Chapter One
The Sale
"Why did I choose to accompany you? Certainly not to suffer in this heat!" Lucretia scowled, fanning herself with a large, red fan that seemed to have little effect. Her blue eyes scanned around the crowd, searching for anyone that she might know, but it appeared that none of her friends had thought to come to the slave market today.
"Because you always complain at the slaves I pick for you! So, now you can pick your own!" Quintus was completely at ease with the heat, although in truth the heat was not terrible. It just gave Lucretia another thing to fuss at him with. "You've always spoken of how you've wished to see a slave auction."
Lucretia bit down on her tongue, regretting having ever told him this. She opened her mouth to say something else, but decided against it upon seeing the slaves approach. She stood up straighter, veering her head forward to see the new arrivals.
There were ten of them lined up. They stood with her hands bound, completely naked on the platform. Half of them appeared essentially useless or old and stood with no dignity at all. There were some other, younger ones that appeared to still cling to some of their identity, their heads held slightly higher. But there was one that stood higher than all the others. And she was the one that caught Lucretia's eyes.
She stood in the third place from the left and didn't look down with shame like the others. Instead she held her head as if she were a queen. Her face was fixed, allowing her disgust of the crowd to be seen for all. Her body seemed nearly the equal of the gladiator's of the ludus. Her muscles were tight and strong all along her body, but they weren't so large as to prevent her from running at a quick pace. The most interesting feature was the lack of her right breast. The left one was perfectly in tact, but the right seemed to simply be missing. Even from her spot in the crowd, Lucretia could see that there was some sort of marking or tattoo in its place. She had messy, dark hair that reached a good ways past her shoulders. Some of her hair was in small braids with feathers tied down onto them.
Lucretia's eyes did not wander from the girl as she spoke. "Quintus, I want that one."
Quintus glanced where his wife was gazing in disbelief. The girl was strong, that was certain, but she appeared of little help in the household matters that would be required of her. He laughed, hoping to erase the notion from his wife's head. "Lucretia, she appears an animal! Certainly she would be of no use to you!"
"You forget that it is my birthday," she remarked coldly, glancing at him before looking back at the girl, who was being called by the auctioneer.
"Girl!" the man called. She did not even acknowledge his voice. Again he called her name, and she was pushed forward by someone from behind and shoved next to the man. "Now," he began, "What we have here is a rare beauty, fresh from Greece! A prisoner of war, one of the few left alive from the army's attacks! They say she was found with a weapon in hand, fighting alongside the men!" There was a collective laugh from the crowd, but he had their attention. He moved to her right side, gesturing to the flatness of her chest. "You might have noticed, good citizens, the absence of a breast, but this is a sign of strength among her people! For I tell you, she is an Amazon!" This brought even more laughter from the crowd, and a few shouted claims that the Amazons were only myths. "It is the truth! She bears their mark!" He placed his hand on her chest next to the tattoo. "She is as strong as any man, and could best one in battle no doubt! She could be of great use for entertainment, or of labor! Come, now let's start the bidding!" The bidding began small, for there seemed to be little use for her.
"Please, Quintus, she would be of great value! And she comes cheap if you bet now, no one was expecting to have anything besides common slaves today!" She placed a hand on his shoulder, whispering softly in his ear.
Quintus had one arm crossed over the other, his other on his chin thinking. "Oh well, I suppose. Perhaps Capua has been too long without a gladiatrix," he said, not even looking at her before shouting his bid. The crowd seemed startled by his entry into the auction, but no one dared bet after that since they seemed to realize it was useless. It was no secret that Batiatus bought what he pleased, even at a steep price.
"Sold! To Batiatus!" the salesman exclaimed, shoving the girl in his direction.
The girl looked at them with narrowed eyes, a hardened expression on her face. "What do you intend with her?" Quintus asked, glancing at his wife.
She raised her eyebrows, looking at him as if the answer was obvious. "Why, it's as you said! Capua has been too long without a gladiatrix. Once she gains the crowd's approval, you'll have the favor of every woman in Capua, and their husband's. Women like women who fight." She smirked, looking at her newest possession. Some of the crowd members near them backed away; they were no doubt intimidated by her grandeur. However, Lucretia was used to being near gladiators before.
"Ashur, see the girl attended to," Quintus ordered, shoving her in the slave's direction before turning around with Lucretia to head back to the ludus.