Conjuring an image of a woman who looked like Soren or Darron left a rather unpleasant image in his mind. But there was nothing for it. So, he headed for the bathing area that they used for cleaning the slaves. It was nothing fancy, but at least it was mostly empty. He cleaned himself up and found that Saber had sent one of the guards with a clean tunic that would fit even his broad chest, as well as trousers and boots. The guard also took his armor and maul, even if he couldn’t properly carry the latter.
Once he was ready, another guard appeared and led him through hallways that slanted upward, closer to the top of the coliseum than he had ever been before. There were many signs of damage—cracked stone, torn tapestries, and the like—on their way up, but overall, the stadium appeared intact. When they arrived at the room, there were four guards out in the hallway.
He was searched for weapons and even managed to keep from laughing. As though he would need a weapon to kill one human.
Once he was led inside, he found a surprisingly beautiful blonde sitting on the bed in what looked more like a silken nightgown than any proper kind of dress. Kneeling in the bed behind her was a slave girl who was brushing the long locks of the woman’s hair. It had become more and more clear that the upper classes of Thena were mostly blonde-haired. It gave Kyle kind of a creepy Aryan feeling, even though his new form was also blond.
He was announced by one of the guards as the gladiator Kyle Warborn. The blonde woman, who was clearly used to being the center of attention in any room she was in, shooed the slave away and ordered the guards to wait outside. Their commander stared at Kyle and appeared ready to object when she said, “Now, Captain. You will be right outside in the hall, and I’m sure that this fine gladiator will be on his absolute best behavior.” Then she looked at Kyle and added, “Isn’t that right?”
“Of course. You have nothing to fear from me, Lady Sorengaard,” Kyle replied. As he spoke, he evaluated her a bit more. She had a braided metal necklace around her neck which had some type of symbol on it, but it plunged down into her nightgown past the ample cleavage that was on display and he couldn’t make out exactly what it was. Her demeanor was commanding but also confident. She certainly didn’t look at all like her brothers and while she seemed accustomed to being obeyed, she didn’t have the same air of entitlement about her. He would guess that she was younger than his thirty years, perhaps as young as twenty-five, but it was hard to say in a world with flesh mages.
“You see there? He says I have nothing to fear, Captain.”
The guard captain clearly wasn’t convinced, but he must have decided it wasn’t worth arguing about with her, so he led the other guards out into the hallway after offering a short bow to her.
“There, now, it’s just us. Why don’t you come over here and sit on the bed next to me? I hear that you’ve had quite an eventful evening,” her words dripped honeyed tones and Kyle was instantly on guard. Whenever a woman spoke like that to him, she wanted something from him, and while there might be parts of it he would enjoy, there was always a catch. With a noblewoman like this, it was more likely a barbed hook.
“I’m actually quite comfortable here. What can I do for you?” Kyle replied.
“Oh, so you’ve dropped the Lady Sorengaard so quickly? The reports about you did say that you don’t seem to be much for the niceties of society. I personally don’t care, but I do find that such things help everyone to know where their place is,” she said.
“I mean no offense. Where I come from, little regard is given to titles and such,” Kyle said calmly.
“And where exactly do you come from? I’d so love to know. That is one tidbit that my agents haven’t been able to determine. Oh, and if you don’t want to call me Lady Sorengaard, I suppose it would be fine for you to call me Sissel, but only when we are alone. You do want to spend some time alone with me, don’t you?” the young noblewoman said.
“I don’t actually know, since you haven’t told me what it is that I can do for you, Sissel.” The more he focused on how she was acting and speaking, the more he felt like she was a trap. Her very mannerisms screamed of someone flirting by sheer habit. Like some of the street walkers that one of his ex-teammates had liked to pick up, just more polished and without the desperation.
“Oh, it isn’t so much what you can do for me as much as what I can do for you. I have a patron who would like to hire your services. What would you say if I told you I could arrange for you to be made a free man? I have it on good authority that you were captured illegally at the quarry by my brothers. They always were shortsighted,” Sissel said.
“I would say I am curious who this patron is that they have such pull. I’ve been told that there is no way for a slave to be freed,” Kyle replied.
“For now, my patron would like to remain anonymous, or if you prefer, you can think of this as something I am doing in the name of my patron without them yet being aware. Never worry that head of yours on those so wonderfully broad shoulders, I have the authority
