Standard Disclaimer: I own nothing in regards to Harry Potter or Spartacus. All properties therein are those of their creators. I am only a writer working on my skills with worlds and characters that I love.
Chapter Three - A Faulty Business Venture
Harry and Crixus, sweaty, bruised, and loving every second of it, lowered their weapons at the same time as their one opponent, Oenomaus, did. All three had eyes drawn to the door leading out of the training grounds where a newly bandaged Gannicus was being led down with a giant jug of wine in one hand and a beautiful woman under his arm.
Oenomaus was all smiles at the sight and he quickly turned to his two students. "We will finish our training quickly and take ourselves to the bathing chamber after. It will take Gannicus at least an hour to wear himself out with that prostitute, but when he is done I think he will have quite the tale to tell."
And indeed he did. Their trainer was right on the money with his prediction as not an hour past his mark Gannicus entered the bathing chamber as nude as his fellows and began his tale of triumph. Apparently he'd been sent by Batiatus to answer a challenge from a rival ludus owner, but when he'd arrived, the scoundrel had declared he must fight blindfolded. To the shock of the challenger he had done so, suffering light injury as a result, but in the end he'd proven victorious and managed to take the head of one of Vettius' best gladiators in the process. After, as was his due, he'd been rewarded with wine and women, and Batiatus had been promised a business meeting with Tullius who the performance had indeed impressed. The champion had done his ludus proud. The tale soon had his brothers erupting into cheers.
"Only mad Gannicus could win such a contest fucking blindfolded!" Auctus bellowed, arm in arm with Barca. (The openness with gay relationships in the Roman Empire had been quite surprising to Harry when he'd first arrived in his new time. After the conservatism of wizarding society it had taken some getting used to.) "Though Barca could do the same. Even if I'd shove loving arm through his chest for trying." The two embraced happily for such a loving comment.
At the same time Oenomaus stepped forth to speak. "Barca speaks truth. Facing Vettius' man absent sight was beyond foolish. So the gods must have taken pity on your addled brain." The gladiators burst out once more with guffaws and hearty laughter as Gannicus sought to defend himself.
"The gods had naught to do with it. The man groaned like a stuck pig before every attack. It was child's play to fight him. His squeals gave way to his position."
"Hahahaha." The two men clasped forearms. "It does the heart good to see your spirits so raised, brother."
"Ah haha. It gladdens me to hear that as well. Now, dominus gifts me with all the wine that I can drink, and I would share it with all of my brothers!"
Gannicus found himself swarmed with well meaning gladiators, and as his gaze passed to the new recruits he added, "Those that bear the mark of the Brotherhood of course."
As the men continued to revel and cheer, Crixus nudged Harry in the shoulder. "One day, we'll be amongst them."
"Agreed, brother." the wizard responded. "It shouldn't be long now. Gaia says the opening games are fast approaching, and the dominus is chomping at the bit to increase the number of applicants he can put forth for them. She thinks our test will be soon to acquiesce that desire."
"Must be the deal Gannicus earned him."
"Perhaps."
Crixus was silent for a moment before giving his taller friend a humored look. "Gaia is telling you much. Does she speak in her sleep? Or are you so terrible and weak in bed that she must give fast tongue to make up for slow progress?"
"Shove off." Harry butted the other man's shoulder affectionately before clarifying. "Yes, she is rather talkative after she's been satisfied, but a lot of my information comes from my… other skills."
"Ah."
Crixus knew of Harry's abilities of course. It would have been monstrously hard to hide them from someone he was constantly around for over four years, but the stronger man had never really seemed to care much about them. He'd seen such things from wise men in his old lands and was always more concerned with what exactly he was facing on any given day than what spectral force could exist outside his being to be honest.
"Have you learned much else?"
"I searched her mind for all of her erogenous zones."
"I am serious, Harry."
"No, you are Crixus."
"What?"
The wizard shrugged, "Old joke. Sorry. Our test is a fight against a full gladiator. We must win, or last for a set amount of time, or risk being sent to the mines. She also has an unhealthy sexual fascination with the domina, but that isn't any of our business."
"Then our time is almost upon us."
"Indeed. All that remains is to train and advance."
