Slave Girl 2: Chapter 70 (Patreon)

“Not heading straight home tonight?”  Julian asks as we make our way back to the farm after our full day.

“Just want to check on the new guy.”  I say.  “Make sure he’s settling in.”

“Raise a glass with us tonight?”

“Nah, sorry.  Not tonight.”

“Not tonight.”  Julian nudges Quique and a chuckle goes up amongst my men.

In his honey-tongued Hispanian accent he replies.  “If I had that sweet little slave waiting for me at home I wouldn’t be wasting my time with you ugly bastards either.”

We all laugh.  I might have said something but damned if what he said wasn’t the pure truth. I liked the guys and all but…yeah.  Between them and Rosa it was no contest.

“Cassie didn’t come home until late last night.”  Lucas says with a side eye my way.  “Went straight to her room when she did.”

“You might want to leave your sister’s business alone.”  I say.  “If you don’t want another rap to the noggin.”

He smiles and rubs his head where Cassie had bonked him the other day.  “You two are getting along?”

I let out a sigh.  I didn’t really want to talk about this with Lucas but it couldn’t be avoided.  “Yeah.  We are.  She stayed for a very nice supper last night.”

His smile widens.  “She’s a good woman Quin.”

“Ha!  What happened to all that pretty boy, lover boy talk?”

“Aw, that was before I knew ya Quin.  You’re alright.”  He says, then quickly adds.  “But if ya hurt her I’ll beat your ass back to where it came from.”

“And I’ll deserve it.”  I hold my hands up in surrender.

Our group melds with two others and the usual banter of men among men starts up.  We get teased for being green and falling behind and we give it right back for the amount of weeds they’d had amongst their bushels.  We give as good as we take and soon the topic moves on.  As the others get embroiled in a debate of Arabian vs Southern Hispanian horses, Quique and Oeneus the most vocal in support of their homeland’s proud steeds, Gyasi pulls me away to lead me to their bunk house.

As we approach we see the man I had come to check on sitting on the rough wooden steps that lead up into the shared dwelling.  He sat with his hands cupped around a mug as he watched the men come in from the fields.  When he spots us he gets to his feet.  At a distance I could see that Toke stood apart among the rest, not simply for his height and distinctive northern features but also in the energy he carried.  He was not standoffish but neither did he invite conversation.  His posture and expression showed no overt display of power yet exuded a controlled confidence.  This was a man who was as at ease surrounded by friends, among enemies, or simply with his own thoughts to keep him company.

“Master Quintus.”  He says and offers his hand.  We shake again.

“You can call me Quin.”

“Indeed.”

I nod to the open doorway.  “You’re all set up?”

“Yes.”  He says and raises his mug.  “I was well looked after.  These are good people.  Thank you Master Quintus.”

“Don’t mention it.  You’ll be ready for work tomorrow?”

“I am ready.”

I look back the way he was looking across the yard where the hungry men are passing by on the way to the river to clean up before grub and to the fields beyond and my forest in the distance.  “What do you think?  A bit different than the city.”

“Mmm.  It is clean here.”

I take a deep breath and let it out.  “Yeah.  The fresh air will do you wonders.”

“It is more than the air.”  He says as his gaze follows a crew who are laughing and slapping one of their members on the back about something they’d just jested with him about.  “I had almost forgotten this exists.”

“Those city walls do more than keep the barbarians at bay.”  Gyasi says as he offers his hand as well.  “I am Gyasi.”

“Indeed.”  Toke looks down at the wiry African and shakes his hand.  “Nubian?”

Gyasi nods.  “I am from Kush orginally.”

“Slave?”

“No.  A wanderer.  I hired onto a caravan and then a ship and I’ve been taking odd jobs around Italia these past few years.”

“Will your wandering take you further, or back home again?”

“Well.”  He smiles.  “I’ve recently met a local woman and…you know how these things go.  We shall see.”

“Mmm.”  Toke nods.  “I met and fought a few Nubians in my time.  Finest archers I ever saw.”

“Finest archers anywhere.”

Toke looks to me.  “If you are serious about training Master Quintus you have yourself a trainer.”

“Oh!”

“IF…you are serious about it.”  He says.  “I have had my fill of trying to instruct drunks, thugs, and dabblers.  I expect discipline and commitment from you.”

“You’ll have it.  To the best of our ability at least.”

“If we do this we do this properly.”

“What did you have in mind?”

“I understand that you have a place for us.  Somewhere out of sight.”

I’m not sure why but when he says ‘out of sight’ my mind turns to the ancient platform with the symbol of the minotaur hidden among my forest.  Once I cleaned it off properly the flat surface of the platform would make an ideal training area.  “I have a place.”

“And we have a time?”

“Just before or after evening meal.”

“After would be easier.”  Gyasi says.  “Or even during.  Many of the men wander off to eat in private or in smaller groups.  Master Horatius runs a tight estate but he gives us the evenings for ourselves.  As long as the slaves are with Lucas and the rest of us and as long as we are back before lights out it shouldn’t be difficult to get away.”

