Heart of the Gladiator (Affairs of the Arena Book 1) (25 page)

The crowd gave Senator Otho no choice. Aeliana’s body still felt like it was vibrating with the resounding cheers from the crowd.

Free. Free. Free. Free.

After the fight, she rushed to the box seats where the Senator and other elite guests sat—including Porcia, as the now default owner of the ludus. Being her slave, Aeliana got past the guards with no difficulty.

Faun was what they called her. She'd always thought it an insulting name. But Fauns were creatures of mischief, and in the legends they always managed to put one over the heroes and ne'er-do-wells trying to take advantage of their power.

She could turn a little mischief herself.

Iunius had grabbed her briefly before she sped up to the box.

I know your plan, or enough of it. The Governor and Otho have great differences. Use them to your advantage
.

Somehow, Iunius always knew what everyone was up to. A man without scruples always heard quite a few items of interest that he was never intended to hear. Still, that did not mean she could not use his advice.

Left in the box were only four people—Senator Otho, Porcia, Governor Trio, and her father, Vitus.

Otho was bright red. Around him were several broken pieces of furniture. Porcia had withdrawn to a safe corner of the small room while he rampaged, and Aeliana could not blame her. Otho was a strong man and the furniture was in several small pieces already, and it had only been minutes since the end of the match.

Looking on, Trio appeared rather amused. The Governor of Puteoli was an enormous man, the sort who seemed wider than he was tall, even though he wasn't really. His toga barely stretched all the way over his corpulent belly.

“Your fault,” he sneered at Trio. “This is
your
fault, somehow.”

Trio looked confused. “I don't know if I catch your meaning, Senator.”

“You made them chant all that. Somehow, you did it. Agents in the crowd.”

“Why would I want a gladiator to live and be freed, Otho? Think sensibly. I have no stake in such things.”

“No stake,” said Porcia, “unless you want to spite Otho.”

“
You
.” Otho rounded on Porcia now. “You are best served by keeping your mouth shut. You and I are
done
. I have listened to your prattling for
far
too long now.”

Porcia's mouth worked up and down, clearly shocked. In another world, another time, perhaps Aeliana would have enjoyed the look of disappointment and surprise on the beautiful noble's face. But instead, great pangs of sympathy filled her. For whatever reason, the Domina clearly cared about Otho.

“And
you
,” Otho waved his finger at Trio. “You. Wait.”

“Wait, Senator?”

“My vengeance will take time. And it will be exacting and endless.”

He stormed out, a parade of guards following him. Aeliana stood well away from them. The governor walked over to a tray of figs and popped one into his mouth.

“What an awful man,” he said to no one in particular.

“You are the awful one,” said Porcia. “Awful. And fat. And...a-and
awful.
Everything he said was true, wasn't it? You did put agents in the crowd. You incited them to riot against his will.”

“Oh, I don't know that I would use the word
riot
.” Trio chuckled. “Anyway, it was a great and wonderful thing, that.” He patted the irate Porcia on the arm. “Vitus here, he assures me that our Ursus is a top quality man. I expect he'll be a boon to the citizenship in his new freed role.”

Porcia’s teeth gritted harshly. “I suppose so.”

With Otho no longer on her side, Porcia had realized, perhaps a little late, that she had to start being very particular about what she said to men in high station.

“I beg your indulgence, Governor,” said Vitus, seeing his daughter hovering, “I have someone I’d like to introduce you to. This is my daughter, Aeliana. She works as the medicae for House Varinius.”

“Hello, Governor,” Aeliana bowed briefly. “It is a pleasure to meet you.”

“How did the daughter of a great man such as Vitus come to work in a ludus?”

“When she was younger, I—” Vitus began.

“I sold myself into slavery to better learn the trade of medicine.”  She would control the narrative here.  “I wanted to ensure I had work.”

Trio raised both eyebrows. “A bold move. I do not know that I've ever heard of anything quite so...severe.”

“Yes, well, it's worked. You can see for yourself the health of the men I look after in the arena.”

The Governor nodded. “They were all in top form, I'll grant you that.”

