Passion and Sand: War of Fire

by Andromeda -

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  War of Passions

  A Novel by,

  Andromeda

  © 2017 Published by After Hours Publications, Inc.

  www.afterhourspublications.com

  All rights reserved.

  Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage without express permission by the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Contains explicit language & adult themes suitable for ages 16+

  Dedication

  To all my fans, and followers in this world.

  Thank you. Without your support and patience, I would have never achieved my dream.

  Chapter One

  Ayanna made sure to press her body low in the grass as she held her breath. No more than five feet in front of her, a small party of supply carts, loaded with grain, meat, fruits and vegetables moved. It was a small supply caravan, no more than three carts, but it was surrounded by at least a dozen guards. If she was alone, there was no way she would consider trying to attack this party, but it was good she had at least a dozen people with her as they needed this food.

  With a deep breath, she forced her mind into battle mode as she gathered herself before she launched her body at the nearest guard. As soon as she did, the sound of a war horn blew, which she knew was a signal from no other than Kaiser to attack. The sounds of war cries and bellowing shouts filled the air as the people at her side emerged from the grounds and attacked.

  She quickly wrestled the guard to the ground and drew her dagger from its holder and slit his throat before grabbing his sword. Looking behind her, she leapt onto the back of the horse, kicked its sides and galloped to the nearest guard to attack.

  Kaiser was on his feet, his signature twin swords clenched tightly in his fists as he cut down guard after guard. Before long, the grass was watered with their blood, and the only things alive besides them were the horses and the oxen who were pulling the carts.

  “Victory!” Kaiser bellowed as he raised his fist in the air.

  The people around them, the gladiators, all raised their swords and bellowed back their answer with pride. Partnering to get the carts, they began to pull them away from the massacre while Ayanna trotted over to Kaiser.

  “How’s it look down there?” she asked with a smile.

  He grinned. “I have a pretty good view, actually,” he answered. “Can see up your tunic right to where I shall feast tonight.”

  She couldn’t help but laugh and offered him her hand, which he accepted and swung himself up and settled behind her. His powerful arms wrapped around her waist and held her tightly as she kicked the horse to gallop away.

  It was not a long ride to their semi-hidden camp, and when they arrived, the gladiators were already passing out the food they had taken. Hopefully, it would be enough.

  They had escaped from the Imperial Palace almost a month ago, and they had mixed emotions about their freedom. Some loved it. Some hated it. Some wished to attack Rome. Some wished to return to the land of their forefathers. Though they looked up to Kaiser, they truly lacked a firm leader as the German didn’t exactly wish to lead them. Not entirely.

  Kaiser jumped down and then held out his arms for Ayanna to jump down into them. She chuckled and slid from the back of the horse, into his grasp. Before long, she found herself pulled into his embrace, followed by a long kiss upon her lips.

  “I cannot wait to take you to our tent,” he whispered in her ear. “You know how seeing you in battle gets me…”

  She knew it well enough, as she could already feel his already-hard member straining against the linen wrap he had around his waist. He always said that seeing her in battle would inflame his desire unlike any other, and when he would take her, it was almost like a ravishing. Not that she complained. She liked it when he was like that, as she always prayed after they had lain together to conceive another child to replace the one they had lost.

  “Kaiser!” a voice that could belong to Artemus shouted. “You are back!”

  The Greek slapped his friend on his back before he turned to Ayanna and hugged her tightly. In Kaiser’s mind, the hug lasted a bit too long, but he said nothing of the matter.

  “You should have seen her,” Kaiser said instead. “Like a wild lioness among the weak.”

  “That wouldn’t surprise me,” Artemus said with a smile. “Little Aya was already a fierce fighter. She just does not like to show her talent.”

  “You both know that when it comes to fighting, I only like to do it if I must,” Ayanna answered, though she smiled at the attention.

  “Well maybe you must do it more,” Kaiser said as he pressed his lips to her neck, kissing gently and then inhaling her scent deeply.

  Artemus looked away, as he felt as if he was intruding on an intimate moment. They were so lucky to have each other, to him, as his one true love was still within the gates of Rome, and he did not know if he would ever see her again. He did not know if such a thing was possible.

  “Come,” he said as they were beginning to make him feel uncomfortable. “There is fresh food for the first time in a long time. Surely you are hungry for something other than each other.”

  Kaiser couldn’t help but chuckle. “You make it sound as if my hunger for her is unnatural.”

  “Sometimes I wonder that,” Ayanna teased. “But I could use some food.”

