by S. E. Green
“I don’t just want whoever had her last, I want any man who touched my sister. And I want Bareket dead. She had Lena first. She’s the reason my sister was sold and taken off Saligia.”
“Valoria, I can give you anything but Bareket. Anything.”
The reason why I came into his office comes back to me and I don’t hesitate in requesting, “I want to go with the galleon and see my sister off. I can’t bear the thought of anyone else touching her.”
Dominus gives a nod. “Agreed. There, now see, I’m not unreasonable.”
He motions to the corner. “I will send Alexior with you. And I’ll do one better, I’ll allow you access to my private boat.” He waves toward the door. “Now go and get your sister ready. You two will leave this afternoon.”
He goes back to his desk, and I follow Alexior out of the office and through the villa. As we’re about to descend the stairs into the tunnel, a movement catches my attention and I glance over to see Felicia standing in the corner.
Her bad arm lays strapped to her stomach. Bruises trail her other arm and both of her eyes are now swollen. She didn’t have the bruises or two swollen eyes when she left the training grounds to come up here. Dominus or his wife probably did both to her.
Despite my earlier annoyance with Felicia, my steps falter and I try to catch her gaze to return a reassuring look. But she stands like the other house slaves I’ve seen—a shadow, hazed, waiting for whatever comes next.
“Felicia,” I whisper and her face lifts.
The destroyed look she gives me hits me in the gut. She’s been beyond abused up here in this villa. Submissively, she looks away, and I see it. She’s given up.
“Valoria,” Alexior quietly beckons, and I turn my thoughts back to my sister.
Down in Talme’s medic room, I take a bowl of water and a rag and soap and meticulously clean Lena’s frail body.
Do you believe in God and heaven? She’d asked me the day our father passed.
I don’t think so, I’d replied.
Why?
Because if there were a God, I think he’d be nicer to us than he was.
Hm, she’d mumbled. Well, I think he’s plenty nice to us because we have each other.
My breath hitches, and I close my eyes. My little sister. So wise. “You’re right, Lil’ Bit. We have each other.” I open my eyes and look down into her beautiful face. “And there is a heaven, and you’re already there.”
A smile creeps into my quivering lips as I imagine her running across a beach filled with sunlight and white sand, giggling, her black hair flying out behind her. I nod. Yes, that’s the exact image I want.
I finish cleaning her and braid her hair and put her into a new tunic. Her weight is insignificant, and I easily lift her and carry her down the tunnel and out to the training grounds where Alexior and the cart waits.
All the warriors are lined up to see us off. Even Dominus and his wife stand up on the terrace, reverently looking down.
I sit in the back cradling Lena in my arms, and as we travel I hum her favorite song.
Some fifteen minutes later we arrive at the dock and I take a few seconds to look around.
The galleon is not here, but there are five smaller wooden sailboats in their own slips. I estimate each one of them to be about thirty feet long. From the immaculate condition they are in, I can only assume certain elite privately own them.
Soldiers line the dock, guarding the boats. I gaze up and down the beach and see only pristine beige sand. I take a second to scan the horizon and the endless ocean with no other land in sight.
But I now know the layout: soldiers, other sailboats, an empty beach, and a galleon when it’s in dock.
Alexior climbs from the cart and circles around the back to let me out. “Do you want me to carry her?”
With Lena in my arms, I slide to the sand. “No.”
I follow Alexior down the long dock to where a captain and a soldier sit ready on the boat we will take.
Moments later they push off, hoist the sails, and we catch wind out into the dark expanse. With Lena held close, I watch the land get smaller and smaller as we smoothly make our way through an opening in a reef and toward the horizon.
From this view Saligia looks much like I imagined. Sandy beaches leading to a rocky incline of land that spreads to lush lawns and gardens with the grand villas dotting the scenery. Like a private island with an exclusive resort.
To the right I notice something new—a guard tower. It sits at the very tip of the island, tall enough to watch the surrounding waters. Whoever occupies that knows all comings and goings.
