Author note: hello everyone! Here's a new chapter for you. I hope you'll like it…And I hope there actually is someone out there still reading and liking the story.
oxoxoxoxoxo
As was custom, a wooden stage was raised in the middle of the training ground for the Test and a dozen torches lightened up the courtyard. Much to Flaminia's delight, Ashur was to go first and his opponent was Rhaskos, one of those who had disrespected her when she had been in the ludus as a 'rebellious slave'.
Both men were equipped with a round shield and a sword, but Rhaskos was taller and bigger than the Syrian and that led him to think he would win the fight easily. A grin on his lips, he roared and swiped at his opponent's left side, but Ashur parried with his shield and instead of retaliating in kind, he made a feint to his right, only to then strike to the left, leaving a shallow cut on Rhaskos' waist and kicked him in the stomach.
The gladiator stumbled back a step and coughed, but quickly straightened and attacked again, this time aiming at Ashur's throat. The recruit dodged and bent down in a single fluid motion worthy of a snake, then sprung forward and struck with the hilt of the sword as hard as he could, first straight to the stomach and then upwards to the chin, as he had done in his fight against Auctus weeks ago.
Again, Rhaskos stumbled back and the brief moment of dizziness was all that Ashur needed: with a quick move, the Syrian kicked his opponent's left knee, bringing him down and then slashed at his neck, though he stopped the blade just an inch from the skin and looked up at the balcony, towards his dominus, waiting for instructions.
Both Quintus and Titus were stunned, while Flaminia beamed like sunshine and clapped her hands with a nearly childlike enthusiasm. "Yes! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!", she exclaimed, jumping up and down. Behind her, Kerovas chuckled and shook his head fondly: for all her scheming and plotting, she was still so much a child at heart.
Quintus laughed as well at her antics, "Well, congratulations, dearest: one of your recruits has earned the Mark tonight", he said, then addressed Ashur, "Let the defeated one live. You have proven yourself worthy of joining the Brotherhood". The Syrian lowered his weapon and jumped off of the stage, his head was spinning: he could hardly believe it, he had won and was about to officially become a gladiator! And Flaminia had been there to witness his triumph, just as she had promised him.
He looked up again and met her gaze and she nodded, placing a hand on her heart with a warm smile. Only, his good mood dampened a little as he noticed a young and handsome stranger by her side. Doctore's voice broke the spell, "Dagan, your turn! Fulco will be your opponent". As the two fighters got on the stage, Flaminia practically ran from the balcony to the stairs leading to the ludus, dragging Nasir along by the hand and when she stepped onto the sand, she was not surprised to see Ashur walking towards her, though his expression was dark.
"Flaminia", he said in a strangely cold tone, bowing his head and glaring daggers at poor Nasir, who, for his part, was smiling happily at him, "I am pleased to see you". She blinked, taken aback by his sudden hostility, "Is something wrong?". "No. Nothing". "I…I come bringing good news", she stammered, "This is Nasir and…I-I think you already know each other".
The newly promoted gladiator frowned, "Nasir?", he repeated, then his eyes widened and he looked at the lad with a mixture of surprise and hope, "Could it truly be…?". The younger man nodded, radiant with happiness, "It is, brother". "Little Nasir!", Ashur beamed and hugged him tightly, tears of pure joy running down his cheeks, "My dear, precious little brother", he added in their native language.
"I missed you", Nasir said, hugging him back, "I was so scared when you didn't come back from the market!".
"I was worried about you too, little brother, not a day passed by that I did not think about you", his brother replied, observing him carefully and stroking his long hair with a fond smile, "I am grateful to the Gods to see you in good health. Last time I saw you, you were barely more than a child and you were ill…".
"The slavers who captured me nursed me back to health during the travel, otherwise I would have been of no use to them. My former dominus made sure I was always well fed and clean and Flaminia has taken good care of me since…".
The young woman cleared her throat, cutting him off, "Apologies, but since you're talking about me, I would like to understand words", she said with a mischievous smile, "Just in case you're divulging some scandalous secret about me", she joked and the two men laughed. "There is nothing scandalous to say about you", the younger slave told her, "You have taken good care of me and treated me with kindness and respect, as though I were your own brother". "I always show kindness to those who deserve it".
"And sink fangs in flesh of those who do not", he added, smirking, "You were quite…Unkind to my former dominus". A flash of panic passed in her eyes, "Let us not speak of slavery tonight: you are reunited with your brother and he has become gladiator, we should only care about celebrating", she said, afraid that the truth about her station could slip past his lips by mistake.
Ashur beamed, "I am in full agreement. But Indus has yet to face Test, so maybe we should wait for him to earn Mark as well". "Oh, of course! I have brought a small feast composed of wine, fresh fruit, roasted meat and plenty of crustula, by the way, so there will be no shortage of delicacies to enjoy". "You are gift from the Gods", he purred, taking her hand in his and kissing her palm, "Since you came into my life, you brought me more joy than I could ever dream of". "And you did the same for me", she said, stroking his cheek.
Before they could kiss, Nasir, knowing the truth and not wanting his brother to get in trouble, intervened, "Look, fight is over". They all looked at the stage to see Fulco on the sand, clearly having been pushed off the stage by Dagan, who let out a victorious roar. "Another recruit earns the Mark. Now only Indus remains", Flaminia said, watching as Dagan hopped down the short staircase and Indus climbed up to face his Test, "And I am confident he will succeed as well".
Indus climbed on the stage with confident steps, even if a small part of him was worried at the prospect of what would happen to him should he fail the Test. His opponent was Duratius, a short and bulky Egyptian gladiator who fought in the murmillo style and was therefore equipped with a big rectangular shield, a sword, a scaled arm guard and a plumed helmet.