Or so they thought. For the first night in three weeks, Harry was not summoned to Gaia's bed. He just figured she was busy or not in the mood, and thought nothing of it. Of course that changed the next morning when word came down through the house slaves to the training pit that Batiatus had been carted back to the ludus in the evening, beaten black, blue, and bloody to the point that the healers had feared for his life. Though they'd managed to stabilize him well enough for their comfort. It seemed both Gaia and Lucretia had spent the entire night nursing him.
As always happens when something interesting was occuring, gossip and rumor flowed like a river. Over the next couple weeks the story eventually made its way throughout the villa and everyone learned the truth of what had happened. Apparently Batiatus had gone to the meeting place to see Tullius as agreed, expecting a deal to place his men in the opening games of the new arena. Instead, Tullius had offered to purchase Gannicus from him for his own use in the games. The dominus had denied the request of course. He wasn't about to give up his best fighter under any circumstances. Next thing that happened was his bodyguard slain and himself beaten and literally pissed on in the street. A truly unfortunate business deal if ever there was one.
All the same, life and training continued. The activities of Roman citizens were nothing to the whims of slaves after all. All they needed to focus on was living another day. So it was over a week before the dominus recovered enough to walk the grounds of his villa. And when he did he decided to peruse the work of his gladiators. It was sheer dumb luck that his wounded pride was at its highest when Dagan put one of his fellow Syrians on the ground in a spar, and the man raised two fingers in surrender, the sign for mercy. The Missio.
"Doctore!" He bellowed, "Send that fucking man to the mines!"
A great murmur of unease permeated the grounds, but the doctore, well used to following orders he did not agree with, waved the armed guards forward to perform the act. The Syrian was chained to the wall for all to see in warning of the cost of failure. No doubt he'd be carted away the following morning.
"We do not fucking surrender in this house!" Batiatus continued, "I'll see these walls fall to ruin before Missio is given on these grounds or in contest!" He turned to leave, and the men went back to work.
It was several hours later, and the recruits were performing an exercise Harry equated to Farmer's Walks. In this case a variation that included walking in endless circles with a giant log on their shoulders. Each man was gasping for air, drenched in sweat, and dreaming of sleep and food. The sole exception being Harry. Oh to be sure he was sweating with the rest, but his advanced healing meant his tearing muscles were healing just as fast as he was damaging them. He honestly could have gone on all night if he'd needed to.
But that would prove unnecessary. The doctore called a halt to their activity and they were ordered to get some food. The other men were already gathered and eating, and for once the porridge and bread they received had not been pissed or spat in. It seemed that in their own way, the men were taking a bit of pity on them after losing one of their own number to something that had never been punished before. An act that any one of them could have had the misfortune to perform in their master's presence.
"Indus looks miserable, chained to the wall." Harry noted, dipping his bread into his porridge.
"As you would be, if sent to toil and die for no reason." Asher groused. His ever present glare out and cast over all the brothers present and dining. "These men care not for the fate of a lowly recruit. Look at how they laugh and jest with each other while our friend suffers."
Harry didn't think it worth mentioning the clean state of their food, or how the brothers seemed to be commiserating in their own way. He knew his surly compatriot wouldn't understand. Honestly the man reminded him a bit too much of Ron Weasley in temperament to be healthy.
"We must gain the mark to get their respect and appreciation." Asher continued. "Just imagine it. One day we shall rise together, and all the republic will marvel at the sight of us."
A quick glance from the wizard showed that Crixus indeed was thinking and feeling the same. The Gaul was nothing if not competitive. The two remaining Syrians continued their meal in annoyed silence, while Harry and his friend started to converse in the Gaulic tongue.
"Crixus, the way Barca and Auctus look at you… they either want to fight or fuck you."
The shorter man grunted agreement around a bite of bread. "The former I think. Barca would sooner remove hand from arm than touch someone other than Auctus. They love each other clear as day."
"Then one of them is likely your opponent for the test."
"It would make sense. But I am not good against the spear. The range offered is beyond my ability to close."
Harry thought about it for a moment and decided, "I'll ask Oenomaus tomorrow during sword drills. It might help to try and ask Gannicus as well…if he's sober enough to question that is."
Crixus was silent for a moment before saying, "I already did."
"What! When?"
