The Chariots Slave (14 page)

“Why are you still asleep? The sun has been out for an
hour or so!” He barked as he kicked at Sellah’s foot. She
slowly opened one eye, and when she saw it was him, she
panicked and sat up. After a moment of fear rendering her
useless, she quickly folded the horse blanket and jumped up.
Nearly tripping over her own feet as she ran to the stable
shelves to put the blanket away.

Yet Thaddius did not leave; he stayed and watched her
every move.
She lowered her head and addressed him. “Apologies, I
am still accustomed to the schedule of the bath house. I will
tend to the horses now.”
She picked up a rod in her shaky hands and set right to
work cleaning out the first of the horse stalls.



“If you will be staying here, we had better get you a proper
blanket.” He watched as she fumbled with the rod, barely
able to keep it in her grasp. Sellah tightened her grip with her
other hand braced herself against the side of the stall. Taking
three deep breaths, she turned to address him.
“Yes, that would be nice.”
Satisfaction caused a smile to creep over his face as he
studied the tension in her form which betrayed her forced
smile. “When you are done here, come to me. I have another
task for you.”
“Yes
Dominus
.”
“Good, you have finally remembered my title,” he chided
as he turned to leave.

It took every ounce of reserve Sellah had not to throw the
rod at him. Oh how she would love to see him pay for his
rude behaviour, just once. When she was certain Thaddius
was gone, she went over to Diana, who had her muzzle over
the gate of her pen.

Sellah’s newly blistered fingers found comfort in the
mare’s course mane. “Diana, I do not know how you put up
with that monster.”

Just as she had when they first met, Diana blew hot air out
of her nostrils and into Sellah’s face. Sellah laughed as she
wiped her face into the mare’s neck.



heat of the day. But Sellah didn’t mind, the horses made
better company than most of the people in the domus.

She rinsed her hands in the water trough and splashed
some water on her face. She was dirty and smelly, sleeping in
the hay with the horses hadn’t helped that. However, she was
much cleaner than she would have been if she had been
forced to spend the night with Thaddius and his two escorts.

A laugh escaped her throat as she realized how lucky she
had been to be banished to the stables.
After taking a few moments to rest, she left to find
Thaddius. He was exactly where she thought he would be, at
the circus training his driver. He had spent the whole morning
there since leaving her to muck the stables. When he saw her
approaching, he walked across the track to meet her.
“See those sacks over there?” He pointed to a pile near the
gate. “I want you to carry them into the stables and stack
them in an empty stall.”
He had not even taken the time to greet her or offer her
water. It was straight to the point with him. Sellah couldn’t
decide if he was distracted with training or just being
discourteous, he was distant and his eyes never met hers.
“You want me to carry all those sacks?” she finally asked.
He did not respond to her and instead ran to the driver and
his cart as they swerved off the track. “No, you are holding
the reins wrong!” Thaddius yelled as he stormed over to the
driver. “How do you expect to control the cart if you lose
your balance?” He waited for the man to answer but was met
with a nervous stutter.
Sellah watched him for a brief moment before turning to
the mound of grain sacks she had been instructed to move.

“Here let me show you,” Thaddius snapped as he snatched
the reins out of the man’s hands and pulled himself up into
the cart. The familiarity of the worn wood and viewpoint over
the horses caused his heart to beat in excitement. He paused,
taking a moment to steady his growing desire and focus.

“See, you grip them with your left hand and you hold onto
the cart with your right. You try,” he instructed as he hopped
down, trying to put some distance between himself and his
body’s ache to drive.

As he watched his driver improve his technique around the
circus, his level of hope increased. If the man continued to
grow in ability each day, they would stand a chance against
the greens. He was a better teacher than he had thought he
would be.

The sounds of horse and cart approaching brought
Thaddius out of his trance-like focus. He turned to see
Vettius and Acestes move the horses to the side and watched
as Vettius stepped down from the cart. As he walked around
the back, Thaddius felt his pulse once again quicken with
excitement. His new drivers were here, and he was mere
moments away from meeting them.

When only one man followed after Vettius, he began to
feel a knot grow in the pit of his stomach.
“What is the meaning of this? You only have one driver?
Does he even have experience?” Every remnant of his
positive mood was now gone.
“My Lord, it was as if the Venalitti traders had been paid
not to sell any men to us. Everyone we asked said they had
no one suitable. We were lucky to come across this man. He



was the one who drove Sellah from the bath house. He heard
us inquiring around town for drivers and volunteered his
services. He has no chariot experience, but he drives a twohorse cart for a living,” Vettius explained.

Thaddius threw the leather strap he was holding to the
ground. “A two-horse cart is not comparable to a chariot.
They are nothing alike!” He stomped his foot like a little
child as he shouted.

Vettius waited patiently for Thaddius to finish his rant.
Finally he stopped stomping about, and a wave of serious
concern washed over him. “What am I to do? We all stand to
lose if the blues are not victorious.”

“I know, Thaddius. It concerns me also. But battles are not
won on concern. They are won on action. We must do all that
we can and hope that our men will be ready, come four
weeks’ time.”

