a little bit. But I don’t say thank you. Instead all I can think about is Ignatius and what they must be making him do right now.
I wish Alexior could have saved him, too. But if it had to be one of us, I’m glad it was me. So glad. Yet I hate myself even more. I don’t like that I’m the
type of person who thinks that way.
~24~
From my bench at breakfast, I watch Razo step behind Gem and reach beyond her for an orange off the food table. It’s barely discernable, but his body brushes hers and his fingers trail her lower back.
Just as quickly as it happens it is done, and he steps away. For a second she doesn’t move and then she glances over her shoulder to catch his eye.
How very odd for Gem and Razo. Whatever they have, it is in reverse. They’ve already had sex and now they are doing the flirting thing.
My eyes trail to Alexior who is standing to the side in his perpetual strong stance as he stares off into the rising sun. I see him do that a lot, just stand and stare, and I wonder what he’s thinking of.
Felicia sits silently eating. Yes, her nose is definitely broken. I detest that fact makes me glad. Maybe she’ll really train today.
Ignatius and Sera sit down across from me, and I exchange a confused glance with Camille. This is a first. I want to ask Ignatius if he is okay after last night, but I don’t. Perhaps later when we’re alone I will.
It’s odd, but I feel a connection to Ignatius I don’t share with anyone else. I suppose our mutual experience with The Hole initially brought it on. But after last night and our ongoing training for the Zebulon fight, our connection is only stronger.
“I’ll be working with you and Sera all day,” Ignatius tells me. “Alexior will be conducting training as usual with the others.”
I nod and glance to Sera who only glares back.
“What is your problem?” I ask. “Is it really that hard to fight with me?”
Beside me, Camille sighs.
“I fight to honor this ludus,” she proudly states. “You fight for ulterior motives. You’re only driven by Dominus’ promise of your sister.”
“You’re damn right.” A laugh huffs out of me. “You’re a slave just like me. All of you are. When did you become so conditioned that this is really your life? Do you have no independent thought? Who were you before? Don’t you want that freedom back?”
Sera narrows her one good eye. “You’re never leaving. None of us are. You seem to still be the only one who doesn’t realize that.”
“When did you start honoring this place? Is there nothing else you fight for? Don’t you have family—” I stop myself.
Of course she doesn’t have family. None of us seem to, except for Gem and her daughter. Nobody out there beyond the waters knows we’re here. I look between Sera and Ignatius. They are each other’s family.
My realization must show in my eyes because Ignatius nods. “It’s why I stay.”
“But if you were both free, you could have a life outside these walls. Away from Saligia.” I look pointedly at Ignatius. “No one would ever make you do anything you didn’t want to do. Your very existence wouldn’t constantly be in peril.”
That statement earns a tense few seconds of silence.
“If you think you’re ever being set free, then you’re naïve. This is your life now. Make the best of it.” Sera’s words send icy fingers creeping down my backbone, but I refuse to believe her. Me and Lena will go free. They could too, all of them could, if they would regain their focus.
Sera gets to her feet and brings her one dark eye down to me. “We will fight Zebulon and we will win and after that you and I go back to being enemies.”
“Fine,” I reply.
~25~
Over the next several days, Dominus watches from the terrace as Sera and I train. Sometimes a few of the elite show up to do the same. I’m sure they’re already wagering bets. Down here on the training ground, Sera and I maintain a silent vow to work as one.
Literally every muscle in my body aches. But I am strong. I am ready.
The day arrives and we ride in the usual cart across the island toward the small arena. Outside the walls I take the opportunity to look around. The enormous galleon now sits docked on our shores. I catch sight of people dressed as elite disembarking. How often do they arrive and where does it sail from?
In Miami we have a couple of galleons that tourists go out on for a few hours of sailing aboard an ancient vessel. One of them even has faux pirates that sing and dance and serve booze. The rich people getting on this galleon obviously know it’s coming here to Saligia. They wouldn’t let just anybody enter, though. This is a secret society. Coming here must be by invitation only and require a ton of money.
Yes, there are those who come and go, but there are some who seemingly live here full-time like Dominus and Bareket. They are apparently the sociopathic masterminds behind this sadistic playground for the vetted evil elite. For what I’m sure is a huge amount of money, the rich get to come and live like ancient Lords and indulge in whatever sins.
Then there’s the soldiers, the hired muscle behind this place. Here to keep us slaves in line. They’re free, but I’m sure if they ever defy Saligia’s secrets, they too will suffer.
