Kiminax tossed and turned in her cot, what little candlelight there was flickering across the walls of her underground cell. It wasn’t the ticks or the rough straw biting into her that kept her from sleep; she used to join the hunters of her tribe regularly, and was accustomed to sleeping in the rough.
The difference between those days and now being that this time, she found herself worrying about someone else.
Sure, she knew Shiko was more than capable of taking care of herself, and that-
“There are no fires, or people screaming,” a voice optimistically said through the bars of an adjacent cell. “That’s gotta count for something.”
“That’s right,” Kiminax replied, before hesitating. “Er… Ronnicus, right?”
“That’s my name, don’t wear it out!”
“Oy, corny!” a small voice squeaked.
“Oh, what do you know about making introductions?” Ronnicus asked, annoyed. “You bit a guy in the gluteus maximus!”
“You two always like this?” a bemused Kiminax asked, smiling despite herself.
“Huh? Uh, no, I guess- well, sorta,” Ronnicus said. “I only got this little guy a few days ago. His name’s Rufus.”
“I kinda gathered that,” Kiminax said. “Thanks for the assist this afternoon, by the way.”
“Hey, no problem, right Rufus?”
“Awww,” Rufus said, the tone of his voice making it obvious that he was blushing.
“I was thanking you too, Ron- can I call you Ron?”
“Sure,” Ronnicus said, before hesitating. “Uh… I can’t remember your name, though, sorry.”
“I don’t think I mentioned it,” Kiminax said. “I’m Kiminax,” she said.
“And I’m- well, uh, I guess you know who I am,” Ronnicus said.
“You’re hard to forget, Ron,” Kiminax said.
“Huh, for you, maybe,” Ronnicus said bitterly.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but people tend to forget my name a lot. Except for Bonita, and I don’t know if that’s a good thing.”
“Bonita? That brown haired girl from this afternoon? Bad thing, trust me,” Kiminax said sourly, a moment before something occurred to her. “Uh… Ron?”
“Yuh-huh?”
“How’d you know I was worried? You weren’t watching me try to sleep, were you?”
“What? No!” Ronnicus said, before-
“I highly doubt it,” a voice interrupted, this one coming from a hole in Kiminax’s ceiling. “Like me, he was kept awake by how much noise you were making.”
“Sorry.”
“Your first day here?”
“Uh, yeah,” Kiminax said, wondering who this new speaker was.
“First day jitters,” the voice replied authoritatively, although judging by the voice, the speaker could not have been anything more than a child. “It happens to everybody. Don’t sweat it.”
“It’s not first day jitters- at least, not all of it,” Kiminax admitted.
“So, what is it then?”
“Uh, I don’t want to interrupt,” Ronnicus said, “but Kiminax-”
“Kim,” Kiminax said. If she was going to call him Ron, she might as well extend the favor.
“Uh, Kim,” Ronnicus said, grateful that the dim light hid just how much he was blushing, “I mean, Kim doesn’t have to tell you anything, you know, keeping private business, well, private. No offense dude, but she doesn’t know you so well.”
“Don’t worry Ron,” Kiminax said, “I’ve come this far, might as well go on.” Turning upwards to face the unseen speaker, she said, “Well, you see, there was this girl…”
“Girl? Shiko?” Ronnicus asked. “She’s no girl!”
“I’ll have to agree with Ronnicus here,” the unseen speaker said, his tone becoming more eager. “I was in the kitchens when the fight started, and I saw everything. To tell the truth, she’s pretty good, better than most of the male gladiators- but you didn’t hear me say that.”
“Not like I could,” Kiminax said. “I don’t know who your name.”
“Oops,” the speaker said. “Didn’t Ronnicus say?’
“Dude, you were here the whole time,” Ronnicus chided.
“Sorry ‘bout that- I kinda spazz out sometimes. I’m Al-Wadjet. Nice to meet you, Kim.”
“Nice to meet you,” Kiminax said. “Al-Wadjet- it doesn’t sound Roman.”
“It isn’t,” Ronnicus said. “Wadjet’s Egyptian.”
“Used to be a priest in training,” Al-Wadjet said, “but got thrown out, on account of the priests not too keen on having someone who actually used their heart to think. But enough about me,” he said, “I thought you were going to tell us about that girl you came in with.”