“And how long do we have?”  Toke asks.

I scan the nearby field.  “Give or take, I’m thinking it will be six weeks before Horatius has Ceres’ feast and begins letting go the extra harvest workers.”

“Not much time.  But enough to lay a foundation.”  He says.  “We train every evening no matter the weather.  If work is called off for the day for rain we train extra that day.  Questions can be saved for as we work.  While we train, we train.”

“Alright.  I’ll have to talk to the others but I think that’s what we had in mind.  It should be agreeable.”

“And when we are done.”  He sets his mug on a stair then stands tall to face me.  “You and I finish our fight.”  His blue eyes locked on mine he says.  “No interference.  No holding back.  We fight until one of us cannot or will not fight any longer.”

“I don’t want to fight you Toke.”

“You must.”

Gyasi and I give each other a concerned glance.  “In just six weeks?  I won’t be able to compete with you Toke.”

“You are younger, stronger, taller and faster.  You are gifted with a warrior’s instincts.  And I will be training you to win.  Who better to instruct you on all of my tricks than me?”  He says.  “Plus you will be fighting with a purpose.  A man like you needs to fight with a purpose to bring out his best.”

“A purpose?”

“You will be fighting for my life.”

I stand confused a moment.  “What?”

“If you best me in fair combat I will bend my knee one last time for the Romans.  I will carry on as I always have.  You will make me a slave once again.”  His voice is as hard as stone.  “And if I win I will return to my master and kill him.”

“What!?”

“My death sentence will be carried out without the law even being informed.  My body will be disposed of without a ceremony or a marker.  And I will accept it.”  He says.  “You and I will fight to the death Master Quintus Quintilianus.  My own.”

“Toke!  That is madness.”

“Madness is living a life that is not your own year on year on year, until your body withers and your hair turns gray, expecting something to change on its own.”  His eyes drift north.  “I had once dreamed of finding my way back into Odin’s sight.  But…now…I do not wish him or Lady Freyja or…my daughter to see the broken man I have become. At some point the dream died inside of me…and I didn’t even realize.”  He looks again at the men passing through the yard.  “You have reminded me of the difference between living and surviving.  You’ve shown me how far I’ve fallen.”

“I did not bring you here to torment you Toke.”

“This is not torment Master Quintus.  It is…”  He takes a deep breath through his nostrils and slowly lets it out through his mouth.  “…living.  If you had not said what you had to Amphion I would already be dead.  It is thanks to your mercy that I still draw breath.  The time I have remaining is yours.  I am happy that you have brought me here to spend these weeks with you.”  He looks into my eyes again without a trace of fear or uncertainty.  “But when the harvest is over I will fight you Master Quintus.  I will not kill you but I WILL fight you with everything I have.  And when I stand over my master’s dead body I will cry out so loud that, just maybe, Odin upon his far off throne will hear his berserkr’s song carried on a Southern wind.”

“No, no, no.”  I shake my head.  “I cannot do this.  This is not right.”

“Then you concede the battle.  I have won.  My life is forfeit.”

“No!”  I say.  “No.  I never agreed to that.”

“You said yourself that we have unfinished business.  Our battle was interrupted.  It has not yet ended.”

“No.  You will not lay this responsibility on my soul.”

“It is already done.”  He says sternly.

“If you wish to kill yourself leave me out of it.”

“All you have to do is nothing and it will take care of itself.  But no, you are very much involved Master Quintus.”

“I do not want this!”

“You have no choice.”

“That is not fair!”

“How does it feel to have your freedom taken from you?”

“Not good.”  I whisper.  “Not good at all.”

“Forgive me if I cannot feel sorry for you, citizen.”  He bows as a slave to a citizen.  When he stands again his voice softens as do his eyes.  “But I do not wish us to be enemies.  I can see that you are a good man Master Quintus.”

Again I look to Gyasi who is stunned into silence.  “I can’t.”  I reiterate.  “I cannot do this Toke.”

“Then we will not train.”  He says.  “I will see you in the morning Master Quintus.”

“Wait.  I…I do not concede Toke.  I am not conceding.”

“Then we will train.”  He says.  “These six weeks are the only hope you have of defeating me.”  Reaching down he takes up his mug.  “Either way I will see you in the morning Master Quintus.”  With that he turns and begins to walk in the direction the rest of the workers were headed.

“Toke.”

“Mmm?”  He looks back.

“You…can call me Quin.”

“I heard you the first time.”

As Gyasi and I watch him go I ask.  “What am I to do?”

“I’ve never heard of anything like it.  He is training you to defeat him?  You are fighting for HIS life?”  He says.  “Remind me never to cross swords with a northman.  They’re crazy!”  He turns to me.  “What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know.”  I answer.  “Hey…uh, don’t tell the others about that.  Okay?”

“I don’t think they’d believe me if I did.”  He looks up at me and grips my shoulder.  “Are you okay Quin?”

“I…I don’t even know what to think right now.”  I shake my head.  “I’m going home.”

Chapter 71