Season of the Gladiatrix

by David Adkins

  “No, I am not. The first thing we must do is leave this inn because I have stupidly given its name to Amina and she will seek me out.”

  “That is the best thing you could have done, Hylas. She will come to us and that will make our job easier.”

  I put my head in my hands. “What do you propose?”

  “You have successfully used your charm on her, so now when she comes to the inn you must use it again.”

  I was feeling uneasy. “And then what?”

  “Put a dagger in the drawer by your bed. Entice her into bed with you and when you are making love, silently reach out for the dagger and stab her through the heart. I will be waiting outside to help you finish her off if your first strike does not complete the job.”

  “What!” I exclaimed. “I would rather make love to you, Aria.”

  “Well thanks a lot, Hylas, that does much for my ego.”

  “Killing her out in the open when we can rapidly escape the scene of the crime is one thing, but killing her in a room at this inn where we are known is quite another,” I pointed out.

  “We can purchase horses and stable them round the back. Once it is done we can ride out of Ephesus in haste. We can be long gone before her body is discovered.”

  “I don’t know if I can do it,” I said.

  “She is not that ugly. You might even enjoy yourself,” she grinned.

  “By the gods, why was I given you as an accomplice?”

  “They knew you needed someone smart to help you out. Let’s face it, Hylas, you have not been very smart so far. Think of Corelia facing that monster in the arena.”

  “Think of me facing her in the bedroom.”

  “She is not that bad, Hylas. She has a good body, if somewhat muscular, and her face though not beautiful is not ugly.”

  “You just called her a monster.”

  “I was referring to the fact that she is formidable in the arena and not that she is unsightly,” she protested, smiling.

  “Then you bed her. You prefer women.”

  She laughed. “She likes you, Hylas. We cannot debate this forever. It is the only plan we have and it stands a very good chance of success. Are we agreed?”

  “I suppose so.”

  *

  We only had to wait a few days. It was just past sunset when Amina arrived at the Inn of the Falcon. The innkeeper knocked on my door to let me know that the celebrated gladiatrix, Amina, was downstairs and waiting for me. He was obviously rather astonished that one of his guests should have such a famous visitor.

  “Please tell her that I will be down in a few minutes,” I said to him.

  I watched him descending the stairs through my open door and then I placed my dagger in the drawer by the bed. I left my room and knocked on Aria’s door. “She is here,” I informed her.

  “It is time to implement the plan then. Compose yourself and go downstairs and welcome her,” Aria suggested. “I will be ready to help if needed.”

  I took her advice and then I descended the stairs. “Greetings, Amina,” I said smiling. I was about to invite her to my room but she anticipated what I was going to say.

  “Let us go for a short walk and talk a while before we go to your room,” she suggested.

  “Of course,” I replied, and we stepped out into Via Kuretes. I immediately noticed that people were looking at us. “I think I am walking with a very famous person,” I observed.

  She smiled. “Let us go down this side street away from prying eyes. I do not walk in the city very much because I tend to draw attention.”

  We made our way into the narrow side alley, which was deserted. This would have been a much better place to dispose of Amina than my room in the inn but I had left my dagger there. I wondered if Aria may have seen us leave and was following us. She may also feel that this was a better place to carry out the attack, so I would have to stay alert. We continued on to a little square.

  “There are very few people here to stare at you in open-mouthed wonder,” I declared.

  “Yes, this is much better. I wanted to ask you about Corelia. Is she good?”

  “She is very good. She has beaten all her opponents easily. I do not think that she has even been tested.” I was trying to put her off going to Rome.

  “Neither have I. I can easily beat every gladiatrix at the school and many of the gladiators as well. When I fight her it will truly be a great contest.”

  “Does it not worry you that you might lose?” I asked.

  “I will win, but if I do lose then I will have lost to the greatest gladiatrix in the Roman world because only the greatest could beat me.”

  “Many already call Corelia the greatest gladiatrix in the world.”

  “That is good,” she said. “But I believe I am the greatest, and beating Corelia will prove it. I cannot wait to meet her.”

  I realized that far from putting her off the idea I was encouraging her. “You may have to become Domitian’s lover.”

  “What do you mean, Hylas?”

  “I am a palace guard and I happen to know that Corelia is his lover. He is excited by the gladiatrix and the more successful Corelia is and the more famous she becomes then the more he wants her. If you killed her then you might have to take her place.”

  “Would you be jealous?”

  “Of course, I would,” I lied.

  “I doubt that Domitian would want me as his concubine,” she laughed.

  “Anyway, I do not want you to fight Corelia,” I declared.

  “Why is that?” she asked.

  “I could not bear anything to happen to you. Please do not fight her,” I begged.

  “I am sorry Hylas, that is my destiny – but I am touched. Are you like Domitian? Are you excited by a powerful gladiatrix? Is that why you are my adoring fan?”

  “You are magnificent, Amina, in and out of the arena, so I suppose that is why I adore you.”

  “I feel a need to quickly get back to your room at the inn.” She grinned and took my arm. Arm in arm we hurried back to the Inn of the Falcon.