And if the reef circles the entirety of Saligia, then they have a natural barrier for protection. No random boat could wander in without bottoming out on the reef.
Thoughts of escape have me looking over my shoulder at Alexior and the soldier and the captain. There is no way I could overpower all three of them. Plus, if I were to jump, where would I swim to? What about Camille and Gem? I can’t leave them.
The sails lower, and Alexior nods to me. “Whenever you’re ready.”
I slide the bracelet off my wrist and back onto Lena’s where it belongs. “There,” I whisper. “Now I’ll be with you always.”
I press a tender kiss to Lena’s forehead and then gently lower her body until she slides from my arms into the water. She floats away and then back, away and then back, gradually sinking further and further with each lull of the waves. I stare at her body until there’s nothing left to see. Then I continue staring even after the sails are hoisted and we move with the wind back toward shore.
With each wave of water that passes between her and me, something inside of me shifts and an unwelcome thought settles in—Saligia is my home now. Everyone I care about is right here.
~31~
That night I sit alone on my cot, staring at the dagger I stole. It seems heavier in my hand than last time. What was I thinking taking this thing? I can’t overpower this entire ludus with one single blade.
Camille sits down beside me and nervously glances around. “Put that thing away,” she whispers.
I flip it over in my hand and study it. “This is all my fault.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I knew something was off that day Mr. Vaquez interviewed me for the job.”
Camille shakes her head. “I’m lost.”
“The day we were taken. During the interview I kept getting a weird vibe from him. And then he asked to see Lena… I should’ve known. I should’ve walked right out, climbed in my car, and drove off.”
Camille wraps her arm around me. “You know this is not your fault. This is none of our faults. Your sister’s death is on the people here in Saligia.”
“This is our home now, Camille. It really hit me earlier on the boat. You and Gem and Razo and Ignatius, you are who I care about now.” I sigh. “Even Alexior.”
“Not Sera?” Camille jokes, and we both smile.
I push to my feet and hold the dagger up. “I’m giving this to Alexior.”
“What?” Camille reaches for me. “No. Please don’t do that. He’ll tell Dominus and who the hell knows what will happen to you then.”
I hear her words, but I’m not changing my mind. “It’s the right thing to do.”
“Wait—”
I ignore her and go to find Alexior. He is in his usual spot, standing on the training ground, staring up at the stars. He hears me before he sees me, brings his attention down to my hand holding the dagger, and though it’s very slight, I catch him stiffen with alarm.
It’s times like these I wonder if he’ll lose his temper. I wonder what I have to do to make him snap. He’s perfected the art of stoicism. I could take a lesson for sure.
Yes, he’s always seemingly very much in control, but I swear there’s a hint of something else in his hard eyes—a pensiveness he tries to hide and probably thinks I don’t see.
Coming to a stop right in front of him, I stare up into his gr
ay eyes and hold the blade out. “I stole this from one of the villas.”
He takes it from my hand, but doesn’t respond.
“I’m handing it over as a gesture of my recent realization.”
“And what is that?” he asks, sounding almost bored.
“That this is my home now, and the warriors here are my family.”
Alexior nods, but doesn’t seem inordinately pleased with my newfound insight. “Then this is forgotten.”
“Will you tell Dominus?”
“No.”
I take in a relieved breath and blow it out. “Thank you. Goodnight then.”
Again, he doesn’t respond, just looks at me through eyes that are now level and intense. I take that as my cue to leave, get back across the training ground, and hear, “Valoria?”
I turn and watch as his eyes travel slowly down my body and with it comes a warm irresistible awareness.
Then he lifts the blade by the tip and my whole body stiffens. He flings it at me, and I lock my muscles in place. I could dart out of the way, he knows that. He won’t hurt me… will he?
The dagger glints in the moonlight as it sails toward me and grazes straight across the thin skin covering my triceps. My mouth drops open and I look down to see dark red blood oozing.
