Gladiatrix Ch 4
Title: Gladiatrix - Final Chapters
Archive: Just ask
Author: Fox - madfoxzz
Disclaimer: I don’t own anything in the show, Ijust like to fiddle with them. I don’t claim to speak through any official channels for either show, or the production company, and there is no profit being made. But ah, Dana is mine, so get your own Nordic goddess!
Pairing: Lucretia/OFC Dana/Gaia
Fandom: Spartacus - Blood and Sand/ Gods of the Arena
Rating: NC to the MFing 17 This section has graphic sexual content, and violence. So NSFW if I were you I wouldn’t even think about this fic after reading it while at work for fear of making some sort of inappropriate noise that could get you in trouble. You’ve been warned :D
Spoilers: Beneath the Mask
A/N ☺ Thank you for reading and commenting! This last part has been a long time coming, but I hope it’s worth it for ya! One thing here, consent is implied but safely assumed. They did stuff like this several times in the show and Lucretia is well aware of the things she becomes willing to do when under the influence. She’s made a conscious choice to use the drugs anyway, so we can assume she is willing. You don’t necessarily need consent in the Sparty-verse to stay in genre, but I sure as hell do.
Gladiatrix Ch 1
Gladiatrix Ch 2
Gladiatrix Ch 3
Chapter 4
Days later Batiatus convinced his father to take their novelty to the arena for her debut.
The crowd hushed when Dana stepped out of the shadows, her foot hitting the sand with a gentle puff of dust. While the idea of a barbarian woman meeting her end in blood sank into the minds of the multitude, Dana walked to the middle of the field and shifted her weight side to side while swinging her swords. The glint of the morning sun danced off her blades and over the crowd and her competitor as he entered from the other side. Quintus and Titus watched both the fighters and the spectators carefully. Gaia and Lucretia smiled nervously at each other. They were certain of the outcome should everything go right, but things rarely went right.
Dana planted her feet and watched as her opponent took one glance at her, then turned his back and preened for the crowd. Her jaw worked, she was angered by the dismissal but she knew she needed to wait him out, not get foolish and lunge at him. Over extending an attack would make it easy for him to simply trip and slash her from behind. He was more heavily armored than she, so she needed to make him move to get between his defenses.
Finally he turned and lumbered toward her. He took a full arm swing at her without bothering to raise his shield. She stepped aside and her blade flashed. He looked dumbstruck at the air where she had been, then wiped his cheek and looked at the blood on the back of his hand. Dana used his confused pause and pounded her foot into the back of his knee, drilling his leg into the dirt. His body pitched forward and he attempted to catch himself, but then crumpled, flopping to the earth face first.
The arena was silent again as the crowd slowly processed what had happened. The big man’s helm had fallen off when he sprawled lifeless and blood pooled under him from a cut across the back of his neck. When his head pitched forward, Dana’s smaller blade had penetrated the space between his helm and the protective manica over his shoulder, severing his spine in one slash. The fight was over nearly as soon as it had started.
Noise erupted from every corner. Dana looked away from the waste of human life laid out on the sand and up into the stands. She straightened when her eyes found Gaia and Lucretia but gave no other indication that she had seen them. Instead she turned in a circle and pumped a fist into the air for the cheering crowd. Satisfied she had played the part, she walked back to the door while removing her helm and shaking out the auburn braids Naevia had carefully plaited into her hair the night before.
As she entered the slave area Ganicus thumped her on the back, propelling her forward an involuntary step. Dana turned to assess his intention and was met with his open smiling face. She nodded, reached out and thumped him on the shoulder in the same manner. Turning back to the aisle, she took a step toward her cage but a foot snuck between hers, yet again meaning to trip her. She simply trod on it, hearing a satisfying grunt of pain from its owner and a snicker from his friends. It was still early in the day, and there was the chance she would have the opportunity to rest. She wasn’t going to waste her time with owner of the foot. He had barely earned the mark and would likely get killed soon anyway.
And he did, later that same day.
Chapter 5
The two women were sitting on the bed and whispering with their heads together when Dana was escorted into the chamber. Dana felt a lump rise in her throat and attempted to swallow, as she now understood why she had been brought again to Domina’s rooms. This was something new.
Domina turned her head and looked at Dana with deeply stoned eyes. She moved to stand, but Gaia pulled her in and began kissing her while catching Dana’s eye over her friend’s shoulder. Dana could see in her eyes that Gaia was not as high as her friend was. The gladiator stepped forward when Gaia gestured to her while petting Lucretia’s back. Dana understood that this was for Lucretia’s pleasure, and from their position, had an idea of what Gaia had in mind.