  *

  We entered my room and Amina immediately removed her skirt and sat on my bed. I sat next to her and looked down at her thighs, avoiding her eyes. “I saw you looking at my muscles in the tavern. Do you like my muscular arms and legs, Hylas?”

  “I love them,” I said and bent down to kiss her bulging brown thigh muscles.

  With her hand she moved my head between her thighs. “I did something for you that I believe merits a reward from you,” she said, smiling.

  “What was that?” I gasped as she playfully squeezed my head.

  “Flavius Clemens returned to Rome yesterday to inform the Emperor that I would go there in the spring and fight Corelia.”

  “What has that to do with me?” I inquired from between her legs.

  “I had a word with him before he left. I reasoned that the actions you took in order to get to meet me could get you into trouble with Paulinus. I made Clemens give me his word that he would say nothing about it to Domitian or Paulinus. Does that not deserve a reward?”

  I was quite amazed that she had done that for me. “It does indeed,” I said, and started to lick her. She groaned, and I had to admit to myself that I was finding the whole experience much better than I had expected, but I never lost sight of the fact that I had to protect Corelia; I loved Corelia more than life itself.

  “Lie back on the bed,” I suggested.

  Amina did as I had instructed. I began to kiss my way up her brown body until I reached her lips. We kissed passionately and I knew that I had her. “Close your eyes.” I ordered. “I want to kiss your eyelids, my magnificent gladiatrix.”

  She obeyed and slowly I began to kiss each eyelid, giving me time to noiselessly open the drawer and remove the dagger. I drew back my arm to strike her in the heart with my blade but, with the dagger poised, I hesitated and then it was too late. She grasped my arm in a vice-like grip while looking at me with bewilderment in her dark eyes. It becam
e a battle of strength and for a moment I was winning. I forced the dagger towards its target but then I could force it no further. I tried to use my other hand to increase the pressure but she grasped that hand too. Now she held both my arms and was squeezing my wrists. I felt my hold on the dagger loosen until it fell from my hand onto the bed. I knew that I had failed.

  She brought her knee up and crashed it into my stomach. I grunted with agony and fell off the bed, landing on the floor with a resounding bang. I was in much pain and badly winded. She picked up the dagger and stood over me. “Why, Hylas?” she said, and then kicked me.

  I was groaning from the blow when the door opened; the innkeeper was standing in the open doorway staring dumbfounded at the scene that met his eyes. “I heard a bang,” he said.

  “Just a disagreement,” Amina informed him. “Please step back into the corridor while I get dressed. I will be gone in a couple of minutes.”

  The innkeeper did as he was told. She looked down at me. “I know that you couldn’t do it, Hylas, but why did you want to? Why did you want to kill me?”

  I groaned but gave no explanation.

  “I have not finished with you, Hylas. You owe me an explanation. I will be back.” She kicked me again, and left the room and then the inn.

  I lay on the floor in agony, then looked up and saw Aria and the innkeeper looking at me through the open doorway. “I will see to him,” she told the innkeeper.

  Aria came into the room and helped me onto the bed. “You have some bad bruises,” she commented.

  “I know,” I grunted through the pain.

  “Maybe you have a broken rib as well,” she suggested.

  “It feels like it,” I said. “She has a kick like a mule.”

  “I am disappointed with you, Hylas, beaten up by a woman.”

  “By the gods, she is not just any woman, she is a champion gladiatrix.”

  “Any excuse.” She laughed.

  “If I was fit enough I would show you.”

  “I think we will have to put that off until a future date. It seems though that you have messed up again, Hylas.”

  I nodded. I knew that I’d had my chance and had indeed let it pass me by.

  “Get some rest,” she suggested. “In a few hours time I will bring you some food. Now I had better go and placate the innkeeper who keeps telling me he runs a respectable establishment.” She left me to my anguish, because I knew I had failed Corelia miserably.

  *

  A few hours later Aria returned with some cheese, bread, and ale. “How is the invalid?” she inquired.

  I eased myself up into a sitting position despite the pain. “I am not so bad now. I need to be fit by morning.”

  “Do you intend to take revenge on her?” she joked.

  “Why do I have to be involved with three gladiatrices? One I love with all my heart. One who is probably going to try and kill me. And one who likes nothing better than to torment me.”

  “Does Amina intend to kill you?” she asked.

  “Probably she does. She said that she had not finished with me and that she would be back. That is why we must leave this inn, Aria.”

  “We must not leave the inn, Hylas, because if she is coming back then you will get another chance to kill her.”

  “You are incredible, Aria. Do you not realize that I can’t do it? I had the perfect opportunity and I hesitated,” I confessed. “I am not a murderer.”

  “You mean you had the chance and did not take it,” she shouted. “I am shocked, Hylas. I thought you loved Corelia and would do anything for her.”

  “I do love her, but I could not do it.” I put my head in my hands. “Amina will come back to this inn probably intent on revenge. I will have no chance. I have to think of my mission to find Solanus because I cannot do that if I am dead. I should never have got involved in murdering Amina.”

  “You are hopeless, Hylas. We will not leave this inn. You will have to be the bait and I will have to kill her.”

