Dragon's Tale 42 (Patreon)

My discussion with Theodora came to a stop only when the slaver caravan stopped to camp for the night, and it left me with more questions than it answered, particularly on two areas. The first was the mysterious identity of Theodora. At first, I was sure that she was yet another border noble, but the amount of detail she explained about the working principles of the city was suspicious. Even more suspiciously, her details got more accurate the more important our topic of discussion had gotten, at least according to my limited knowledge, mostly pieced from the limited information of Lillian and nuggets from a library that was five centuries old. 

In particular, she knew about the politics and habits of the Patrician families than anything else, which was mighty suspicious. She was clearly not the daughter of an unimportant noble. 

However, I didn’t push her about her true identity, partially because I had more than enough to deal with the mysterious people following me, and I didn’t want to interject myself into another dangerous conspiracy. More importantly, she only told me that much because she felt that I was an unlucky tribal warrior that was enslaved because of her mistake, and she was struggling to pay back the only way she could. Since she thought I was a tribal warrior with almost no political awareness, she wasn’t careful in the anectodes and stories she told, accidentally revealing a lot more than she was supposed to. 

But if I pushed her about her identity, she would stop. 

So, I decided to leave that particular string of thoughts, to focus on my other problem. My upcoming sale as a gladiator. If it wasn’t for the details Theodora shared about the position of a gladiator, in particular their celebrity status, I would never have considered bothering to do so. Initially, I was planning to pose as a sellsword until I could get hired as a guard by one of the noble families, giving me easy access to their internal structure. 

However, clearly, my condition was quite rare, according to almost-utter lack of information in the library gathered by the great Julius Caesar. Even though it was more focused on raising combat mages rather than exploring esoteric effects, I expected it to be more comprehensive than the library of a regular Equestrian or noble house. And while I had some clues about the temple of Jupiter and my condition being linked, infiltrating the seat of power that was the foremost symbol of authority and the right to rule wasn’t exactly the first choice. 

Unfortunately, that left Patrician families as the only viable option. Each of them had libraries aged almost a dozen centuries —some even older— which gave me hope to find something useful. Unfortunately, infiltrating the estate of a patrician family would have taken months, maybe even years. Barging into their estates as a thief was also a poor option. Admittedly, it was quicker, but with even greater risks. Patrician families stood at the apex of Roman politics for centuries, and I doubted they could have if any thief or assassin could stroll in through their magical defenses. 

Compared to those, being a gladiator was a much better option. All I needed to put a good show in the arena, and soon, I would get invited to parties as a guest of honor —more like a favored pet, but I didn’t exactly care about that particular distinction while I was slowly transforming into a monster— which would bring me inside Pomerium, which was the most difficult location to enter in Rome. From there, infiltrating their libraries would be much easier. 

And the fact that I would be having sex with the daughters and wives of the strongest men in Rome was not exactly a chore —as long as I could keep those indiscretions hidden, of course. 

The only potential problem was the great wards that were rumored to protect Pomerium and the immediate surrounding areas, suppressing people’s ability to use magic. It didn’t mean the complete suppression for Sorcerers, but apparently, it still downgraded the casting abilities significantly. 

It shouldn’t affect me much considering I was going to be there to infiltrate rather than fight, it shouldn’t change my plans significantly. Still, it was a big decision, so I decided to leave it to the morning, deciding to sleep. 

However before I could fall into the depths of the sleep, the distinctive click of a rusty rock clicked in the darkness, awakening me from my light sleep —it was another effect of my changing body, my sleep was light enough to be jolted awake at the slightest move, like a wild animal. 

It was a cloudy night, so it was dark, and the flickering embers in the center of the camp did little to illuminate the prison carts. But my changing body allowed me to see even in the murky darkness of midnight. 

I found myself looking at a familiar figure, wrapped in bandages. It was the ‘friend’ I had acquired earlier, the unlucky slaver that first attacked me. Though, surprisingly, he wasn’t in my cage, but the cage next to me, which was Theodora’s. “Bitch,” he murmured angrily as he slammed the door shut with a surprising loudness, his tone carrying hints of hysteric anger. Theodora awakened as the door slammed close, but surprisingly, the woman that was tasked to guard her continued to sleep. 

“What’s going on?” Theodora managed to ask, her tone calm despite the fear I could read in her eyes, proving her strength. 

“It’s payback time, bitch,” the wounded slaver said as he took a step forward. 

“You can’t touch me, your boss will punish you,” Theodora iterated, somehow managing to keep her tone calm despite the danger she was facing, earning my admiration. I had no doubt that she was smart enough to realize the hopelessness of her situation. The fact that the slaver didn’t bother to lower his tone, combined with her sleeping guard, told a hopeless story, and Theodora was smart enough to catch that. 

“Why would my boss punish me, when you will manage to escape with that bastard Thracian,” he answered as he walked closer with slow steps, enjoying the growing fear on Theodora’s face. She rattled her chains, trying to pull herself free. 

Luckily for her, I liked her much better than a worthless slaver who made it his life’s aim to deprive others of their freedom, even before she spent hours explaining to me the political structure of the Capital. I had already unlocked my chains while I first noticed the identity of the intruder, and another simple spell was enough to unlock my cage door. A few quick steps later, I was standing behind the slaver. “I don’t appreciate people calling me a bastard, slaver,” I said even as I twisted his neck, killing him immediately. I didn’t even bother messing with him at first, because ultimately, he wasn’t worth it. 

“You-” Theodora gasped. “You have the spark. How?” 

I shrugged. “It’s not like Romans has the monopoly on the magic, you know. I have a couple of useful spells,” I said lazily even as I waved my hand, unlocking her chains. I still didn’t reveal anything about the true extent of my powers, or my origin. 

