He slipped the shoe on and found it too big and grunted in displeasure and threw the shoe across the room and it bounced off the wall.
“Ah well, better one than none,” he muttered. He took another sip of his wine and closed his eyes once more as his slave began to press into the deep recesses of his neck, down along the vertebrae. He wondered where those men came from? He knew they were soldiers of some kind, by their appearance, it was axiomatic. Appuleius had reported that the men fought well. He wasn’t surprised and chuckled to himself, he knew talent when he saw it. He would speak with doctore and keep tabs on the men. Once they stepped onto the arena floor and performed well, Scauras knew that the offers would start coming in, especially for the big one with the dragon.
He reached over to the table and scooped up the coins and looked at them. The coins were engraved with images, some had a kind of familiar look to them. These men were from wealthy families, their appearance attested to that along with their footwear. Sadly, the clothing they had worn had been destroyed. It was shortsightedness on his part but he’d been so surprised by their appearance in his tunnels. He wondered where they had come from, since the direction they’d come had no connection to the upper ground. They had come up from the deepest bowels of the Colosseum.
He gazed down at his feet; the old man was doing a good job. He spent his days on his feet and the old man always did a good job. He waved the old man away and looked up behind him. He nodded to his lap and the woman came around and lifted her gown and straddled his lap. He sighed in pleasure and closed his eyes.
Θ
Servilius Glaucis stood on the balcony, looking out as the sun slid from sight. The sky was a magnificent lavender and gold. He breathed in heavily and let his breath out. Behind him, he heard his slaves. He watched below as doctore went about his tasks. Lucius was a good man and he was capable, unlike that dog turd, Ciero, who had been the previous doctore. The man had been useless and there had been much friction among the gladiators. Ciero seemed to enjoy the confrontations that cropped up daily outside of the arena. Sliding that knife into the pig whore’s ribs had been the best thing he could have done for the Ludus.
Lucius had taken over and things had settled out quick enough. The man was good with people and knew how to guide their energies. He thought about the four men and he had to agree with Scauras, there was a lot of gold heading their way. The men would take less time to train because he was fairly certain they were experienced fighters. They had the look of a gladiator. He sighed heavily. There were times when he missed the arena, but he was old and he no longer felt that urge to fight. He thought again of the four men. He wondered where they had come from? He shook his head, it didn’t matter, they were here now and they were his. He smiled and turned away and beckoned the female slave to him.
Θ
Thad took measured steps as did his friends. Early morning birds were filling the quiet morning with song, though hesitant at first. He and his friends were heading to the medicus for final inspection and clearance. It was just becoming light in the eastern sky; ribbons of lavender and red were edging up over the porticos of the Colosseum. He could see the massive structure from where they traversed the Ludus. It had been three long boring days for them. They were essentially ignored, though there had been curious glances from some of the men. Thad thought that he and his friends were being sized up. He’d been shocked to see women gladiators, though they kept themselves apart from the men.
He’d seen them at meal times and several of the women glanced their way. It was no surprise when Dean had garnered most of their glances; he had a way with women. They still ate at the separate table and he was beginning to understand what their meals would be like. Boring but filling, with no spice, no salt, except for the bread. They were given cheese and fruit as well, but their meals consisted mostly of beans, lentils, barley mush and a few greens thrown in from time to time. He’d not seen any meat; though he knew the beans had protein, he wanted a large steak. He also missed coffee. He’d kill to have a cup and then he snorted softly in dark humor.
He heard morning birds up their volume and he heard them flitting around; the air was chilled and damp. He heard he mewing of a cat and looked around. He remembered the kitten he’d seen at the ruins and he stagger stepped. Was it only a few days ago that his life had been normal and happy? He sighed. The air was chilly on his naked flesh. Later, it would be hot as hell. They had been drinking more and more water and had no ill effects, though all had slightly loose bowels the second day.
They were also getting used to the latrine and their new toilet habits. The baths were something to get used to as well. They were taken yesterday morning to the baths. Slaves attended them as they stood in a pool. Then they were taken out and sat on benches as a slave oiled their bodies. Thad had been startled when the slave slathered him with the oil and then took a strigil, which looked like a curved blade and scraped his body, taking the heavy oil off.
