Heart of the Gladiator (Affairs of the Arena Book 1)

by Lydia Pax

  Aeliana continued. “I believe private health is a public good, Governor. If more slaves and freedmen were well, then labor would be more regular, and—”

  “Believe it or not,” Trio smiled, “I know well the benefits of good health. I’ll put in a word for you right away. You are to be freed posthaste.”

  “Governor!” Porcia sounded strangled. “That is—I mean to say—my property—I…”

  “And I am the governor of this province. Do you disagree with my position, Porcia? That would be very disappointing.”

  Porcia let out a small, squashed cry. She simply shook her head and put on the fakest of her smiles. The governor seemed to take great pleasure in her dismay. Aeliana tried hard not to show her own.

  Somehow, the governor seemed to be already a staunch ally. It was not expected—she had only hoped to broach the subject, perhaps be referred to a friend of a friend. But the governor’s enthusiasm to assist her belied some vendetta of his own which behooved Aeliana’s cause greatly. Iunius was right.

  “Good,” said the governor. “Then it’s settled.”

  Aeliana felt invulnerable. “Thank you, Governor.”

  “Oh, don’t just thank me.” He smiled. “Your father has been saying nothing but good things about you for the whole day during the matches. ‘Look at this one. See his shape? My daughter’s work.’ ‘You see that scar? Healed by my daughter.’ And so on. And Porcia here has kept you well in her service for so long. She must certainly be an exceptional Domina.”

  Talk of her father actually complimenting her only emboldened Aeliana’s feelings of invulnerability. She wondered how much she could get away with. A Faun indeed.

  “She is unique as any, Governor. In fact,” Aeliana smiled, “our champion of the day, good Caius? Porcia has been kind enough to look after his child for the past few weeks.”

  “A charitable individual,” said Trio, smiling admirably at Porcia. “I didn’t know you were struck with the pangs of motherhood, my dear. Isn’t your own child stashed away in Neapolis with your family? Perhaps you should send for him.”

  “It is a…new feeling,” said Porcia. “I wanted to test it out on some other child before exposing my own blood to any flaws of mine.”

  A well-crafted lie. It was too bad everyone in the room knew the words were as false as the woman saying them.

  “Charity may as well be her name,” said Aeliana, feeling momentum. “She offered to donate the proceeds from her winnings and fees today toward the building of my clinic.”

  “That’s sensational!” Trio turned to Porcia. “How much are you offering? I’ll match it. My wife is always telling me to give more.”

  “I…” Porcia faltered. “You see, that’s—”

  “It was two hundred fifty denarii, from what last I heard. Her number just kept going up.”

  “Is this true, Porcia?” The governor’s tone was full of amusement. “I am thoroughly impressed. I’ll put together the paperwork immediately.”

  A guard leaned into the Trio’s ear, urging him to leave as the crowd thinned. He nodded, and leaned in to Aeliana’s ear.

  “Good job with her. I only thought to vex her and Otho, but you’ve really put her in a spot. You’ll hear from my man soon.”

  Within moments, the governor was gone. Aeliana was left alone with her father and Porcia.

  “I hope you are enjoying your little victory.”

  Porcia’s face was a cold mask of hate.

  “Thank you, Porcia.”

  “You will call me…”

  She remembered. A freed woman, now, with no obligation to call her anything. Perhaps the paperwork still had to be filed and completed, but Aeliana stood in front of Porcia for the first time as a freed individual under the laws of Rome.

  “I expect you two will want a family together. You and that damnable Caius.”

  Aeliana smiled. “The idea had occurred to me.”

  “It will be so difficult for you to have a happy life, knowing that you must fill the holes left behind by a dead wife and a slaughtered child, don’t you think?”

  Back to the threats. Any sympathy she felt for Porcia—for the difficulties she suffered from Otho’s explosion and the governor’s disdain—quickly faded away.

  “Do you really have the heart for that, Porcia?”

  She straightened. “I’m willing to find out.”

  Vitus cleared his throat now. “We have the child, Porcia. That threat is as empty as your pockets.”

  Porcia, at the least, had the decency to look stunned.

  “But you’re rich,” said Aeliana. “Have no doubts there. Your bet was changed. You put everything on Caius. A good choice.” Aeliana’s voice was cool. She did not know how it was so cool.

  It looked as if Porcia did not know whether to be insulted or delighted. “Wha—how?”

  “You have what you want, Porcia. The two of us shall be gone from your life. The fees for your ludus can go up double what they were. You’ll rake in a fortune from donatives from politicians alone. Every last one of them will want to sponsor your gladiators now. Including,” she smiled, “the governor, most likely. He seems a man who knows a good deal when he sees one. And as for your donation to my office, well. Consider that the price paid for a bribe.”

  “A bribe? For what?”

  “For not speaking to the governor about kidnapping a free Roman child, now that we have his ear. For keeping our mouths shut about how it might not be in his best interest to have the prize ludus of Puteoli operated by woman who so often drowns in gambling debts. You’ve been done a service today, Porcia. I expect you to remember it. And if you should continue to mistreat your gladiators, we will hear of it. And we will make you pay.”

  Aeliana and her father left together, leaving Porcia before she had time to retaliate.

  The underbelly of the arena was full of joy. Gladiators always loved to celebrate when other gladiators were freed. It gave them hope—something to live for, and something to fight for. Cheers for Caius—sometimes for Ursus—were constant and loud. The din shook the stone foundations, dust trembling from the ceiling.

  And then something miraculous happened. As the two stepped down the stairs to the underbelly to retrieve Caius, Vitus grabbed her hand. At first, she thought he might be steadying himself from falling. But no. The hand stayed there, Vitus looking straight ahead, and he squeezed firmly before letting go.

  “That was handled well,” he said.