I liked her, but that didn’t mean I trusted her. 

“Incredible,” she gasped as she stood up, checking her arms and legs, fascinated. “I’m free, we can run away,” she said, tears of joy slipping down her cheek. 

“Not we,” I said, and she stiffened. “Just you, I’m going to stay in here,” I quickly clarified in case she misunderstood. 

“But why?” she asked, her eyes wide. “If it’s about the slave stamp, don’t worry. As long as we steal their stamp, it would make their jobs very hard to track us. The curse of the slave seal is very hard to track without a focus.” 

“I know,” I said. “But I need to go to Rome, and it seems that being a gladiator is much better than the alternative.” 

She looked at me incredulously, her brown eyes wide in shock. “Being a gladiator is like a death sentence, only longer,” she said. “Maybe one in a hundred gladiators manages to earn their freedom. It’s a death sentence.” 

I shrugged, not seeing the point of explaining my power to her. “Don’t worry, I can handle it,” I said even as I stepped out of her cage, and she followed. A quick spell showed the location of my backpack and my spear, both thrown into a pile of spare items. I grabbed my bag and my spear, before I moved deeper into the slaver’s tents, leveraging the sleeping guards to steal the money stash of the slavers. 

It wasn’t an impressive amount, barely enough to handle the daily needs of their caravan for a couple of months. No doubt that they were desperate to deliver high-quality slaves. They were in desperate need of cash. I passed the cash pouch to her. “That should be enough for you to return to Macedonia, and back with your family,” I offered, only for her to flinch back in shock. “No,” she gasped. “I can’t do that.” 

“Why?” I asked, curious. 

“I just can’t,” she murmured, insistent. As she panicked, however, her accent changed a bit, the influence of Greek getting even stronger. 

“You’re not from the border provinces, right?” I asked, and she stiffened. “Maybe a bit farther away into the border, near the sea? Maybe near another capitol?” I asked. She stayed still for almost a minute, desperation filling her face. Only when I didn’t push her to an answer, she relaxed slightly, just enough to nod. 

Things suddenly made more sense. She was not from the Republic, but from the Eastern Empire. Suddenly, her deep insights about the politics of Rome made quite a bit of sense, as the relationship between Constantinople and Rome was always tight, considering the two entities were both the greatest allies —and the worst enemies— of each other. 

I didn’t know much about the politics of the Eastern Empire, but considering the temping prize of a throne was dangling in front of every strong family, it wasn’t hard to guess that it was even more cutthroat than the Republic politics. 

No wonder Theodora was scared stiff just by the mention of an escape. 

“Your call,” I said with a shrug. “Still, you can run away and hide in the countryside. A smart girl like you should be able to avoid attention, especially with a bit of cash to support yourself.” 

I turned and walked toward the large cage that held the other slaves, however, I felt the footsteps of Theodora following me. How intriguing. I would have kicked her out if she was a man —or a woman lacking in beauty. As my relationship with Astrid and Lillian had shown, I did have a tendency to make bad decisions when pretty women were concerned. And Theodora was certainly a pretty one, with her lithe body with just the right amount of curves, her light olive skin, and her luscious brown hair that looked alluring even after weeks spent in a cage. 

“Stay on the corner,” I said as I reached the slave cage, and cast an illusion spell to change my features, adapting the look of the slaver that tried to kill Theodora and me. I then cast a spell to jolt them awake. They had been rendered unconscious with the same herbal mixture that the slaver had used on the guards. It was strong enough to ignore the noise. 

It wasn’t strong enough to ignore jolts of electricity. 

I opened the cage door and quickly walked away after making sure that the slaves had noticed that it was the slaver that opened the cage. I was planning to return to my cage, when I felt Theodora’s arms wrapping around my waist. 

I said nothing, just turned to look into her eyes, not bothering to verbalize my question. “I want to help you,” she offered. 

“Help me on what?” I asked.

“Help you search whatever you’re looking for in the Patrician Estates,” she said.

“Impressive,” I said, not bothering to hide my position. After all, while I hid my roots successfully, the same couldn’t be said for my aim. After all, I had asked her too many questions about the lifestyle of the higher class. Earlier, she was convinced that I was asking those questions because I had no choice but to be a gladiator, but the ease I had displayed while escaping indicated otherwise. “And how are you going to help me with that?” I asked. 

That stumped her a bit. 

I sighed. Unless her presence was a miraculous trap arranged for me, her help was really welcome, especially since she was offering that without condition. I needed to know more about the upper society. 

Of course, I wasn’t an idiot, so I knew that she was throwing herself into my problem, because whatever mysterious problem she had was likely as dangerous. Or at least, she thought so, as she couldn’t have expected my enemy was strong enough to illegally mobilize legions. “If you wish,” I said. Meanwhile, the slaves finally gathered the courage to step out of their cages, and started rushing away with a mad dash to the mountains. Since I had already destroyed the stamp, they had a genuine chance to reach their freedom, as long as they could pass the Alps by climbing to the mountain rather than using the passages. 

That was all I could do for those unlucky fellows. 

“Are you sure you want to help me?” I asked. 

“Yes, I owe you for my freedom,” she said sharply. 

“As you wish,” I said before changing direction. A quick pilfering of the slaver’s tents resulted in a few good quality clothes, designed for men. “Change into them,” I said and turned my back, but not bothering to leave the tent, instead of grabbing a few large silver coins, to craft a protective item for her just in case. However, just as I started that, I noticed a small mirror on the desk near me, reflecting as Theodora slowly started to undress. The gentlemanly thing would be stepping out to avoid looking at her naked body. 

I wasn’t a gentleman.