Chaper VII

"Shut up and pay attention!"

Masachus' roaring voice startled the women who were standing on the sands of their training-field. The entire field was filled with all kinds of training-material. I saw wooden walls for climbing, a wooden structure with ropes hanging from the beam on top, heavy stones for lifting and big fenced square spaces, probably for wrestling.

"Today your training will start! You will work on your stamina and strengthening your muscles first. Otherwise you weak slaves won't even be able to lift a sword of the ground, let alone kill somebody with it that isn't yourself". He chuckled, obviously enjoying his own joke. "We will divide you into three groups after we have seen your perform the first test and then every group gets its own trainer. So ladies, let's start running! Laps around the field! Now!"

The group of women stirred and soon we were running laps around the field. Three of the women, mostly the Hellene ones, dropped down after only one lap, and they were put together in a group. The next five dropouts shared the same fate.

For me, running was nog the problem. I used to start my day with a 20 mile run around my polis back in Hellas. But the past few weeks made me lose my strength. Already after six laps I could feel my legs starting to tremble and my lungs were screaming for more air. But I kept running, I would show them what I was worth. Only a few barbarians and I were still doing laps, neither one of us wanting to give up and give the other the victory. One of the barbarians dropped out, I recognized the lion-manes and felt a little shock that Nicky even got this far, she didn't look strong.

"STOP!" Masachus screamed at us. I looked confused, I hadn't won yet and still had some running left in me. But he wouldn't have it. "I can't have you running around like lunatics and sleep the rest of the day because of it, get your ass over here so I can divide you into the groups!".

My group consisted of Nicky, 4 more barbarians and one Spaniard, and our trainer was Paolo. I had a deep loathing feeling for the guy and I wasn't afraid to shoot him a disgusted look every time I could. But he wasn't as harsh today as we had seen him yesterday. He was delighted to be able to train the best group instead of the women who couldn't even move their feet without being out of breath.

It was nice to finally be able to train again. My body isn't what is used to be and I felt terrible about it. I was determined to get an even better stamina and strength than I used to have, so I trained without stopping. Pain is just a feeling, you can turn it off. Even if your legs scream in pain, that last mile of running will save you when you're in a real battle. So I pushed, and pushed, and pushed.

The day ended just before sundown and after having a bath and a healthy meal by myself, my straw-bed never looked more soft.

Weeks of practice and training followed. The groups were changed every day and so did the trainers. After thirty days of training we were called for a gathering at the piazza. Nicky and I looked confused at eachother.

"What is wrong?" she asked me. I shrugged, and walked over to the piazza with the other novices. When we arrived I saw that the piazza was changed. There was a sandpit in de middle, with ropes around it, which made it look like a small arena. Ichtus was sitting on a chair on the far end of the piazza on a platform so he could overlook all the women and the sandpit in the middle. There was a crowd, standing around the sandpit and my heart skipped a beat when I noticed Piper standing in the crowd. It was the first time I got to see her after the debacle at the party. She looked worried and concerned with the situation and especially with me. I couldn't look at her, the shame was rising like hot bile in my throath. I looked down and Nicky noticed.

"Are you okay?" she looked concerned. I nodded, and looked up when I heard Masachus speak to us.

"Novices! Today is the day! Today we will see who of you have trained hard enough to be here, and who of you will be send to the blocks." A scared humming went around the novices. The blocks meant you would be sold again, and you wouldn't have any change of freedom.

"Today, you will fight against each other. Fight well, and even if you lose, you have a change to stay. Fight shit and even if you win we will send you away. First battle, Illiane and Greta.". The two women got incredibly pale when their names were called. Nobody of us expected this today, we were getting ready for just another day of training. I saw fear on a lot of faces around me, and now I understood the worried look in Piper's beautiful eyes. It could be over after today.

"Here are the rules", Masachus began, "there is to be no life-taking. If you hit, don't hit the head. Hitting the head is only allowed with your hands. If your opponent isn't in a state to fight any more you will turn to Ichtus en raise your hand. He can do two things: give life and give death. 'Missio' means life, he will then lift his hand and stick his thumb up. And thumb down means death. In a real battle, you get to kill your opponent if this is the case. Today it means that your opponent will be send to the blocks. Fight well and you will get missio, remember that!"

Greta and Illiane were led into the sandpit and were both given a small wooden sword and a wooden shield. They both stood clumsily on the sand on the opposite of each other.

"Pugnate!" Ichtus yelled. Both women lifted their swords, and attacked in with a furious leap.

The day continued on and three women were send to the blocks yet. Already six fights have taken place and a few injuries occurred. Greta had a broken wrist but still managed to defeat Illiane, who got missio. Penelope crushed some of Teita's ribs when she accidently fell on top of her with her shield in front of her and Daya got a concussion from a collision with the shoulder of Amoube.

Right now I was looking at the victorious yelling of one of the barbarians, Halewych, for who Nicky had been cheering and screaming her lungs out. Halewych turned towards Ichtus and lifted her hand. Ichtus looked at the crying heap that was Tryna and put his thumb down. To the blocks.

Masachus entered the sandpit with his wax-tablet in his hand. "Next match: Nicky and Alex!"