“Well-”
(scene change)
“-well, well,” Dracus whistled, as he saw who had just entered the room clad in what he thought was a very fetching green stola and black palla ensemble.
“Stow it, Dracus,” Shiko said, although her heart wasn’t really in the insult; after all, a house this luxuriously furnished was bound to distract anybody. The decadence rivaled that of even the wealthiest Roman, maybe even Caesar himself.
So what was it doing in the possession of a mere General? Not only that, but the price of hiring all the craftsmen and getting all the materiel responsible for this luxury out here in the middle of nowhere had to cost quite a pretty sesterce.
Shiko sniffed. It was obvious that her master had rose, if not in rank, then definitely in wealth.
“I suppose you have a report for me?” Dracus asked, beckoning another slave to pour him a drink.
“Yeah duh, I’ve got a report for you,” Shiko snapped, annoyed at her master’s apparent nonchalance. “The Moesians-”
“Don’t matter anymore,” Dracus said, as lazily as before.
“What? What do you mean they don’t matter?” Shiko asked, incredulous. “I spent all this time trying to pass myself off as a native, risk death by spying on my own people, not to mention getting captured as a slave- a slave, Dracus!” she said, “and being hauled back to Rome in chains- was all for nothing!”
“Yup,” Dracus said happily, seemingly oblivious of the knife edge he was walking. “You see, Shiko, I’ve got a new plan-”
“Oh, so do I, Dracus,” Shiko growled. “It involves you, me, and Pain,” she said, the capital letter quite audible.
“Uh, Shiko, let’s not be too hasty-”
“Hasty? Oh, I’m not going to be hasty,” Shiko said, unholy relish in her voice. “In fact, I’ll make sure to go reeealslow on you.”
“You haven’t even heard my plan yet!” Dracus said, holding up his hands.
“And you haven’t heard mine, but that’s not going to stop me now, is it?”
“Is this how the Romans allow their slaves to treat them?” a haughty voice asked from the room’s entrance. “Perhaps it would be best if I rethink our agreement, before allying myself with someone so weak,” he added as he stepped into the room, revealing a bald man, his face heavy with makeup, an expensive linen robe upon him.
“What? No, no, my friend,” Dracus said, his voice instantly changing from sheer terror to fawning ingratiation. “I was simply indulging my best slave- I wasn’t going to let her actually hurt me. What can I say, I’m a softy at heart.”
“Hmm, yes,” the newcomer said, not sounding convinced. “In any case, no matter how trusted she is, I cannot have her overhear what we must discuss-”
“Yeah right,” Shiko said, her hands on her hips. “What Dracus hears, I hear, or no go, yo.”
“Heheh, er, what my slave,” Dracus said meaningfully, “means to say is that since she owes me her life,” another meaningful statement, while Shiko made ‘bla, bla, bla’ gestures with her hands and mouth, “she can be fully trusted with anything we are about to discuss tonight.”
“Are you sure, Dracus?”
“I’d bet my life on it.”
“You’re betting both our lives on it, Dracus,” the newcomer replied. It was obvious that he was still unconvinced, but also that he had no choice but to go along. “Does she have a name, or will ‘slave’ suffice?”
“I don’t know,” Shiko snapped back. “How about you, pal? What’s your name, or should I call you-”
“His name’s Amun-khefis, Shiko,” Dracus said hurriedly, before Shiko could say another word, “and, despite his name, is not a priest of Amun, but a priest of Thoth.”
“The head priest of Thoth, to be exact,” Amun-khefis said, looking upon Shiko with distaste.
“Thoth? Isn’t that the name of some monkey god, or something?”
“Baboon,” Amun-khefis said, as the temperature in the room dropped several degrees. “He is the Egyptian god of wisdom.”
Shiko folded her arms. “Gee, that explains a lot,” she said sotto voce.
But not sotto voce enough, apparently. “Dracus, did you bring me here to waste Egypt’s time, money- my patience,” he said, giving Shiko a pointed look, “or was there actually a purpose to this?”
“I assure you, O most holy one,” Dracus said, as a visionary gleam came into his eye, “that is the last thing on my mind…”
(scene change)
“That’s the last thing on my mind!” Kiminax said, horrified.
“Like you have a choice,” Ronnicus said. “If the crowd wants you to kill, you kill. Or they’ll have you killed.”