"The last night you were called to Gaia's chambers. He was passing in front of our cell and I took a chance in approaching him. He was less than happy to be interrupted, but he did give me some advice on how to handle a spear wielder. All I need now is practice."
"And I'm sure you'll have it, brother. Nothing will stop us from joining the brotherhood and gaining position as a result." For Crixus that position was obviously champion of Capua, for Harry it was all the steps closer to freedom.
The two were interrupted in their conversation by the clanging of the gate and the arrival of Mellita. It was an open secret at this point why she was here, and the brothers, contrary to how they usually treated him, hooted and hollered goodnaturedly as he was led out.
Out of the corner of his eye Harry noted a few other guards corralling the Syrians, including the one that had been chained and condemned, and leading them out a separate gate from the one he made use of.
After the usual cleansing and bathing he was led to Gaia's chamber to find her already laid on the bed, naked, stretched out like a cat with her beautiful black hair splayed out behind her like an oversized halo. By now their process was pretty well established, so the moment the door closed behind him he pulled his waist wrap free and approached the bed, internally delighting in the way her eyes lustfully perused his form.
"Welcome back, Harry." She purred, further increasing the cat-like image she represented. "Let's see how much you've learned from me, dear."
"Of course, mistress." Harry answered, crawling onto the mattress between her legs and moving over her body until he was hovering over her. "How would you like me tonight?"
"Surprise me."
************************* Enter Lemon Scene ************************
"Gladly." The gladiator whispered before kissing his way down the woman's body, pausing slightly to circle her navel with his tongue before continuing on his way to reach her core. Once there he spent a moment lavishing her inner thighs with attention before pulling one calf over his shoulder to open her up. Gaia had told him once that most men chose not to perform oral on women as they thought it was unclean or unmanly. Not to him. No, Harry found that one of his favorite positions in the world was between a woman's legs. He felt powerful there, in control.
As his tongue and fingers went to work he made sure to stare up into her eyes. Recently he'd developed a technique using legilimancy and he wanted to see if it had applications in the bedroom as well as in the training yard. He called it present tense mind reading. The trick was being able to identify all the passive surface thoughts the moment they came into being and reacting to them just as quickly. So it was that with every flick of his tongue on Gaia's wonderful lips, with every thrust and twist of his fingers, and with every pinch or rub of her clit he sensed exactly how much pleasure she felt, where best to move and when, and what she liked or disliked him doing in the moment.
It was the fastest his tongue had ever gotten her over the rise and within a minute she was gasping and moaning his name as sweet nectar poured freely onto his tongue. The noblewoman's fingers held his hair in a deathgrip and he reveled in the feeling of giving his partner such pleasure. Something that would have been unthinkable a short time prior. Plus, the sight of Gaia's beautiful breasts heaving as she sucked in massive breaths was a massive turn on.
Giving her slit one last lingering lick he lowered her leg and began climbing back up her body before kissing her deeply, flipping her onto her stomach, and giving her luscious ass a healthy slap.
"Ooh." Gaia moaned at the stinging slap, "Someone is feeling frisky."
"When you have the ass of Aphrodite, how could I not be." Harry asked as he nibbled on her ear, pushed the woman's knees beneath her, and kept a hand on her back to angle her body just right before leaning down to slowly slide his rock hard member deep into the warm embrace of her entrance. They both groaned at the feeling and after taking a moment to bask in the experience he shoved her head into the mattress with one hand, copped a full grip of her ass with the other, and began pounding into her with abandon, knowing how rough the woman that had taken his virginity tended to like it when they really got going.
It was a real testament to her training that he lasted as long as he did, and by the time he began to feel the tightening of his testicles that signaled his end was coming he'd already taken his partner to two more orgasms that had her literally biting the bedsheets with rapture. Still, regardless of all the fun they were having he had to be responsible.
"G-Gaia," He gasped, keeping all his attention on holding back the tide of his release. "Inside or outside, mistress?"
"O-Out!" she moaned in a tone that finally finished him. At the last possible second he pulled his penis free of her folds and immediately released everything he had over the small of her back, a sight so pleasing that it had him practically up and ready to go again. He probably would have if he hadn't been so exhausted by everything else he'd done so far.