“My contract is almost up, however. I was hoping to speak to you about a medical clinic I wanted to open up.”

“A medical clinic in the hands of a slave woman?” He stroked one of his many chins.

“Well, yes. It would have to wait until the end of my contract, I’m afraid...”

“The end of your contract? To Porcia?” he turned to the Domina. “Did you know of these plans of your slave?”

Porcia had poured herself a tall drink. She waved a hand. “Oh, perhaps. She speaks incessantly. Anything is possible.”

Aeliana continued. “I believe private health is a public good, Governor. If more slaves and freedmen were well, then labor would be more regular, and—”

“Believe it or not,” Trio smiled, “I know well the benefits of good health. I'll put in a word for you right away. You are to be freed posthaste.”

“Governor!” Porcia sounded strangled. “That is—I mean to say—
my
property—I...”

“And I am the governor of this province. Do you disagree with my position, Porcia? That would be very disappointing.”

Porcia let out a small, squashed cry. She simply shook her head and put on the fakest of her smiles. The  governor seemed to take great pleasure in her dismay. Aeliana tried hard not to show her own.

Somehow, the governor seemed to be already a staunch ally. It was not expected—she had only hoped to broach the subject, perhaps be referred to a friend of a friend. But the governor's enthusiasm to assist her belied some vendetta of his own which behooved Aeliana's cause greatly. Iunius was right.

“Good,” said the governor. “Then it’s settled.”

Aeliana felt invulnerable. “Thank you, Governor.”

“Oh, don’t just thank me.” He smiled. “Your father has been saying nothing but good things about you for the whole day during the matches. 'Look at this one. See his shape? My daughter's work.' 'You see that scar? Healed by my daughter.' And so on. And Porcia here has kept you well in her service for so long. She must certainly be an exceptional Domina.”

Talk of her father actually complimenting her only emboldened Aeliana's feelings of invulnerability. She wondered how much she could get away with. A Faun indeed.

“She is unique as any, Governor. In fact,” Aeliana smiled, “our champion of the day, good Caius? Porcia has been kind enough to look after his child for the past few weeks.”

“A charitable individual,” said Trio, smiling admirably at Porcia. “I didn’t know you were struck with the pangs of motherhood, my dear. Isn't your own child stashed away in Neapolis with your family? Perhaps you should send for him.”

“It is a...new feeling,” said Porcia. “I wanted to test it out on some other child before exposing my own blood to any flaws of mine.”

A well-crafted lie. It was too bad everyone in the room knew the words were as false as the woman saying them.

“Charity may as well be her name,” said Aeliana, feeling momentum. “She offered to donate the proceeds from her winnings and fees today toward the building of my clinic.”

“That’s sensational!” Trio turned to Porcia. “How much are you offering? I’ll match it. My wife is always telling me to give more.”

“I...” Porcia faltered. “You see, that’s—”

“It was two hundred fifty denarii, from what last I heard. Her number just kept going up.”

“Is this true, Porcia?” The governor’s tone was full of amusement. “I am thoroughly impressed. I’ll put together the paperwork immediately.”

A guard leaned into the Trio's ear, urging him to leave as the crowd thinned. He nodded, and leaned in to Aeliana's ear.

“Good job with her. I only thought to vex her and Otho, but you've really put her in a spot. You'll hear from my man soon.”

Within moments, the governor was gone. Aeliana was left alone with her father and Porcia.

“I hope you are enjoying your little victory.”

Porcia's face was a cold mask of hate.

“Thank you, Porcia.”

“You will call me...”

She remembered. A freed woman, now, with no obligation to call her anything. Perhaps the paperwork still had to be filed and completed, but Aeliana stood in front of Porcia for the first time as a freed individual under the laws of Rome.

“I expect you two will want a family together. You and that damnable Caius.”

Aeliana smiled. “The idea had occurred to me.”

“It will be so
difficult
for you to have a happy life, knowing that you must fill the holes left behind by a dead wife and a slaughtered child, don’t you think?”

Back to the threats. Any sympathy she felt for Porcia—for the difficulties she suffered from Otho's explosion and the governor's disdain—quickly faded away.

