Disclaimer: I spelt Mathayus' name wrong, as 'Medias' in the prior chapter. I apologize for the mistake.
Before the King Part II: Stand Alone
When Mathayus woke the next morning, his arm was flat against his own chest and the slender woman who had been sharing his bed the night prior was gone. The thought reached him with a start and he sat up, patting the skins and furs which laid around him. Where was she? Perhaps the innocent looking young woman was really a spy, or worse, another assassin, like his comrades had guessed?
Standing up he looked around, the fire was smoldering coals which glowed softly in the predawn, tendrils of smoke rising up from their embers. His comrades still laid amid their dishevelled beds, snoring loudly and alive.
Perhaps she had just run off? Disappeared into the night? It was a little disheartening to know that this woman felt she could just come and leave with the passing of night and day. Then again, if she was from the Amazon-esque tribe of Akkadian women, she believed that she had the power to rule and leave as she wished, which was not what Mathayus was led to believe all his youth. A patriarchy left the unknown king thinking men were superior, and to have this woman run off on him with no sign of where she went or even when she left, was more than a slap in the face.
His camel still nested itself amid the hot dunes of sand, but upon closer inspection, Mathayus noticed something was missing. Mainly his brother's horse. Anger rose in him, but as did a small nub of admiration. The horse was his brother's most valued possession, he had tamed it from the wild himself. In doing this, he had been the only man who could ride the unruly beast, but apparently a woman could ride the great mare.
"My friends," he stirred his companions, they would notice the lack in horse but the mare had left her tracks heading in the direction of the city Gamora. No doubt she was already there, he told them, but they could find the girl and take back his brother's horse. He didn't suggest any retribution, though from the look in his companions' eyes he didn't have to, they were already plotting the best way to get their revenge upon the 'cute little thief'.
The ride was slow, as the remaining horse could not carry two of the huge men. Mathayus' brother walked between the camel, which was Mathayus' preferred form of transportation. When ever questioned about his camel, Mathayus would simply smirk and remind his companions that horses may be faster, but camels were smarter. They would in turn roll their eyes and shake their heads, noting camels smelt worse.
The gates of Gamora were guarded by the red turbaned guards of the local war lord, Memnon. He was anything but a people's king and every where you looked on the city streets you could see proof of the squaller which his people scraped a life from.
The two riders had dismounted and were leading their mounts through the streets, carefully keeping an eye on the saddle bags and their own purses at their hips lest the large Akkadians become the fools in some cruel trick. The three stopped at an out door tavern, called over by a short, pudgy looking man with trust worthy eyes.
"Excuse me!" he shouted at the three travellers. "Excuse me, Sirs. I could not help but notice there are three riders, but only two mounts in your party.."
"What's your point?" the horse rider had quickly snapped at the short man, as if he had just delivered the most indignant insult to the man's mother, wife and sister at the same time.
"A girl was here not too long ago, she left a horse with instructions that it belonged to a group of Akkadians. She said I should be able to pick them out as there were three men and only two mounts, one would be a camel," the man let out a jolly chuckle, disappearing around the side of a wooden hovel built quickly for shelter from the elements and the people of this unlawful city. "I wouldn't think there would be many traveller's like that, so I guess this beautiful girl is your's..." he boomed, emerging leading Mathayus' brother's horse.
"So perhaps she isn't a thief after all..." Mathayus smirked at his comrades in a jocular fashion. The smirk was more of a wide, sarcastic, "I told ya so" grin, but none the less, the three had a small chuckle.
"She's still a thief, just one who returns their bounty," the man who was Mathayus' brother spoke as he patted his horse on the mussel, checking if it was indeed his horse. It was. "So, we head back out? Or do you think we could get a job here?"
"It's Gamora," the other man said with a chuckle. "We can always get work in Gamora, the question is, do we want it... Mathayus?"
But the largest of the three men was already gone. He had tied his camel to one of the bars set up for travellers to tether their beasts and was making his way through the crowd. He was easy to spot as he pushed and bullied his way through the throngs of people. He shouldered smaller men out of the way and picked up a child with one arm who was in front of him and set him down in the wake left by the huge beast of a man.