Kneeling next to the bed, Dana drew the curls off Lucretia’s neck and nibbled along her shoulder until she came to the material of her dress. Pulling away she looked into Gaia’s eyes and reached forward to her Domina’s knee. Sliding her hand back, she gathered the fabric of the dress up as she went. When she reached Lucretia’s hip Gaia took over, running her own hand over Dana’s and under the hem. Lucretia hesitated and aimed a curious look at Gaia as the dress drew up her body, but she raised her arms and allowed its removal all the same.
Dana leaned down and pressed her lips to the dimples on either side of Lucretia’s lower back, resting her hands on the woman’s hips, then slowly made her back way up. As she did this, Gaia’s hand found hers and their fingers wove tightly together even as Lucretia suddenly arched away from Dana and moaned loudly. The gladiator followed the new arc of her back until her lips roamed up the side of Lucretia’s throat.
The woman’s head tipped back and rested on Dana’s shoulder, so Dana slid the rest of her body up onto the bed and let her Domina lean against her more heavily. Looking down to see what Gaia was up to, she caught deep dark eyes looking back up at her as Gaia pulled the other pert nipple between her lips and suckled on it gently. Dana’s breath caught and she closed her eyes to concentrate. She could feel Gaia’s action and Lucretia’s low moans in her own loins, the air felt like it was getting thin.
Dana needed to release Gaia’s hand to move, so she gently did so. Laying Lucretia down into the sheets, Dana undressed herself first, then unraveled Gaia’s garments as well. Gaia paused long enough in her ministrations for Dana to take her dress over her head. As the woman went back to kissing the entirety of Lucretia’s belly, Dana could not resist running her fingertips up Gaia’s sides and around to her chest. She nibbled at a shoulder blade and pressed her body against Gaia’s back while she pinched and toyed with both nipples in unison. Gaia let out a low sigh into Lucretia’s soft skin, her body responding to Dana’s touch as naturally as breathing. Her lips never left Lucretia, but Gaia bent her body up to mold herself against Dana’s. Her hips twitched reflexively when Dana’s hand slid between them. Sighing, she took Dana’s hand away from herself, placed it on Lucretia, and moved to the side.
Dana looked over at her with a hint of mischief tugging the corner of her mouth, then took one of Lucretia’s ankles and with one move, flipped her face down into the bedding. She gave the round firm butt now facing her a sound swat. The body below her tensed, but before Lucretia could turn Gaia was at her lips, kissing, purring and petting while giving Dana a stern look that was contradicted by the sparkle in her eye.
Dana soothed the reddened skin with her lips, then dragged them up and through the curve of her back as her hand descended and massaged Lucretia’s inner thigh. Lucretia wantonly pushed back toward Dana’s hand, but Dana made no move to fulfill her. Rather, Dana left her hand where is was, and reaching under Lucretia’s midsection with the other, pulled the smaller woman up onto her knees and held her firmly against her own body.
Gaia disappeared behind Dana for a moment, then the gladiator felt a hand on the back of her leg pressuring her to spread her own thighs further apart. Drawing a steadying breath, Dana shifted her weight and did so, even as her fingers finally grazed Lucretia’s sex, drawing another moan from the woman. Dana bit her bottom lip as Gaia slid between both women’s legs, took hold of Lucretia’s thighs and pulled her to her mouth, eliciting another echoing noise from Lucretia.
Lucretia’s breathing became ragged and her body spasmed, then relaxed as Dana held her up. Watching Gaia’s eyes down another woman’s torso made it difficult to concentrate, so Dana distracted herself by teasing Lucretia’s opening with one hand, and a nipple with the other. Lucretia was wet and wanting but Dana let Gaia toy with the woman under hands as long as she wanted to.
Minutes seemed to pass before Gaia finally stroked Dana’s knuckles with her fingertips. Dana took the hint and pressed into Lucretia with two fingers, then quickly added a third. Lucretia groaned and writhed against her, her movements guiding the rhythm at first, but then Dana felt Gaia’s hand at her own center and two fingers slid inside her, and any control the other two women has was lost. Dana gasped and held Lucretia still more tightly against herself. Gaia added a third finger and thrust harder into the Gladiator causing her to bite Lucretia’s shoulder to keep from sobbing with pleasure.
