Titus Batiatus was leaning on the rail of the balcony with a frown on his face and his son knew it was not a good sign. "What troubles mind, father?", Quintus asked, worried. "Flaminia is spending much time in ludus", the older man answered, turning around, "You should not have allowed her to go down there among slaves". His son pressed his lips in a thin line, "She is dear friend and I did not want to deny her such small favor", he shot back, "And why is it problem? You even shared cup of wine with Oenomaus and he is slave".
"That is different! I am man and the owner of this house and of all slaves inside it, she is barely more than child!". "She is adult woman and more than capable of making up her own mind". Titus snorted, "No, she is not. You may be too blind to notice, but I saw way she looks at Syrian recruit…Syrian gladiator", he corrected himself, "She cares for him". "She cares for Kerovas as well". "That is not same thing!".
The younger lanista suppressed the urge to roll his eyes, "All right, father, I will make sure to keep her away from ludus from now on". "Good. And I want that Syrian to fight in the small arena in next games: with some luck, he will be dead soon and I won't have to worry anymore about him dishonoring her". That was enough to make Quintus clench his fists in anger, "She would never bed slave, even more so now that she is wife of senator! She is not that kind of woman!", he snapped. Titus was still skeptical, "Let us pray to Gods that you are right, son".
The following day, Titus sent word to Varus and made arrangements to have Ashur enlisted for a fight in the next games, alongside his countryman Dagan and against two gladiators he knew were extremely dangerous despite fighting in the minor games: Hasdrubal and Kleitos. He hoped that this would mean getting rid of Ashur once and for all and of course, that it would help in repairing the relationship with Tullius: seeing the House of Batiatus lose a fight may put the merchant in a good enough mood that he would be willing to listen to Titus' words. Of course, what the older Batiatus had in mind angered his son, but that was a necessary evil.
While the old man was out for a walk, Flaminia visited Quintus and learned of the latest developments and her cheeks paled with fury. "He wants to get Ashur killed?", she growled and Quintus couldn't help taking a step back, he had never seen her so enraged and it scared him like Hell. "Unfortunately he does", he nodded, "He won't go so far as to kill the man himself, but he will try his hardest to find him most dangerous opponents available".
"Fucking old bastard!", the young woman swore, "How dare he endanger my…My property? Ashur is mine!". "Not officially: name on his property contract is my own". "Let us rectify that, then. Here and now". "But my father is in charge now…"."Your father is nothing!", she roared, "You are only true dominus of this house and you are only one really in charge! Now stop arguing and let us sign contract!".
He stared at her, baffled, then nodded slowly, "As you wish, dearest. Come", he led her to the study and took a parchment, writing down the contract and signing it, before handing it to her. She signed it as well and finally smiled, her tension dissolving, "Gratitude, Quintus. And apologies for my outburst". "None needed, I understand better than you think". "It is relief to hear it. Of course, this must remain secret and officially you will still appear as true owner. Now I must go and take care of family business, but I will join you at small arena for Ashur's fight".
oxoxoxoxoxo
Three days later, in the room below the small arena where the gladiators waited for their turn to fight, Ashur was about to put his plumed helmet on, when Oenomaus, who had accompanied him and Dagan, called him. "Ashur, you have visit". The gladiator blinked, "Who is it?", he asked and his eyes widened when he recognized the woman walking towards him, "Flaminia? What are you doing here?".
She smiled warmly, "I was told that you were going to fight in arena for the first time and I wanted to give you something", she said, then she slipped a hand inside the neckline of her ankle-length ivory dress, unwrapping and slipping from around her breasts a dark blue ribbon, "I cannot come with you onto the sands, but at least I can gift you this token". He smiled back at her happily, "Gratitude. I will wear it with pride".
"And I will pray to Mars to grant you victory", she promised, "May I?". "Please", he extended his right arm and she wrapped the ribbon around his forearm, then tied it with a double knot. "Just want to make sure that you won't lose it". His smile softened as he twined his fingers with hers and kissed them, "I will fight with tooth and claw before I let anyone take it from me".
"I look forward to seeing you triumph on the sand", the young woman caressed his cheek, "You will become great champion, I have no doubts about this". "Your faith in me warms heart". "It's not blind faith: I have seen you holding your own against Kerovas and earning Mark of the Brotherhood by defeating that limp-cocked cunt Rhaskos. My faith is well grounded". "Flaminia…".