"Where's he off to now?" his brother asked, tethering his own newly returned mare and following his brother. He followed the wake through the people, passing a child who was apparently frightened by the large warrior who had picked him up and moved him without so much as even a heavy breath. Much like his brother had done, he picked up the child and set him aside. By the time the third man had come through the path the child was getting used to being picked up and placed in a different spot, unfortunately he had lost his spot for the grand show though.
His companions caught up to Mathayus when he stopped at the edge of a sheer drop. Below a young woman stood in the centre of a ring, above was the local war lord, Memnon. He was standing at some sort of make shift alter, proclaiming the woman in the pit as a thief and a black magic wielder. She had stood up to a man and removed his head with ease, which meant she must be evil. There was no mention of the circumstances under which she removed his head, but that wasn't what mattered for Memnon. This woman would make a great spectacle. She was an Akkadian female, which in itself was a great miracle, but she was also from a matriarch tribe. No one would dare deny the powers of Memnon or his sorcerer after this display of cruelty. They would be too frightened.
Mathayus looked up, watching the man. His brother put a hand on his shoulder, "That's the local lord, from what I hear he has the personality of camel dung," the brother smiled as the final companion joined them.
"And the good looks to go with it," the three men laughed, and a few nervous chuckles moved through the crowd. A few people recognized the men as Akkadians as well, much like the poor girl stuck in the pit, destined for doom, but no one would say anything.
The laughter stopped when Mathayus noticed who the girl was. Akka! "It's the girl," his companion pointed out. "So she -is- a thief, and a murderess apparently." He smirked in a self-satisfied manner. "You must stop getting side tracked by pretty girls with nice racks, Mathayus." That remark got the man little more than a harsh shove and a cold look.
Meanwhile, down in the pit, Akka felt her heart race. She had been caught in the street by one of the king's guards and, after a small skirmish where he tried to take advantage of a lone woman travelling in the dawn lit streets alone, she had removed his head. The pair of them. Akka had been arrested on the spot for that show of unfemininity and was now to face a "test" by decree of the king, which meant his sorcerer had told him to do it. She knew all about the rumours, King Memnon didn't go to the bathroom if is sorcerer didn't say he could. So there she stood, her body tense, and each breath burning her nostrils with the dry air.
In the distant tunnels that ran under the alter the king stood upon, Akka could hear the rumbles and roars of starved animals. In the pit of her stomach she felt a pain of sorrow; she had always loved animals and even as a small child she had kept a cat as a pet, but she knew either she survived, or they did.
The gates opened like a long metal smile parting over the darkness from which the two bangle tigers emerged. The large cats growled a low purr which vibrated in the air and enticed the crowds into a frenzied fit of screams and cries. The sounds reverberated in Akka's sternum and she felt sick to her stomach with dread. Some how, those guards standing at all the exits of the Colosseum like stadium didn't make Akka feel like she could get out, even if she did win, alive. She swallowed the hard lump that grew in her throat and looked at the ferocious beasts, praying to the Goddesses that she would survive. A deep breath and...
The tigers growled as Akka took a step forward. They were hungry, she could almost feel their pain. It was dull, throbbing, as if they had lived a life of cruelty. What kind of monster would do this to an animal? Her answer came swiftly and bitterly to the tip of her tongue; the same kind of monster who would pit man against beast in the name of 'Justice'.
She took another tentative step forward, her hands out in front of her, fingers splayed open. One of the tigers, the female from the looks of it, turned around, turning her back to Akka as she tried to use the calming techniques she had learned before her tribe was slaughtered and captured to become slaves. "Hush," she whispered in a low tone, coming almost within reach of the female who not only dominated her mate, but was starting to accept Akka's attempts to relax her. The huge feline beast sniffed at the woman's palms, licking the left one and then deeming this woman accepted.
Akka's heart beat a little easier, but the act had worked only to anger the king as he watched.