  He grinned and took her hand in his and led her to the large bonfire they had in the center of their camp. “Well then, let us get something to eat. And then…you are all mine…”

  Chapter Two

  Rome was in an uproar. It took no more than six weeks for the emperor to find out what had happened in his absence. The reason it took so long was that his men had already boarded the ships to enter Brittany. However, as soon as news came, a violent storm appeared out of nowhere and held them within Brittany for at least three weeks. When it was safe for sailing, it took them three weeks to return to the capital.

  When the emperor arrived, the Imperial Palace looked as if the interior decorators had picked death and destruction as their theme. The walls were painted with blood, half-rotted bodies still laid on the ground, a sobbing Cornelius was hunched in a corner and when the emperor approached his son, he cowered back and wailed as if he was being attacked again.

  Not one to coddle his children, the emperor grabbed his son and shook him hard. “Get ahold of yourself!” he barked. “Where is your sister? What have you allowed these slaves to do to you?”

  “Father?” a thin voice said behind them as Aurora appeared.

  She had a large bruise on her face from the strike she had ordered Ayanna to give her. Unlike her brother, who hadn’t done a single thing
since the slaves had escaped, she had tried her best to function as normal. Her survival, as well as Ayanna’s and the other slaves, depended on her acting skills.

  “Little one,” the emperor gasped as he pulled her into his arms. “What happened to you? Who did this?”

  “They waited until they knew you were gone,” Aurora sniffed. “I tried to fight them…but I couldn’t. They even…they even took my son!”

  She knew her father had mixed emotions about the child as he didn’t approve of her having him in the first place. So, she knew he wasn’t going to rush to return him to her arms.

  “Do not worry, my child,” he said, choosing his words carefully. “We will make sure those who have done this injury to you will be brought to justice.”

  She sniffed and nodded before she turned away to walk back to her rooms, though there was a smile on her lips. Now that her father was back, she had to figure out a way to get in contact with Ayanna.

  The emperor, meanwhile, went to work in ordering the reconstruction of the Imperial Palace. To him, the slaves had desecrated this sacred place, and they had to be punished for it. There was no way he was going to let them get away with what they had done.

  Commanding a meeting with the Senate, he ordered a bounty be placed upon the heads of every slave and gladiator who had escaped. They were to be brought back, dead or alive, and the ones who were brought back alive were to be publicly executed in the arena. There was to be no mercy.

  However, the spirit of Rome was shaken a bit.

  Word had quickly spread with what the slaves had done, the horrors they had inflicted upon the Roman nobles. Rome, while it was known to be bloodthirsty, could easily have its stomach turned when spilled blood was their own. They did not like the world to know they weren’t as invincible as they claimed.

  The emperor wanted none of this.

  A prideful man, there was no way he was going to let a couple of slaves try and make a fool of Rome. They were the most powerful empire in the world, and these slaves were going to pay for what they had done.

  ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯

  Kaiser groaned deeply as he emptied himself within Ayanna, then rolled off her with a heavy sigh. Sweaty and panting from their most current round of lovemaking, they were both equally happy and couldn’t help but smile at the other.

  “I doubt my hunger for you will ever be sated,” the German said, as he propped himself up on his elbow to look down at the love of his life. “Sometimes I wonder if there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.”

  “I highly doubt it,” Ayanna said back with a grin as she cuddled close to him. “But even if there were a thing, I’d ignore it.”

  “Spoken like a true woman,” he said as he kissed the top of her hair.

  They had finally had a moment alone, as their bellies were full and they wished for time with the other. Yet, an unspoken tension was between them as well, and it mainly consisted of what they wanted to do now.

  They had their freedom, but what to do with it, neither could fully agree. Kaiser wanted, of course, to attack Rome and destroy everything, all in the name of their murdered unborn. He also wanted to pay Rome back, in full, the horrors it had inflicted upon the slaves it held within its grasp.

  Ayanna had a different approach.

  She wished, and this was the most rational thinking, to leave Rome forever. She knew Rome wouldn’t just let them go. They would be hunted down, no doubt, and forced to put on a show for the empire in their deaths. She had seen the elaborate death parties Rome held for its victims.

  Thus, fleeing to the Alps, or even the unconquered lands of Germania, seemed like the truly logical choice. Besides, she and Kaiser were still young. She was nearing her twenty-fifth year, and from what she knew of him, he was nearing his twenty-sixth. Both were in the prime of their lives, and what she wanted more than anything was a child.

  The scars on her back constantly reminded her of the whip which had taken her first child from her. Nothing could ever replace it, and there wasn’t a day that went by when she didn’t mourn it. She did not know if it was a boy or a girl. She did not know what it looked like, if it had her eyes, his nose. She could not hear its first laugh, see its first smile, or even know that it might have had children.