*** Lemon End ***
Knowing how much Gaia liked to cuddle after sex he pulled the older woman close and lightly summoned the sheet at the other end of the bed to his hand before pulling it up over them both. Wandless magic was a bitch to use, and after years of captivity he'd only learned a few tricks, but a low grade summoning of an object as light as a sheet wasn't too bad. He'd been practicing with stones in his cell and was hoping to eventually move on to knives and swords. Never being disarmed again sounded good to him.
His partner didn't seem inclined to clean up the mess he'd made of her anytime soon. The noblewoman merely panted beneath him, eyes glazed, and a self-satisfied smile cast by her slightly bruised lips. It was the perfect opportunity for him to make use of one of his gifts. He'd found over the last four years that trying to delve into the minds of people who were overly aware, strong minded, or greatly focused, resulted in deep headaches for the targets, much like he'd received from Professor Quirrel all those years ago. He could still get in without issue, but alerting anyone to his presence in such a way didn't seem smart in most cases. However, when they were weak, tired, distracted, otherwise occupied, or in Gaia's case supremely satisfied and intoxicated with the endorphins of a fresh orgasm, the mind became as open as a book. All he needed to do was look into the target's eyes.
So, cupping Gaia's chin in his hands he leaned in for another kiss, and when he backed away he locked his eyes to hers. A moment later her thoughts were flowing through his mind, and it was child's play to sift through them and find the relevant information.
Ooh, she and Lucretia had shared some opium induced lesbian fun? He was definitely saving that memory for later.
Batiatus had severe daddy issues? Could prove useful to know that.
She was looking at some rich guy named Tullius as a potential husband of means. Wasn't he the guy that fucked up Batiatus' face? Well who was he to question someone for the way they climbed up in society.
Batiatus himself it seemed hadn't taken that beating lying down. No indeed, he had mentioned a plan in this wonderful woman's presence to get even. A plan that involved the Syrians… Oh no. That could not end well. The dominus apparently wanted to fuck up Vettius even worse than he'd been hurt, steal his patron, and use that man as a portal to both win favor and enter his gladiators in the opening games. This man apparently ranked higher than Tullius, and thus his patronage would supercede the successful merchant's ban of the Batiatus Ludus from the festivities. That being said, the man formerly destined for the mines was sure to be killed, as Vettius would need to see his face for the ruse to work.
For a moment that thought caused a bout of depression in Harry. He knew the man well after all. He'd lived and trained beside him for several weeks now. However, the life of a stone hauler was vicious enough. If even half of the stories about the mines were true then they made his previous incarceration look like a walk in the park on a sunny day. Perhaps death was better overall? And besides, it was too late to stop this plan even if he'd wanted to. The men had already been sent out so they'd be able to get staged without anyone possibly seeing them leave the ludus. The event in question would be occurring tomorrow afternoon. Nothing to do about it really but sit back and see how the chips fell.
He willed himself out of the trance and smiled at the woman beneath him. "Is there anything else you require of me, mistress?"
"No, dear, you've more than met my needs for you this night. You may return to your cell."
Harry nodded, pulled himself free from the bed, and wrapped his cloth around his waist once more. Some part of him marveled at how natural it felt to don the piece. Was this how Scotsmen felt when they wore their kilts? Thoughts for another day. He exited the room, crossed the hall, and met once more with Mellita. "I'm ready to return."
"Very good." She smirked at the man before her, "I trust you enjoyed yourself?"
"How could I not?" He laughed heartily, "Best order I've ever been given. But I need some rest before training in the morning so can we go on?"
"Of course. And when you begin your work tomorrow, tell Oenomaus that I'll be lighting a candle in prayer for him tonight."
"I will, Mellita. I'm sure the news will bring a wide smile to normally sour features."
And the next day it did indeed. The dark skinned warrior was all smiles and white teeth all day, though it didn't stop him from beating the wizard black and blue all across the yard, as was his way. Every hit was supposed to teach Harry how best to avoid feeling it again. To be fair, it actually worked really well, though he attributed it mostly to his enhanced healing. Being able to get right back into the spar instead of groaning on the ground with shattered ribs made the lessons learned all the faster. Through the work Harry eventually took notice of the arrival of guests, as visible from the signs of house slaves scurrying around on the veranda above, but he was too busy to really care overmuch.