"What the Hell is she doing?" he shouted to one of his men. "Get those tigers angry, now! I want her torn to shreds. My guard will not be made a mockery of!" And with that he sent the man off. He sent the message to one of the archers who took a small blow gun, loading it with a tiny pin of a dark. The man took aim and hit the female tiger right in the left flank.
Akka shouted with surprise as the beast rose up, enraged as the dart dug painfully into its side. The beast lunged at the only target in its line of view, Akka.
The lithe woman leapt into the air, bending her back mid air and finding her hands buried into the warm sand. She preformed two back hand springs to get herself some distance and then scanned the area. She had been scanning it earlier, looking for something that could be used as a weapon in a pinch, but as of the moment the tigers entered she hadn't found anything.
Akka looked up at the crowd which had gathered to witness her demise and suddenly felt a pang of worry for the fate of humanity. If the public massacre of a single woman was this much of an entertainment factor, humanity was doomed. And so was she, for that matter, if she didn't find away to defeat these ferocious felines.
The female charged Akka once more and the woman leapt into the air, the beast's jaws just barely missing her booted feet. She landed just off balance on the soft sand and shoulder rolled to the right. Now in a low crouch it was a scramble for the slender woman to get out of the way of the male who had charged in, ready for a meal of human flesh. Akka twisted at her waist, her long leg snapping out and her booted foot caught the animal right in the jaw. As she twisted, she picked up more speed and force. It was enough to knock the animal over. The feline rolled a few times, finally collapsing into a ball of unconscious fur and claws.
So the male was down, all Akka had to worry about was the female, and of course the scores and scores of guards who would just love to prove to Akka that she was nothing but a worthless woman. She couldn't let this happen, she wouldn't happen. For the sake of all women in this city she could not let that happen.
The female tiger charged Akka once more. The Akkadians above watched unbeknownst to the woman in the pit, measuring and silently wondering if she would survive. She had already taken out one of the two tigers, which was a good sign. The three men watched as the slender form paused, not a hesitation but a pause, as she looked at the tiger. She leapt into the air to escape the tiger's attack but the beast was smarter than Akka thought it was, and it remembered last time. The beast launched itself just as Akka reached her peak height and as she started to descend, the beast caught her full on in the middle.
Mathayus and his two companions visibly cringed, as did several other members of the public audience. Memnon, on the other hand, smirked in a self satisfactory manner. He was quite pleased with his kitties, or at least the female. The male would not be fed this evening.
Akka felt to the ground under the monstrously huge beast and felt the cold grip of fear encase her heart. She hadn't felt that all hope is lost feeling in quite sometime, and she had to say, she didn't miss it.
She tried to toss the beast, but that worked about as well as if she had tried to toss Mathayus when he had tackled her. Then she remembered something: The weight of the tiger would all be pushed towards its front end, rather than balanced between its front and rear. Akka rocked once, trying to gain some momentum, it worked. She pushed full force, up with her legs and her shoulders sunk deeper into the sand. The cat was knocked off its precarious perch and found itself flung across the arena and crashing into what was once a pillar.
Akka picked herself up out of the sand as with the twisting maneuver, she had found herself face first in the hot, coarse sand. As she pushed her face from the dust, feeling the rough grip of the guards close around her arms, she looked up. As she looked up over the faces of those who had been watching, the three Akkadians struck her eye. Defeated by the shame, her head sunk and the once proud woman let her body be dragged by the guards.
A pang of guilt stabbed Mathayus in the heart as he watched the woman. Her eyes met his and a shiver moved through his spine. Something was missing in her eyes, something that was there last night. They had lost their sparkling light, they had lost their reflective nature. They had lost their hope.
The guards dragged her back into the underground tunnels, destined to lock her away until the world forgot her. She would die and rot in one of those cells as hundreds had done before her, even though she had won her freedom. Mathayus knew this, that she would not go free. No one would humiliate an Akkadian as they had done to this girl, even a female one, and then let them go free. She went with grace, though.
She didn't fight, or beg, or even cry. She merely let her head droop, her long black hair acting as a veil against her lifeless eyes.