I bring my irate gaze up to his and anger bursts straight from my mouth, “You son of a bitch!”
He gives me a hard look. “Do not ever sneak anything in here again. Do you understand me?”
“Yes!”
“Good. I’m glad we comprehend each other.”
“I can’t believe I actually included you!”
“Included me in what?”
The people I care about. But of course I don’t say that.
He lifts his brows, waiting, and I still don’t respond. He nods toward the tunnel. “Go see Talme if you need to.”
I want to tell him he disgusts me, but I clench my teeth and turn away. Down the tunnel I stomp and push through the medic door and come to a stop. Sera’s awake. My pulse jumps in an unexpected pump of joy.
Talme’s standing over her, applying something thick and white to the row of puffy stitches that hold in her guts. She glances over her shoulder at me, and sighs. “What happened to your arm?”
“Alexior and I got in a disagreement,” I tell her.
Sera chuckles and then cringes.
I step closer. “Can I help?”
Talme nods to a bowl of water. “Soak a rag and wipe her face.”
“When do you think I’ll fight again?” Sera hoarsely asks.
“Not for some time. But don’t worry about it,” Talme reassures her. “Dominus has given you unlimited healing time.”
Sera shakes her head. “You and I both know how that works.”
I look between them. “How what works?”
Neither one of them answers, and I begin to wonder why I even asked. I already know the answer. Dominus isn’t generous enough to give anyone unlimited anything. If Sera doesn’t get well, she’s out of here—whatever that means. Re-auctioned. Banished to The Hole. Or any other number of horrible things I probably still don’t know about this place. Despite our mutual dislike, she doesn’t deserve that.
Talme tsks. “Don’t talk, Sera. Just heal.”
Sera closes her eyes and I wipe the wet rag over her sweaty face. I’ve never been gentle with Sera. It feels… odd and not completely right. “How did you two end up here?” I quietly ask and hold my breath, waiting, hoping they respond.
Talme takes in some deep air. “I’d just gotten divorced and wanted to travel the world, start over, rediscover myself. I took a volunteer nursing job with Third World Aid. I fell asleep on the transport and when I woke up, I was here. That was twenty years ago.”
I suck in a shocked breath. “Twenty?” This place has been around that long?
Sadly, she nods. “I’ll die here.”
“But are you ‘free’?” Is she like Ignatius? Could she leave if she wanted?
She huffs a sarcastic laugh. “Hasn’t anyone told you yet? Unless you die, you’re never leaving.”
Her words wash through me, numbing me with realization. Yes, Alexior and Sera have both said as much, but somewhere in my brain I still held hope.
I wipe the rag over Sera’s forehead. “And you?”
“Like Gem,” she croaks, in obvious pain. “My ‘contract’ was up year one, and I’m still here.” She swallows. “Been ten years now.”
Oh, Gem. She’s never leaving. She’ll never see her daughter again. I’m never leaving. None of us are.
“You should be the one on this table,” Sera rasps.
I pause in my wiping and stare down at her face. She pries open her one good eye and looks up at me. She’s got a point, even if it irritates me. She’s been here the longest. She’s the one who deserves all the attention of killing Zebulon.
She closes her eye again. “Because of me, you are the victor.”
“Because of me,” I defend myself, “you’re alive.”
She grunts. “Look at you talking big and free. Don’t let the triumph go to your head. I’ll be off this table soon and back in Dominus’ graces.”
Done with the gentle thing, I toss the rag beside the bowl.
“I wish you would’ve died,” she mumbles right before drifting back off to sleep.
I scowl down at her. Why in the world did I think anything would be different between us?
“What’d you do to piss off Alexior?” Talme asks.
“Nothing,” I say and slide up on an empty table. “Just put a stitch in it or whatever.”
