The Gladiatrix

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African female huntress is captured and sold in Roman town.
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[Notes

- I refer to the heroine, Meda, as an Ethiopian as this is what the Romans would probably have called her. In actual fact she is from an area now found in modern Sudan.

-Coruncanii is a fictional town.]

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- A few miles away from a little village in East Africa, close to Meroe (Sudan) 1 AD -

Meda peered through the long grass, keeping her breathing low and careful as she watched the leopard chew the oryx leg that had placed out. With excitement she clung to the bit of rope tied to one end of the oryx leg. Her twin brother had already failed to tame a leopard of his own, and thus had proven himself unworthy of the title of leader of their rapidly growing clan, that at the count of the last full moon, were two hundred heads thereof. Unlike her brother who was too impatient and lazy to track a leopard, she had tracked this one from the dyed red length of rope that she had kept as a collar around its neck since she had first encountered it when she managed to briefly isolate it from its mother. For two weeks of every three years she had patiently come back, isolated the cub, sometimes fought off the mother and sibling without injury to them. Then keeping the cub tied to a tree she would feed it, call it by the name she had given it; Cothut, before untying the leopard cub and releasing it near its family.

Now thirty six moons on, Meda was close to taming the leopard, having taken the advice of her mother, chieftainess of the village, and unlike her brother, she had vowed not to return to the village until she had completed her task. Under her breath, she prayed to the goddess Amesemi for her protection, then little by little she tugged the rope.

"Come now little one, though you are not so little now. Let us see if my mother's tricks have worked, I pray they have."

Cothut followed the food in puzzlement as it moved, his paw lightly darting out, until Meda emerged and looked at Cothut. At first Cothut was very still, but then he pounced.

Meda was knocked flat on her back onto the grassy knoll behind, and cursed herself for not being more agile. But before she could ready herself to meet the god Anubis boldly she felt Cothut traipse off her and then roll around playfully. Meda, shaking somewhat got up, dusted herself down and warily approached Cothut.

"Oh my! Thank Amesemi that my mother was right! Thank Amesemi!"

Meda tentatively picked up a small sack she had left close by, opened the cloth and gave Cothut some scraps from the meat carcass she was carrying. She stroked Cothut's ears, as her mother had suggested. Cothut munched away at the meat Meda offered and muzzled her hand.

"Come Cothut, I promise you no harm. Once the villagers see you as proof of my triumph then I shall bring you back home, where you belong. Finally! Maybe my mother will even allow me to marry."

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From afar a small group of men watched as Meda, overjoyed and feeling protected by her leopard companion, travelled down the trail that she had created over the years. Her secret spectators watched her keenly.

One of the men said, "That is your sister, Meda, right there? Skin like dark bronze, a body like a goddess?"

"I would have her! Such tits! Such arse! She certainly stirs the cock!" Another said.

Their group leader scowled at them, "she can stir the cock all you wish fool, but you are not putting your cock in her, she is worth much more as a virgin, too much for your meagre coins. The girl has more to offer than your average village woman, we have to be sensible here."

Mena's brother, with a tense but deviant look upon his face, nodded and responded, "She is a great gymnast too as my mother, for whatever reason, favoured her over me for such training. She is literate in Meroitic and speaks three dialects spoken five clans wide. Her beauty is so renowned that one prince in Meroe has asked to be introduced, though I doubt he would have done so if he knew she was so stubborn and unrelenting. Also, as you can see, she is very skilled in animal hunting, and apparently training."

"Why is it that she is training a leopard? What a way to occupy one's time."

Mena's brother responded, "It is thought by the village elders that whoever can tame a leopard can also tame a village, for both require patience, fearlessness and wisdom. I could easily have done so myself, but my mother has always made her favourite clear and seemed to forget my presence during training."

"Well, she will not be able to forget your presence now. So tell us again, what is this plan of yours?"

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Meda talked to Cothut the leopard, occasionally feeding him meat scraps as she walked through a meadow towards the village. Other creatures that would ordinarily approach her to do her harm scampered away at the sight of Cothut. Meda felt empowered by her friendship with the leopard. She neared a part of the trail where the avena grass was thick and tall, as were the songs of grasshoppers.

"Let us not worry, though this part of the path always fills me with trepidation." Meda said softly to Cothut.

