The Gladiator's Goddess (The Gladiators' Gifts) (9 page)

“You stay here, Nardine. “If I am not back in half an hour, you should run as fast as you can. You can go back to Joseph’s if you wish. He will give you some money and let you stay for a short amount of time. Be wise and forget about me, and the child, if you have to. Where are they keeping the baby? Do you know? 

“I saw them give the baby to Claudia. She was going to keep the baby until they found a wet nurse. Perhaps Firi is in her chamber. That is all I know.” She told Abedi how to find Claudia’s chamber.

“I will try to find her. If I am caught, all is lost,” said Abedi.

“I understand. I know you will find her, Abedi. Now hurry. The night is slipping by.”

Abedi left her, and Nardine
waited in the dark copse of trees, praying to Abedi’s goddess, asking that she would help him find her baby.

*****

Abedi stole back into the
ludus
the same way he came out, through the back entrance and into the jail. He saw no one, and quickly made his way to a back stairway. After ascending it, he traveled up the stairway to the slaves’ quarters and walked halfway down a hallway to Claudia’s room. 

Claudia sat up as soon as he entered. “Who goes there?” she asked.

“Be quiet,” Abedi answered, as he walked to her bed and sat down. “It is I, Abedi.” Claudia had met Abedi once before, when she worked for a day in the infirmary. “I am searching for Nardine’s child. Where is she?”

“Why? You are not the child’s father
, are you? What do you want with it? And how did you get up here?”

“Lower your voice,” said Abedi. “Nardine is outside waiting for me. She wants me to take the child. But I must be very silent.”

“How did you get Nardine out of the jail? She was locked in.”

“Never mind about that. Just trust me that she is safe. Now where is the child?”

“She is with a wet nurse. The first room on the left after you walk down the main hallway in the master’s quarters. It will be very dangerous to try to get the baby. What if she cries? You could waken the master.”

“Don’t worry about that. Just don’t tell anyone I was here. You will hear of Nardine’s fate tomorrow. Just hope for the best.”

“I will pray to the gods for you, for both of you. Nardine doesn’t deserve to be beaten, or to be separated from her daughter. I hope all three of you escape safely.”

“So do I,” said Abedi
. Then he backed away out of the room and into the hallway again. He crept silently past the doorways of the other sleeping slaves, down the hallway and up another staircase. He had to push through a wooden door to enter the master’s chambers.  Abedi saw no guard posted there. He walked down a narrow hallway to get to the main hallway, and turned to his left. The room in question was right there. He could see the cradle from the hallway and hear the snores of the wet nurse in the bed beside it.  Abedi decided quickly not to kill the wet nurse but to try and take the baby silently.  Firi cooperated, merely gurgling when he picked her up. He walked out of the room as the nurse turned over, groaning. Abedi raced down the main hallway and into the narrow one, where he came face to face with the
lanista
.

Antonius picked up a torch from a wall sconce. “Abedi! What are you doing here, with that baby
? Where did you go after the match? We thought you had run away.”

“I did run away, master. And I plan to run away again.”

“Get back down to your cell, Abedi, before I call the guards. And give me that baby. I have no idea what you want with it, but it belongs in its bed.”

Abedi pretended to hand the baby to the
lanista
, but then rolled her to the floor as gently as he could and grabbed the
lanista
around the neck with his left arm. The
lanista
began jerking his arms and legs, trying to pull Abedi’s arm off him, but Abedi overcame him.

He used his right hand to cover Antonius’ nose and mouth.
The master slowly began to weaken, and dropped the torch to the floor. Fire spread along the rug down the hallway. Abedi tried to keep an eye on the baby, who remained silent, as he crushed the life out of the
lanista
.

Remarkably, no one seemed to be aware of what transpired. When the
lanista
died, Abedi threw his body to the floor, picked up the baby, and ran down the hallway. Smoke whirled around him as he ran. He reached the wooden door and pushed through, scurrying down the three flights of stairs and into the jail area, where he fled to the back entrance.

In what seemed like no time, he
dashed out the back gate and ran into the copse of woods. He saw Nardine almost immediately, who clasped him in her arms, kissing him as well as the now crying baby.

“You found her,” she said. “I am so, so glad, Abedi. Thank you.”

“You should be glad, my princess. It was no easy task. I had to kill the master to get her. We must leave. We will go to Joseph’s. There is a fire inside, so they will be distracted for a while. But we must leave now, and leave no trace. Only Claudia saw me. So they will think you somehow got the baby, killed the master and escaped.”

Nardine quieted. “So be it. Let us be off. Is Firi well?”

“She is fine. I dropped her when I had to fight off the master, but I don’t think she is injured.”

“She looks fine. And she is crying. Let us leave.”

Abedi led her through the trees to the other side of the copse, where he had tied a donkey to the tree. He helped Nardine mount, covered her with a cape, and handed her the baby. He put his own tunic on and began to lead them to the Via Appia and Joseph’s house.