  There were so many things she could miss out on, so she constantly hoped that every time she and Kaiser laid together they would conceive again. However, that wouldn’t happen if he was killed with this brainless quest, which in her mind, was futile and not doable.

  “I think,” she said slowly, as she knew how sensitive this subject was, “we should move the camp. We need to venture further north.”

  Kaiser frowned and looked down at her. “Why?”

  “Because we are still close to Rome,” she explained. “And because of that—”

  “No,” he said sharply, cutting her off. “Absolutely not. We are staying here.”

  “For how long, Kaiser?” she asked. “Until Rome comes here and kills us all?”

  “No,” he said firmly. “But we are not leaving. We have to stay here.”

  Now it was her turn to frown and she sat up. “Kaiser, we are exposed out here. We have to find a safer location for us.”

  Kaiser’s jaw tightened, yet deep down inside, he knew she was right. Their main camp wasn’t at all protected and they were vulnerable to an attack if enough numbers came. They needed to find something, a fortress of some kind, to use for their home base.

  “I know of a couple of villas not far from here,” she pressed him. “Not long ago, before you came, Aurora went to several parties at these villas. All I need is a map of where we are, and I can help find a place for us. But the only way I will find it is if I go into town, and I have to do it alone.”

  There was a town, couple hours’ ride from where they were stationed, but it was dangerous as Roman guards normally cycled through it.

  “No way,” Kaiser said firmly. “I have to go with you.”

  “People know you,” she said with equal firmness. “Thus, you cannot go. Me, however, if I disguise myself, I can go alone. Besides, I will have my daggers. Please, Kaiser, I can do this.”

  He did not want her to go, overprotective lover that he was of her, but he knew deep down, she could handle this. “Take at least one other woman with you,” he said. “Do you know of one you can trust?”

  Ayanna nodded. “I do.”

  “Good,” he said. “I will have one of the gladiators shadow you as well. All I ask is that you be safe.”

  She smiled and nodded. “I understand, thank you.”

  Their talk, however, was not finished, as the unresolved question was still there: should they stay, or should they go? This question had to be answered soon, as they could not move forward without a clear plan. Kaiser wanted vengeance, but Ayanna wished to move on.

  ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯

  The next morning, she rose from their tent to check on everyone to make sure they had all they needed. There was a not-so-silent tension between all, as the men all had different ideas: some wished to leave, others wished to stay and fight. The tension was there, and unless Kaiser did something about it, it would tear them apart.

  “Artemus!” Ayanna called when she saw her friend exit his tent with his son, Eryx. “Good morning!”

  Artemus smiled at her tenderly, as he lifted his son upon his shoulders. “Good morning. I see the German has let you out of your tent for the first time in days.”

  “Artemus, that is not a funny jest.” Ayanna laughed as she blew a kiss to his son. “It was only a couple of hours.”

  “You both are still very loud,” Artemus chuckled. “And it is hard with a young son. I do not wish to have that talk with him when he is so young.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” Ayanna laughed. “But try telling him to keep it down. You know he isn’t the ‘quiet type’. I know you weren’t when it came to Aurora.”

  At the mention of his lost lover, Artemus’ face instantly darkened and he t
urned away. Ayanna quickly realized her mistake.

  “Artemus,” she said softly. “I’m sorry, forgive me. I…I did not think.”

  “No,” he said firmly, shaking his head. “You have nothing to be sorry for. I…I miss her, of course, I do, we all do. But we all know that it’s going to be virtually impossible to get her back.”

  “I know,” she said softly. “But we are going to get her back. We don’t know how, we don’t know when, but we are going to get Aurora back, you have my word. Your son, until then, has you. He has a father, and until Aurora comes back, I will be there to help you.”

  He nodded solemnly, but his face was grave. How long had it been since he had seen Aurora? he wondered to himself. How long had it been since he had seen her face, heard her laughs, felt her wrapped around him? How long would he continue to tell his son that his mother was coming back one day, that she was only briefly away and would soon come back?

  He did not know.

  He loved Aurora. He would tear down the gates of Rome to get her back, but he could not. Right now, like Ayanna said, however, he had to focus on raising his son until Aurora came back. He had to be a father. He had to set his personal feelings aside and look towards the bigger picture: his son.

  He had to be there for him.

  Artemus could not afford to be selfish right now and think only of himself. He was a father now, and though he did not have much experience with Eryx in the past, he now was his entire life. He had to focus on his son, he had to focus on making sure to remind him that he was loved, and nothing would change that. Aurora might not be there now, but Eryx still had his father, and Artemus had his son. That was all that should matter, and should be the most important.

  Chapter Three

  “Look, it’s the Roman,” a slave hissed. “No doubt he’ll try and turn us all back in to our masters.”