Of course, that good mood immediately became awkward when Batiatus returned to the villa, and with him Asher and Dagan. Asher and Dagan who were apparently ordered to receive the marks of the brotherhood for a set of mysterious services rendered to the dominus of the ludus… absent the final test. It seemed the dominus had indeed enacted the plan from Gaia's memory. Needless to say, this bit of news upset pretty much everyone. Even Harry and Crixus, who had been training hard to earn the mark themselves, felt slighted. One look at the pissed off crowd showed they'd done it the right way.
Funnily enough, while that argument started growing, Harry noticed Gannicus being led away by Mellita with a couple of the younger slaves. Hm, Naevia, wasn't that the one Crixus had been making eyes at recently? Regardless, he had no intention of getting involved in whatever the hell that was all about. He had enough going on here keeping Crixus back and making sure they were constantly on another side of the room from the Syrians. The last thing they needed was to be associated with them at the moment any more than being fellow rookies.
It was a hostile situation made worse by the sheer pride exuding off of their faces. Both Dagan and Asher seemed to believe they'd done something truly worthy of receiving the vaunted mark, and to Batiatus perhaps they had, but having been sworn to secrecy they could not even tell the others that they'd performed a task to take blood, so that miniscule justification was lost as well, even if they'd thought to break trust and explain, which they didn't.
From there, the entire situation devolved into madness. The doctore threw the Syrians into the dirt of the training ground, brutally branded their arms without ceremony or honor, and then absolutely lost his shit on Oenomaus when the tall man decided he needed to speak to the horror presented before them. The grizzled older man grabbed two real blades from the rack, tossed one to his favorite student, and before the darker skinned man even had time to take a proper stance he was on the defensive as his doctore charged him.
Crixus moved as if to intervene, but Harry held him back. "Peace, brother. This is not our affair. Until we ourselves bear the mark all interrupting would do would be to make us as much pariah's as Asher and Dagan."
"Then speak what action we are to take."
"We watch, we wait, and if necessary help to deal with whichever body hits the ground permanently."
And so it was that they observed with all the others that were too startled and scared to intercede. They watched as the two men bloodied each other. They watched as Oenomaus received a fiery line slashed upon his face. Finally, they watched as the same man ducked under a powerful swing and, acting on instinct, drove the tip of his own gladius up into the space of the doctore's unarmored armpit and straight through his heart. There was time enough for some slight words between them that naught but the combatants heard, and then the older man's body fell the sand before the great cliff, and Oenomaus was left staring into the abyss with shock and despair clear across his features. The others were all feeling much the same way. The fight had gone on for some time and they had all expected a win by exhaustion or submission, not death.
No one knew what to do about this for several minutes, and by then Harry decided he had waited long enough. The fight was done, and his mentor needed help. He swiftly went up to his side, took his hand, and led him off the grounds back to his private cell next to Gannicus' own. He sat him on his bed, poured a mug of wine from a nearby gourd, and shoved it in his hands. "Drink."
"No, I-I should not inebriate-"
"You have not had to kill a friend before. Drink, you need it."
Oenomaus seemed as if he was about to dispute that for a moment, before he sighed with resignation and drained the clay glass in a single long gulp. Harry dutifully refilled it right away, and his mentor took a little longer the second time finishing it.
"You speak as one with experience. You have also slain someone close to you?"
The wizard sighed and leaned back against the wall of the cell. He supposed it couldn't hurt to get this off his chest. But how to phrase it in a way that his trainer would understand, or better yet believe? "You know that I come from Brittania?"
"I do. I have honestly never seen someone so pale as you."
"When I was but twelve name days old, I met someone I believed to be a friend named Tom. Now, I told my other friends I only talked to him once, but in reality he was so kind, charming, and understanding to all of my worries that I couldn't help seeing him more and more. I genuinely believed he cared about me as a person and wanted to be a part of my life." (That seemed more believable than the fact he'd been writing to the specter endlessly in its cursed diary.)
"What happened?"
