Disclaimer: I don't own Andromeda or it's characters.
Copyright: I own Cadoris so please ask me if you wish to use him.
Author's note: I am thinking about making this the last chapter so please let me know if you would like more of this story or not. It helps a lot to know that you people are reading it and enjoying it. I also like feedback since it gives me ideas of where to take the story.
The Victory Prize
Cadoris turned from the corpse of the Minotaur and looked at the box where those who considered themselves nobles just like the old days were sitting. They were standing and many had awe etched onto their faces for none of them had ever dreamed of seeing a human win the tournament in their lifetimes. A man and woman who were human stepped forward.
The man was tall standing over six feet tall and was well muscled but had a belly on him as if he drank too much. He had a mustache that was a bit sparse as if the man was just old enough to try and grow facial hair. The man wore dark red clothes from head to toe and he had his arm thrown around the woman at his side.
The woman was pretty Cadoris thought but not near as pretty as Trance for the woman had too much makeup on to make herself look more like a doll from his time than an actual woman. She was very pale just like a person who hardly ever went outside in the sun. She had dark eyes that held no warmth for anyone and Cadoris knew that her and the man at her side were slave traders or some other such criminals. They had the look about them as well as the look that said they were important.
"You young man who are you who has won the tournament," the woman said smiling but there was no warmth in it.
"I am no one important lady," Cadoris said coolly as the blood on his hands started to harden. He was still bleeding from the wounds on his body but he didn't even notice it.
"As a matter of fact you are very important. You have won the tournament and that alone makes you important. Now you will tell us your name or you will not be given your prizes that you have won," The man said angrily for he was not used to people talking back to him or his wife.
Cadoris stared at him with anger in his eyes but he held it in check. "I am known as Cadoris if you must know," was all Cadoris said.
"We do need to know so that we can write it down in the annuls. You are the first human to ever win the tournament since it was opened to other races besides humans. You should be proud because all humans are proud for you," the woman said smoothly.
"I am not proud for what I did. I killed because I had to. Now all I want is what is coming to me so that I may leave," Cadoris said.
"You are in a hurry it seems so you may ask for any woman and she will be yours and you may ask for one boon and that will be granted to you as well if we have the power to do so," the man said.
"Very well for the first I ask that I have Trance. She was taken be a slaver and they are sitting over there," at that he gestured to where they were seated. "I want her and he must give her up as the rules say."
"You are correct in that. Go over and get her for she is now yours sir knight," the woman purred. She was mocking him by calling him sir knight but he didn't care.
Cadoris walked over to where Trance was seated and held out his hand to her over the stone railing that separated the spectators from the ring. She was happy he could tell but she was also frightened. She was still bleeding from the gash in her arm and the blood had soaked her dress. Cadoris's heart lurched to see her bleeding but he couldn't help that.
The nightsider was furious that he had lost and he started to reach into his coat for something but Cadoris noticed him moving his hand and he growled, "If you wish to die right here then go ahead and go for your little weapon." The nightsider stopped his hand where it was and hissed at Cadoris in anger.
Trance had still not taken his hand and he frowned at her. She was sitting there but her eyes were closed and her breathing was shallow. Cadoris leaped over the railing and went to her. People crowded around to see what was going on and he felt her pulse which was racing. Cadoris didn't know what was going on but he reached down and picked her up and as he did her eyes opened and she smiled at him. He smiled back and leaped over the railing back out into the arena.
"What was wrong with you just now," Cadoris asked a bit worried.
Her smile vanished and she said, "The blade was poisoned with a poison that I am partially immune to. It started to work on my body but then my body fought back and I am fine now except for the gash in my arm. How is it that the poison didn't affect you."
"I don't know but don't worry about that now for you are safe and I won't let them hurt you again. I have to ask for my boon now," Cadoris said as he smiled at her and she returned it and he thought that she was the most beautiful woman that he had ever seen.
"There you now have the woman of your choice though it is not the one that I would have chosen. Now you must tell us what you want for your boon," the man said wonderingly at Cadoris's choice of a woman.
"It doesn't matter what you would have chosen it matters that I chose her. Now as for my boon I want you to release all the women who are in service. I want them to all be free and you will never give them as prizes again. You will never give any woman as a prize ever again," Cadoris said as he watched them for their reactions.
The crowd started to buzz with the boon that the human had asked. None of them could believe what they had heard. He was asking to do away with what was tradition and that would ruin them. It was what was done for all time to give women away as prizes to the winners. It was unheard of for someone to ask that!
"We can not grant you that for it is not in our power. Ask for something else. You see it is tradition to give women away as gifts without that we would not have anyone fighting in our tournaments and so we would go out of business. We would be ruined," one of the other lords said from where he was sitting.
"You can grant that because as far as I can tell you have tried to make this just like the old games during the time of the Roman Empire. The problem is that you don't know what they gave as prizes to the victor. That is where you are wrong. The people who fought in the fights were men who were slaves or were captured men during wartime. There were criminals that were forced to fight in order to live and still others fought for the simple glory of the fight. Do that instead of giving women away or give away money as a prize just don't give women," Cadoris said while he still held Trance in his arms.
The women that had tended his wounds were watching from the arch leading into the back where the gladiators went after each fight. They couldn't believe that he was fighting for them instead of asking for something else like the high council had told him. He was truly trying to keep his word to them and that brought tears to all of their eyes.
"Young man how can you know what the original people were thinking or how it was done for it was more than 5000 years ago," A woman said.
"I just know," was all that he gave them for an answer.
