Chapter Five
Xena and the Gladiators
Xena was awake when Doctore began to get everyone up at the crack of dawn, chiding them for being so lazy he had to rouse them. As the men in the open-bay barracks, where most of them, including Xena, slept, began to get up and get dressed - ninety percent of them slept naked, Xena finally opened her eyes, waiting until many of them had left for the morning meal. She had been awake most of the night, thinking about her and Gabrielle's situation, and weighing the odds of both of them getting out and away without being killed. She didn't like the odds, but that didnt stop her from speculating on the various possible scenarios.
"Well?" she heard Doctore say. "Are you ill? Or wounded and cannot join your fellow gladiators?"
Xena put her feet on the floor and got up. Unlike the others, she slept in her rags that were wrapped around her breasts, and around her hips and coming up through her legs and securely tied. But she didn't mind the early rising, the morning meal was always the best of the day - the bread was freshly baked, and the inevitable stew or gruel was made shortly before they had gotten up. The kitchen staff, sleeping in the female slave quarters, were always up much earlier than the dawn. As she ate, she wondered about Gabrielle, and how she was faring. Then it was time to collect the wooden shields and swords for another day of practice.
Xena was paired with one of those who had been captured in a Roman campaign far from Italia and brought to the ludus after being purchased by Batiatus. His accent was barely understandable, and his swordsmanship was atrocious. He obviously was no soldier, probably had been a farmer. Xena toyed with him all morning - first he would hit her shield, then she would hit his, over and over and over again. Sometimes, just because she was bored, she would let him think he had found an opening and would attack, but she would simply step aside, then spank him hard on his ass as he passed her, insulting him and making him angry. Or sometimes she would smack him on the back of his upper thighs, which would sting, leave a blood-red mark, and making him even madder.
After the midday meal, she was paired up with another, somewhat more experienced "warrior", but he fared no better than the first. Watching her, Doctore knew Xena was better than any gladiator there, including himself in his prime. But Doctore was not the only one watching her closely; from the balcony, Batiatus was also. And he was smiling at this newest addition to his stable of fighters. As he sat, savoring the thought of the money he would make from betting on her, Lucretia finally joined him.
"And just what has kept you for so long?" he asked her, knowing full well, from Marsa's whisper in his ear, she had been with Gabrielle.
"Oh, you know," she answered nonchalantly, "relaxing in bed, enjoying the morning. And what of your newest gladiator? Is she all that you hoped?"
Lucretia didn't want her husband to take her new toy away from her, not yet, anyway. She knew eventually he would bend her over and fuck her mercilessly, and often, but maybe if she could keep his focus on Xena and away from Gabrielle, he wouldn't have the time, nor the inclination to "ruin" her.
"Even better!" he exclaimed proudly. "She is head and shoulders above any of them. She toys with them and makes fools of them all."
"Then perhaps one-on-one should be two-on-one. And two of your finest, not the fodder."
Batiatus laughed out loud. "And you are so right, again. Sometimes I marvel at your wisdom." And he grabbed her hair, pulled her face to his and kissed her a sloppy, tongue-penetrating kiss, which she readily returned.
Then pulling away suddenly he yelled down to Doctore, who wasted no time running over to him. Batiatus leaned over the railing as far as he dared and said in a loud whisper, "One is no match for her. Send Philox and Barsis against her. Then we shall see how good she really is."
"At once, Dominus," Doctore replied, then yelled out to them, "Barsis, Philox, to the center! All others but Xena to retire!"
As the arena cleared and the two named gladiators approached Xena, she smiled, nodded her head, and said in Doctore's direction but without taking her eyes off the two men, "It's about time I got some competition!"
One of the first rules of battle is know your opponent as well as you can. And in the short time Xena had been there, she knew just how good, and how bad, all of them were, and Barsis and Philox were two of the best. They often sparred together, sometimes with sword and shield, sometimes with double swords. In some ways they could be brothers, both were heavily muscled and built similarly and not quite as tall as Xena. But she suspected they were not. They shared a cell separate from the open barracks where most of the fighters slept. Which was only right since they both were well-known, well-respected, and very successful gladiators.
