Out of the Ashes (4 page)

Sabina reached up, gently touching his lips with her fingertips.

“I want you,” she whispered.

Dacian
groaned and pulled her into his arms. He knew it was wrong, that he should send her away and beg her never to return. But if he never saw her again, if he were to die tomorrow in the arena, at least he could take this one moment with him.

Bending his head forward,
Dacian
touched his mouth to the beautiful lips that had just spoken words he never thought to hear. So soft, Sabina yielded to him, opening herself up to the long-dead emotions pouring out from the depths of his soul.

Unable to restrain himself, his tongue traced the fullness of her lips, then plunged inside to taste the honey of her mouth. Pure pleasure shot through him as her tiny tongue darted out to explore him, too. She moaned, the sound echoing the feelings raging inside his body. He felt her quiver and knew his own body shuddered with the power of the kiss.

Then the rumbling sound came to his ears, and he realized it wasn’t just her kiss that affected him so.

The very ground beneath their feet had started to shake.

“By the gods, what is happening?” Sabina cried out.

As quickly as it came, the trembling stopped. Dust filtered down from the mortar in the stones, dancing in the last beam of light coming through the barred window in the door.

“I do not know.”

The door to the cell flew open and crashed against the wall, startling them both. The guard stood outside, his face a pasty white.

“What is it?” she asked.

“I must secure all the gladiators. You must leave now.”

Sabina looked back at
Dacian
. Alarm mixed with the simmering fire still dancing in his eyes, and she felt cheated that her time with him had been cut so short.

She started to leave, then turned back and threw herself into his arms, squeezing him tight. He returned her embrace as if he were holding onto hope itself.

“I will return. Tomorrow.”

“You should not.”

“I know.” She smiled as she darted out the door. “But I will anyway.”

No bright sunlight blinded Sabina as she left the barracks. Instead, the sky was a dark gray, hinting at an impending summer storm.

Shouting came from the streets where vendors and merchants had their shops and homes. The tap-tap-tap of small white pellets falling like rain on the cobblestone street puzzled her.

Something was terribly wrong.

A man rushed past, knocking her down in his haste. Sabina stumbled to her feet and started to run. She had to find her father. He would know what was happening. He would know what to do.

Rushing through the crowded streets, Sabina arrived at their villa to find the slaves rushing about, throwing household belongings into sacks and crates. Broken crockery littered the tiled floor, abandoned where it had been dropped.

Sabina found her father in his chamber, frantically tossing some of their most precious items into a large satchel.

“Father, what is happening?”

He looked up, relief easing the creases on his brow.

“The gods are angry. They are throwing stones down from the skies upon our heads. We must leave the city at once.”

“Leave?” Alarm traced icy fingers down her back.

“Yes. Quickly, pack your things. One of the wine carts has been readied and is standing outside. We will head for Rome.”

“But, Father, it was just the earth rumbling. It has been happening for weeks. Why do we leave now?”

Her father pointed at the ceiling as if she could see through the clay tiles to the sky above.

“Look to the sky, Sabina, and you will see the wrath of the gods. They warned us ten years ago when Pompeii was nearly crushed by the moving of the earth. I do not care to be here when it happens again.”

Thinking of
Dacian
locked in his cell and her promise to come back to him, Sabina tried to make sense of what was happening.

“When will we return?”

“I do not think we shall. We will go to Rome, where it is safe and civilized.”

Dread seized her. “But we cannot leave Pompeii forever. What of our family and friends?”

What of
Dacian
?

Her father pushed past her, lugging the bulging sack to the main atrium where the slaves were stacking anything of value to be loaded into the waiting cart. Sabina followed quickly on his heels.

“Can you not see?” He pointed out the open door where people dashed back and forth in the street like frenzied ants. “Everyone is abandoning the city. If we do not hurry, the inns in Rome will be filled when we arrive. Now, go and pack your things. We leave within the hour.”

She would be leaving
Dacian
. She would never see him again
.

No. It was too soon. Not when she had just found him.

Sabina ran to her room and grabbed any item of value, anything with which she might bargain—a silver goblet and tray, her combs carved from mother-of-pearl, the wooden box containing the last of her mother’s gold jewelry.

Throwing it all into her
palla
, she folded up the cloth and raced to the front of the villa.

“Sabina!” her father called out as she darted past his chamber. “Where are you going? The cart is out back.”

“I have to go to
Dacian
.”

He followed her down the hall and grabbed her by the arm, spinning her around.

“
Dacian
? Who is
Dacian
?”

“He is the gladiator I told you about.”

“
A gladiator?
” Anger mottled his sweat-beaded face. “He is not your concern. The guards will take care of them.”

Sabina remembered the fear on the guards’ faces. She did not have such faith in them.

Her father shoved her in the direction of the back of the villa.

“Now, stop this nonsense, and pack what you can.”

“I have to go, Father.”

“Sabina, we cannot wait.” Her father pointed at the entrance of their home. “Look, now the streets are nearly covered. Soon we may not be able to get out of the city with the wagons.”

She looked out the open doorway. The stones fell heavier, their sound muffled by the growing layer of white ash that covered the cobblestones.

“There is time. I will return soon.”

“No. We must leave now.”

“Then, go without me. I will catch up to you when I can.”

“I forbid it!” Her father grabbed at her, but she slipped out of his reach.

She backed away, shaking her head and regretting the hurt she saw on her father’s face.

“You cannot stop me. I have to go to him.”

Looking one last time at her father, she turned and dashed out into the crowded street.

* * *

Sabina reached the barracks, only to find the gate locked. She shook the iron bars in frustration.

