by R. A. Mejia
“Oh, no, sir. I’ve just never met a Silver-Level winner before. It’s a great honor to have you here.” Julia rings a small bell on a table beside her, and two more female attendants appear wearing identical white, sleeveless dresses. She gestures to the brunette attendant, who steps forward. “Stepheny here will escort your friend to the lady’s dressing room where she can store her clothes.” Julia and the other attendant, also blonde, step forward, and each grabs one of my hands. “Juno and I will escort you to the men’s dressing room.” As I’m pulled away, I notice that Julia is looking at me funny but dismiss it as enthusiastic customer service.
I look back at Sonya, who’s scowling at me for some reason, and say, “I guess I’ll see you in a little bit.” I’m dragged away before I can hear a response from Sonya.
Returning my attention to my two eager attendants, I hear Julia tell the other girl, “He’s Silver-Level winner. Isn’t it great?” Juno smiles and nods enthusiastically. The two lead me to a large room with polished wooden benches. All along the wall are cubbies where robes and sandals are kept. Juno takes a folded robe and towel from a stack against the wall and hands them to me. “Please undress completely, store your clothing, and put on the robe. When you’re done, just walk through that door, and we’ll be waiting there to take you to bathing room number one.” Then, like that, the two let me go and walk away.
I’m left alone standing there in the entrance to the dressing room. I take a tentative step in and look around. It looks like a normal gym locker room. There are bathroom facilities off to my right and a series of cubbies for people to store their stuff. Now that I’m further in the room, I see several other men changing into or out of their clothes. There’s no hesitancy about changing in front of each other, and a couple are even chatting amiably while completely naked. Keans told me about the Empire’s casual attitude about nudity, but I didn’t quite believe him. My own experiences with locker rooms have been limited to gym class in school. There, you kept your eyes forward and changed as quickly as possible.
I quickly take a seat on one of the wooden benches, unequip my clothes, and store them in my inventory. I get into the soft, white robe and am just putting on my sandals when a voice besides me asks, “Excuse me, are you Artificer Armon, the gladiator?”
I turn to see a tanned overweight man with a receding hairline. He’s smiling and has a friendly demeanor, which would be comforting except that he’s completely, one-hundred percent naked. I feel my eyes widen as I try to focus on answering the man. “Uh, yes. Yes, I am.” The words tumble from my lips as I try to look for an escape route. But I’m too late. The man has called over his friends and is enthusiastically telling them about my last fight. The men, all in their mid-forties, are also all naked, and I’m quickly surrounded by graying body hair. Everyone seems very excited to meet me, and I do my best to be polite and shake everyone’s hands and make idle conversation. It takes me ten excruciating minutes to extract myself from the group, and I practically run towards the other side of the room.
Juno and Julia are waiting for me with smiles on their faces. Each takes one of my arms, and they lead me down a hall to what they call bathing room one. Julia explains, “We’ll be taking you through a series of rooms where the baths get increasingly hot, and you can gradually relax more and more. This first room is just to get you cleaned up.” She hands me a small washcloth and soap then points to a series of small wooden stools and a trough of hot water. “Use the soap and hot water to clean your body. When you’re done, return here, and we’ll take you to the first bathing pool.”
Juno squeezes my arm and whispers in my ear, “If you need any help, just let me know.” I pull back and stare at her. Surely, she can’t mean what I think she means. But she just giggles and winks as she is pulled away from me by the other attendant.
I’m left in the room and walk towards one of the stools. I take off my robe and place it on the tiled wall nearby. There’s a wooden ladle in the trough of hot water, and I pour some of it over my head. It’s not too hot, just a bit over warm. Then I lather up the wash cloth and get to scrubbing. It’s been a while since my last bath, and I’m surprised at all the dirt and grime that’s in my various crevices. It takes me a good fifteen minutes till I’m cleaned up. After one final rinse, I put my robe back on and turn around to find Juno peeking in the room. She sees me, squeaks, and disappears. I walk out of the room to find Juno a little red-faced and Julia looking at her with an annoyed expression. Juno quickly says, “I was just checking in on you. You were taking a while.”
I nod, taking her words at face value. “I guess I did take a while. Thank you for your concern. Where to next?”
Julie says, “If you’ll follow us, we’ll take you to bathing room two.” And, thus, I followed the two young women through a series of bathing rooms, each having a large pool with increasingly-hot water. Just as I am relaxing and getting used to one, the girls tell me it is time to move on to the next. By the time I get to room five, the water is so hot it makes the whole room feel like a steam bath.
Still, even though I’d been having a very relaxing time, the two attendants haven’t been completely idle. They ask me many questions about what it was like to be a gladiator, which I try to answer the best that I can. Between bathing rooms, they rub my shoulders and back, telling me it’s a pre-massage service. When I asked if I am going to see Sonya soon, the two giggle and tell me that they can take me to her if I want. She is in bathing room seven.
Bathing room seven turns out to be a massive, Olympic-length swimming pool filled with hot spring water. There are men and women of varying ages everywhere. Some are in the pool; others lounge on benches and chairs. But just about everyone is naked. My eyes nearly pop out of my skull, and I suddenly find the fresco painting on the ceiling very, very interesting.