She took a few steps forward, but heard a loud rustle, she stopped and crouched, stroking the leopard's ear as she did so, "Wait, wait, I have my spear if it is anything bad."

The rustling got louder until a man emerged, making her heart quicken, until she saw that man was her brother, "Pakatucho, what are you doing here? You are far away from the village."

Pakatucho smiled such a smile that his lips curled back, "So are you dear sister, and what is this, a leopard?"

Cothut licked his own paw and predatorily stared at Pakatucho. Meda hastily fed Cothut a scrap of meat, "I have done it Pakatucho, trained my leapord Cothut. Thirty six moons it took, but I have done it. Perhaps we can walk into the village together?"

"Yes, yes, and let me carry your spear for you." Pakatucho said eagerly.

Meda did not trust her brother as she had sensed the envy in him for the many years they had trained together, "That is okay, I can carry it myself."

"And what am I to defend myself with if your new leopard friend attacks me?"

"Well if you insist, though I am surprised that you did not bring your own spear." Meda saw a certain fire burn within her brother's eyes. She did not trust him but she thought it unwise to tell him so. She handed over her spear reluctantly, and stroked Cothut. Though she should have been more weary of the wild leopard than she was of Pakatucho, she felt that it was the one she could trust.

They walked together, making idle chatter over village affairs, of village characters and their escapades after having one too many gourds of sorghum beer. They spoke of the rain they had recently received as a blessing from their gods for all their hard work tending to the land.

Then Meda heard another scuffle from the bushes.

"There is something in the bushes, give me a spear, perhaps we can kill it and take it back to the village."

"Don't worry sister, I also know how to use this spear. Just stay there sister, stay still, stay still..." Pakatucho crept on ahead as Meda stood still and Cothut waited faithfully by her side.

The leopard growled again, increasing Meda's sense of unease. Suddenly from the back Meda could hear a whooshing sound of something dropping overhead and realised it was some sort of trap she had walked into, the leopard tried to run but was also caught by another net. Meda cried out in the confusion.

"Pakatucho brother, help, it is a trap!"

Five figures emerged, three of them with dark bronze skin like her and Pakatucho, and the other two with light copper complexions, like some of the people further up north. She had only ever seen such people when they visited for trade.

Pakatucho chuckled darkly , "Oh poor sister! On this great day when she was to be a chieftainess, she will be a slave. When you have ascended to such great heights, the plummet can only be painful."

The men clambered on top of her laughing as she struggled, "You bastard! Why? Why?"

"Well, I heard there were men hunting for leopards and good hunters for the empire of Rome. I thought, why deprive them my sister, who will fetch a handsome price in any auction. In exchange, they are giving our village two ox and Persian cloths. And of course, more personally they are giving me a clear path to the chieftaincy."

One of the dark-skinned men spoke to her in a dialect she understood, "Now now pretty girl, you will fetch a good price for your brother tells us you can even walk on your hands as well as some walk on their feet. As for your leopard, it will make good game for slaughter in the arena."

Later that night, bound and captured, Meda watched as the men shook Pakatucho's hand. Tears ran down her face in helplessness as the reality sunk in. She looked at Cothut, who was in a wooden cage and prowling around.

"I am sorry friend, I have betrayed us both with my naivety."

She lowered her head in shame, only glad that her captors, due to their greed for money, gazed lecherously at her nude physique, but had not forced themselves on her for the price that her virginity wielded.

Whatever else she would lose on her journey to the slave block, at least she would retain that.

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-Coruncanii; a Roman town somewhere in the Diocese of Viennensis (southern France)-

Gerulf watched his cousin Amelia, a brothel -madam or as his Roman compatriots called her, a lena, weave and sashay through the crowds, her orange tunic swinging like a flame towards the auction block, her face a white mask of lead powder and her cheeks rouged with vermillion. When she got to the front and readjusted her blond wig, she beckoned Gerulf, her heavily kohl painted eyes crinkling as she smiled.

Gerulf was tall enough to see over most of the heads of the crowd, he saw six women, of varying complexions and from different lands, stand on the block with their heads lowered, in ragged tunics. Those who were sourced from outside the Roman empire had one chalked white foot. These slaves were apparently skilled, and thus fetched a high price. He did not feel good being there with Amelia, having not been long away from the block himself.