They council started to talk and they talked for over ten minutes all the while he held Trance. His blood was flowing and he was getting weaker by the second and he knew that before long he would pass out from blood loss but not before he heard what they had to say on the matter of the women. Finally they broke apart and the man and woman stepped forward. The woman spoke up and she seemed happy, "Your boon has been granted. All of the women that have been given as prizes are now free and we shall not give women as prizes any more."
"Thank you," Cadoris said as he pitched forward and blackness enfolded him. Cadoris sat Trance down before he fell into unconsciousness though.
* * * * *
Cadoris awoke to find himself in a room somewhere and his friends and the women who had helped him out surrounded him. The women who were now free. Cadoris smiled up at them and they all smiled back. "It is good to see that you will live," Rev said from where he was standing next to him. "I prayed to the divine for your safety."
"I thank you Rev for that may be the only reason that I am alive at this moment," Cadoris said.
"I doubt that. You are too tough and stubborn to die," Tyr said and even he smiled at Cadoris.
"Why thanks Tyr I didn't know you cared," Cadoris said and smiled at him.
Cadoris forced himself to sit up and look everyone in the eye. "I am glad that you all have your freedom now," Cadoris told the women.
"No it we who are glad to you for what you did for us. We honestly didn't think that you would try to free us but you did and we are truly grateful to you for that. If there is anything that we can do for you then name it and we will do it," Lorianna said.
"I do have one thing that I would ask of you," Cadoris said and she stiffened a bit. Even now she thought that he would ask her to pleasure him.
"I ask that you all be happy and find happiness where you may," Cadoris said and smiled as they all thanked him.
* * * * *
Dylan couldn't believe that Cadoris had won the tournament and he had discussed it with Tyr who had said that Cadoris shouldn't have been able to win if he was just human. There was no human who could do some of the things that Cadoris could do of course Dylan mused, Cadoris was from a time that they knew very little about.
Dylan was sitting in his chair in his quarters when the door slid open and Beka stepped in. "It is good to have our whole crew back isn't it," she said cheerily."
"It is at that but I wonder about Cadoris. There is just something about him. He is just too different and I can't figure him out. Rommie says that he is superb physical condition and that he is better than any human that she has ever encountered before. I just want to know what he is for sure," Dylan said with his hand on his chin.
"He is our friend Dylan that is who he is. I don't need to know more than I already do about him because he proved that he is one of us by helping Trance out when she was in trouble. I think that should be good for you to but for some reason it doesn't seem to be enough," Beka said as she frowned at Dylan.
"It is enough it is just that I don't like things that I don't know about. He is a puzzle with too many missing pieces," Dylan said.
"That may be but some of those pieces will stay missing because he doesn't remember everything about his life," Beka said.
"You are right I suppose and I should go and set us a course. We need to find another world to join the commonwealth," Dylan said as he stood up and walked from his room.
Beka watched him go and wondered why he cared to know so much about their new crewmember. She wondered if he was jealous that he couldn't do what Cadoris had done or what but it made her a bit uneasy. She decided that she would have to watch all her friends and make sure that they didn't do anything that would hurt each other.
The women that Cadoris had freed left the ship still telling Cadoris thanks for all his help and he waved to them as they went back down to the planet. He felt glad for them that he was able to help them but wondered if they would truly be free or if after he left they would go back to being slaves because the council would say so.
He turned back to his gathered friends and smiled. "Well my friends it seems that we have a job to do and let's get to it," he said happily.
That night they gathered on the bridge and called for Cadoris. He came in and frowned to see that they were all there and in uniform too. "What is this," he asked nervously.
"It is a questioning Cadoris. We have some questions and we want you to answer them," Dylan said in his formal tone of voice.
Cadoris growled deep in his throat but he kept from making his distaste for them known. He had thought that they were his friends and now he finds out that they weren't. "Ask away captain," Cadoris said coldly.
"We would like to know who you really are. We know that Cadoris isn't your real name," Dylan started with his first question.
"I don't know what my real name is anymore. All I can remember is my code name. It is as if this name was my real name and who knows it might very well be," Cadoris said evenly. Rommie appeared and said, "He speaks the truth."
"Next we watched you fight and noticed that you took a cut on your arm that should have severed your arm. Why didn't it," Dylan demanded.
"Because my bones are not wholly bones. The government had came up with a way to liquefy different types of metal. Well they used the strongest metal and pumped it into my bones. The metal seeped into my bones and filled places that had small openings where the metal could collect. It seeped and found places where it could seep into the bone and marrow of my bones. That is why it didn't cut my arm off," Cadoris spat at them. He was tired of the questions already.
They were all stunned by what he had said. There was nothing in the history books or that was known about people doing any such thing to other people. It was disgusting to say the least that they would do that. "Why did they do that Cadoris," Dylan asked more gently than he had before.
"Because they were trying to create the perfect soldier. If your bones couldn't break then you were less susceptible to torture. That and I was trained in how to deal with torture. I could take more pain than any person had a right to endure," Cadoris said as his eyes clouded over with memories.
"I would like to ask one more thing. Why did you risk your life for Trance when you hardly know her. I want the truth now and no lie," Dylan said as he turned to look at Rommie.
Cadoris looked at them and knew that they thought him a monster now but he couldn't do anything about that. He might as well tell them why he did what he did. "I helped her because she is my friend first and foremost. Second I never let a woman down if she is in trouble. Lastly I think that I love her even though I haven't known her that long," Cadoris said to their stunned faces. He shrugged his shoulders and walked from the room.