The Gladiator Prince (30 page)

The damn broke and large wet tears slithered down Mabyn’s tiny face. She stared at Phaedra, but did not wipe the tears away, as if they were a badge she wore with honor. Phaedra’s heart broke for Mabyn. To think of what this baby had gone through over her very short nine years was unbearable. Yet here she sat; her chin up, her eyes defiant, holding back the real anger that she must have felt every waking moment of her life.

Her tiny hand fluttered up, her fingers splayed and Phaedra slowly wrapped her arms around Mabyn and pulled her onto her lap. It was only then Mabyn let the suppressed tears fall. The girl tilted her head into Phaedra’s chest as if listening to her heart, and stared out at the room without seeing. Phaedra let her cry.

When the sobs went dry, Phaedra placed her hand against the child’s ear and kissed the top of her head. “I have a message for you, Mabyn. It is very important that you hear it. Will you?” Her little face bobbed slowly against Phaedra’s chest. “Your father says to tell you that your prince has returned. He has come to take you home and promises you will only have to be brave for a short time longer,” she whispered.

Mabyn stiffened in her arms, and her small hot hands touched Phaedra’s arms. “My father?” she murmured in disbelief.

“Yes, darling. Your father. He has come back for you.”

There was a long silence, and Mabyn did not move. For a moment, Phaedra thought she might have fallen to sleep. She finally said, “They do not want me to leave.”

“You must tell them from your heart what you want to do. They will be hurt. They will not understand. You must be brave.”

The girl pushed away from Phaedra and gave her a very grown up expression. “I have been brave many times in my life,” she said calmly. “I know how. My father taught me.”

Phaedra had to smile. Mabyn looked so much like her father at that moment it took her breath away. “Of course you do.” She touched Mabyn’s cheek with her fingertips. “You have more courage than anyone I know. It would be my honor to be your friend.”

Mabyn nodded once and pulled in a deep breath. “I guess we need to go tell them.”

“I guess so. Are you ready?”

“I am.”

They left the room to tell the old couple they were losing yet another daughter. Phaedra’s heart broke for them, but she promised she would make certain they would not suffer long. Fortunately, the world was full of orphans. The thought spun in her head making her sick to her stomach as they left Mabyn’s toys behind.

Chapter XXXIV

Light dazzled Thane’s eyes when he opened them. A beam of sunlight came through the opposite window, and he turned his head away from it.

His arms ached, but when he tried to move them, they would not budge. The jangle of chains told him why.

Looking from side to side, he saw nothing but four plain stone walls, each with a set of manacles embedded in the smooth surface. The other three were empty.

True to her word, the mistress had spent hours with him the night before. The whip marks on his back, buttocks and chest burned, but they were nothing compared to the ache in his privates. He was no stranger to torture; when they had first captured him, the Romans applied every skill they had to extract information from him he did not have. Where men would not go, however, Prisca had no compunctions. That she did not castrate him the night before amazed him. She promised it for this day. He would do what he had to do to escape before then.

The two guards who had been silent sentinels on either side of the stone door were gone. Did they think he was less dangerous now?

He tried again to loosen the chains holding him to the wall, but it was as useless as it had been the night before. When an echoing crash reverberated through the cell, he gathered both hands together and wrapped the chains around them as far as they would go. They had not chained his legs, so he should be able to pull himself up enough to use them to knock one of the women down.

There was a clanging at the door and the jingling of keys. He lifted his body off the floor and prepared for her entrance. What came instead completely surprised him.

At first, he thought it might be a very small woman, but when she got through the door, he knew her instantly.

“Anwen!” he cried.

“Father.” She rushed to him to throw her arms around his middle. When he saw Hasani strutting through the door like some crazy cock, he scowled at him. How in Hades had he managed this?

Anwen let go of her father and threw a circle of keys to Hasani who used them to loosen Thane’s chains. When they fell away, Thane grabbed the pirate by the throat and pushed him hard against the opposite wall.

“Is this a thank you,” Hasani croaked.

“Father, what are you doing? He saved me!” cried Anwen pulling at his arm.

“How, Egypt?” he spat into Hasani’s face. “How did you get in without them catching you?”

“I used…” his voice faltered under Thane’s grip. “I used my head, gladiator, and waited until the house was quiet. That is all. You will find six guards unconscious outside.” He grunted and tried to pry Thane’s hands loose. “Now, if you want to get her out of here, you had better follow me. The house will be awake soon.”

“How do you know all this?” Thane asked, loosening his grip slightly.

“If you let me go, I will tell you.”

Thane pushed the pirate toward the other wall where he landed on his hands. Turning around, Thane swept his daughter into his arms and kissed her. “Are you all right? Have they…”

“No, father,” she replied touching his face. “I have only done chores in the girl’s sanctuary. They would not let any of us leave until they were ready…” Her voice stopped, and she looked down.

Thane lifted her chin and kissed her on the forehead. “We will talk later, princess.” He squeezed her tightly and let her down. Holding her hand, he turned to Hasani. “You had better have an escape planned, Egypt, or I swear I will take off your head.”

“That is gratitude for you,” he sniffed. “I even brought you your sword,” he added, tossing the
gladius
to Thane. “This way, Your Most Royal Highness.” With a lavish bow, he led them out the door.

As Thane followed the pirate through the labyrinth of corridors, he wondered again how the Egyptian knew so much about the place. He would only smile and say, “That is a tale for another day, Prince. You and the Princess need to hurry. She is straggling. Carry her, damn it!”

They finally ended up in a gigantic kitchen where five fleshy female slaves lifted cooking utensils and stared at them as if they were marauders. Hasani held up his hands to calm them.