“But- but-” Kiminax stuttered. “I can’t just kill in cold blood!”
“In that case, your only chance’s to put up a good show.”
“What?” Kiminax asked, bewildered.
“Just like I said, you put on a good enough show, they’ll let both of you live, otherwise…”
“Is that all human life is worth to Romans?” Kiminax asked, aghast. “Entertainment?”
“Hey, it’s a living,” Ronnicus said with forced ease.
“No it’s not, and you know it, and so does Kim,” Al-Wadjet said. “It’s just that we have no choice.”
“No choice?” Kiminax asked.
“Nope,” Al-Wadjet said. “In case you haven’t noticed, we’re all slaves here, all bought from some slave market or other.”
“That’s right, slaves,” Ronnicus said, an odd catch in his voice going unnoticed.
“That makes us what Romans call us the damnatii,” Al-Wadjet continued bitterly. “You know what’s the first thing they’ll teach you tomorrow?”
“What?”
“The gladiator’s oath, what they say to Caesar and the audience before the fight begins. It goes like this: ‘We who are about to die salute you.’ Cheerful, isn’t it?”
“Hate it much?” Kiminax asked.
“You won’t believe how many of my friends left this school, only to never come back,” Al-Wadjet said sadly. “And every time that happens, I imagine them saying that right before… before…”
“Hey man, don’t sweat it,” Ronnicus said quietly. “I’ve lost friends too, you know.”
“Hello, I’m right here!” Kiminax said.
“Sorry about that, Kim,” Al-Wadjet said. There was a short lull in the conversation, before Al-Wadjet said, “You’re worried about her, aren’t you?”
Kiminax nodded. “Shouldn’t I be? If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t be standing here right now.”
“Well… come to think about it, no and yes.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, from what I’ve seen, she can definitely take care of herself. If Dracus tries anything funny with her, I’ll bet you he’ll be walking with a limp tomorrow. You definitely don’t have to worry about Dracus doing anything nasty to her, I can guarantee that.”
“And the ‘yes’ part?”
“See above. It doesn’t take a genius to see she’s definitely gladiator material one way or another, and if that’s true, chances are you’ll have to fight her sooner or later.”
“I can’t do that!” Kiminax said hotly, before continuing in a quieter tone, “She’s my friend.”
“Than as Ronnicus said: put up a good show,” Al-Wadjet said. “It’s the only hope for both of you.”
(scene change)
“It’s the only hope that Rome’s got!” Dracus proclaimed, gesticulating wildly. “Can’t you see that?”
“No, what you mean to say is that it’s the only hope you’ve got,” Shiko snapped back. “It’s crazy, Dracus! You’re crazy!”
“Yes, exactly!” Dracus said, his eyes wild with ambition. “It’s too crazy not to work!”
Amun-khefis had left the villa several hours earlier, having left an exulted Dracus Maximus and a stunned Shiko in his wake to argue through the early hours of dawn.
“It won’t work!” Shiko said.
“It will! It has!” Dracus replied, equally hotly. “Come on, Shiko, can’t you see it working?”
“That’s the whole point! I can’t! Sheesh, Dracus, whatever happened to marching your troops into the Senate and proclaiming yourself dictator for life?”
“One, that’s so 45 BC, and two, it’s not like I have an army willing to back me up!”
“Hmm, I wonder why? Maybe it has something to do with the legions you lost against those Judean rebels?”
“They caught me by surprise-”
“-in an open field-”
“-and I was outnumbered-”
“-almost four thousand legionnaires against three hundred rebels-”
“-and they had better training than the fools I was given!”
“-Roman legionnaires against two groups of rebels who, just days before, were fighting over who were the real freedom fighters: The Judean People’s Front or the People’s Front Of Judea.”
The two of them stood staring each other eye to eye, when Dracus, being unable to take Shiko’s emerald-hard stare anymore, said, “So, you in this, or out?”
“…ah, what the Hades, I’m in,” she said. “Just to see what happens to you when you screw up.”
“Good, then it’s settled- I’ll begin the first phase of the plan tomorrow. As for you…”
Author’s HIstorical Note: Ancient Egyptians believed that the heart, not the brain, was the centre of thought and emotion, a school of thought enforced by the thoughts of Aristotle brought by the Greek-born Hellenistic conquerors.