Joseph’s astonished look when he opened the door made Abedi laugh. “I told you we would come back,” he said. “All three of us.”

The baby squalled just then, and Nardine hushed the child. “We are sorry to inconvenien
ce you, but it will only be for the day. We had a long night and are exhausted.”

“Do not worry,” said Joseph. “Myriah and I do not mind. We are happy to see you again, Nardine. We are happy you are safe
, both of you, and the child.”

He led them to a back room, carrying the cradle the baby
now slept in. “There,” Joseph said. “Now you will all have a chance to rest for a while.”

He left the room, and Abedi smiled again. “Now, finally, we will have some time together. And the freedom to do whatever we like with each other.”

Nardine smiled up at Abedi. Now that they were alone, she shuddered a bit, wondering what would happen.

“You are shaking, my little goddess,” said Abedi. “There is nothing to be frightened of.”

Abedi picked Nardine up and carried her to the narrow pallet beside the cradle. “We will find room for the both of us,” he said, laying her down and then crawling in beside her.

Both of them paused for a moment. Finally
they had the time and space to make love. The silence echoed above their ragged breaths.

Nardine put her hand on Abedi’s cheek. She kissed him, quietly and deeply, and he responded. He put his arm around her back and pulled her closer. They kissed again, and began to explore each other’s bodies.

Nardine put her hand against Abedi’s massive chest, running it down to his waist. Solid muscle met her touch. She climbed on top of Abedi as he grasped her waist, lifting her.  She came to rest on Abedi’s lap. She sat up, as he massaged her breasts. She smiled.

“You did not think this would happen, did you?”
asked Nardine.

“Ah, my little pearl, I knew it would happen. I just did not know when. But I was willing to wait. You knew that.”

He pulled her down on top of him again, pressing her to his chest and then flipping her over. He mounted Nardine before looking down at her with another smile.

“Are you ready?” he asked.

“More than ready,” she responded.

He plunged into her with a force she didn’t expect.
The motion took her breath away for a moment, and she began falling. But she could feel Abedi’s arms around her.

Again and again she felt the push as Abedi leaned over her and she sighed in satisfaction. He
led her over the edge, stealthily and joyfully. Abedi created a different sexual experience for her. Not the high that Matthias brought to her, nor the steadiness of Gaius. But with Abedi, she sailed on the high seas. They gently rode a large wave and then dipped into the hollows after it. Just as Nardine began to expect an end to the excitement, another wave would roll up, and over they would go once again. Abedi, each time she looked at him, smiled at her in encouragement. She hugged him.  Bliss.

*****

The next morning Abedi and Nardine packed up their belongings and saddled the donkey. No one from the
ludus
arrived to look for them. 

“Remember, Joseph,” said Abedi. “If they come, simply say you haven’t seen me since that day at the
ludus
. And if we are lucky, they will never suspect Nardine and I are together.” 

“Do not worry,” Joseph said.  “We will be safe. Simply watch out for yourselves.”

Abedi once again wore a white tunic, and pulled the hood down over his face.

“Good-bye my friend
,” said Abedi. May the gods of the delta watch over you and the goddess as well.” 

“Good-bye Abedi. And take care of the child, Nardine.” 

“I will,” she said.  Nardine looked behind her from atop the donkey as Abedi led them away from Joseph’s house and toward the entrance gate to Rome. They headed away from all she had ever known. Abedi had it in his mind to sail to Greece. Joseph had given them some more money, but Abedi would have to find work somewhere in order to earn them passage.

She pressed the baby to her chest and smelled
Firi. Her daughter’s freshness made her smile.

“Are you frightened?” asked Abedi. “I would not be surprised if you were.”

“No longer,” she said. “I know now that you will take care of us, wherever we go.”

“I will do just that,” he said as he tousled the baby’s
short blonde hair. He smiled again as they approached the gates of Rome.  “And we will be safe.  The goddess promises it.”

THE END

Afterword and Acknowledgments

Some have asked if Africans served as gladiators
in ancient Rome. The truth is, no one knows for sure. We do know Africans walked the streets of ancient Rome, along with people from many other cultures, so the likelihood is that there were African gladiators. Keep in mind that slavery of the era had nothing to do with race; there were slaves, and citizens, of every nationality,

I would like to thank my fabulous cover artist, Fiona
Jayde, along with my beta readers, who helped me whip The Gladiator’s Goddess into shape. Finally I would like to thank my readers. Without you, none of this would matter!

If you liked The Gladiator’s Goddess, I would appreciate if you would leave a
review
.

Book number three in The Gladiators’ Gifts series is coming soon.

You can visit my blog at
amyhearst.com

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Purchase the first book in the Gladiators’ Gifts series

The Gladiator's Girl

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