He worked his way through the crowd towards the front to join Amelia. As he did so, his gaze naturally caught the curvaceous but athletic frame of a woman whose skin was dark copper. She stood upright, not looking into the crowd or down to her feet, but straight up to the sky, as if she were silently praying that her sun god would blind those around her and rescue her to the heavens. Despite her bedraggled appearance Gerulf could not help but admire her, for she was the sort of woman that even the gods would look upon in curiosity. She had a sweet and beautiful face, with very full lips that spoke of a sensuous nature and big dark eyes that could easily mesmerise a man, all framed by woolly, twisted hair that hung to her shoulders.

He caught up with Amelia who was grinning like an excited fool, "Can you remember Gerulf when we too stood on the block, to be slaves? Who would know that I would one day become the owner of such a frequented business, and you would one day become a gladiator of such prestige that you would win your freedom? Ah, how far away we are from the simple life of the Black Forest."

"I enjoyed that life Amelia, this life we have, I never asked the gods for."

Amelia looked up at her tall, blond cousin, and shook her head, "I say it is a good life, certainly a more civilised one! And now those who were slaves can afford their own, such a splendid fortune! I do hope they will unveil these slaves soon, already I have my eye on the Ethiopian. I have two Gauls, one Persian, three Greeks, from milk to olive complexions, but an Ethiopian? What a palette that would be! Then all men in this town of Coruncanii shall say that the house of Venus Kisses has nymphs from all the lands ."

Gerulf saw Marcus the theatre owner throw his hands up in frustration, "Hey trader, where are the cards around their necks? How are we to inspect them with these ragged tunics that you have clothed them in? By the rate this is going it will soon be sunset and my supper shall be cold!"

The trader, Arvina, a fat man with a crooked back came staggering out, evidentially drunk.

Arvina slapped one of the auction slaves on the bottom, she squealed in distress, "No worries my friend, for I present you with the finest female slaves amongst the chattel that we have out in the back. Weavers, cooks, gymnasts, hunters, amongst many other things, do not take this private showing lightly my friends, this is an opportunity to purchase a fine bitch indeed for your bidding!"

Arvina's trembling, pudgy hand grasped some wax tablets, intended to be placed around the necks of the slaves and which had enscribed upon them their personal details and skills. He walked towards one of the slaves, a pale brunette woman who cowered away from him. He grunted in satisfaction as he callously yanked off her tunic from over her head, mortified, she cried out. He did this to each woman and placed the wax tablet placards around their necks.

Amelia shook her head, "What a fool Arvina is, why did he not prepare them earlier?"

But Gerulf was not listening, he was gazing upon the Ethiopian slave, wondering who she was, and of her former life. The Ethiopian looked up, caught his stare and looked away. Gerulf felt a frisson within him, for he knew she probably looked upon him in fear, but he could not help but feel some satisfaction from attaining her notice.

"Ah, so you like that one? Gerulf who now only sleeps with his patron has finally found an eye for the women?" Amelia teased.

"It is not just her appearance, there is something else about her." There were very few Ethiopians in Coruncanii, and Gerulf still had a habit at looking with open curiosity upon those who were as dark as he was pale, but there was more to it with this woman. He could not remove his gaze from her.

Arvina introduced the slaves, whipping each of them to turn them around, and introducing their skills; seamstress, cook, dancer, musician, midwife.

Arvina had one final slave left, the Ethiopian, before he was rudely interrupted by Marcus the theatre owner, "And what of the gymnast and hunter, what of them?"

Arvina scratched his balls nervously through his toga, "Well, um-"

He gesticulated at the Ethiopian, "A woolly-haired Ethiopian princess, huntress of leopards and gymnast from a village not far from Meroe in the African kingdom of Kush. She is beautifully formed, with good teeth that confirms her youthfulness, and as a bonus, she is a virgin as fertile as the land she comes from. She is one of a kind. Good points are that she is agile, brave, healthy. Bad points are that she speaks no Latin or Greek, she is stubborn and there is a concern she might be aggressive."

Marcus smiled, "I think I might be in love, let us see her then, turn her around."

Arvina got out his whip but then she turned and stuck her elbow sharply into his gut, Arvina clutched his belly then showed her the flat of his palm, as if to hit her. He then approached cautiously, his intoxicated gaze fixed upon her.

