More Than Chains To Bind (7 page)

The rear gate opened again and four men entered. They were dressed a little differently from Cor'lyn and his guards. They wore the same style pants, except they were brown, and they wore similar loose tunics to ours, though each man's tunic was a different shade. I assumed they were our trainers and the colors indicated their particular expertise.

As the men approached, the guards released our chains and divided us into four groups. I tried to edge toward Hollis again, Fortil moving with me this time without comment, but one of guards shoved us back, while Hollis and Ledo were pushed into another group.

"These are the Guides," Cor'lyn explained. "Each is a specialist, and you will learn from them all so, when the next auction is due, you'll fetch the highest price possible."

"Is a question permissible?" I asked, hoping I hadn't just earned a beating.

"You may ask...this time."

I nodded, understanding both the threat and the favor. "The auction...when will it take place?" I wanted to ask more about what we might expect, but I knew that would be a mistake.

Cor'lyn cocked his head, considering me, then he glanced around the congregated men, his glance resting on Hollis for a moment before he brought his gaze back to me.

"They are held four times a year. The next one is due in about thirty days." He shifted his gaze to encompass everyone. "You will work hard every day; no slacking will be permitted. Any breach will be punished. You will obey each command of the Guides or the guards. Any breach will be punished. You will be provided three meals a day. The food is balanced for optimum conditioning, so no waste is permitted. Any breach will be punished. You will look after your bodies as instructed, take exercise, perform the cleansing ritual and take rest as instructed. Any breach will be punished."

Any breach will be punished!
He made it sound like a damned mantra. And trust Liander to want to ask a question; he's never going to learn to keep his mouth shut, is he? I'll have to keep something handy to stick in there. Oh my, the picture that pulled up. I got hard just thinking about the possibilities.

Lucky I'm not wearing those tight pants any longer!

Concentrate!
What did he say? Three meals a day. Right, breakfast and dinner presumably in our respective halls, but I guess lunch would be served out here in the arena. I would just have to hope I could get to Liander then.

The group I was with was going to be taught how to use a
pilum.
It was a similar to a javelin in design, except the shaft was not round but square and thicker. It was made from a solid piece of metal with one end sharpened to a lethal point and the weapon was heavier than a spear. However, the training version was made from a solid piece of wood. Our Guide, Longin, explained that beside the obvious uses as a throwing weapon and a stabbing spear, it was also an extremely effective staff. He demonstrated how to thrust with it the way one would a spear, but advised us not to throw it unless the fight was otherwise lost. Rather apparent really, but then I noticed the expressions on the faces of one or two of the others and realized they had been considering doing just that.

Longin then demonstrated some moves using it as a staff. I had some experience with such a device and the moves were similar. I didn't think there was much I could learn about this particular use of the weapon, so I took the opportunity to check on what Liander's group was doing. From what I could see, I guessed they were being taught wrestling. Something else I didn't think either Liander or I needed many lessons in, unless, of course, the rules here were much different. In fact, now I come to think of it, did they have any rules? That one would bear investigation.

It wasn't much later when the lunchtime meal was wheeled in on a large cart pushed by four women. The guard accompanying them hit a square of metal attached to the wagon with his stick and a dull twang sounded throughout the arena. The Guides stopped their lectures, and our guard pointed us in the direction of the wagon. After a long, tiring morning in the hot sun, I was hungry and marched over there without a second thought.

There was a cauldron containing a thick broth of meat and vegetables. A huge pile of dark bread, which proved to have a nutty flavor, covered a platter. Two huge bowls were filled with a variety of fruit, one of which was round, orange in color, but surprisingly crisp and tart. Another was also round, but larger, its color a mixture of red and orange, its texture harder, but with a flavor both sweet and light. A third was a long, thin green fruit with a heavy, soft texture that almost melted in the mouth. Some of these tasty fruits would have been very welcome back home.

