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Preface
Carthage, 439 A.D.
Nehelenia and her brother listened quietly to the men talking in low tones inside the glomy interior of the council house. Peering through a small crevice to see who her father, Arimus, is talking to, Nehelenia narrows her eyes.
"I tell you, you went too far!" Arimus ground out, slamming his balled fist against the table top. The cups of mead around him jumped at the force. "Attacking the Romans on their own ground!? 'Tis like asking them to kill us all!" A mumbling of agreement reverberates among most of the council members.
"Arimus, calm down." Unable to see, Nehelenia wills herself to see through the darkness to the source of the voice. "The victory is ours. We won once, we can wind again. Taking those elephants across the mountains was a good idea. They thought we would come from the south."
"You don't understand, do you? They have the power to wipe out us all; you'd not have won had you not evaded their expectations," his voice was calmer as he tried to reign in his temper. "You've wounded their pride and they come at us with all they've got! You should have-" His speach was cut short as a watcher burst through the door.
"Roman legions approach!"
Arimus rises quickly frm his seat, over-turning the table in his wake. "Tanit save us..." he gasps. "How many?" he asks quickly.
"As far as I can see M'lord!"
Arimus' eyes grow large and he pushes past the boy to see for himself. Nehelenia gets up quickly and runs around to where she can see her father, his arm raised above his eyes against the sun while he looks, stricken to silence because the Romans had already surrounded them. Her older brother trails slightly behind. "Papa is angry." she said, not understanding the severity of the situation, her faith in her father unrivaled by her fear of the Romans.
"You're only four, you shouldn't be listening to the council meetings." At seven her brother wasn't much taller than her so she turned and pushed him for his insult, sending him a glare. He fell back, but rosequickly, his face reddened by anger.
Suddenly a blazing arrow whistled by, not a yard from her and embedded itself smoothly into the arm of her brother. As if from far awa, she heard her brother's cry of anguish. She stood motionless, stunned. Distantly she heard someone swear under their breath viciously, furious that he was so far from his sword. Arimus shouted for Nehelenia to take cover while he ran, dodging arrows, to get his weapon.
Nehelenia was still unable to move. She was paralyzed by horror as the arrows flew around her. A vaguely familiar man near her, reaching for a large axe, was suddenly struck in the throat. He made a terrible gurgling sound before falling to his knees, then backward. Only the spray of blood brought Nehelenia back to her senses. She turned to run, but the effort came too late. Just as she had begun to move, a man's rough hand came over her mouth and her arms were pinned to her sides. She tried to scream, but it was cut off. Frantically, she kicked backward at the man, but he laughed harshly and pulled her off towards his horse.
Her father had just reached his sword when he heard her strangled cry. He spun around in time to see her being drug behind the council house. "Eleana!" he yelled out, but a soldier loomed up behind him...
Athens-451
Nehelenia hoisted up the heavy bucket up to the side of the well. Reaching up, she wipes off the sweat beading her brow. Sighing she lifting it again and began carrying it towards the kitchen door.
"Eleana!"
Looking up, her gaze met that of her friend, Flavia.
"Father calls for you!"
"Alright." She waits until Flavia runs by before setting the bucket just past the threshold of the kitchen before brushing her hands off on the apron across her front. Going to the main house, she hurried up to Flavius's study. "M'lord?" She asks carefully.
"The emperor has requested some of my time. You shall participate with one of his subjects in a bit of entertainment."
Nehelenia nods, "Aye, M'lord." She bows her head as she speaks, "Very kind of you to consider me, M'lord."
"Oh, I needn't worry who fights Sianna. You are to lose, you understand?" He paused for her answer.
"Completely, M'lord."
"Prepare yourself, we leave tonight."
With a quick nod, Nehelenia strides out of the room. Going down through the slaves' stairwell and around to the back door, she can to the slave quarters, needing to be ready for the long trek to the emperor's home beside her lord's horse.
Marveled by the huge buildings and monuments around her, Nehelenia forgot her fatigue from the long journey. A bright smile spread over her lips, even to her eyes, as she looked up at the statue of Mars. It was at least four times higher than the tallest of men. The sighs and smells were both good and bad, merchants calling out praise of their goods in various languages.
