Spartacus walked out to the end of the road, leading a tall brown stallion. As he approached the end of the encampment, he found Gorgo saying farewell to Achillea.
"I will not see you nor our people endangered because of your curiosity towards this man, Mother." said the daughter as her mother adjusted her saddle. "Please, allow me to travel at your side."
"And what good will that do?" Gorgo asked as she straightened to face her child. "Once we reach the city gates, our weapons will be taken, should we decide to take them at all. You and I both are aware of your lack of skill in unarmed combat. You should not believe that you will have five swords at your disposal in every battle. Often times, all you will need are pretty words to sate apprehension. Return to our people and see them safely brought to the gates of Sinuessa en Valle in time to storm them."
Achillea sighed as Gorgo placed her hand on her shoulder. "If harm should come to you, I will lay waste to this encampment." The daughter growled lowly.
"Then I pray I will return. Remember what I have taught you. Keep your movements hidden within shadow, let none know of your plans. When you execute it, fall like a thunderbolt, thrust from the heavens by the gods." Gorgo smiled. "Do as commanded."
"Yes, Mother." Achillea mounted her own horse and rode off, leaving Gorgo to finish her task. She glanced upward as Spartacus approached.
"Your daughter seemed to worry about you. Is she always so protective of her mother?"
"Simply because she has come of age, she thinks me incapable of wielding weapon." Gorgo laughed. "When it was I who placed steel in her own palms."
He noticed that she had discarded her armor for a long dark purple dress that hid her tattoos and clung quite beautifully to her form. Her hair was also pinned in the traditional Roman fashion, but not so elaborate that it would come to pieces as she rode.
"You play the part of Roman well." He said.
"Gratitude, as do you." She returned, noting his robes.
"When we met, you spoke of Romans wounding your heart. If I may inquire…" He said as he mounted. Gorgo did the same.
"As you know, Romans took Barca from me, an uncle from my daughters and a warrior from my people. They robbed me of my husband, Metallo, my daughters of a father, and my people without a leader. His death lead to our enslavement, without him to lead the people, we fell."
"And because of you, they rise again."
"Because of his memory. Every Roman that falls to the blades of my people, fall in the names of those taken from us. Before I am stricken from this world, the afterlife will be flooded with Roman dead. If I could, I would kill them all to see him returned to my arms." Gorgo blinked several times, eyes burning with conviction.
He nodded slowly, admiring the fire of the woman. "I would do the same for my wife. At least you have children to pass on his memory to. Sura and I had none."
"A blessing." She said. "That you did not have to see them in chains or plead for mercy as whips rained upon their backs." He looked at her, but she didn't turn eyes from the road.
Crixus and Gannicus arrived moments later and the four set out for Sinuessa en Valle.
"Step forward." Cried the guard at the gate. "State business within Sinuessa en Valle." He was clearly eyeing Gorgo as she hung on Spartacus' arm. The woman feigned modesty but smirked slyly at him.
"We come for grain." said Spartacus, firmly to regain the man's attention. "And all the pleasures your city has to offer." He glanced at Gorgo and offered a friendly smile before placing a handful of coins into the man's palm.
The man looked at him before chuckling. "You insult me...by so light a palm."
"Allow weighted apology." Gorgo interrupted, holding out a small pouch. The man smirked as he took it with two hands, the second only serving the purpose of caressing Gorgo's wrist. Spartacus scowled slightly and grabbed the man's arm.
"Darling, it is but a few hundred denarii." Gorgo practically growled, squeezing her pretend suitor's arm.
"Perhaps I shall take his brace instead." The guard turned over Spartacus's hand. "And the jewels upon it."
"It is most treasured possession at this time. I would not part with it." The Rebel King answered as he pulled his arm back.
"Then turn from fucking gates. Guards!"
Gorgo noticed Crixus shift his robe for easier access to his sword and glanced around for what could be used as a weapon. "As you wish." She said as she stepped forward with a slight bow. "Oh, please inform Laurus that his guests will not be able to keep intended meeting."
"Wait. Give over weapons." said the guards. "And grace ear of the man that Decimus saw you well treated."
"Gratitude." Spartacus said with a smile as he handed him a dagger. "I shall see you well rewarded this day." He lead the way into the city, only for Gorgo to suddenly part with him. "Where do you go?"
"To tend the matter of city arrangement. I will return to you at the Blacksmiths." She quickly explained as she slipped into the crowd.
"Her motives are veiled and I fear they differ from our own." Crixus growled in the Thracian's ear.
"Indeed." Spartacus surmised. "But alas, she is gone now. Follow her if you wish, but I would see purpose for visit fulfilled."
It did not take long for Gorgo to locate and purchase a map of the city. Diotimos' words spoke truth. She followed the interlocking paths to each entrance and exit, examining every street and alley to familiarize herself with the city before they would attack. It was a fine place for Spartacus and her people to reside for the winter months, should they capture it.