I hear Julie ask, “Is everything alright, gladiator? Have we done something to displease you?”
I don’t dare look down at her for fear of seeing someone’s exposed flesh. “Umm . . . yeah . . . Everything is just fine, Julie. I’m just wondering where Sonya is.”
“Here I am,” a soothing voice says to my right. My gaze drops from the ceiling towards the sound of Sonya’s voice. I see her walking towards me, her robe hanging loosely, bits of her delightful body being exposed as she walks. She looks at me with a smile on her face and asks, “Why are you so red? Is the heat too much for you?”
Not taking my eyes off my girlfriend, I take the lifeline she’s throwing me and quickly agree. “Oh, yes. That’s it. The heat must be too much for me. Is there anywhere a bit cooler we can go?”
Sonya presses her lips together to hold back the laugh, but I can see clear amusement in her eyes. She turns to the two blonde attendants and asks, “Is it okay if I take him to one of the massage rooms? I think he’ll be more comfortable, and the two of us can take advantage of the services while we’re there.”
One of the attendants, I think it’s Juno, cheerfully says, “I’d be happy to take him there . . .”
Sonya quickly cuts her off: “No. No, dear. I know the way. You run along now.” Before either of the attendants can say anything else, Sonya takes my arm in hers and leads me out of the room. As we walk, she whispers in my ear, “It’s nice that you’re so happy to see me, but please close your robe, or you’ll poke someone’s eye out.” I look down and realize my robe had come loose and quickly tighten it.
The next few hours pass blissfully as Sonya and I get full body massages. The two male masseuses use scented oils and knead out all the knots in my back. They do such a good job that I actually fall asleep at one point.
The two of us end our time at the spa in a private pool where we talk and laugh about my reaction to seeing all those naked people. I can’t help it that I view nudity differently. Apparently, not even Sonya has the same rigid views, and she laughs at the customs I tell her about from home. The conversation is a welcome part of our date, and I relish each of her laughs. It makes me feel special so
mehow knowing that I’m the one that can make her happy like this.
After we get dried up and dressed, we leave the spa and make sure to leave a generous tip for the masseuses and attendants. Juno and Julie are both there to say goodbye, and I think Juno tries to slip me a piece of paper as I leave, but Sonya intercepts it and crumples it up. She stares daggers at Juno as we walk away. I’m sure it was just some thank you note or something and dismiss it from my mind as I ask Sonya what she wants to eat for dinner.
The two of us enjoy a delightful dinner of pasta, shrimp, and wine. We decide not to return to the small home we share with the others. Instead, we find a nice inn and enjoy each other’s company for the night. Before I fall asleep, I can’t help but think this has been one of the best dates I’ve ever had.
Chapter 39
The big fight is the next day. Sonya and I are up before the sun rises so that we have time to go home to collect my new gear and get to the Colosseum. At home, I find Keans, Mary, and Vrax already up and waiting for us.
“And just where were you all night, mister?” Mary asks as we walk through the door. It’s only when she says something that I realize that I forgot to leave a note telling anyone Sonya and I wouldn’t be home yesterday.
Holding hands with Sonya, I answer, “Sorry, I decided to take Sonya out on a date yesterday, and we ended up staying at an inn instead of coming home. I know I should have mentioned it, but it was a bit spur of the moment.”
Mary glances at Sonya and me and then at us holding hands. Her worried expression softens. “Well, since you were with Sonya, I wasn’t really worried, but it would have been nice if you’d told someone you’d be gone all night.” She shakes her head. “I swear, Armon. You’re going to give me prematurely-grey hair. And do you know how hard it is to get good hair dye on Terra?”
I chuckle at the idea of Mary’s well-styled, jet-black hair turning grey suddenly. Why, her entire wardrobe would have to be replaced since she matches it all with her hair color. Mary’s glare turns my chuckle into an cough as I try to cover over my amusement. “Well, I’m safe. So, now we just have to worry about the three of us defeating the Beast Catcher.”
“Yip, get dressed, brood brother, so we can beat nasty beast catcher and then rescue clan,” Vrax says energetically. Once my attention turns from the slightly-annoyed Mary, I notice a weird tapping sound coming from Vrax. When I take a closer look at my friend, I see that his tail is bouncing up and down so much that it’s slapping against the tile floor. Vrax is also wringing his hands, and he has this tense look around his eyes.
I understand how my brood brother feels. I’m anxious too and can feel an almost palpable sense of anticipation. After months and months of waiting, we are finally going to get a chance to rescue our family. I kneel down next to my kobold brother and tell him, “I know how important winning this fight it for you. It’s important to me too, but it is just the next step in our plan. It may be days or even weeks until the governor invites us to his mansion, if he does at all.” Vrax’s eyes widen, and I quickly amend, “I’m sure all the rumors are true, that all Gold-Level gladiators and above get asked to dinner by the governor. I only meant that we shouldn’t expect our chance to rescue our clansmen to come today. We’ll have to be patient a little longer.”