Last, but not least, there was another bowl filled with a thick paste. I had no idea what to do with, until Liander walked up and without further ado stuck a finger in and tasted the contents. At first, I was just delighted he was there and no one was pulling him away from me, then my eyes bugged as I watched him pull his finger out of his mouth and lick off the remains of the stuff. I hoped no one could hear the pounding of my heart as my imagination conjured up the image of him doing that to my cock. Oh, Lords of Creation, I had to stop these fantasies. I enjoyed them way too much for safety in my present circumstances. He looked at me and, with a flash of realization of what he was doing, blushed for second before dropping his eyes.

"Well, then," I asked, grateful my voice sounded normal, "what does it taste like?"

"It's a bit like a soft cheese, but with a lingering sharp tang. Pretty refreshing." He took a spoon and put a dollop on his plate and another spoonful on mine. "Let's take our food and sit and talk. It might be the only chance we get to do so."

"With pleasure," I said. From his grin, I saw he knew I meant it.

We sat with our backs to the wall near the rear gate. Other large or small groups of prisoners made themselves comfortable around the food wagon and near the back wall, but Liander and I were pretty much on our own.

"You're keeping that bastard Fortil off balance, I gather," I said with a grin.

"Yeah, he was demanding, trying to teach me my place, dominate me, but after my time with you, he didn't stand a chance." He smiled, a definite twinkle in his eye. "If I don't let you dominate me, why the hell should I let anyone else?"

"I have no desire to dominate you, Lian," I said softly, keeping my eyes on my plate. "I'm into equal partners. It's not something I thought I could ever have with you, but we're friends first and foremost, aren't we?"

He didn't look at me either as he studied the large red-orange fruit on his plate and spoke to me quietly. "Best friends for a while, Hollis, and now I believe so much more?"

"Whatever you want, Lian, anything." My voice was huskier than I intended, but I couldn't help it. So far it had all been in my mind, my interpretation of what I thought I was seeing in his eyes. Those few softly spoken words had made it all so wonderfully real.

"Oh Lords, why now? Why now?" he whispered. "I so want to touch you, and I can't. I daren't even look at you in case he's watching."

The heat of his words washed over me and I'd never wanted him more. "Cor'lyn?" I whispered harshly. "I see the way he looks at you."

"I know. I...I think--"

He was interrupted by the loud twang of metal being struck, indicating the end of our food break. One of the guards grasped Liander by his upper arm and dragged him to his feet.

"Up, up," the guard snapped, his words including everyone. "Put your utensils back on the wagon and then go back to your sections."

I was frustrated not knowing what Liander was going to say about Cor'lyn. I had my own ideas, having overheard his reference to buying Liander. Liander might be able to fight Fortil off, but no way would he be allowed to do that if he was bought and officially
owned
by the man in charge. We had to find a way of escaping before the thirty days were up. Even if Cor'lyn wasn't the one to buy Liander, somebody else would, and who knows what kind of future he would be facing then. The probability of ending up a fighting slave was bad enough, but I couldn't let him become some bastard's sexual plaything.

I suspected he was strong enough to take the physical abuse. Liander was much stronger than most people gave him credit for, but I wasn't sure if he could take the psychological abuse.

Twenty days later...

Being able to sit with Hollis every day for a few minutes and eat our food together had made my life in this place almost bearable. Some days we couldn't really talk because there were others sitting too close, or occasionally a guard would eat his meal near us. Somehow, just sitting close and eating the same food was a comfort. Plus knowing for certain now how Hollis feels, it's enough. But the days we can actually talk...

We've been here for twenty days now. I knew because I had scratched each one off on the column near where I sleep. I knew, too, that Hollis was feeling desperate. He'd told me we have to escape before the auction, but actually doing it seems impossible. He didn't say it--he didn't have to--but it's me he's really worried about. I love it that he's concerned about me, but he doesn't seem to understand I'm just as worried about him.