Before he could say anything else, doctore intervened, "You did what you came here to do. Now it is better for you to leave, fight will begin in a moment". "Fine, I will be on my way. Ashur, I will be in front row to cheer on you", she told the Syrian. "I will win for you", he promised. "Bye". "Bye", he kissed her hand one last time and reluctantly watched her leave.
"She seems to mean much to you", Oenomaus commented. Ashur nodded, "I've never met woman like her, she is…Special. So kind-hearted and witty, so beautiful and graceful and strong-willed, like goddess walking among mortals". "And you are blessed to have her friendship". "Yes. I am", he sighed happily. "Come down from clouds and get ready for fight now, or you'll end up losing head".
"Yes, doctore", he put his helmet on and turned to Dagan, "Are you ready?". The other man nodded, a lewd grin on his lips, "You are one lucky dog: that delicious little bitch has her cunt soaked wet for your cock", he commented and was taken aback when his friend's face twisted with fury. "Talk about her in such manner again and I will rip your still beating heart out and feed it to you. Brother", Ashur growled, "Is that clear?". "It is". "Good".
Oenomaus looked from one Syrian to the other, puzzled, "Is there problem?". "No, doctore, no problem at all", Ashur answered with a fake smile. "Good. Your swords", the Numidian handed each of them a gladius, "Now reform my words in manner Dagan understands. You bear the Mark of the Brotherhood, an honor you have earned by passing Test", he said, his words translated flawlessly and with obvious pride.
"Fight with honor and if the Gods will it, die the same". "Die and this fuck will rejoice in our parting", Ashur said and Dagan smirked. "He will celebrate my cock in his ass". "Dagan says he will honor the house of Batiatus with gifts of blood, as will the mighty Ashur". Oenomaus nodded, "Go now".
Both gladiators took a deep breath and when the door opened, they stepped for the first time on the sand of the arena. A thrill ran through Ashur at the thought that now he was a true gladiator, that here was where men became gods and this was his chance to take the first step towards such heights.
He looked the opponents up and down, trying to evaluate their strengths and their weaknesses and his keen eyes noticed that while the spear-wielding one was way too healthy for his likings, the one wielding the securis seemed to favor his right leg and to avoid putting too much of his weight on the left. A smirk curved his lips: that was definitely something to exploit.
Hasdrubal didn't waste any time and charged forward with a high diagonal slash of his securis from left to right that was intended to cut Ashur's head off, but the young Syrian was quick to bend and sidestep to the left, sliding from under the other man's blade like a serpent and at the same time, landing a vicious kick at his opponent's left ankle. As Hasdrubal lost his balance, Ashur slashed at his unprotected side, the gladius biting deep into the flesh and opening a long gash that immediately started to bleed.
Meanwhile, Dagan was fighting Kleitos, deflecting his spear with the shield and moving forward to try and land a blow of his own. After three failed attempts, he lost his patience and slammed the shield right in his opponent's face, then took advantage of Kleitos' moment of dizziness to disarm him with a hard blow to the arm and slash savagely at his chest with the gladius, managing to cut his arm off with one lucky strike.
As Kleitos fell on his back onto the sand and was impaled with a sword through the chest, Hasdrubal regained his footing and moved for an attack on the right side. Ashur was ready, though: he parried the blow easily and keeping his shield before himself, he charged forward like a bull slamming his opponent against the wooden wall, incidentally right below the place where Flaminia stood, then he lowered the shield and thrust his gladius into Hasdrubal's throat until it pierced the wood behind the man.
The young woman beamed, overwhelmed with pride and joy, "YES! Ashur is the best!", she shouted happily, clapping her hands and her smiled grew even wider when Ashur lifted his head and took off his helmet to look up at her. His face was streaked with dust, blood and sweat, but the joyful light in his eyes was bright enough to put the Sun to shame as he raised his sword with a victorious roar, the crowd exploding in a roar of its own at his gesture.
Batiatus was impressed, "Your gladiator shows great promise indeed! He may even become one of the best of House of Batiatus, after all", he commented. "He will become the best gladiator of the entire republic", she said with absolute certainty, "He has the blood of a champion. My champion", she added in a whisper, watching her gladiator walk in circle inside the small arena as the crowd cheered on him and Dagan.
oxoxoxoxoxo
Securis: it was a single-bladed axe, which should be wielded with both hands.