"Begin!", Oenomaus shouted and Duratius moved forward and slashed from left to right, aiming for the Macedon's throat, but Indus sidestepped and struck at the other man's unprotected left side, leaving behind a long gash. The gladiator swore loudly and looked at him with murder in his eyes, then struck high and hard.
Indus parried with his sword, letting the other's blade slide along his own and pushing it to the side to unbalance his opponent and for good measure, he hooked Duratius' knee with his left foot and struck him in the back with his shield, putting all of his weight in it. The Egyptian lost his footing at that and fell off of the stage in an undignified sprawl, cursing his own Gods quite vehemently.
"Indus is victor!", Doctore announced and the young Macedon beamed at those words. Batiatus nodded from the balcony, "Indus, you have proven worthy of receiving the Mark of the Brotherhood", he declared. To Indus' surprise, the gladiators cheered at his victory and when he climbed off of the stage, they walked up to him and congratulated him with big smiles.
He smiled back, though it was half-hearted as he remembered quite well how badly they had treated him until that very same morning, but his spirits lifted when Ashur called him and he saw that Flaminia was there. "Flaminia!", he joined her and the other two men, "It brings me much joy to see you here".
"Of course I am here, I had to witness the two of you becoming gladiators and defeating those fucking cunts", she replied, "My heart swells with pride at your victories". "So does mine", Kerovas said, walking to them with a proud smile, "It is good to see lessons were not wasted on you". "Gratitude", Indus bowed his head to the older man, "I owe you much, Kerovas: without your training, I would not have been able to win fight. I would have likely been sent to mines long ago".
Kerovas grinned, "Then you should thank Gods that our domina ordered me to train you", he said, clapping the Macedon on the back. "I am, believe me". Flaminia frowned, "I-domina would have never let you be sent to mines!", she protested hotly, "She is not that cruel!". Ashur and Indus blinked, taken aback by her outburst, but Nasir nodded. "She speaks truth: our domina has kind heart and gentle spirit and she treats all her slaves with respect, as thought they were of Roman blood like herself. Never have I seen her mistreat slave, since I came to live in her house".
His brother frowned, "How come we never met her, though? Why doesn't she show face to us?". "She is not allowed to come to ludus: her father forbade it and as is duty of devoted daughter, she must obey him", Kerovas answered and at his side, the young woman had to bite her lower lip to keep from laughing. 'Devoted daughter', sure. She shot him a side glance, but her bodyguard was perfectly serious. How the Hell could he manage to say such bullshit while keeping a straight face, she would never know.
A brazier was brought out in the training ground and as was custom, Quintus put the iron brand with the B of his House on the burning coals, "Ashur, Indus, Dagan! Come and receive the Mark". The Macedon gulped, suddenly scared by the sight of the red-hot brand, but he took his place in line and knelt, extending his right arm with his palm up like the other two men.
Ashur was first and his lips were curved in a joyful smile as he recited the sacred oath, "I commit my flesh, my mind, my will to the glory of this ludus and the commands of my master, Batiatus. I swear to be burned, chained, beaten or die by the sword for honor in the arena". Quintus nodded and pressed the brand on his forearm, the burning skin making a horrible sizzling sound as the Syrian gritted his teeth to keep from screaming,
"Welcome to the Brotherhood". "Gratitude, dominus", Ashur stood, the burn sending shocks of pain through his arm, but as he walked back to his friends, he saw that Flaminia had a small vial in her hand. "I have some healing balm here", she said as soon as he reached her, "The burn will scar, of course, but this will lessen the pain". His lips parted in surprise, then his eyes softened, "Your concern warms heart".
"It's least I can do", she opened the jar and took a bit of balm with her fingers, "May I?". "Please", he nodded and extended his arm and she applied the poultice with extreme care, trying to spread it on the burn without causing him additional pain. "Done". "Gratitude, Flaminia". "You're welcome", she said, then she repeated the process for both Indus and Dagan even though the latter was not one of her recruits, because he was Ashur's friend.
Gannicus approached them with a grin, but his wobbly steps suggested he had once again overindulged with wine, "Good to see you here again, beautiful", he greeted the young woman. "Gannicus, how fare you?". "Quite well, gratitude. And better now that I can look upon your beauty". "I am flattered, but maybe you should not be here, wasting breath on idle conversation: I think you should be resting and sleeping off your hangover", she shot back sternly and he pouted.
"You wound me! We have new brothers, we must celebrate!". "You have celebrated enough for tonight. Go to sleep, Gannicus. This is not advice, this is order", she added, pointing to his cell, "Go. Now". The Celt gave her a look that reminded her a lot of a scolded puppy, but at length turned on his heels and sulkily went to his cell, muttering under his breath.
As Gannicus slept off the obscene amount of wine he'd drunk, Ashur, Indus, Dagan and Crixus allowed themselves with the delicious treats that Flaminia had brought for them, generously sharing the feast not only with her, Kerovas and Nasir, but also with the other gladiators as well, to show that they held no grudge against those who were now their brothers.
Ashur smiled to himself as he nibbled on a delicious crustulum and chatted with his friends: finally he was a gladiator and the others would treat him with respect, finally he was a brother among brothers and the ludus was truly his home. And with his little brother Nasir and Flaminia by his side, he could think of nothing more to ask for.
oxoxoxoxoxo
Crustulum (pl. crustula): they were biscuits made with spelt flour, eggs, honey, olive oil, cinnamon, orange and lemon peels and a bit of black pepper.