He has this inflated view of my sexual attraction and what he calls my innocent sensuality; thinks it draws all the unwarranted attention I get. What the hell is innocent sensuality? I'm twenty-five years old; I haven't been innocent for a long time. I've had to be very careful, even after it became clear I'd never be more than a very junior member of the royal family, because it was still necessary to be circumspect and engender respect. Though perhaps it was easier than it might otherwise have been for a prince who had no interest in taking a wife. I had already fallen for Hollis.

I so wanted to speak with Hollis, but today was a case in point. He was sitting alongside me, our shoulders touching, but we weren't able to talk privately as a few of the other slaves had joined us and they were asking Hollis' advice. This had become quite common once his expertise was proven as good as our Guides.

As time passed, the guards had relaxed and we'd learned some more general pointers from them, too. The better a fighter you were, the better the "stable" would purchase you, and you would receive better treatment. Hollis and I were clearly the only ones with any real experience, and when I mentioned he'd taught me virtually everything I knew, Hollis became the one everyone went to for advice.

The last time we'd spoken alone was two days ago, and I'd told him of my concern for him. I knew he feared what would happen when the auction took place, fearing for my safety in the arena and in my bed--or rather someone else's bed--but he'd brushed off my qualms for his own safety. The idea of being forced into someone's bed was horrifying, I couldn't deny it, especially now when all I wanted was to be in Hollis' bed. It might have been easier if I didn't love someone, if I didn't want only Hollis to touch me and take me with love.

Yet, as I told him two days earlier, there were worse fears as far as I was concerned, such as being separated and never seeing him again. Yet there was something even worse than that for me--the possibility one day we may be pitted against each other in the arena. I saw the shock in his eyes--it must never have occurred to him--but he never had the chance to answer me because he was dragged away then for the afternoon session.

That afternoon they gave me--us--cause to worry about my fear. Cor'lyn arrived with a couple of guests in tow, very important guests if their garb and attitude was anything to go by. Cor'lyn never introduced them, so I could only guess why they were there and I presumed it was to show off his wares to prospective buyers. Apparently, Cor'lyn wanted to put on a show and he ordered the training to stop and all the slaves re-linked to their partners while a display match took place. And surprise, surprise, he chose Hollis and me to put on his display. Not once before this had he pitted us against each other. In fact, he always kept our two groups separate.

The other slaves were sent back to their respective halls, and we were positioned in the centre of the arena and given a tipped sword each. It had only been three days since all the training weapons had been changed. No more wooden swords or pilums, we now had the real thing. The explanation Cor'lyn gave was the weight distribution with the authentic weapons was different and we needed to get used to the actual thing. The training weapons were weighted as near as possible to the real weapons, but it still felt very different to use an actual sword again. The Guides put us through exercises to get used to the differences and we were required to practice a set of movements mirroring a partner. However, when it came to actual combat practice, our weapons were tipped for protection.

Cor'lyn couldn't afford for either of us to receive serious injury at this stage of the game.

We had only been fighting for a few minutes; I suppose a fairer description would be sparring because, even though this was the first time we had ever seriously crossed swords, our moves were almost choreographed. We knew each other's moves well in hand-to-hand combat and we had sparred with a variety of weapons since Hollis had become my Guardian.

It couldn't have been violent enough for them, though, because one of the guests walked forward and ordered us to stop the fight. Cor'lyn followed close behind, obviously continuing an argument they'd been having. The guest pulled out his own sword, a fine weapon by all appearances, waving it in our direction. It became obvious he wanted us to fight with untipped blades, and Cor'lyn was arguing against it.

"I'll be damned if I'll risk my prize combatants just to put on a display for you," he said.

"I want to see a
real
fight!" the guest declared.

"Very well," Cor'lyn said, and my heart almost stopped. "If you insist untipped weapons are used and either of my combatants is injured, or worst, killed, then you will have to pay the expected auction price." Cor'lyn glanced at us, then back at the guest. "And I can assure you, the price will be high due to the excellent skills of these two."