  “You will not stand a chance,” I scoffed.

  “At least I will not hesitate,” she said scornfully.

  “There is also the matter of this Decarian who has apparently had us followed. He wishes to kill me and he may hire more thugs to do the job. We need to leave this inn under cover of darkness and find new accommodation unknown to my two enemies. I must get to Petrila before he does, which means leaving late winter rather than early spring.”

  “I will watch over you, Hylas, and when they come for you I will take care of them.”

  I laughed, which hurt my bruised sides. “That makes me feel so safe,” I said sarcastically.

  “We will not leave this inn,” she reiterated.

  “We will stay then,” I agreed. “I may not be able to commit murder but I will defend myself if they try to kill me.”

  I had finished the bread, cheese, and ale and I wiped my lips. “Thank you, Aria. We must talk about this Decarian, however, because I think he may be even more of a threat to us than Amina.”

  “I thought Amina was invincible,” she said.

  “She is, but I am not convinced she means to kill me. Decarian most certainly does,” I replied.

  “You get some more rest. Those bruises still look quite ugly. I will keep an eye outside for anyone suspicious. If you are being followed then I presume they will be watching the inn.”

  “Be careful Aria,” I warned. “Do not start anything.”

  She smiled sweetly. “As if I would,” she said, and left.

  Chapter 10

  It took a while for me to get to sleep because of the pain in my sides but when at last I did manage it I slept well. When I woke up the next morning I felt considerably better. I still had some pain and it was uncomfortable to move about but it was manageable. I got dressed and walked down the corridor; I knocked on Aria’s door but there was no answer. I was suddenly worried that she might have discovered our shadows and confronted them. I descended the stairs and, to my relief, she was eating breakfast. I went and sat at the table with her.

  “How do you feel?” she asked.

  “I am much better now. When you were not in your room I was concerned.”

  “That is sweet of you, Hylas, but actually I took your advice.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I discovered last night who was following you. Two men were watching the inn all evening. When it grew late one left but he returned this morning to replace his colleague and he is still out there now. They seem to be taking it in turns to watch the inn. I imagine they intend to take action soon so perhaps we should strike first. I took your advice though, not to do anything rash, but decided to wait for a fit and rejuvenated Hylas.”

  “For once you did right,” I said, to congratulate her.

  “I suggest we watch them and when they change watch again we follow the one leaving and see where he goes. He may take us to Decarian. Let’s go out the back way and take up a strategic position to watch proceedings.”

  I could not fault her logic. “I agree that is a plan.”

  We slipped out through the rear exit of the inn. I assumed they were not aware that we knew of their existence and would therefore not be watching the obscure door at the back, which was not normally used by inn residents. “This way,” suggested Aria. “We do not want him to see us. We can go over there, Hylas.” She pointed and then rapidly crossed a busy and bustling Via Kuretes a little way down the road from our inn and I followed her. “There he is.” She pointed down the street to a man who was sitting on the cobbles. “He is pretending to be a beggar. Beggars are never noticed.”

  “Are you sure he is not a beggar?” I asked doubtfully.

  She gave me a withering look and we sat down behind a stall out of view. “We can watch him unobserved from here.”

  I nodded agreement and we settled down for what could be a long vigil. We waited for a couple of hours and then half way through the morning our patience was rewarded. “Look Aria, here is his accomplice.
”

  “That is the same individual who swapped places with him last night,” she observed. The disguised beggar stood up and they began a long conversation. We watched as their conversation seemed to get more animated. Finally one of them nodded his head and patted his colleague on the back. They seemed to have reached some sort of agreement. To our surprise they left the inn together and began to walk down Via Kuretes in the opposite direction from where we were hiding. We jumped to our feet and began to follow them.

  “They have abandoned their surveillance of the inn,” she said to me. “That is a surprise.”

  “Let us see where they take us and then we will decide what to do,” I suggested. They continued on their way, deep in discussion, and were completely unaware that it was now they who were being followed. We trailed them to the end of Via Kuretes until they stopped outside a small, narrow tenement building consisting of what appeared to be just one room upstairs and one room downstairs. They went upstairs.

  “What do you suggest now?” she asked.

  “Let’s wait in the porch until one of them comes out and ask him a few questions,”

  “Or we could burst into the room with our weapons out and take them by surprise,” she suggested.

  “We do not know how many are in the room. We only know that it is at least two, but it may be more,” I replied.

  “True, but I am fed up with all this waiting.”

  “Be patient, little sister, and if one comes out alone then leave it to me. We can wait over there in the shadows.”

  “I do not like the term ‘little sister’,” she protested. We moved into the shadows and sat down on the stone floor of the porch to wait.

  About an hour later we heard the door upstairs open and the steps of just one man on the stairs. I withdrew my dagger and readied myself for action. As he passed I put my hand over his mouth and pressed the cold steel against his back. “One word from you, my friend, and you are dead.” I walked him out from the porch back into Via Kuretes and then down a little deserted alley. “Sit down on the floor and put your hands on your thighs,” I commanded.

  “Shall I kill him now?” Aria asked, putting her own dagger to his throat.