“Please, ladies,” he said with a smooth confidence Thane found irritating. “Had I known that the mistress kept the most beautiful of the lot in her scullery, I would have abandoned the brothel immediately.”

The women instantly tittered, and Thane rolled his eyes. Anwen put a small hand to his mouth and covered her own with a finger, shushing him.

“Tonight, ladies, I promise to return and woo you each, if you only let my friend and I know where the exit is. We have gotten terribly lost and the mistress will charge us double if we are caught on the premises after hours.”

The largest of the women pointed to a hallway down one wall. “There,” she said, blushing.

Hasani lifted her plump little hand and kissed it with elegance. “You shall be first,” he whispered then winked at her. She giggled at the others, and her face turned bright red. “Tonight, my beauties!” Hasani pushed Thane toward the door at the end of the corridor.

When they were outside, it took Thane some time to get his bearings. They must have been in the back of the estate; a large outdoor garden surrounded several layered pools and fountains cascading down a steep slope away from the sun. Everything on this side was deeply shaded.

Hasani obviously did not need directions; without hesitation, he sprinted for a hedge running along the high stone fence.

When Thane caught up with him, he put Anwen down and put his hands on his knees to catch his breath. “Where from here?” he asked the pirate.

“There,” Hasani replied pointing. At the end of the tall hedge, Thane made out two bodies on the ground. They were sleek with deep brown skin.

“Did you kill them?”

“A gentleman never kills unless he has to,” he said mostly to Anwen. “They are merely… sleeping. Shall we go?”

When they got to the gate Hasani threw it open, but what greeted them were ten well-armed women charging in single file through the gate. The two on the ground sprang to their feet behind the men and Anwen.

“I guess I should have,” Hasani mumbled and pulled his sword from its shaft. “Hide!” he called to Anwen who darted behind the hedge. Thane could just make out her eyes in the shadows. He hoped they had not seen her.

“I thought you said you had taken care of this,” he shouted at Hasani as the women moved closer.

“I thought I had!”

Thane caught the whip of a woman as it slithered toward Hasani’s head. With one good tug, the warrior flew toward him, and he grabbed the spear out of her hand, knocking her senseless to the ground.

The fight was strange. Though Thane had fought with many women in battle, they were usually large, rough and robust. More like men than women. These were nothing of the kind. Instead, they were beautiful, lithe and as quick as lightning. He knew at once that the two of them did not stand a chance against them.

They managed to take three down, but were soon outnumbered by at least twenty more. They lost their weapons then their freedom as spears circled around them, holding them at bay.

The men crouched back to back, their hands prepared to defend themselves, when a call echoed behind the warriors and they lifted their spears without breaking their circle.

Thane and Hasani stood up surveying their options, when the ranks broke at one end admitting an entourage of beautifully clad vixens. At their head was a very angry Prisca.

“How dare you…” Her voice caught in her throat when she saw Hasani, and she took a shaking step back. “Hasani…” she whispered.

The pirate licked his lips and gave her slight bow. “Prisca. You are looking well.”

His voice was different from anything Thane had heard before. All pretense and cockiness dried up. His words seemed from the heart, sad and slow.

“I did not know you were…” she replied but could not go on.

Hasani crossed to her and touched her cheek. “I have missed you,
myr.
It has been too long.”

She frowned up at him taking his hand into both of hers. Bringing it to her lips, she kissed the palm then closed her eyes as she brought it to her breast. “He would kill you if he knew you were here. I tried to get word to you…”

“Shhh,” he hissed touching her lips. She took in a deep breath and brushed her cheek against them. When Hasani looked up at the guards, Prisca nodded, and with two quick signals, they stood back. “I have to go,” Hasani said, taking her face into his hands and kissing her tenderly. “I do not want to…”

“I know.” Tears filled Prisca’s eyes, and she tightened her face to fight them. As if she had just seen him for the first time, she turned her face to Thane. “You brought him here?” she asked surprised.

“I had to, sweet. It is just a job… Nothing personal.”

“If you had only come to me…” she said angrily, but then smiled. “But that is my sweet Hasani. I am sorry if I hurt him last night. If I had known…”

“Do not worry, little
myr
. He is tough. A trifle, I am certain,” he replied smirking at Thane who glared back at him.

The sound of running hoof beats grew from the distance down the street. “He has found you,” Prisca gasped.

Hasani laughed and kissed her again. “No Roman army is big enough to catch me, my darling. I will return, I swear it.”

He turned to Thane and said, “Get the girl. The Romans are coming, but I know a way out.”

Thane motioned to Anwen who crawled cautiously out of the brush. Thane lifted her into his arms and headed to the gate without looking back.

Once outside, he searched the deserted street and glared at Hasani when he joined him. “You could have told me you knew her,” he growled.

“I tried, noble Prince, but you would not listen.”

“Where is Bahar?”

Motioning to Thane to cross the street, he said over his shoulder, “I sent her back to the senator. I was not about to expose her to that dreadful place.”

Thane was out of patience. He mumbled an acknowledgement then looked deep into Anwen’s eyes. His daughter was safe and that was all that mattered. He touched her hair and she smiled.

“I have missed you so much, father.” Her face was young yet very old, and she had grown a good six inches since last he saw her. The quiet strength radiating from her reminded him sharply of her mother. Guilt rose inside his chest, and he had to push it down. Had he made the right decision those many years ago? Had his sacrifice really saved the girls, or had his absence in their lives left them empty?

Holding her tightly, he listened as rushing feet moved closer and followed Hasani down a long alleyway. At the end was a gate that Hasani unlocked with a strange wire he pulled from his pocket. Once on the other side, he closed the gate and squatted in the darkness listening. The familiar jangle of Roman troops paraded past on the other side of the fence and eventually faded away.