“Let me in!”

Desperation tasted as bitter as the dust that lodged in her throat. What if the guards had already fled? How would she get to
Dacian
?

Then she saw men on the training field, guards and gladiators alike in their fear, running about aimlessly.

“Open the gates!” she shouted at them.

Finally, a young guard appeared before her.

“Let me in.”

“You cannot enter now. We are all leaving.”

Hope surged within her. Was it possible that they were going to set
Dacian
free?

“The gladiators, too?”

The guard shook his head.

“Only the free ones. The slaves and prisoners will be locked in until it is safe to return.”

Sabina gripped the iron bars tighter.

“But you cannot just leave them here!”

“We cannot take them with us. We do not have enough men to keep them under control outside the gates. It would be our heads should even one escape. They will be safe enough in their cells.”

She thrust the
palla
through the bars, holding it open so that he could glimpse the small treasure inside.

“I will pay dearly for the
Myrmillo
Dacian’s
freedom. Let me in, and all this is yours.” Seeing the indecision on the guard’s face, Sabina pushed on. “It is enough so that you can live comfortably for years wherever you go. You will never have to return to Pompeii to face the consequences of one missing gladiator.”

The guard looked hesitant. The earth trembled again, and his decision was made. Throwing open the gate, he grabbed the bundle from her hands.

“Go. Find your lover,” he shouted over his shoulder as he shoved past her. “And may the gods have mercy on you both.”

Sabina raced across the training field, surprised to see some of the free gladiators—trained warriors and killers in the arena—running about with terror on their hardened faces. She made her way to the slave area of the barracks and found
Dacian’s
cell with surprising ease despite the madness. She slid back the bolt, and
Dacian
was in her arms before the heavy wooden door fully opened.

“You came back.”

Feeling safe and secure for the first time in what seemed like hours, she squeezed him tighter.

“I told you I would.”

“But how—”

Sabina grabbed his hand and pulled him through the door.

“We must hurry. Everyone is leaving the city.”

Dashing out onto the shadowed portico surrounding the training field, Sabina could hear the desperate cries of the prisoners and slave gladiators left behind, locked in their cells.

Dacian
stopped, looking at the barred doors lining the columned walkway.

“We have to help them.”

“There is no time.”

“We must try.” Charging to a cell door,
Dacian
slid the bolt back and released the man inside. With only a moment’s hesitation, Sabina rushed to the next door. As the ground trembled again beneath their feet, the terrified men stumbled out onto the practice field, confused at the sudden gift of freedom.

Dacian
staggered back as he threw open the last door at the end of the portico.

“
Bellator
!”

Sabina looked inside the cell to see three gladiators sitting on the dusty floor, straining at the chains that bound them to the stone wall in punishment for some forgotten crime. One of them appeared to be
Dacian’s
friend.

Dacian
found the lock at the end of the chain, but unlike the cell doors, it required a special tool to remove the pin. She glanced around, but no such key was to be found.

“I cannot get it open,” he roared in desperation as he tried to pry the iron nail from its hole with his fingertips. “The pin will not come out.”

A fierce rumble shook the barracks. The wall behind them collapsed, and dust filled the air, making Sabina choke. She pulled on
Dacian’s
arm.

“It is no use. We must leave now.”

Dacian
shook his head. He wasn’t ready to give up yet. He wedged his foot against the wall and pulled at the chains where they attached to the stones, trying to release the men with the strength of his bare hands. Sabina watched the muscles of his neck and arms tense from the effort, sweat beading on his forehead.

Finally, he stopped straining, exhausted. He shook the iron links in frustration, as if by doing so they might crumble to dust as easily as the unsteady walls around them.

“I cannot leave them here. They will not have a chance.”

“But we do not have the key.
Dacian
, please. You cannot save them all.” His own words echoed through her head, words he’d spoken to her the first time she came to him in the dark confines of his cell.
You cannot save us all.
This time, she knew it to be true.

She glanced at
Bellator
, and they shared a look filled with remorse.
I am sorry.
Sabina mouthed the words to him, and the gladiator nodded, bravely resigned to his fate.

Dacian
looked at her, his face devoid of hope, full of agony and misery at the futility of it all. What would become of his friends, these men in chains?

“Go,”
Bellator
said to him in a voice calm with the acceptance of death. “Perhaps you will be one of the lucky ones. Go, my friend. Do not look back.”

Dacian
squeezed
Bellator’s
arm in silent regret. Then he grabbed Sabina’s hand, and they ran.

* * *

As they dashed down the cobblestone streets, people bumped into one another from all sides, trampling those who could not keep up.

Terrified mothers grabbed for their children, and men rushed to gather what belongings they could carry. Others took advantage of the confusion and pillaged the merchants’ shops and villas. Food sat on vendors’ stoves, pots boiling over, unattended. Urns and lamps were knocked into the street, their flames spreading in the spilled oils.

Sabina led
Dacian
down the street toward the
Porta
Stabia
. Overturned carts blocked the road at the narrow passageway. Abandoned by their masters, frightened oxen and mules pulled in vain at their twisted harnesses. There would be no escape from Pompeii through there.

Backtracking, Sabina and
Dacian
pushed against the crowd toward the
Porta
Nuceria
, the falling stones and ash now rising to their knees in some places. They passed dogs howling to be released from the chains tethering them to the houses they had been left to guard.

 
Dacian
glanced up at a sky grown dark with thick clouds holding back the sun. The afternoon turned as black as night, adding to the confusion in the streets. The pungent smell of sulfur filled the air, making them cough and choke.