Thaddius studied Vettius as he spoke. The man was right.
He must take his efforts from worry and put them into action.
He smiled at Vettius, thanking him with his eyes for settling
his spirit.

Despite how horribly Thaddius acted, Vettius had always
been kind. And it was times like these that Thaddius realized
what a gift a man like him was.

“What is Sellah doing?” Vettius asked when he noticed
her struggling to drag a sack of grain. “That must weigh more
than she does!”

Thaddius followed Vettius’s gaze to see Sellah using her
whole body trying to pull one simple sack. It was a humorous
sight to behold as girl wrestled with bag. “She is moving our
supplies into the stables.”



“Thaddius, you must realize that this is an impossible task
for her. She is not fully recovered from her beating.”
Vettius’s concern-filled eyes never left Sellah.
It seemed as though he couldn’t even take two breaths
before Vettius turned from aiding him to doubting him. And
it was always around the girl, his son’s girl.
“She does as I instructed. Either you stand back and watch
her struggle or you aid her. Those are your options,” he said
as he kicked at the leather strap on the ground, trying to avoid
Vettius’s disappointed gaze.
The sound of soft footsteps on the dirt caused Thaddius to
look up. Vettius had left him and was headed toward Sellah.
Of course he chose to aid the girl. He turned awkwardly to
his new driver who stood left alone before him.
The man did not look like much, but he was all Thaddius
had. “Come let us pick out a lead horse and a cart for you.
We have much work ahead of us.” Thaddius let out a sigh as
he walked toward the stables.
He did not turn to see if the man followed, his attention
was elsewhere. It was focused on Vettius and Sellah
struggling together with one sack.

cold evening breeze seeped into the stables. No blanket had
been delivered to her, so she huddled into the corner with a
horse cover draped around her shoulders.

The door opened, bringing with it another dose of the cold
wind. Soft footsteps pressed upon the hay floor as a small
form made its way toward her.

“Sellah?” Accalia called out as she searched the moonlit
stables for her friend.
“I’m over here!”
“Oh Sellah, Vettius told me you have been instructed to
stay here. I was worried when you did not come to the
women’s quarters last night — and then I didn’t see you all
day. I thought that Thaddius might have…. Well, I can’t
believe this, Sellah, I just can’t.” Accalia sat on the bale of
hay next to Sellah and wrapped a blanket around her
shoulders.
“Has he given you any food or water?”



“I had some bread sent to me this evening,” Sellah smiled,
hoping to calm Accalia and keep her from worrying.
“Some bread? That won’t do. You need to keep up your
strength. Here eat this,” Accalia said as she reached into her
cloak and pulled out a wrapped package. Sellah eyed the
bundle before opening it to reveal a large piece of salted
meat.
“Where did you get this?” Sellah asked as she greedily
started into the tender flesh.
“It was left over from Thaddius’s table… I didn’t want it
to go to waste.” She saw Sellah’s eyes widen.
The door to the stables opened again and a dark figure
illuminated by a small lamp, slipped in. “You do not have
light?” The warm, fatherly voice of Vettius greeted the girls.
“Unfortunately the stables do not offer such privileges,”
Sellah joked.
“Then it is a good thing I brought you candles!”
Sellah shifted in her seat, reaching up to grab the candles
from Vettius’s outstretched arm. A stabbing pain up her side
reminded her that her muscles were sore from the strenuous
work of the day. She had barely managed to move five sacks,
and still another twenty or so awaited her tomorrow.
Brushing aside the aches she smiled while she lit a candle on
the flame of his oil lamp.
“Oh Sellah, I just hate seeing you like this,” Accalia said
as they watched Vettius fashion a seat for himself on one of
the grain sacks.
“It is not so bad. The horses can be good company.” The
light of the candle reflected off her face, causing the crease of
her brow to darken in the shadows.
Accalia’s worried eyes searched Sellah’s, and she

“I will go to Thaddius tomorrow and request him to let
you stay in the women’s quarters,” Vettius offered as he
nodded his head at Accalia in understanding.

Sellah lifted her chin to look at her friend. “It is really all
right. There is a certain freedom to being with the horses.”
She tried her best to sound convincing.

“Nevertheless, I will ask,” Vettius pressed.
Sellah smiled as she stood and made her way over to
Diana. The horse had begun stomping her foot and shaking

her mane. And it seemed as though she were trying to talk by
the way she chattered her teeth and released a deep throated
whine.

“What is it Diana, why are you interrupting us?” Sellah
calmly talked to the mare while rubbing her neck.
Vettius studied Sellah as he watched the exchange.
“Does she always act so?”
“I think she is convinced she is not a horse,” Sellah
laughed as she opened the stable door and led Diana over to
the group. The horse offered no resistance when she pulled
on the lead, pressing her to lay down.

Vettius was plainly surprised at how Diana rested so
willingly beside Sellah. “She must trust you.”
Sellah ran her hand over the coarse hair on Diana’s snout
as she thought over Vettius’s unexpected comment. “Why do
you say that?”
“It is rare for a horse to lay down, especially that horse.
She is usually anxious around people.” When he finished