  Aeliana, stunned, could only nod in response.

  The moment passed as quickly as it came. Very soon they were down in the underbelly completely, and her legs took her straight to Caius. He sat on her table where she had treated gladiators all afternoon, now surrounded by fellow fighters. They parted to let her pass, and Caius lifted her up to him.

  Every part of him was as strong as ever. Her arms wrapped around his neck with unbridled passion, not caring for the audience surrounding them or for the dirt and sweat on his body. All she cared about was him—his life, his hard and sure presence, his strength.

  Gladiators cheered all around the Caius and Aeliana. Their kiss was long and sweet, a victorious embrace.

  Epilogue

  It was a cool fall evening when Aeliana’s father, Vitus, arrived at their house for dinner. Caius was home first. Aeliana always stayed late to close up shop. He warned her that she would work herself to death; she would chide him that she knew a little more about preventing death than he did.

  As Vitus waited, Caius played with Fabia in the entryway, the two of them tossing straw dolls and wooden balls this way and that. Fabia’s hair was wild and long, a dark streak across the air as she giggled and ran.

  They lived in a small building, the same building as Caius’s brother Camilla and her husband Seneca, and their children. There was not much space, but the two families had a whole floor to themselves, and so it was enough.

  Most of the space in the building was taken up by the taberna in the front with Aeliana’s medi
cal office. It had opened last month, and so far it had been a booming success. She let people pay what they could—and a sign above the door advertised this fact. Often, incoming clients could not pay her at all.

  As a result, those with more money often felt compelled to pay more to keep the service going. Everyone said the system would fail, and yet it worked beautifully. It was a good life she built, and Caius supported her every move.

  He did the work for that she did not have time to do—running numbers for inventory, buying from merchants, scaring off drunks that wanted to harass their clients. He had no natural mind for numbers and figures, but he made do, and scaring drunks was more fun than he would have thought.

  “My daughter,” said Vitus, tapping the table before him. “She thinks highly of you. I can see why. You are good with your own daughter.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I tried for much strength with mine. I do not know that…” Vitus drifted. His eyes settled on Fabia, tugging at the hair of her doll. “I think there are better ways.”

  Caius clapped him on the back. “We judge the day when it’s done, do we not?”

  Vitus nodded. “Aye. Let us hope.”

  Outside, Caius saw other parents rushing their children inside as the sun continued to set. The smell of cooking beef was in the air, and maybe some rain. There weren’t many clouds overhead, but thunder could be heard in the distance.

  Down the street, he saw the approaching figure of his wife. She was as lovely as ever. Their ceremony had been short and sweet, and so had been the days since he knew her as his spouse. Soon she would be home with him and Fabia, all their families together, and all would be as right as it ever was.

  # # #

  Thank you!

  I’m so happy you’ve decided to read Heart of the Gladiator. Thank you for spending your time with my story.

  Your opinion matters. I welcome and encourage all reviews. Readers like you are the reason other readers find books they want to read! Please review this book on Amazon and on Goodreads to share your valuable thoughts.

  You’ve enjoyed book #1 in the Affairs of the Arena series. If you would like to read more tales about House Varinius and its inhabitants, check out Love of the Gladiator (#2) and Desire of the Gladiator (#3) today!

  Let’s get in touch! You can hop over to my website for musings on history and romance and for the latest news. To hear about what I’m up to and what all my author friends are doing, check out my Facebook and Twitter. And for the most premium information on new releases and discounts and to be the FIRST on the list for FREE Advance Review Copies, sign up for my newsletter!

  - Lydia Pax

  *

  Bibliography

  Author’s Note:

  Like any fictionalization of history, there’s a good deal here that’s probably not entirely accurate (though I did my best) because sometimes sacrifices have to be made to tell the right story. The stuff that IS accurate is due to the following works, all of which are excellent and well worth your time if you have any interest in history.

  Duncan, Mike. The History Of Rome. Podcast audio. Accessed 2014-2015.

  Hamilton, Edith. The Roman Way. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. 1932.

  Matthews, Rupert. The Age of the Gladiators: Savagery & Spectacle in Ancient Rome. China: Chartwell Books, Inc. 2003.

  Meijer, Fik. The Gladiators: History’s Most Deadly Sport. New York: St. Martin’s Griffen. 2003.

  Potter, David. The Emperors of Rome. Great Britain: Quercus. 2013.

  Did you love Heart of the Gladiator? Then you should read Love of the Gladiator by Lydia Pax!

  She has to trust him to love him…but not to want him.

  Gwenn’s life has been marked by fury and rebellion, and she has the scars to prove it. As a slave, each new owner she’s had has only made her fight more. But when she is bought by a gladiator training school, she finally finds something to fight for—glory in the arena, where everyday people are made immortal.

  The gladiators at the school think her presence there is a joke. That includes her trainer, Lucius. This cocky arena veteran has a body molded from marble, and his arrogant persona lights her mind on fire. Every glance from him sends wet heat through her body. Their chemistry is instant, and soon both ache to join each other in a battle that would tear down any bedroom.

  But Lucius’s past places a series of obstacles in their way. None are more terrible than the bloody secret he holds that would destroy any hope he has for Gwenn’s affection.

  As desperate as she is to be close to him, he only pushes her further away. And when the truth is spilled in a thrilling, violent climax, Gwenn must decide between her unstoppable attraction or her desire for victory.

  Gwenn was born a warrior. But it’s only in the arena that she will know if she wants the love of a gladiator.

  Read more at Lydia Pax’s site.

  About the Author

  Lydia Pax is just a huge lover of romance and history. She lives in the American Midwest with her wonderful partner, her two rug-like dogs, and a cat with the temperament of a renaissance explorer. Writing novels full-time is her lifelong dream.

  Read more at Lydia Pax’s site.