Fucking the woman in her hands with more force, Dana’s hips rolled in synchronicity with Lucretia’s. She desperately tried to remain in control, but her mind was slowly melting away from her body. She focused on her fingers inside Lucretia, plunging and stroking as the other woman whimpered and pushed against her. Dana knew what Gaia’s tongue could do, but tried not to think about it just then, instead casting her mind about to remain aware of her surroundings. She had known from the first glance Gaia was distracting, she had just not known to what extent.
When Lucretia’s body tensed and went limp, Gaia’s rhythm inside Dana didn’t falter. Dana moved her hand to Lucretia’s thigh as she felt the bedding shift. A hot mouth wrapped around her clit sucking hard. The Gladiator grit her back teeth and threw her head back as she growled loudly. Two more thrusts and Dana shattered, but Gaia didn’t stop until Dana cried out and nearly collapsed over her. The Gladiator froze, muscles flexed and trembling as the waves crashed through her. Dana clung to Lucretia, afraid of dropping her, but her muscles shaking too hard for her to do anything else. When Gaia slid out from underneath her, Dana sat back on her haunches and panted for breath.
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Gaia rose to her knees and watched her gladiator ease Lucretia down onto her side. Her friend had had a bit too much and now sated, was dozily making herself a pillow from the sheets and falling asleep. Dana turned to her and Gaia noticed she was still flushed and catching her breath. Reaching out, Dana took Gaia’s hand and held it pressed against her chest as she lay down. She could feel the Gladiator’s heart still pounding.
Lying down next to her, Gaia played with Dana’s fingers and thumb. She loved Dana’s hands. They were strong and still gentle. When Dana touched her, these hands made her feel treasured, comforted and safe. They also made her wonder where the woman had come from. What place could create a woman of such dichotomous qualities? She was a fierce fighter and gentle lover, soft and yet hard, beautiful as she was deadly.
Gaia watched Dana’s face as the woman closed her eyes, finally uttering a deep sigh and stretching her shoulders. When her eyes opened she seemed to look deep into Gaia’s very soul. Lost in the fathomless gray depths Gaia tried to stifle the feelings, but they came anyway, unbidden. Feelings served no purpose and were often unrealistic, but that did not stop their existence. She leaned in and took Dana’s lips. The Gladiator sighed again as she tasted herself on Gaia’s tongue. Gaia smiled into the kiss and rolled on top of the taller woman. She felt a hand at the back of her neck and another trailing down her side…no not just hands, but Dana’s hands. Feeling a stir within her she sat up, straddled Dana’s thigh and ground her self down. She was already so wet her hips slid freely up and down the hard muscle.
Dana closed her eyes and inhaled sharply, flexing her quadriceps against Gaia’s softest skin, her own hips rocking on their own as Gaia rode her. She finally rested one hand on Gaia’s hip and the other on a breast, kneading the tender flesh in her palm.
It seemed to Gaia that Dana had waited as long as she could stand when she finally pushed Gaia down and rolled on top of her, her hand working its way between them and into the smaller woman. Gaia sighed and relaxed, letting Dana take her. Dana began with a slow pace, drawing long deep strokes in and out of her while she feasted on Gaia’s neck, shoulder, and breasts. When she took a bite at a nipple Gaia gasped and before she could relax again Dana’s speed quickened, though she stayed deep inside.
Gaia wrapped her arms around Dana’s shoulders and pulled herself up against the woman. She felt the muscle under her hands flex and roll while she drove her hips down onto Dana’s hand. Dana rocked back on her knees pulling the smaller woman with her so Gaia was again riding her thigh with Dana kissing her neck, drawing gentle sounds from Gaia’s lips with each thrust and caress. Gaia hadn’t known that it could be like this with a woman. She had only had other ladies, mostly for her husband’s pleasure who, while enthusiastic and satisfying in their own way, were less forceful and adept as well.
Dana had no use for custom and no use for pageantry. Once invited, she didn’t hesitate to take pleasures as viscerally as a man, or give pleasure as intuitively as a woman. Gaia let the strong arms hold her up as the fingers inside her curled and drew fire from her belly through every part of her limbs with each stroke. She looked into Dana’s face, watching the Gladiator watch her as her body built toward release. Dana was just as aroused giving as she was receiving, Gaia could see that in her eyes, but she wanted to see how far she could push Dana all the same.