Finally there are us slaves who get placed where the elite deem fit. In the house. In The Hole. As fighters. Out working the gardens and fields. And wherever else… From what I can tell there are more of us than them. But they’ve got this society fine-tuned. They know how to control. To keep us in the dark. To make us feel powerless and defenseless. If we put our minds to it, we could overpower this place. I know we could.
I focus back on the galleon and watch as slaves begin unloading large wooden boxes with holes. Either there are animals or produce or humans in those boxes. I would bet anything that’s how I arrived here.
Our cart bumps over a rough patch and I blink from my thoughts. We pass a group of walkers on the road dressed as elite and they throw their hands up, cheering. They must be on their way to the event.
“Do you think,” Camille whispers, “that we’d be friends outside of this place?”
Her softly spoken question takes me off guard and a second to digest, but when I do I grab her hand. “Absolutely.” I’ve never had a friend like Camille. I don’t trust easily. “When we do get out of Saligia, we will do it together.”
She squeezes my hand back. “Good.”
We pull into the small arena where I hear a crowd already cheering. We are led into the same holding cell as before where we can stand and watch the fights from the dirt level.
Soldiers are already out and sword playing for the crowd’s amusement. I glance up to the boxes where the most elite sit and see Dominus and his wife. Bareket is there, too, and many familiar faces from our terrace, the villa’s party, and the auctioning block.
A gate opens across the arena and four women slaves are led out. They are not shackled but neither do they hold weapons. Their eyes are wide with helplessness, with nerves, with weakness that I know is about to be exploited.
Though fifty yards or so separate us, I can see the sweat soaked tunic of one and the violent shaking of another.
I recognize one from that first day on the auctioning block. She was with Camille and me in that holding cell. I try to remember which of the elite bought her, but I can’t.
I don’t turn my back, but I purposefully distance myself. There is no stopping what’s about to happen. I do the only thing I can do. I channel the anger until it is vibrating in me.
The soldiers circle them, taunting, one even cracks his knuckles. One of the slaves throws a punch and the soldier dodges it and kicks the slave hard in the side. She crumbles to the ground, sobbing, clutching her ribs.
Another slave lurches forward and a different soldier shoves her to a sprawl in the dirt. He grabs her hair and brutally begins punching her over and over and over again. She cries out as her blood darkens the sand beneath her.
The crowd roars, and my eardrums throb with their gross delight.
On it goes with all four slaves. The soldiers are greedy, cruel, and show no mercy. The youngest slave sluggishly tries to crawl away, shrieking for help that won’t come, and I’m disgusted at the repulsive, merciless show.
There is absolutely nothin
g I can do but watch and be happy my heart is banging with the fury of it all. Because if my heart ever stops banging I’ll know I’m empty and just like these wicked people.
Beside me Camille catches her breath and I turn to see her lips pressed together and her face ashen and shiny with sweat. Another scream pierces the air, and she shudders. My eyes skirt her face as she stares blankly through the bars at the horror.
I wish I knew what to say to her, but I don’t. It’s good she’s watching. I glance around. Everyone’s silently watching. Sera, Gem, Alexior, Ignatius… Good. They all need reminding what a hideous place this is.
“It’s over,” Camille whispers and I turn to watch the corpses dragged through the bloody sand.
“What do you think they did to deserve that?” Gem whispers.
I shake my head. “Absolutely nothing.”
Our gate opens, and Alexior says, “Gem, Camille, and Felicia, you’re up.”
I give Camille a nudge with my elbow. “You got this.”
From the gate across the arena step three women fighters from another ludus, reminding me that I need to figure out how many there are here. Our trio fights their trio in a good show. There’s blood, which the crowd of course wants and loves.
One of their trio gets a broken ankle. Camille and Gem submit their opponents, and Felicia surrenders to hers after her already injured arm gets reinjured.
I stare at Felicia slumped in the dirt and try to imagine fighting with an injured arm. I truly think I would do okay. I would hold my own. Any of us would.
Camille and Gem drag Felicia across the sand back to where we wait. They deposit her in the corner and I give her arm, swollen eye, and quivering lip a brief glance. I have no clue what Dominus will do with her now.
In the elite’s box, Dominus stands to address the crowd and my body coils into a tight nervous knot. Here we go. I blow out a steady breath and go through everything Alexior and Ignatius said during our training.
Fight as one.
Don’t let him separate you.