"May I help you? You appear somewhat lost." Gorgo quickly hid the map within her dress before turning around to face her questioner. The man wore the rather typical Roman outlook. He was tall, clean-shaven, had short-brown hair and was adorned in the attire typical for those of the elite Roman class. "I am Ennius, Aedile of Sinuessa en Valle."
"The Aedile, by the gods!" She quickly curtsied. "Apologies for not recognizing you in time to show you a greeting most deserving of your status."
He smiled. "No offense was taken."
"But I do seem to be quite lost. Might you spare a moment to give direction to the Blacksmith's? That is most likely where my husband has decided to plant himself. He is most fascinated with toys of war."
"Of course, anything for a beautiful guest to my city." He extended his arm and she attached herself to him, suppressing the urge to scowl. "I must head to the square first for a matter of business but it shall only take a moment."
"I am in no hurry to return to my husband and be bored with talk of politics."
"You do not enjoy such?"
"I am well versed in matters, when the speaker makes attempt to present the topics with interest. My husband is not quite the man to do such."
They arrived at the square where a large crowd was gathered. A slave was being dragged through the citizens and chained to the wall.
"What is his crime?" Gorgo asked, fighting the urge to rush to the man's defense.
"He stowed away food for journey to reach Spartacus." Ennius replied.
"And the man who stands upon the mantle? That is his dominus?"
"Indeed, Laurus, an associate of mine."
Gorgo turned as a pretty roman woman approached them with a smirk. "And who is this, upon the arm of my husband?"
"Laeta, this is-" Ennius paused.
"Artemisia." Gorgo said quickly, silently cursing the gods for not having arranged a name beforehand.
"Artemisia was lost upon way to find her husband and I offered her guidance once a business transaction was completed."
"You mean, the stoning of a poor man?" Laeta asked.
"I mean the stoning of a slave."
Gorgo's eyes found their way below and she spotted Spartacus among the citizens. He looked ready to slaughter the whole square in defense of the slave. She prayed he would calm himself before he revealed their deception. The citizens began to stone the slave, even as he began shouting Spartacus' name and the freedom he offered. Spartacus hurled a rock at the man's head and split it open, putting an end to his suffering, but also attracting attention from everyone in the square. Fuck the gods.
"And here we are." said Ennius as they arrived at the Blacksmith's. "I trust you have heard of the rule that there be no citizens upon the streets after night had fallen? Have you obtained shelter for the night?"
"I had not. Gratitude and yes, thank you." Gorgo said as she turned to enter the forge. Spartacus and Gannicus were already there, speaking with Attius.
"The streets cleared by guards?" Gannicus asked.
"By command of the Aedile." Spartacus answered. He nodded to her as she approached him.
"Did you know of this?" the celt demanded turning to his friend.
"Fuck yourself. News greets me with shared ear. Trust these will service need." Attius handed Spartacus a bundle containing swords, to which he and Gannicus examined.
"They will." Spartacus said. "Yet there is more we must ask of you now."
"I thought as much." Attius chuckled with a smirk in Gorgo's direction, to which she nearly growled at. "200 denarii apiece and you may lay hidden here until sun crests and curfew is lifted."
"It is not sleep we seek."
"What deformity of mind do you think I suffer from that I would give further aid to enemies of Rome?"
"We find ourselves heavy with Roman coin." voiced Gorgo, leaning against his workbench. "What cost would sober intent?"
Attius shook his head as he gave the question consideration. "5,000 denarii would see me far from this city and shores of fucking Republic."
"So be it." She said.
"The woman handles the coin in your rebellion?"
"It is the woman who has the coin in this rebellion." Gorgo retorted. "A bargain well struck."
"Call me Roman no more, then!" Attius laughed. "How many swords do you need?"
"Those who join us are well armed." said Gannicus.
"Join you? You move to take the fucking city?"
"Well, we have one among us who has accomplished feat already." the celt gestured in her direction.
"Queen Gorgo?"
"The very same." She said with a smile.
Spartacus clasped his shoulder. "We move to liberate it. The gate stands only in our path."
"We were to slit throats in the night and see it raised, but unexpected curfew presents difficulty in reaching it unnoticed." Gorgo said as she absently looked at his tools, unaware of the hot gazes that all three men were giving her backside. "City guard would raise clamor well in advance."
Attius sniffed and wiped at his nose. "I cannot aid you in this. It would mean my life."
"You have forged weapons," said Gannicus. "for Spartacus himself. If we are discovered with your craft clutched in hand, then they will send you to the afterlife all the same." Gorgo looked up to see the man's reaction.
"Fuck the gods. What would you have of me?"
Gorgo tore the dress to shreds to remove it and dressed herself in her armor before finding Spartacus and Gannicus waiting for the signal from Attius. Spartacus handed her a spear.
"I am finally allowed to witness your skill." He said.
She grinned as she wrapped her hand around the weapon. "And I am finally allowed to kick Roman ass."
"Now!" Gannicus yelled as he saw Attius fall after a blow to the face. The trio rushed into the open to save him. While the men took care of those who had not been locked in the storeroom by Attius, she began climbing the ramparts, stabbing and striking expertly with her spear. As she climbed higher, she discarded the idea of trying to kill the guards and simply decided to pitch them from the wall where each and every one of the them landed with a sickening crunch.
