The Gladiator Prince (26 page)

He turned his head to look at her, and she leaned over to touch his knee. His face softened when he ran his fingers over her hand, and she gave him what she hoped was a sympathetic smile.

Bahar and Hasani babbled incessantly about people, places, politics and events for the entire trip, each building upon the other, each more delighted as they moved through the crowded streets.

Finally, once they had cleared the center of the city, the wagon picked up speed, and the rest of the journey passed quickly.

When Phaedra saw Thrasea’s house, a pang of grief sent fire into her cheeks. It surprised her. Thane must have seen it, because when the wagon stopped, he rose and took her hand to help her up then wrapped his arms around her, kissing her on the forehead. Hasani and Bahar jumped from the wagon without losing any time, and Bahar rushed to the door.

Before he reached it, it was flung wide and Thrasea was there. Phaedra could not help but smile when she saw him. He had been her friend, her mentor and her confident, just as she had been his. The pain of Lucius’ death had bound them together forever.

“Bahar!” Thrasea grabbed her shoulders and whirled her around three times, his mouth and eyes wide with joy. “Look how you have grown! You are beautiful!”

“
Carus abbas
,” said Bahar taking his hand and turning towards Hasani. “This is Hasani.”

Thrasea’s smile broadened, and he and Hasani both started laughing. Bahar looked from one to the other. “I know Hasani, my darling daughter,” Thrasea said putting his hand on his chest. “I hired him to find you and bring you back!”

“What?” said Bahar.

“My darling what?” said Hasani, the laugh drying instantly.

Thrasea clamped his mouth shut tightly, turning pleading eyes to Phaedra as she and Thane approached. “Never mind, Abbas,” she said. “I was going to tell him anyway.”

“Darling what?” Hasani repeated now glaring at Bahar.

“I will explain it… but not in the middle of the street,” Phaedra said taking Thane’s hand. “Abbas, this is Thane.”

The old man’s eyes widened as he took Thane’s hand in both of his and shook it slowly. “Of course, the gladiator prince. We miss your fights.”

“It is an honor to meet you, sir,” Thane replied bowing at the waist. He scanned the small garden and motioned to the house. “If we could move inside, I think it would be best.”

“Oh, yes,” Thrasea gasped. “What a fool I am. Come… come.” He turned around and held the door for them. “I will have my servants bring in your things. It is a beautiful day; we can sit in the garden and have something to eat. You must all be hungry. Sentius! Sentius! Where the devil is that boy? Sentius!”

A young man, perhaps eighteen or nineteen scurried from around a corner at a run. When he saw the houseguests, he stopped abruptly almost losing his balance. His eyes scanned them quickly but then went wide when they landed on Thane.

“Merciful gods,” he whispered, crossing his fingers. “It is the prince!”

“None of that,” Thrasea muttered, shooing the boy back. “The wagon needs to be emptied, and Hasani’s man taken to the servant’s quarters. Hop, damn it!” The boy nodded distractedly and bobbed out of the room. Before anyone could say anything, Thrasea lifted his long white robe and turned down a long hallway. “This way.”

Once in the garden, Thrasea called for yet another servant, a bent old woman with a shock of white hair and bright eyes, and ordered food and drink brought.

When they were settled, he sat and slapped his knees, then held his hands out to the two girls. “Thank Zeus you are both all right. Since you did not show up three days ago as Hasani and I had discussed, I thought the worst. But here you are!”

Phaedra pulled her hand away and raised an eyebrow at Hasani. “You could have told us sooner.”

The pirate shrugged, and the sides of his mouth curled up. “Would it have made a difference? It is all about results. Here you are safe and secure with Thrasea. Not another worry in the world.” He winked at the senator and nodded. “I promised I would bring them unharmed to you. I believe we have a deal…”

“Yes, yes, yes,” said Thrasea getting up. “I need to go to my room. Food should be here soon. When I come back we will complete our business.” Heading out the door, he stopped and smiled back at them. “Here you are!” he said to the girls and chuckled shaking his fists at his sides.

