I've raised the rating to M, just to cover my bases for chapters to come. I think I'll be changing POV every now and then throughout the story. It's always better to get more than one viewpoint. ;) I appreciate the reviews!
'It's hot as shit out here'
It had been a full day since Trinity managed to escape persecution by NCR. For nearly sixteen hours she had walked, taking only the briefest moments to rest. Every hour she rested was an hour for the NCR to catch up with her; though she was only mildly worried. The only two people in the casino who had seen her face clearly enough to give a description were the cashier, and Johnson. Both of whom she'd swiftly executed before leaving. Her hair color was a dead give away, but she'd kept it neatly hidden away beneath a large hat when passing through towns. After a couple of weeks they would give up the search, she knew. NCR had bigger worries.. like prying their dead comrades off of Legion crucifixes.
Trinity didn't want to think about Legion. She didn't want to think about him. No, more than anything, she didn't want to think about what he was. The problem was that his name and his voice followed her wherever she went. She recalled the moment before she'd shot Johnson. She would have staked all the caps she was stealing that she'd heard his voice then.
'Blow him to hell.'
She'd done just that. It was her own decision, but she still felt as if he'd somehow guided her hand. They were that much alike it seemed. They were both murderers in their own right. The key difference was that he'd come to enjoy it. To be blunt, the man got off on it. Trinity didn't claim to be a saint. Over the years she'd killed more than her share for caps, or food, sometimes for much less than that; pride. But to kill for pure pleasure… That was the very definition of Vulpes, and she couldn't understand it, hard as she tried.
As confident as she was in her ability to eventually find a way to escape Legion slavery, Trinity's morale had already been shaken by the tales of ex-slaves and passing merchants. From the moment she'd been captured by Legion, Trinity had expected their trademark cruelty. However, it was a completely different story once they had you chained with an explosive collar constricting your airway.
The wood of the auction block splintering her bare feet, Trinity looked out into the crowd of Legion bidders. There were hundreds of men there, staring up at her in the old slave rags they'd dressed her in. Her face and body was caked with sand and dirt from the journey to the auction site. She hadn't even been allowed a bath for more than three days now. Even after the medical examination she was forbidden from bathing. Likely the Legion didn't want to misrepresent their 'products' with excessive grooming. Many slaves wouldn't receive so much maintenance when bought, as it was.
The humiliation was debilitating. Before she had time to truly begin to feel sorry for herself, a guard had dragged her to the front of the stage. Shoving her roughly toward the crowd, he signaled for the auctioneer to begin.
'The next slave we have for sale is of unknown origin. First name Trinity, last name is also unknown. She stands at five feet, seven inches tall. Medium skin, black hair, brown eyes, nineteen years old. Healthy and free of radiation and disease. Suitable for work or 'leisure'. Upon her capture patrols discovered large amounts of fine handmade soaps and grooming items which she claims to have created herself; a skill which will affect the starting price. Excellent breeding material. Virginal. We start the bidding at three thousand caps.'
The auctioneer had purposely saved that last bit of info for the end, and rightly so. The moment he had finished speaking, the crowd erupted into a whirlwind of eager bids. Four thousand caps. Five thousand. Ten thousand caps. The final sale stood at eleven thousand caps. Trinity stood motionless and waited to be claimed by the unseen winning bidder.
At that moment, the rowdy audience suddenly fell silent. One of Caesar's finest stepped forward from the royal booth. It was none other than head Frumentarii, Vulpes Inculta. He calmly exited the booth and strolled through the crowd, every man moving to clear him a path. No one said a word as he made his way onto the stage next to her. Circling her, Vulpes examined her closely, undressing her with his eyes. A brief exchange of whispered words were passed between him and the auctioneer before Vulpes was handed a rusty key.
'SOLD. For the sum of… Fifty thousand caps.'
If any man bidding had more to offer for her, they wouldn't have challenged Vulpes. If he had offered seven caps for her against eleven thousand, he still would have won on principle. Caesar's right hand had reached out for something and no one dared take it away. When she was brought to the fort, not even Caesar himself touched her. Trinity was his gift to Vulpes. A reward for a job well done.