Gannicus went to begin opening the gate while Spartacus finished off those below, narrowly avoiding the spears being tossed from above. She managed to knock three of them off before losing her spear after ramming it through a fourth's stomach. She unsheathed a knife from her thigh and parried a strike from a guard and sliced open his throat. One after another, they fell and she grabbed another spear to launch at a hole in a storeroom door that the trapped guards were trying to break through. She tossed another one and again hit her mark. Gannicus and Spartacus worked to open the gates and she lit a lantern to alert the army.
The guards managed to unlock the door and were pouring out like a crashing wave, ready to swallow the rebel king, but it was not to be so. Crixus rolled beneath the barely gate and threw himself in battle like a titan. The gates were pushed upward and the rebels came pouring in.
Achillea immediately went to her mother's side. Gorgo retrieved another spear. "Where are our people?" She cried as more guards ran to meet the rebels. Achillea laughed and pointed as a squad of at least 30 massive Carthaginians plowed through the resistance like bulls, shrugging off strikes and blows to crush the enemy, followed by the rest brandishing spears and swords. Gorgo leaped down and joined in the fray. She speared a guard through the stomach and ducked as Achillea soared over her head and cut down another. She spun sideways as Gorgo stabbed forward and sliced open the chest of another enemy. Working in tandem, more and more bodies piled up around them.
Complete chaos reigned as the rebels took control of the city, slaughtering any who stood in their way. Screams filled the air and rivers of blood coated the stone. Corpses littered the ground and the afterlife filled with roman dead.
"The city is taken." Spartacus said, prohibiting his men from striking down any more romans. "See the remaining romans to chains."
Gorgo looked up at Laeta and smiled. She made a horrified face. "You aid Spartacus? Why, why would you do this? You are not one of them?"
"No, I am not, but I have felt the cruelty of Romans for longer than I care to admit. The pain is unimaginable. Your people in Thurii know such cruelty now."
"Thurii? You are Gorgo?"
"Queen Gorgo, I prefer."
"You slaughtered an entire city!" Laeta cried. She moved toward Gorgo who slightly raised her spear, but it was Achillea who punched her and sent her sprawling in the dirt.
"A debt repaid of Carthage, a city larger than Rome itself razed to the ground, every woman, man and child, murdered and salt placed upon the ground so that nothing would ever grow there again! A nation brought to its knees because it valued freedom. You should thank the Rebel King now, or else your throat would be beneath my heel." It was not often that Gorgo allowed such emotions to show, but in that moment, the pain of keeping it in was too excruciating. "I would not wish what happened to my people upon my worst enemy." She said, meeting Laeta's eyes. "Other than Rome. Your people deserve to burn."
"Spartacus," Crixus called as he approached with Naevia. "The Aedile bars himself in the horreum, spilling pitch, and threatens to put light to bear."
"Come." Spartacus growled to Laeta, who pushed him away.
"I will not lend aid to you and your fucking animals!"
"You will do as commanded." Gorgo growled lowly. "If you so wish to keep the remainder of your of this world. If grain is put to fire, neither of us will have voice to calm our ...animals."
"You will not have the city's heart!" Ennius yelled from behind the gates, holding a lit torch in the air. "Make attempt on gate, and I will put all to fire, you fucking cunts!" His face fell at once as Spartacus pushed Laeta to the gate.
"Pray your words hold meaning." He whispered in her ear before stepping back next to Gorgo, who was holding her spear suspended and appeared as a caged animal, ready to strike. "Call yourself."
"Blood boils. Mind cannot think through haze of hatred." She snapped. "Why does that cunt still live? I can take him from here."
"Peace." He grabbed her shoulder and turned her to face him. "We must not let him burn the grain. Peace."
"Would that words of reassurance could find way through thick skull." Achillea grumbled and Gorgo effectively smacked her on the back of the head.
"You would place our fate in her fucking hands?" Crixus asked.
"I would place them in what I believe in. You and Gannicus, attack from behind. Go now." The pair nodded and they returned to watching Laeta plead frantically with her husband. Spartacus waited before giving the signal for them to attack. Ennius turned to look at them in horror. Gorgo launched her spear and buried it in his face as he turned to look upon his wife once more. He fell backwards as Laeta screamed, the torch flying through the air before thankfully being caught by Crixus.
"He would have opened the gate." Laeta hissed at her. "I know he would have. For me, he would have."
"I don't care." Gorgo said.
"We could not place faith in it." said Spartacus. He turned from her and addressed his people. "We have had our fill of blood and vengeance on this night. No roman that yet draws breath shall suffer further harm. The city is ours!" The crowd burst into cheers and celebration.
Gorgo smiled and looked at Spartacus who returned it. He reached for her hand, despite both of them being soaked in blood, and kissed it. Achillea rolled her eyes and Gorgo smacked her again, much to the amusement of the king.
"Hail the queen and king!" One of the men shouted and the others quickly took up the cry.