Tanys Gladiatrix (The Chronicles of Tanys Book 2) (9 page)

Tanys' fists balled tightly at her sides, and she trembled more with anger than blood loss.

"That's really not..." Haru said.

"Name your price!" It was the Prince who spoke. The pale satyr still sat, watching Tanys with his cold blue eyes. Tanys stared back.

"My Lord," Haru said, "I don't know what to say..."

"Thirty thousand would be a fair price, don't you think, Malchesse?" the Duke said.

"A fair price," the black satyr consented, as though the words pained him.

"I'll pay it then," the Prince said, "She's yours now, Malchesse. I expect that the next time I see her, she will have been taught her place." The Prince stood and swept from the room, leaving them all in stunned silence.

"Certainly, my Prince," the Malchesse said, a cruel smile spreading on his thin lips, "It will be done."

Tanys managed one brief look over her shoulder as the guards dragged her screaming from the room. Haru was watching her with an expression of utter helplessness as the Duke wrapped his arm around Haru's shoulders, laughing at some private jest.

Tanys awoke to the splash of cold water over her naked body. She was still chained to the floor of the stone cell where she had spent the past three days and nights. The brutally efficient Malchesse medic had erased nearly every trace of the wounds Brecia had inflicted on her body, though his groping had been far less tender than Danella's healing touch. It was not the medic that faced her now, empty bucket in hand, but Varkaa.

"Did I wake you?" the scar-faced gladiatrix laughed.

"I should thank you," Tanys said, "The sight of your face made me forget whatever nightmare I was having before this."

Varkaa turned the bucket over, placing it upside down on the floor a short distance from Tanys and sat on it like a stool, her long legs splayed apart shamelessly before Tanys. "I'm happy you can still joke about your situation," Varkaa said, "It shows that you don't yet realize how fucked you are, and I wanted to be the one that showed you."

Tanys struggled into a seated position, her wrists shackled to the floor between her legs by a short chain. She looked around the empty cell. "You didn't bring your dogs with you this time?" Tanys asked.

Varkaa's eyes flashed. "It's just you and me now," she said, "I'll send the medic in later to fix whatever I break. He's quite good, you know... really enjoys his work."

"If he's the one who fixed your face, I'd just as soon stay broken."

Varkaa leapt to her feet, dealing Tanys a savage backhand blow across the cheek. Tanys strained against her chains, but they were too securely bolted to the floor. She braced herself for what was to come, her eyes focused intently on the opposite wall.

"Well," Tanys said, "get on with it."

Varkaa laughed, a harsh, mocking sound. The scarred gladiatrix set her feet slightly apart, her muscles flexed, and she began driving blow after blow into Tanys' unyielding body.

Tanys pushed her mind down inside a tight cocoon of hate, the pain of the flesh held back by a red wall of rage. Varkaa's attacks came like buffeting winds that passed over and left her reeling. Varkaa's strikes grew stronger with the intensity of her frustration as Tanys showed no reaction to the brutal beating. Finally Varkaa sobbed in rage, smashed her fist into Tanys' head with all of her strength. It was the sound of breaking fingers that left the trace of a smile on Tanys' face as she slumped, unconscious to the floor.

The sting of a damp cloth on her cheek wakened Tanys from a dream of formless pain. She struggled to open her eyes but could only see through a narrow slit. Baran leaned over her, tending her wounds. His handsome face wore a dark expression, something between anger and sorrow. Tanys could feel her body, though it hurt so much she almost wished she could not. She was lying prone upon some sort of cot, covered by a thin blanket. Her wrists were rubbed raw, but the shackles were gone.

"Where?" Tanys tried to speak, but her lips felt ill suited for forming words.

"You are in the House Malchesse," Baran answered. His voice sounded ashamed. "I'm so sorry, Tanys. I came as soon as I heard you'd been brought here."

Tanys tried to lift her hand to her face, but Baran stopped her.

"Just lie still," he said, "Don't worry, we can fix you up."

Tanys muttered something in protest, but all that came out was, "...that damned medic."

Baran laughed. "No, I'm not letting that old goat near you again. Naietta and I can do a pretty good patch up job on someone when we have to."

"Naietta?"

A noise sounded from nearby, a soft, meek grunt in the wordless voice of a girl. Tanys strained, turning her head slightly to see the girl that knelt behind Baran, attending him. She was a slim girl of narrow hips but largish breasts, with long dark hair and pretty brown eyes. She would have been a picture of absolute loveliness, had not every inch of her pale skin been marred by a crosshatching of old scars. She wore no slave ring in either breast, though it was immediately obvious that she had at one time, and that they had been forcibly removed in the most brutal manner possible. Tanys' heart ached at the evidence of cruelties the girl must have endured. She nodded toward the girl and received a smile in return.

"She cannot speak," Baran said, "but her heart is good. A truer friend you will not find in the house of the Malchesse."

Tanys stretched out her hand to Naietta, and the girl took it, beaming wordlessly.

"How..." Tanys coughed, spitting a bit of clotted blood from her mouth before continuing, "How do I get out of here?"

Baran and Naietta looked at each other. Naietta's eyes looked sorrowful. Baran only smiled. "You're not going anywhere... at least not right now."

Tanys struggled to rise, but bright specks of light swam in her vision, and she lay back again. She looked at the ceiling of the stone cell and envisioned a number of creative ways to divest Varkaa of her wretched life.

"Don't worry about anything, Tanys," Baran said, "You're under my protection now, and the first thing we're going to do is get you back in fighting shape."

"After that?" Tanys sighed, her eyes turning to Baran again.

"After that... I make you into the greatest fighter that ever lived."