Slowing, Dana laid her back down and straddled Gaia’s thigh, each thrust deliberately different from the last, still building but denying release. Gaia bent her knee and watched Dana’s features shift and relax as she pressed her thigh into Dana’s center. When she felt how wet the Gladiator was she pressed into her harder, encouraging Dana to do the same. Dana’s hips shifted in time with her plunging hand and she began to grind down, a faraway look in her eyes even as she watched the woman beneath her. Gaia bit her lower lip and arched as her body crested and pitched toward oblivion. Seconds later Dana moaned and collapsed onto her back next to her, breathing hard and slowly pulling out of the other woman.
Glancing over at Lucretia who hadn’t moved at all through any of this, Gaia knew her friend was asleep for the night. She had Dana to herself for a few hours and she intended to make the most of them. Taking Dana’s hand in hers once again, she waited until the taller woman looked over at her, then began licking the Gladiator’s fingers clean.
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Dana’s lips parted as she watched. The supple warmth of Gaia’s mouth encircled her fingertips while her tongue parted them and her teeth lightly rasped the scarred but sensitive flesh. Watching Gaia so thoroughly explore this small part of her, Dana thawed completely to the woman. Raising her gaze to Gaia’s eyes she watched the light dance and glitter in their depths. If she could only… but she stopped that thought in its tracks because she could not. If she were still free, she would never have met Gaia. As it was, they had met, but neither of them were free. Perhaps it was those limits themselves that made their time together all the more wonderful, but Dana wouldn’t hazard a guess. If she were to think too much on what it was between them, the spell might be broken.
Dana took her hand away and kissed Gaia’s still parted lips. Taking her time she explored and tasted, yearning to know every part of the Roman. She was drowsy, and this would make for a hard training day tomorrow, but if she had learned one thing from these people, it was to take the opportunity when you have it. It may not come again. She could be sold or killed at any moment and this made her all the more aware that she needed to make each moment worth living.
So Dana reveled in the woman next to her, pushing away fatigue for another day. She never wanted to stop touching her, kissing her, making love to every part of her as if tomorrow would never come. At that moment, Dana found she did not really care if it never did.
Moving her lips down the soft skin of Gaia’s neck, Dana traced the length of a collarbone and around the curved side of her breast down to her ribs. She paused and nipped at the skin there, then made a line of kisses back to center and up Gaia’s chest. She teased like this, avoiding Gaia’s breasts completely for what seemed like an eternity. Then her lips alighted on Gaia’s nipple. Not yet touching, her top and bottom lip simply framing it as her hot breaths washed over it.
Gaia arched toward Dana, who pulled away just as much. She ran her hand up Gaia’s side then back down to her thigh. Gaia arched again and this time Dana’s lips closed around the little bud. Pulling it into her mouth with her tongue she gently flicked and sucked then left it to lazily kiss her ribs down to her hip. Finding Gaia’s wrist nearby she gave that some attention too, nibbling at the sensitive flesh on the underside of her forearm up to the bend of her elbow. Dana found every part of the woman, and every sound she made, intoxicating. She was beginning to feel like an addict, desperate for the next fix before the last wore off.
Dana arrived at Gaia’s lips again and moved to kiss them but the other woman pulled away as her lips curled in a seductive smile. Dana moved in again slowly only to again be denied. Finally Dana lunged in, catching the back of Gaia’s head with her hand and took Gaia’s taunting lips by force. Gaia’s giggle changed to a gasp into the Gladiator as the kiss deepened. Dana was the first to pull away this time, and when she did, a whole, open smile graced her face.
Gaia caught her breath and reached up to trace the lines of skin that crinkled around Dana’s eyes as if reassuring herself that the smile was real. The smile broadened as Dana retreated down Gaia’s body, but then faded into an expression of need when she spread Gaia’s thighs and nuzzled into the warmth she found between them. Gaia took a handful of auburn braids and tugged, encouraging Dana all the more.
They traded pleasures for the remaining hours of the night. With a final kiss Dana took her leave in the predawn light before Lucretia woke or Quintus returned. When she left the room the guard Gaia had paid to keep his tongue escorted Dana back to her cell.
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When Lucretia awoke and stretched she found Gaia snuggled against her back.
“I had the most scandalous dream,” Lucretia said as she twisted around and grinned at her friend. Gaia opened her eyes slowly and there was a look of fatigue in them. Lucretia’s tone turned to one of concern, “Did you not rest well?”
Gaia shook her head and smiled as her friend turned over to face her, “I did not, but the cause of the sleeplessness was worth a day of lethargy.” She squeezed Lucretia’s arm and leaned forward conspiratorially, “Tell me of this gift from Morpheus and perhaps I will feel more awake.”