Both had obviously had many encounters in the arena; they were scars on their arms, chest, back and legs. Barsis had a long scar running from his left temple down past his jaw. Philox had three similar ones on his shaved head. Both were deeply tanned from hours in the sun.
The two men walked to the center of the arena, then turned and bowed in Batiatus' direction, then turned toward Xena, and flanked her. She glanced up at the balcony to see both Batiatus and Lucretia watching, and in a token acknowledgment, she also bowed to them, which caused Lucretia to say something to her husband, and he answered in return. Then Xena turned her attention to the two men approaching her. Both were armed as she was - with wooden sword and shield.
The two began circling Xena, one on each side of her, keeping her turning in a circle to keep both within sight, and neither at her back. The circling brought them closer to her until they were three arm-lengths away from her. Xena saw the nods each made to the other, then they attacked!
Xena's first thought was to use her favorite trick - jumping up at the last instant, legs kicking outward, and catching both in the chest at the same time, but she didn't want to give away her secrets, not right away, so instead, she forward rolled twice in a row then sprang to her feet, spun around, and attacked Barsis, who was on her sword-hand side, while fending off Philox's sword with her shield. Her sword bounced off the shield, then she was past them, turned around quickly, and repeated her attack, this time hitting Philox's shield and deflecting Barsis' sword with hers.
And so the contest continued. Philox would attack, trying to draw her attention from Barsis, then the other would attack, but she was just too fast and too clever to let that happen. But soon it was evident that all three were tiring, and she was getting thirsty, so Xena decided it was time to end it.
She let Philox get within striking distance while Barsis was hanging back, waiting for his opportunity. Barsis then found himself ducking away from her shield, thrown as she would her Chakram. At almost the same time, she closed in on Philox, and with a wrestling hold, threw him to the ground flat on his back, and not ungently, she thrust her sword tip against his neck, and said simply, "You're dead."
And as Barsis attacked, she spun away from him, grabbing his shield, spinning him around, and suddenly he found himself with her behind him, holding him tightly as her left hand was pulling his head by his chin up and to the left and her sword running across his throat, leaving the tell-tale burn mark that showed where his throat would have been severed had it been a real sword. Then Xena said, "And you're dead too," and shoved him to the ground.
She looked up at the balcony and both Batiatus and Lucretia were on their feet, but Xena couldn't tell if it was because of surprise, delight, or anger. So she took a few steps toward them, planted the point of her sword into the sand, and went briefly to one knee, nodding her head, figuring it couldn't hurt to suck up. Their time would come.
Batiatus yelled down to Doctore, who signaled Xena to approach. When she got close to the balcony, Batiatus then yelled down to her, a huge smile on his face, "Bravo, warrior! I see you are more than ready for serious competition. Four days hence you shall put your skills to the test. Bravo, indeed." And without another word he and Lucretia turned and left the balcony.
"Come," Doctore said proudly to Xena, "you have earned the remainder of the afternoon to rest, relax and refresh in a cool bath."
He then turned to the others and shouted, "I see no others with the skill to earn a place in the bath! Why are you not training?"
As the others rushed out into the broiling sun to resume practice until sundown, Doctore led Xena to the bath tub, filled with clear, clean water. With no false modesty, Xena stripped in front of Doctore and climbed into the bath, welcoming its coolness.
"Your fighting style is somewhat unorthodox," he said as she settled in.
"Well, after so many years of fighting warlords, warriors and thieves (almost adding 'and a certain god of war'), I was bound to pick up a few tricks here and there."
Doctore nodded, started to turn away, then stopped and said, "I'm sure it would please Dominus greatly if you would teach such tricks to the others," then left without waiting for an answer. Xena just smiled.