Tanys had no means of keeping track of time, and Baran refused to answer her queries regarding it. She could remember the passage of at least a week's worth of days, though, confined to her windowless cell as she was, that was only a rough guess. Baran was often away, but Naietta had taken to sleeping on a second cot that Baran had dragged into the cell. Tanys and the mute girl had become fast friends during their time together. The girl had proven most adept at miming the meaning of what she wanted to say, and Tanys found they were able to carry on a passable conversation, though Naietta spent most of the time listening.

It was on what Tanys reckoned to be her tenth morning in the cell that Naietta entered the room hiding a small bundle behind her back. The girl seemed to take great delight in pretending that Tanys could not see the cloth-wrapped package.

"What have you got there?" Tanys asked.

Naietta grinned wickedly and hopped onto the cot beside Tanys with the bundle secured beneath her rump.

"Naietta, what is it?"

The girl raised her palms upward with a confused, innocent look.

"Do I have to tickle you again to get some answers?" Tanys pounced on her, tickling mercilessly until the giggling girl at last relinquished her treasure, holding up a small brass mirror.

Tanys hesitated, not sure she wanted to look. Naietta smiled reassuringly, pushing the hand mirror toward Tanys' face.

The reflection showed Tanys her face, almost fully healed of the bruises and cuts left by Varkaa's beating. Tanys took the mirror and surveyed herself, finally satisfied that she would recover completely in a few more days. She laughed. "Well, Naietta, now that we're both looking pretty again, we should go out and find ourselves a jug of wine and a couple of boys."

Naietta flinched at Tanys' jest. The girl's eyes fell, a forced smile on her face.

"What's wrong?"

Naietta looked away, her delicate fingers balled into little fists in her lap.

"What is it?" Tanys insisted.

Naietta's eyes lifted for a moment and then looked away again. After a moment, she brought her hand up to indicate her face and then drew her finger like a blade across the scars she'd been given.

Tanys was silent for a moment before answering, "Oh, those little things! They show your strength. They prove you can survive the kind of things that would kill a weaker person. Where I come from, they are considered a mark of true beauty. The men of my tribe would fall all over themselves trying to win you. I bet I could get a whole herd of goats and three bear skins in trade for you."

Naietta snorted with laughter, her pretty eyes glistening.

"Seriously," Tanys said, "you are a very beautiful girl."

Naietta's smile quivered as tears rolled from her eyes. She leaned forward, wrapping Tanys in a warm hug that lasted a long time. Tanys patted the girl's hair and held her close. Until now, her foremost thought had been of escape with bloody vengeance upon Varkaa to be worked in wherever convenient. Now she knew that she would have to get Naietta out as well. She could not leave the girl behind to the cruelties of the Malchesse house.

The sound of the iron door bolt sliding back announced Baran's arrival. The handsome young warrior entered the room with a plate of food in hand, pausing at the threshold to smile at the sight of the two lovely women seated together on the cot.

"I see we're all in good spirits this morning!" he said, giving a puzzled look as Naietta wiped her eyes and stood.

"Naietta and I have decided to go out for drinks and dancing boys tonight." Tanys said, leaning back on her elbows with a sultry grin.

Baran's eyes fell to Tanys' magnificent breasts. His gaze lingered there for a moment, and then trailed down her body before glancing away at the gentle rebuke of her hastily crossed knees. "I'm afraid you are still confined to the grounds, but I can have some entertainment brought in... if you're feeling frisky."

Tanys smiled, biting her lip as her eyes performed a slow survey of his body in turn. "How well do you dance?" she asked.

"Better than you," he laughed, "but we're going to work on that."

Baran called Naietta over and gave her a few brief instructions, sending her out to make preparations of some sort. The girl smiled her goodbyes and scampered out, the unseen guard latching the bolt behind her. Baran moved to Tanys' bedside and passed her the plate, which held a small hunk of dark bread and a wooden mug filled with vegetable broth.

"That's it?" Tanys asked.

"You start training today."

"Then I'll need my strength."

Baran laughed. "I'm going to work you hard. If you eat anymore than that, you'll vomit all over the arena."

"You certainly know how to charm a girl," Tanys said, taking a bite of the bread. The crust was a bit tough but the center proved chewy and soft, tasting of toasted nuts.

"What were you and Naietta discussing?"

"Our escape plans," Tanys said, sipping the broth, "whether we should just knock you over the head and run for it, or if we should tie you up and take you with us. I'm afraid we'll be a bit demanding, once we've gotten away and have leisure to have our way with you."

Baran smiled, but it quickly faded into seriousness. "I know you mean to escape, but you have to be smart about this."

"What do you mean?"

"You have an opportunity to become a great gladiatrix. You could write your name in the annals of glory. What do you have to run away to? Would you be a vagabond killer working for a disgraced noble?"

"Freedom!" Tanys said, "At least I'd be free, instead of being locked up in a cell in a house full of people who want to kill me."

"Not all of us want to kill you."

Tanys frowned. "What did you mean about a disgraced noble?"

"Haru'Luk?" Baran said, "The faun is the disowned son of a bankrupt prince of an impoverished swamp tribe. How you wound up with a nobody like that is nothing short of astounding."

"But the Duke seemed to think he was something special," Tanys said.

"I can't understand that either," Baran mused, "Nothing about that situation makes any sense. Even the Malchesse has had him over for dinner a few times since the Prince's match."

"Haru was here? Did he ask about me?"

"I eat with the rest of the gladiators. How would I know?"

Tanys chewed her lip, a dark look on her face.

"You've been sold at the order of the Prince," Baran said, "Even if your master didn't want to sell you, he could have done nothing else. You are his no longer, but, in the arena, you are no one's slave."

"Outside of this fucking desert I'm no one's slave either! Why can't you see that?"

Baran looked away. His jaw tensed. "Why did you come to this fucking desert anyway?"

"I don't know," she said, "but I'm starting think that it just might have been a mistake."