Chapter 6
One sword rose to deflect the blow but her timing was off. While her feet shifted to let the blunt spear point thrust harmlessly past her thigh, both her practice sword and her attacker’s smacked her on the forehead. The block had taken most of the force out of the strike, but it still stung and opened a gash over her eye. Dana spun around and faced both men, closing her eye to the stinging blood that had begun to flow from the wound.
Gannicus was on her left and Barca on the right. The men had trained together for a long time and it showed, they were perfectly in sync. When one backed out the other lunged. When one lunged the other attempted to flank her. They moved back, forth and around in a tight circle.
Barca lunged again with the spear. Dana kicked it hard with her foot from underneath and hit him in the nose with the shaft, causing his eyes to water and blind him for a moment. Gannicus’ sword came down from overhead again, but this time she caught it, scissoring it between both of her weapons and twisting it out of his grip and flinging it to the side. He swiped at her with his shield but she dodged that easily. Dancing away she slapped Barca’s backside with the flat of her wooden blade just to piss him off. Gannicus paused and laughed, stepping back from the fray.
Barca turned and snarled, wiping his streaming eyes with the back of his hand while keeping her off with his spear. She grinned and spun in under his guard driving the pommel of one sword into his ribs before dropping and rolling away. He grunted and doubled over, holding his side with his shield hand. Keeping Gannicus in the corner of her eye, she kicked the spear again, this time sending it wide. As Barca began to swing it back into place she dropped a sword, rolled and grabbed it from the outside, twisting it from his grip.
Seeing Gannicus move in again she carried the spear’s momentum through and attempted to sweep his feet from under him. He executed a clumsy hop but Dana stopped the spear directly beneath him so he landed on the shaft, causing him to stagger for a moment on the uneven footing. Dropping the spear she rushed him before he regained his balance and hooked a foot under his knee, bringing him crashing down onto his back. Barca began moving slowly in her direction, but stopped as they all heard Doctore’s whip crack.
Dana stopped and stood. Gannicus was already back on his feet but Barca was trying to stand tall but failing. She regretted that she may have cracked a rib. She looked up at the terrace to the ladies. They were watching her but also clearly engaged in a deep discussion. Doctore began chastising her for misusing the weapons while at the same time praising her for her creativity. Dana idly wondered what the women of the house were up to now, until Doctore’s whip cracked again and she was facing down Crixus. She wiped blood and sweat from her eyes and charged him head on, just for fun.
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Stepping into the arena for her second bout that day Dana squared off with her opponent. Mindful of Doctore’s teaching she let her foe draw first blood. It was only a small scratch but she pretended it was much deeper. The man’s face broke into a satisfied sneer. Dana wondered why, after so many bouts, did these imbeciles still seem to assume she would be so easy to take down?
Dana limped to the side and dodged another swipe of his sword, making it as close a call as possible. She deliberately staggered and swayed out of range of each of his attempted attacks, drawing laughter from the crowd. Only after several minutes of failing to hit her did he realize she was leading him on. His cheeks reddened as his frustration rose.
Realizing her opponent had gotten wise to her bluff she straightened and drove hard at him in a flurry of honed metal. Caught off guard the man stumbled back only to find the wall. She had circled him into the corner without him noticing and now both of her blades were at his throat.
He twitched and received a front thrust kick pounding into his chest just over his heart. Clutching his chest he fell to his knees. Dana glanced up for the sign to step away or end him but the gesture was moot. The strike had stopped his heart and by the time she looked back to him the only move she had to make was to step away to keep his tumbling corpse from landing on her foot.
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Lucretia and Gaia looked at one another. Dana had truly become an entertaining asset indeed. How could anything go wrong now?
Chapter 7
Not just blood, but a Roman citizen’s blood had been spilled in the house of Batiatus.
Dana sat in the slave baths in the early morning. All were given the day to rest, even though Dana had been kept in her cage and out of sight during the night of deprived debauchery offered by the house of Batiatus. A couple of female slaves had been through and offered her stolen wine and cheese, but she had declined. If what she had heard was true, then there was no point. She trailed her fingers through the water and watched the ripples as they collided with each other and the sides of the pool. All the ripples through life, intersecting, changing each other’s directions, but they all washed into nothing in the end. They all ended… Dana’s eyes burned. She looked up again to the shadows on the ceiling cast this time by the sun, and didn’t bother glancing down when she heard the door.
She knew it wasn’t Gaia.