"It turned out he was a wolf in sheep's clothing. He kidnapped the sister of my friend, almost killed her, and then tried to murder me when I went to save her. In the end I had to slay him to ensure we all made it home. It was not easy, and I had many nightmares after the fact, but in the end I had to come to terms with the fact that it was him or me. A scenario that you too have now faced."
"You know what happened tonight was not your fault either right?" Harry asked. "I was watching the fight the same as everyone else, and the doctore gave you no choice. He challenged you, attacked you, and most certainly would have killed you had you not done him in first. I'm not sure what caused this confrontation, but it was inevitable the moment he dragged you into the sands and put live steel in your hands."
Oenomaus nodded his agreement. "That is true. I could sense his conviction in the way he swung his blade. My friend was ready to make an end on those sands, one way or another." He took another drink, "Thank you, Harry, for getting me away from there."
"I was happy to do it. None of your brothers seemed ready to move."
"They were merely as shocked by what happened as I was." He held out his hand, an action that the wizard was more shocked by than the death that had just occurred. He hesitantly reached out and grasped it with his own.
"For this aid you have granted me I will up your training even further. You are already quite skilled but I will make you the challenge of every gladiator in this ludus. And when you have triumphed in your final test and earned the mark, I will be proud to call you my brother."
"I will be proud to call you the same. Would you like me to stay?"
"No, I… wish to think on the things you have said for a time. But would you go to the guard and request Mellita's presence here? I would hold my wife close this night."
"Understandable. I will do this." Harry stood and placed a hand on the man's shoulder, "Be well, Oenomaus, and know that more men than just I are glad you triumphed and survived this night." With that, the wizard took his leave, nodded to the gathered gladiators to show that their comrade was fine, and headed for the guarded gate to the villa proper.
Brikus was the current guard, and he'd opened the way for him before so he was not too unkind when Harry addressed him. "Guard Brikus, there has been an incident, did you hear it?"
"I heard conflict, slave, but I could see nothing of it. What has occurred?"
So Harry informed him of the incident and made the request for Mellita to be brought to the gladiator quarters. The guard said he would pass it along and left to do so. Clearly he must have received different orders for he arrived back with Mellita but ordered that Oenomaus be brought forth to inform the Dominus of what exactly had occurred in his own words. Harry agreed to pass it along, and escorted the woman to her husband's cell, taking a random moment to look into her eyes to see what had occurred above while all this was going down. What he saw… at once he ducked them into a shadowed alcove, embraced her, and whispered in her ear, "What happened was not your fault." She jolted in place but did not pull away.
"Y-You know? How?"
It seemed that Batiatus' plan had worked better than expected. Tullius was overjoyed to be in the man's home and seemed open to patronage. So the dominus had presented Gannicus to him. The thought was that his strength and presence would entice the noble and the slave was prepared to fight another gladiator there for his pleasure, but Tullius seemed to have… odd desires. He didn't want to see the gladiator fight. He wanted to see him fuck. And he'd made his patronage dependent on the champion laying with Mellita.
"I have my ways. Listen, you had no choice up there. You were given an order and to deny it would have meant harsh punishment of the highest degree, especially with the quality of the guests present."
"What do I do?" Mellita finally pulled away to stare into his eyes fully, displaying all of her pent up pain and worry to the young man that had quickly become a fast friend to her and her husband. "I need to tell my husband, don't I?"
"Yes, you do. Holding it back will only hurt you and him, and I do not see Gannicus owning up to it himself. That being said, wait at least until tomorrow. Too much has happened tonight and Oenomaus simply needs your comfort right now. Tomorrow let him comfort you. And you know as well as I that he will."
Tears began to build in the brunette's eyes and she managed to get out through a sob clogged throat, "Thank you, Harry. I didn't know how much I needed to…. needed to…"
"Talk about it with someone who wouldn't judge?" Harry guessed. "I understand more than you know. Now wipe your eyes, there you go, and let's go tell your husband he has an audience to attend. If we hurry we can still get to him before he gets too drunk."
The rest of the night went as expected. Oenomaus explained what had happened to the dominus, he retired to his cell to spend the night with his wife comforting him, and in the morning they all learned that the man had been elevated to the rank of doctore himself, now responsible for their training in the place of the man he had killed. As was shown when he showed up in the old doctore's armor and began cracking his whip with the exclamation of "Begin the morning's training!"