Her work was hard, but not unreasonable. She was made to produce the richest soaps and oils for Caesar, Vulpes, Praetorians, and Frumentarii. It fell on her to keep them clean and well-groomed – a shining example for their underlings to look up to and obey. Anything that kept her from the back breaking work of the other slaves was welcome to her.
Unlike the consorts of other high-ranking Legionaries, Trinity resided in Vulpes' private tent, rather than the slave quarters. There was a lot of initial fear on Trinity's part that beneath this Frumentarii's vicious, torture-loving exterior there was an even more vicious, torture-loving interior with unslaked sexual desires. These fears were put on hold, however.
For more than two weeks she slept in the same bed with him.. and he did nothing. During the day he would acknowledge her with looks, and occasionally request that she fetch his meals. At night, he would call her to bed and fall asleep with her next to him. Not that she was complaining, but it was rather strange that he would devote so little attention to her for the price he'd paid. It made her uneasy. Was he just toying with her? Had he really paid for just her crafting skills? It didn't make any sense.
One afternoon when he was away from the fort, she ventured out of his tent and into the slave quarters. Hopefully someone there would be able to tell her what to expect from Vulpes. The slave women inside recognized the signature brand on her shoulder, but they frowned when they saw how well-kept she was. Although she wore the clean, pressed dress of a free woman, the ugly red X of the legion was still splattered across her chest. This was the girl that Inculta had paid a more than tidy sum for. Trinity was some of Legion's finest 'furniture', and the slaves treated her as such; as a piece of inanimate furniture. A slightly older, gamely slave in her mid twenties was the only one who would speak with her. What she found out was less than reassuring.
"Vulpes.. luck must be your mortal enemy," the woman had said, paying more attention to the fresh apple Trinity had offered than the girl herself. Fresh food was rare for ordinary Legion slaves. Their diet mainly consisted of whatever scraps were left behind after meals. An apple was more than enough motivation to speak to this nervous looking young girl who was unfortunate enough to be the fox's favorite.
"What can you tell me about him?" Trinity asked. It was hard for her to go ten seconds without looking over her shoulder, expecting to see Vulpes standing there.
The slave woman took another large bite of the apple. "The man is a monster," she started with her mouth full. "But not your average monster. He leaves the fort, maims, kills, and destroys, and when he returns Caesar gives him a loving pat on the head. That much doesn't concern us as slaves. The problem is that he treats female slaves the same way. Vulpes is merciless. If you don't bleed then he isn't satisfied."
"He hasn't even touched me," Trinity explained.
"'Course not," the woman replied. "Not hell week yet."
Trinity tilted her head in confusion. "Hell week?"
"See, unlike the rest of these dogs, Vulpes has a set 'cycle' that even Caesar recognizes. Every couple weeks, for whatever reason, the man just… snaps. You ain't seen shit like it unless you've seen someone overdosing on psycho. Caesar plans all of his most brutal assaults for that week, when Vulpes is the most dangerous. Not even Lanius will cross him during then. As for us, well.. we hide. Every night of that week from sundown to sunup."
"Won't he find you? The fort isn't the biggest place to hide in.."
The woman tucked away the rest of the apple in her rags and turned her full attention to Trinity. "He'll find a FEW of us," she said grimly. "You don't want to be one of the few. Sometimes he goes too far and.." she trailed off. "You won't be alive to hide the next night."
xxx
Trinity almost wished she had never asked about him. It was more nerve-wracking just waiting. When he'd called for his meal that night she'd nearly dropped his dinner tray. Fingers trembling, she attempted to set out his silverware, with little success.
"You've been to the slave quarters," Vulpes said suddenly. He could see the surprise on her face, followed by confusion as she replayed the events of the day in her mind, searching for the answer to how he'd found out. The nervousness she displayed was more than enough to give her away. "Seems you've heard some, not-so-pleasant stories about me."
Rising from his seat at the table, Vulpes moved in swiftly to corner her. Her fear was practically palpable for him. "Was your visit sufficiently educational, or should I fill in the gaps?" he whispered.
"I.. I think I've heard enough," Trinity stammered. She shrieked as Vulpes grabbed her around her waist and threw her onto his bed. Perched on top of her like a starved predator, Vulpes pinned her arms on either side of her head. Despite his smaller frame, she felt that he was crushing the wind out of her.