“Do you really have the heart for that, Porcia?”

She straightened. “I’m willing to find out.”

Vitus cleared his throat now. “We have the child, Porcia. That threat is as empty as your pockets.”

Porcia, at the least, had the decency to look stunned.

“But you’re rich,” said Aeliana. “Have no doubts there. Your bet was changed. You put everything on Caius. A good choice.” Aeliana’s voice was cool. She did not know how it was so cool.

It looked as if Porcia did not know whether to be insulted or delighted. “Wha—how?”

“You have what you want, Porcia. The two of us shall be gone from your life. The fees for your ludus can go up double what they were. You’ll rake in a fortune from donatives from politicians alone. Every last one of them will want to sponsor your gladiators now. Including,” she smiled, “the governor, most likely. He seems a man who knows a good deal when he sees one. And as for your donation to my office, well. Consider that the price paid for a bribe.”

“A bribe? For what?”

“For not speaking to the governor about kidnapping a free Roman child, now that we have his ear. For keeping our mouths shut about how it might not be in his best interest to have the prize ludus of Puteoli operated by woman who so often drowns in gambling debts. You’ve been done a service today, Porcia. I expect you to remember it. And if you should continue to mistreat your gladiators, we will hear of it. And we will make you pay.”

Aeliana and her father left together, leaving Porcia before she had time to retaliate.

The underbelly of the arena was full of joy. Gladiators always loved to celebrate when other gladiators were freed. It gave them hope—something to live for, and something to fight for. Cheers for Caius—sometimes for Ursus—were constant and loud. The din shook the stone foundations, dust trembling from the ceiling.

And then something miraculous happened. As the two stepped down the stairs to the underbelly to retrieve Caius, Vitus grabbed her hand. At first, she thought he might be steadying himself from falling. But no. The hand stayed there, Vitus looking straight ahead, and he squeezed firmly before letting go.

“That was handled well,” he said.

Aeliana, stunned, could only nod in response.

The moment passed as quickly as it came. Very soon they were down in the underbelly completely, and her legs took her straight to Caius. He sat on her table where she had treated gladiators all afternoon, now surrounded by fellow fighters. They parted to let her pass, and Caius lifted her up to him.

Every part of him was as strong as ever. Her arms wrapped around his neck with unbridled passion, not caring for the audience surrounding them or for the dirt and sweat  on his body. All she cared about was him—his life, his hard and sure presence, his strength.

Gladiators cheered all around the Caius and Aeliana. Their kiss was long and sweet, a victorious embrace.

––––––––

I
t was a cool fall evening when Aeliana's father, Vitus, arrived at their house for dinner. Caius was home first. Aeliana always stayed late to close up shop. He warned her that she would work herself to death; she would chide him that she knew a little more about preventing death than he did.

As Vitus waited, Caius played with Fabia in the entryway, the two of them tossing straw dolls and wooden balls this way and that. Fabia's hair was wild and long, a dark streak across the air as she giggled and ran.

They lived in a small building, the same building as Caius's brother Camilla and her husband Seneca, and their children. There was not much space, but the two families had a whole floor to themselves, and so it was enough.

Most of the space in the building was taken up by the taberna in the front with Aeliana's medical office. It had opened last month, and so far it had been a booming success. She let people pay what they could—and a sign above the door advertised this fact. Often, incoming clients could not pay her at all.

As a result, those with more money often felt compelled to pay more to keep the service going. Everyone said the system would fail, and yet it worked beautifully. It was a good life she built, and Caius supported her every move.

He did the work for that she did not have time to do—running numbers for inventory, buying from merchants, scaring off drunks that wanted to harass their clients. He had no natural mind for numbers and figures, but he made do, and scaring drunks was more fun than he would have thought.

“My daughter,” said Vitus, tapping the table before him. “She thinks highly of you. I can see why. You are good with your own daughter.”

“Thank you.”

“I tried for much strength with mine. I do not know that...” Vitus drifted. His eyes settled on Fabia, tugging at the hair of her doll. “I think there are better ways.”

Caius clapped him on the back. “We judge the day when it’s done, do we not?”