~32~
The next morning at breakfast the atmosphere is heavy with my sister’s death, the rain pelting the sands, Sera still in the medic room, everything…
Across from me sits Camille and Gem, silently eating, liked they’re weighed down with the denseness, too.
“How you doing today?” Gem asks me.
Resolutely, I nod. I’ve always hated that question. I mean, do people really want to know? Do they really want to sit here and listen to me spout off about our crap for a life? What good is it going to do any of us and our morale?
How am I doing? Like shit. My sister’s dead. How do they think I’m doing? But I know it’s a nice thing to ask and that she’s being a friend, and so I manage a reassuring smile and then quickly change the subject. “So you and Razo snuck off during our night of debauchery. Anything to tell?”
Gem blushes, and it strikes me as odd. Such an innocent response for this sinful place. She glances over her shoulder to where Razo sits with Ignatius. Razo must sense her look because he glances up and sends her a little smile.
She lets out a tiny giggle and then slaps her hand over her mouth in embarrassment and turns back to me and Camille. “I can’t believe I just giggled.”
Jealousy pangs through me, and I frown. But, yeah, I am jealous of the fact she’s found a modicum of happiness in this place. Jealous… and pleased, too. Gem is my friend. I want only the best for her.
“Sure we kissed,” she tells Camille and me, “but that’s all. Mostly we talked. Do you know he was born here?”
“What?” Camille gasps. “That’s awful. I can’t imagine being raised here.”
“Twenty-two years ago to a house slave,” Gem tells us. “Dominus bought him at fifteen and he’s been here in this ludus ever since.”
“What about his mother?” I ask.
“As far he knows she’s still working in the same villa he grew up in.”
I flip my attention over to Razo. This is his world. He’s never been beyond these waters. He has no clue what life is really like. Cars and cell phones and TV. And electricity for God’s sake. How unbelievably odd. But… if anyone were to know the ins and outs of Saligia it would be Razo.
A scream pierces the air and we all stop what we’re doing and look around. Another one shrills through the rain, and I realize it’s coming from the terrace.
I jump to my feet, as does
most everyone else, and we hurry out onto the training ground.
Naked and bug-eyed, Felicia hangs from a length of rope and from the grayness of her body, I’d guess she’s been there several hours if not all night.
Her injured arm is wrapped to her stomach and red welts angrily crisscross her body.
Yet another scream pierces the morning air, and I switch my gaze to Domina standing on the terrace, staring in shock over the balcony. Clearly, Felicia did this final act on her own.
Dominus finally comes rushing out onto the terrace. He glances over the side, grabs a knife from his office, cuts Felicia loose, and then wraps his wife in a condoling hug. Felicia’s body drops to the wet sand.
Sorrow. Guilt. Anguish. Pity. All of these things course through me. I should’ve been kinder to Felicia. She took her life to escape this one. At least she’s free now. I glance up to Dominus hugging his wife and anger sparks my blood. They’re the reason she hung herself.
A warrior to the left of me snickers. “Wasn’t like she was of any use anyway.”
My anger morphs to rage. I duck and drive my fist straight into his balls and follow that with a powerful punch to his throat.
He staggers back, gagging, and I hover toward him, ready to tackle and pulverize his snickering face. He brings his arms up in automatic blocking formation. He’s ready to fight. Good.
“Enough!” Alexior yells.
My fingers curl into my palms and I shoot the warrior a poisonous look. “That is a human being lying dead. Show some respect!”
He flips me off and stomps away. I turn to Camille and Gem. “Help me.”
We head toward Felicia’s naked body and as we’re leaning down to pick her up, I hear Dominus say, “Alexior, I want to see Valoria in the holding cell.”
I clench my jaw and roll my aggravated eyes to Camille and Gem.
“It’s okay,” Camille assures me, though her eyes seem more alarmed than anything. “We got this.”
I don’t even wait for Alexior and instead stalk right past him. Why Dominus wants to see me in the holding cell, I have no clue. I thought I’d moved beyond this. But, whatever.