He smiled, flashing his unnaturally sharp canines. "Oh, but seeing is believing."
"I don't believe everything I hear," she choked out. Already slavery had made her weak; she could feel it. Timid, softspoken, and meek. She was hardly Trinity anymore. The woman her parents had raised had all but died in the wake of her capture.
"Is that right?" Vulpes asked incredulously.
Well not anymore.
"They call you a monster," she continued, no longer afraid to meet his gaze. He smirked a little at her words. It was clear he saw it as a compliment.
"And rightly so," he replied, beaming.
Trinity shifted unexpectedly beneath his grip, surprising him. "I don't believe that," she started. "Monster. The title alone gives you too much power. You're merely a man, Vulpes."
Vulpes cringed as she said his name. It was unnatural for a slave to call him anything other than 'sir' or 'master'. To him the act itself felt like a loss of control. Like this girl was somehow gaining an upper hand on him.
A fierce scowl began to twist the Frumentari's features, and still Trinity continued. "You were born, you will live, and you will DIE, a man. Nothing more."
Vulpes had heard enough of her disrespectful opinions. The fingers of his free hand quickly wrapped around the soft strands of her dark hair, pulling until the girl's head arched back and she shrieked with pain. "Are you so comfortable that you forget your place, slave?" he growled.
"Are you so ignorant that you aren't aware of yours?" she spat. "You'd like to think that because you're Caesar's right hand, you can't be touched. But put a few twelve gauges in your heart and you'd go down just like anyone else. You're not an immortal. You're not a God-" Vulpes silenced her with another sharp tug of her hair.
"GOD, is trying to keep up," he hissed through gritted teeth. "If you think that you're a goddamn expert on who I am…" he paused, lowering his mouth to her ear. "You are DEAD wrong."
Twisting her body a full 180 degrees, Trinity managed to move out from under him. He still maintained a tight grip on her hair however, and before she could react, he had lifted her from the bed and thrown her into the dining table. Trinity could feel the pain of the impact spreading through her ribs even before she hit the cold ground. The dinner tray clattered to the ground as the table splintered beneath her.
His lips curling up into a snarl, Vulpes brushed his hip, expecting to find his sword there. When he found nothing, his gaze shifted to the sword stand beside his opponent. Without pausing to consider it, Trinity snatched the sword from its stand and turned the blade on Vulpes. He crossed his arms in front of him, showing no signs of fear or submission.
"Don't be a fool. Killing me won't grant you freedom. Without my protection you'd be just another one of Caesar's pack Brahmin."
Trinity hesitated, loosening her grip on the sword's hilt. As true as his words were, she didn't want her struggle to be for nothing. Two Legates burst into the tent at that moment. She wouldn't have time to just mull it over. Her eyes traveling from the two men to the blade in her hand, Trinity lunged at Vulpes with the sword, leaving a large gash on his neck. Desperately trying to cover the wound with his hands, Vulpes fell to his knees. The Legionaries immediately seized her, calling for a medic to tend to their injured leader. As the medic ran into the tent and the girl was dragged away, the Frumentarii glared at her with pure rage in his eyes.
"I will see you BURN for this!" Vulpes screamed after her.
The funny thing was, she never did.
Vulpes recovered quickly. Remarkably quickly. Trinity couldn't help but feel that anger had sped his healing. Yet when his underlings asked how she was to be disposed of, he gave no order. She was returned to his tent as if she'd never tried to murder the man. It was as if he held a new 'appreciation' for her unique brand of resistance. It would have been presumptuous of her to assume he now respected her, so she never did. Over time their relationship had turned into something that was neither love nor hate, but some strange hybrid of the two.
At the very least, thinking of Vulpes had passed a great deal of time. The colossal green dinosaur that marked the small town of Novac was just ahead. A good, long rest would help to drive thoughts of Vulpes from her mind, she was sure. Maybe she'd even have a skilled mercenary at her side in just a few days time.
Tilting her head up toward the mouth of the dinosaur, Trinity identified the movement that had caught her eye. The barrel of a sniper rifle was aimed directly at her, it's owner likely sizing her up as a threat. Half-smiling, she raised her hand and gave a small wave.
'Or maybe even a sniper…'