Looking aruond, she noticed Flavius was further ahead than she realized. She runs to catch up with him, dodging animals and people in the congested street.
"Come along." Flavius orders.
The next day after a few hours of needed rest, Nehelenia thinks that perhaps she should go out on the outer wall to look at the portculis and the guards around it. Exiting her room quietly, she moves through a long corridor. Coming to a halt briefly, she strains to listen for any noises of guards nearby. Continueing on her way, she looks over the paintings, busts, and statues lining each side of the hall. Avoiding the guards with their bored though chiseled expressions, she steps out onto the outer wall, looking out at the vast city. With a jump, Nehelenia stops as she hears the crack of a whip, a woman's pained groan following quickly after.
Nehelenia keeps to the shadows as she makes her way towards the source of the noise, her heart pounding in her ears. Finding a place where she could look at the scene below without being detected, she winces as another crack of the whip whistles through the air. The man holding the smooth leather had a sickly grin on his face. He actually liked hurting people!
Nehelenia gasps as the woman is dropped unscrupulously to the ground, the shackles at her wrists being undone. She looks unbelieveingly at the open wounds on the womans back, bleeding and showing the tissure beneath. With a cruel laugh, the soldier nudged the woman none too gently in the ribs with the toe of his sandle.
"Get up wench!"
When the woman didn't rise, he kicked her harder. She curled up tightly to avoid the avid pain he inflicted. "Pl...ease.." came the choked reply.
"This'll wake you up!" he jeered as he threw a mixture of salt and lemon on the bleeding slashes at her back.
With a yell, the woman rolled with pain, but suprisingly stood unsteadily to her feet. Her dark hair hung around her face, tosselled by the ill treatment she was receiving; her face streaked with dirt and a look of pain.
Hearing something nearby, Nehelenia's gaze moves quickly to a far door. Standing, she leaves her place quickly as not to be seen, leaving the cruel scene behind her.
Having made it back to her room unscathed, she goes to the window to check the position of the sun in the sky. "I've not much time." she thought to herself sorrowfully. She hadn't been able to get a look at the portculis so perhaps she would be able to escape during the festivities later. Trying to escape while going through the market place was much too risky. She'd be like a meal ticket to any peasant or merchant who stopped her and returned her to her master.
Striding across the small, box-like room, she picks up the clothing she had to wear for the emperor's entertainment. Holding up the coarse linen, she noticed it was of an egyptain style, woven tightly together. She hopes silently that they'll be using blunted weapons as she dones the clothing, knowing if not she may very well spend the night nursing her wounds instead of escaping as she had planned. Putting on the mask that merely protects her face from harm, she steps briefly in front of the foggy, bent metal, she checks her appearance.
A short knock sounded on the door as she was turning from the mirror. It opened swiftly, a hard looking soldier looming just within the frame.
"Your master calls." he says in choppy latin before turning on a heel and walking along the humid corridor. Closing the scarred door behind her with a soft click, Nehelenia strides quickly to keep up with the soldiers lengthy gait. Catching glimpses of the soldiers clothing, she saw that he was of low class, probably serving in the army in place of his master. "Strange that he be here", she thinks to herself.
"What is the make of the gate here?" Nehelenia asks carefully.
Without stopping or even slowing down, the soldier answers without thinking her curiosity be strange. "It pulled up and let down. Good for war."
Frowning at his obvious problem with latin, she asks another question. "It is heavily guarded at night?"
"Of course! This be emperor's home!" he slapped his fist against his chest in a sigh of loyalty when he spoke of the emperor.
Remaining silent once more, Nehelenia follows him down the small steps to the courtyard. The guard stepped to the side and she was directed to stride to the center of the courtyard, facing Sianna.
They were each given weapons, blunted to lessen the injury a blow would inflict. When they were to commense, Sianna moved with a stealth and skill Nehelenia soon found herself on her back. She almost couldn't keep up. but slowly began to feel empowered. She too began to move with the same strength and agility, but with a furious look from her lord, she let her effort ebb so that Sianna would win. Landing on her back once more, she stays there. The fight ending, Nehelenia stood and shook Sianna's hand, their gazes meeting and seeming to lock for a moment... she seemed familiar, like a family member. Stepping back from each other, they each turn to face the emperor and bow slowly.
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