Vrax’s agitation seems to lessen, and his tail stops its tapping. I give him a quick pat on the shoulder and then grab the gladiator gear I stowed at the house. I didn’t think I’d need it on my date, so I left it all here. I unequip my everyday clothes and equip the gladiator armor. The shin guards weigh my legs down a little, but it’s the single arm guard that throws me off balance. I know it’s to protect my right arm as I strike out past the left arm which is supposed to he holding my shield, but the shift in weight takes a little while to get used to. The cape and skirt I’m wearing match, and I think it’s a nice touch on the part of the armorer to make them both baby blue, my favorite color. The helmet I decide not to wear in the house. After all, I don’t want to mess up the red plume on top.
I notice just how cold it is this morning now that I’m not wearing a shirt, but from the smoldering looks Sonya is giving me, I must look pretty good. It’s honestly a little weird to have a woman look at me that way, and I can feel myself blush a little. I intentionally look away from Sonya as I ask, “So, is everyone ready to go?”
I get nods from everyone, and we’re off for the Colosseum. It’s still early in the morning, but most people are up and getting their businesses ready for the day. As the five of us pass, I hear several shouts of “Good luck in the match today” and “We’re rooting for you, Artificer.” I wave to the strangers that seem to know me.
Once we get to the Colosseum, our group splits. Sonya and Keans have to use the general admission entrance and will be watching us from the stands. Mary, Vrax, and I use the gladiator entrance and head down to the locker room to wait for our turn to fight. The three of us are a bit early, and personnel gradually filter in. We can see them from the locker room as they set up for the day’s events. The crowds come in next, and, slowly but surely, just about every seat in the Colosseum is filled over the next hour. Finally, the day’s events get underway.
The announcer calls out, “Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Colosseum today. We have some very special events planned for you, including a highly-anticipated Gold-Level match. But first, we’d like to welcome a special guest today. Today, we have the distinct pleasure of having our fair and just governor with us. Please, ladies and gentlemen, give Governor Raslinton a big round of applause!”
The audience cheers, and I try to look out through the high windows in the locker room to see who they’re cheering for. At the halfway point of the Colosseum field is a special set of boxed seats. I’d seen them before, but no one was ever there. Well, there now is a thin man in blood-red robes. It’s hard to make out his face from this distance, but he’s standing and slowly waving to the crowd. Standing beside him are two guards dressed in dark-red leather armor, but these guards aren’t human. They’re kobolds.
I turn to tell Vrax, but he’s already spotted the two, and Vrax hisses in Reptilian, “That is Histaxx and Torezz. They are alive!” He starts to climb down from the window, but I grab him by the arm and ask in Reptilian, “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to go get my clansmen. I will go up there, and they will know me and come away. Why do you stop me?”
I try to think quickly. Vrax looks like he’s in a stubborn mood. We were already told that the kobolds are likely under the influence of blood magic and bound to obey their master. Unless we are going try to murder the governor right here in front of hundreds of people, including powerful magic users employed by the Colosseum, I need to convince Vrax to stay put.
“Because you’re going to ruin the plan. Our plan is to save all of the kobolds, not just two. Do you want to warn the bad people that took our clansmen that we are coming?”
Mary flies between the two of us and whispers, “What are you two parseltongues hissing about over here? People are starting to stare.”
I look around and see several of the other gladiators staring at us. In as normal a whisper as I can I tell Mary, I say, “Vrax wanted to go visit the governor and his guards.”
Reading between the lines, Mary’s eyes widen, and she turns around to talk to Vrax. “Oh, no, Vrax, we have to stay here, or we may be disqualified from the match. Besides, it’d be practically impossible to see the governor now. Do you understand?”
Vrax looks first at me then Mary and nods sadly once before climbing down from the window and sitting on a bench.
I sigh, relieved, and go back to watching what’s happening in the Colosseum. During the opening ceremonies, the participants bow first to the governor before starting their mock battle. Each fight after continues the tradition. Before starting the match, they bow in respect to the governor and then get on with the business of beating each other up. After a while, I tire of watching the matches, but Mary is fascinate
d. She even seems to have found a bag of popcorn from somewhere.
As the hours pass, gladiators come in and out of the locker room. They leave excited and with hope in their eyes and return either with a victorious smile or defeated frown.
While we wait, I decide to pull up Vrax’s, Mary’s, and my character sheets just to go over how we’re doing.
Armon Ellington Lvl 5
XP to level: 645
Health: 67
Stamina: 65
Mana: 69
Abilities: Darkvision, Thrust, Shield Bash, Aspect of the Kobold 1, Multipunch, Sidestep, Dodge, Shadow Clone
Spells: None
Arcane Symbols Known: light, dark, water, fire, earth, air, force, self, life, death,
remove, Directional Symbols, Second, Minute, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, Delay, Spin
Mary Lvl 6
XP to level: 1981
Health: 52
Stamina: 80
Mana: 230
Abilities: None
Spells: Light, Summon Nature’s Ally I, Magic Missile