Slave Unbound

Chapter 19: Rewards and Punishments

The act of putting on her tunic brought a wince, a flare of dull pain from the cracked rib in her torso, but it still felt good to be actually getting dressed to go out to the practice yard. Not killing the assassin hadn't, as she had feared, brought any kind of rebuke from the Mistress. In fact, she had come down to the healer's room upon their return to the House to praise her for the win. Her main reward for it was to no longer be under Cookie's thumb, but she's also promised another, very special, reward to be received later. For Leita though, just being free of the capricious and foul concubine was good enough.

It had not all been good news yesterday, however, as two of the House's gladiators had not walked out the arena on their own feet. One of them had been Myrinus. The blue-lipped mariner had fallen in his fight with Lamaran, apparently getting quickly overwhelmed by the other man's skill, despite his confidence that it would not be a difficult combat. While he'd not died, he was hanging by a thread in the healer's room, Einrich doing his best just to keep the man breathing.

The other gladiator, a fairly new purchase named Tobin, had foolishly charged directly into a lot's spear, effectively managing to kill himself. She remembered how cocky he had seemed in the training yard, touting about how he had once been a military officer in the Dassidon Empire and was a seasoned warrior. Apparently, his skills in combat had not been equal to his ability to boast.

Though always sobering to lose a member of the stable, she felt far more troubled over Myrinus's critical health than Tobin's ignoble death. She'd found the mariner to be a relatively good-natured man and someone she had begun to take a kind of liking to, considering their activities. Even with her no longer needing to pacify Cookie, she could easily see herself having the occasional, casual, interlude of intimacy with the man in the future. Assuming he survived.

Sasinel gathered the attention of the room with a sharp bark, announcing the arrival of guards to escort them from the women's dormitory and out into the training pitch. Guarded attendants came in to put them all in shackles for moving through the House before they were herded out into the hallways and ushered along. Leita managed to get into the chain line directly behind the sidil.

"I assume we will not be doing any special training today, with Myrinus down." She said quietly to her pale friend.

Sasinel gave a shake of her head, frowning. "Kalder will require me to help with general training. Any further news of Myrinus, hei? Will it hinder you training today, hei? It is likely that the worse may happen, and I know you had become close with him."

Leita sighed. "I've heard nothing since yesterday when I was being treated for my own injuries. And I am worried for him, but I am prepared."

"For his death, hei?" Sasinel asked, peering at her. "Or to train today, hei?"

"Both." Leita returned absently. "Death is something we all have to be prepared for and I am always ready to learn."

Sasinel considered her for a long moment, the mixture of respect and empathy easy to read on her sidillian features. However, she said nothing more as they continued on.

As they reached the exit to the yard, attendants released them one by one from their fetters to join the men who were being released through a separate door up the hall. Being second in line, Leita was among the first to see the unexpected tableau waiting for them in the training yard. It made her stop in her tracks and gasp, a reaction that many others, male and female alike, mirrored as they came into the yard behind her.

At the center of the pitch stood Mistress Marlowe and Cookie, a knot of guards gathered about them. The concubine was stripped completely naked and heavily chained, kneeling in the grass beside the HouseMistress. It was evident that she'd not slept somewhere comfortable last night, as her frenzied hair was full of bits of straw and dirt and her sweaty flesh was filthy.