When he was gone, Thane took a menacing step to Hasani and reached out to grab his tunic, but the pirate was quick and dodged out of the way to the other side of the bench. “You ass!” Thane bellowed. “You knew all along who we were! I should throttle you where you stand.” He made another menacing step, and Hasani moved behind the girls.

“How did I know you were who you said you were? I had to be particularly careful. Besides, it all came out all right. Here you are, and here they are, all friends.”

“You tied me and Bahar to the oars, you son of a pig. I should break your neck for that alone. You could have killed her!”

Hasani threw a scowl at Bahar. “Her,” he said folding his arms. “I should have known. Is it true?” he demanded.

Bahar looked at her sister and Thane then took a step back to give herself room. Turning her back to them, she opened her tunic, released the bindings and threw them into a pile by the bench. Pulling the material back into place, she yanked the ribbon holding her hair and let the curls flow down her back. Reaching into the fountain next to them, she scooped up a handful of water and scrubbed her face, drying it with the sleeve of her tunic.

When she finally turned around, her cheeks rubbed to ruby red, her dark curls soft about her now beautiful eyes, the tunic tight around her curves, Phaedra gasped. It had been so long since she had seen her sister like this; as feminine and lovely as any woman she had ever seen. The transformation made Hasani whistle, and Thane sit down in shock.

“By the gods,” Hasani whispered, his face, for the first time since Phaedra had met him, truly struck to honesty. “You are beautiful.”

She tilted her chin down, and Phaedra watched a bright blush paint her cheeks. Standing up, she went to Bahar and pulled her into her arms. “Hello, sister,” she whispered in her ear.

Bahar started to laugh and buried her head in Phaedra’s shoulder.

“Did you know this?” Hasani asked Thane.

“No,” he stated flatly.

“Good,” Hasani replied sitting next to him. “I would never have known.”

“They have had a lifetime to practice the deception. Now I suppose you will use the information to extract more coin from Abella’s pocket.”

Hasani shrugged without taking his eyes off her. “Not me. For a woman to handle a sword as she does, to fight like that… I would give my fortune to have an army of women like her… and at such a young age…” He stopped and stood. “You
are
fifteen?”

“Yes,” Bahar responded and sat with her sister.

Phaedra searched Hasani’s face, wanting to trust him, but afraid to. “Thane is right,” she said seriously. “You must swear to me this secret stays within these walls…”

“On my word…”

“Not good enough, Egypt,” Thane growled. “Something else…”

Hasani sat down and rubbed his chin, pushing his lips to one side. “Unfortunately, I have very little to recommend as an oath.” He looked up and snapped his fingers. “I have it!” Getting down on one knee before Bahar, he took her hand and placed two fingers against his forehead. “Upon my love of the sea, I swear to you that your secret will never leave these lips to another living soul.” He leered at her, lifting one side of his mouth. “For such a beauty, pledging my fidelity is the least I would do to you… I mean for you.”

Thane launched off the bench, and Hasani was up instantly, his hands up backing away. “A joke, gladiator. A joke!”

“Your jokes are going to kill you one day, pirate,” Thane spat.

“I have no doubt of it.” He turned around to Bahar and bowed very deeply. “My apologies, lady. Your loveliness has stolen by breath.” Taking her hand in his, he kissed it gently.

Chapter XXX

Dinner arrived soon after Thrasea did, and he would not hear any serious discussion until they all had their fill of both food and wine. The dishes were finally cleared away, and one of the servants lighted the torches as the sun began to set.

“It is fortuitous you have arrived tonight, Thane,” Thrasea said sipping at a goblet of wine. The others were talking across the garden, laughing at something Hasani had said. “It was only this morning that I received this.” Reaching into the front of his tunic, he pulled out a scroll and unrolled it. “It is from the
praetorian prefect
himself, Faenius Rufus,” he added with deference. “Your Queen Delia must have friends in very high places. The prefect apparently has spared no expense to try to find your children. Here…” He handed the scroll to Thane who touched it as if it were on fire.