Marcus laughed, "Please do not hit her Arvina, she is very much mine. She will do well as a gymnast in my theatre. Let me have her for 600 denarii."

Gerulf looked at Marcus enviably.

Amelia gazed thoughtfully at Gerulf and then turning her attentions back to the block, called out loudly "650 denarii."

Marcus looked round at Amelia in incredulity, "725 denarii then, and what on earth could you need a skilled worker for? I thought the only skill employed in your whorehouse was to lie flat on your back and spread your legs? "

Amelia pouted in disdain and started to quarrel with Marcus, each insulting the business and reputations of the other. Whilst Marcus had the better argument, Amelia had the loudest and shrillest voice.

Gerulf heard something from behind, it was Panhsj the grumpy Nubian trader from the Roman North African territories, "Psst! Gerulf, your cock is showing through your toga, even citizenship cannot refine a barbarian such as you."

Gerulf turned around to see Panhsj, a bald and skinny black man who was smirking at him smugly. Panhsj hitched up his overly-long toga as he walked towards the front.

Gerulf sighed at the unwelcome company, "What are you doing here Panhsj? Have you come just to cause me grief?"

Panhsj raised a superior eyebrow and cocked his chin, "Do not flatter yourself Gerulf, I have heard there is a Greek here who is a fine seamstress, and the slaver who purchased her told me and me alone she is also a weaver. I wish to obtain her for my new shop."

Gerfulf said nothing, as he did not enjoy conversations with Panhsj. He watched as Amelia and Marcus became breathless with argument.

Finally Amelia cried out, "Well you will need to find yourself another acrobatic bitch, this one is mine. 1000 denarii and I know you are broke Marcus from your renovations to your theatre. Try and top 1000 denarii and see if you can feed your entertainers for many moons."

Marcus stared incredulously at Amelia, "Ridiculous! A complete waste of talent. There should be legislation to stop someone like you being able to buy slaves such as she."

Amelia smiled and tipped her head, "Not a waste of talent, what man does not seek an acrobat in the bedroom? I know my clients do."

Marcus gazed in contempt at Amelia and muttered, "Cruel whore!" He picked up his satchel, beckoned his companion, and walked off.

Arvina slapped the bottom of the Ethiopian woman and cried out, "Sold! To the lady in the orange tunic. Come, come, let me bind her and you can claim your purchase."

Gerulf shook his handsome blond head and sighed.

Panhsj screwed his lips, "What ails you barbarian?"

"Please stop calling me that, and I will not tell you what ails me. I do not feel quite as comfortable being back at the block as Amelia. "

"Aah, so even you now know what the whole of Coruncanii knows. Amelia is bad company; there are few women, even men, who are as heartless as she."

"We were kidnapped from the same village by mercenaries who pillaged the place before burning it down. She is my cousin and the only surviving family. I remember her when she was gentle as a lamb, before either of us were enslaved."

"And now she is a rabid dog. Rabid dogs bite even the kindest of masters, I would be careful Gerulf."

Amelia turned round, and smiling, beckoned him over. Gerulf looked at the beautiful Ethiopian woman, trying to place the inappropriate feelings of arousal in the back of his mind. Not that it helped that it had been a while since he had fucked a woman.

He strode over as Amelia stood by her new and unfortunate slave who gazed at her dubiously. Her hands had been tied together by Arvina after her purchase by Amelia. Amelia cooed at the girl and stroked her hair. The girl was very still, only her dark eyes trailing Amelia. Gerfulf had once seen that look when a new animal trainer at the gladiator school was stroking a crocodile, before the crocodile bit the trainer, spun round and severed the trainer's torso from his legs. Gerulf could see that whilst the girl was enslaved, she was by no means pacified.

"What a wonderful purchase. What is your name?" Amelia waited for an answer but greeted with silence she nodded her forehead at the girl, goading for a response, as if to indicate that it was the girl's turn to speak. Gerulf gently shook his head at his cousin's futile attempt to communicate to someone who knew no Latin.

Gerulf watched the girl respond in a foreign tongue. Panhsj who was standing nearby, inspecting a Greek slave girl stopped and listened to the Ethiopian avidly. He then spoke to the girl in her language. A Roman guard who was standing nearby cast them a weary gaze, cautious of plots being hatched in languages unknown.