“Forgive me, senator. I do not read.”

“Oh, dear. How indelicate of me. Of course…” He unfurled the parchment and held it to catch the sparse torchlight.

“Senator Thrasea,

It has come to my attention that a certain mutual associate of ours is in need of our help. Bandit slavers have taken his two daughters and brought them to sell in Rome. I know you will understand why I do not use his name for fear of retribution. I have taken the liberty of putting one of my best onto the problem and have discovered the following:

The oldest child, Anwen by name, has been taken to the House of Prisca of Ambracia. There she has been presented to the principal of the pleasure arts. From what we can gather, they will match her to a proper male tutor at the end of this week for her physical training, not to be too indelicate.

The youngest child, Mabyn, has been sold, freed then adopted by a former praetorian by the name of Tequelian. You might remember him from that sordid affair over Caligula’s death. I have sent messages to him, but have not received a reply. He and his wife have taken the child to replace a girl they lost to a drowning last year. They live in the southwest of the city near the
Circus Maximus
.

I have no other information and my agent has been called away. It was difficult obtaining this small amount.

Best,

P.P. Faenius.”

Thane stiffened next to the senator, terrified for his young daughter. A brothel… it was worse than he could have imagined. He glanced at the sisters talking to Hasani, and panic seized him. He had to get to his children, now… tonight.

“I have drawn a map here for both places, Prince,” Thrasea said, handing him a folded wax tablet. “The praetorian should give you no problem, though I can think of no reason for him to disregard the prefect’s requests. Prisca, on the other hand, has a bad reputation. Men have died inside that house; whether they deserved it is not known. It is said she is a friend and confidante of Nero’s,” he added very quietly. “If you repeat that, I will deny I said it. These are very dangerous times. Be wary of Prisca. Though she may be diminutive in stature and soft of speech, she wields a great deal of power with both the elite and the darker elements of this city. She has aligned herself with senators and bandits alike. She understands only the sound of gold in a purse. If your daughter is in her clutches, I will pray to the gods for you. Only their intervention will save her, I am afraid.” He reached to the belt of his robe and pulled out a fat bag. “Here,” he said, pressing it into Thane’s hands. “It should help you to buy your daughter back, but be cautious; Prisca would just as soon rob you than accept the gold by more honorable means.”

Thane got up, and the senator clasped his arm.

“You have been so kind…” Thane whispered glancing back at his companions, “but I need a horse.”

“Of course. The stable is out the door and to the right. You may take whichever one pleases you. That you have delivered my children to me… Is there nothing more I can give you?”

“No, senator. Just your prayers.”

“You have them. Good luck, my boy.”

Without saying anything or even giving Phaedra a glance, Thane left the garden as quickly as he dared.

He knew it was time he took matters into his own hands. Phaedra and Bahar were here now with Thrasea. If he survived, he would return. If not, they would be safe and that was all that mattered. Hasani would ensure that no harm came to them. Regardless of how he felt about the pirate, he knew the man would find a way to keep them from harm. A pang of regret broiled in his gut when it occurred to him that protecting them should be his role.

He took comfort in the fact that soon he would see his children. The trepidation of losing them tore a hole in his middle.

The bent old woman who had served them at dinner sat in a rickety chair next to the door snoring. He grabbed his cloak from the many that hung against the brightly colored cement wall and wrapped it around his shoulders, glancing behind him to make sure no one followed. Stepping quietly, he walked past the sleeping woman and out the door.

The early evening air reeked of musk and people, so different from the smell of his country. Loss triggered inside his heart; he missed his freedom, his girls, his people and the life he had lost upon the ill-fated battleground so long ago. To return to that life was a dream he would not allow himself… ever. Those thoughts permitted the mind crushing realities to cave in on his senses. This was only a small respite, noting more. He was a slave, a gladiator, and would be forever. That was all there was, nothing more.