Naevia sat down beside her, “She is gone,” the girl said, sympathetically. “Her body has been sent over the cliff.” Dana looked back down and nodded. A tear fell into the water and dissolved into nothing, but even though there was no longer evidence of it’s existence, Dana knew it still mattered, as had Gaia herself. Everything would go on as it had done, but Dana was changed forever, and that was what was important.
Dana understood the risks the other woman had taken, but at no point did she believe Gaia had done anything to deserve that man’s enmity. Gaia was desperate, and in her desperation she had perhaps became complacent. Her trust misplaced in a boy she once knew, forgetting to test the merits of the man he had become.
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Naevia was unsure of her feelings about Gaia. She was just another Roman after all, but she was more human than many, and as a woman without a husband or father, just as ill-treated as many slaves. The girl was however sure of her sympathy toward Dana, who took as much physical abuse than any of them. Naevia also admired Dana’s ability to mete out as much abuse as she took, and yet be as gentle as she was. She rested her head against the gladiator’s shoulder trying to comfort her.
Dana sighed, reached under Naevia’s chin and placed a palm to the girl’s opposite cheek. Squeezing affectionately, Dana then kissed the top of her head, and whispered, “Gratitude.” Naevia sniffed, but said nothing for a long while.
“I must go attend Domina,” Naevia said, touching the woman’s arm. Dana nodded and stood, then reached down and helped Naevia to her feet. Naevia gave the tall woman a shy hug, then quickly left as quietly as she had come in.
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Dana watched the young woman leave and hoped. She hoped fate would be kind to the girl, that somehow the lessons she learned would not break her. And she hoped that the girl would understand what she, Dana, was going to do next.
Chapter 8
Remembering Barca’s attack in training she spun the other direction, under the attacking arm, and slipped her blade home between his ribs. She pulled it free as he dropped to the ground.
Dana looked at the dead man before her and raised her arms to the crowd. The crowd cheered but she barely heard. Her focus narrowed, she was ready to do what she had to. She pointed the sword in her left hand to Lucretia and placed her right hand, still gripping the hilt of her other sword over her heart in a fist. Lucretia winced and shook her head, but Dana ignored it.
She gripped the steel in her hands and turned to watch the slaves drag the body of her competitor out the door. Then she looked up and surreptitiously planted her feet, leaving the rest of her body relaxed. There was nothing here for her, nothing but pain, nothing but fending off a death that she desperately wanted. Now she had real weapons, but no chance for escape. Still, she would still kill as many Romans as she could before she went down. She would take death on her own terms and let the gods decide if she was worthy to see her family, maybe even Gaia, again in the after life.
The guards were now aware that something was amiss because she was taking too long to leave. The archers on the walls nocked their arrows, but she knew they would not fire right away, she was valuable property now. She took off her helm and dropped it to the ground. She shook her braids loose as two guards walked toward her, one in front of the other.
As they got closer, the rear one split off to flank her. Dana waited until the first had almost reached her, then dropped to her knee and plunged both blades up and under his armor, into his abdomen. Withdrawing them quickly she pivoted and slashed the next guard across both thighs as he closed in on her. She ducked as he fell, his momentum carrying his body past her.
Standing, she faced the next two head on. They paused just short of her so she charged, catching them by surprise. The first received a slash to the throat, but catching movement high in the corner of her eye she spun around him and wrapped an arm around his neck quickly enough to catch 4 arrows with his body. He sagged, making him too difficult to hold on to so she dropped the body, which left her streaked with dark red arterial spray, then ran and dive rolled to the wall directly under the first set of archers. They couldn’t reach her from there due to the slope of the high wall in the new arena.
Guards were coming from both the left and the right now, and there were still the archers on the opposite wall to consider. She dropped down and a volley of arrows clattered against the stone where she had been. Slicing to the left she cut off one man’s foot, the scream as he fell barely audible over the din of the crowd. She rolled sideways to where he had stood, but not fast enough to avoid a deep cut down her right arm severing tendon and muscle.
The blade immediately dropped from the useless hand as she stood and spun, ripping the next attacker crossways from shoulder to hip. The pain barely registered as two arrows slammed into her thigh but they caused her to stumble. She fell hard, unable to catch herself with the injured arm, and rolled away from a spear point descending on her just in time. Her still useful foot struck the man square in the midsection and sent him crashing over her head into the next man. A gash opened on her left side as she rolled away from another hail of arrows.
She hit the wall and rose to her full height, balancing on one leg. She was ready to face one more. Just one. Four guards stood warily before her. The one she had sent flying over herself and the man he had bowled over were also picking themselves out of the dust. She clutched her arm to her side, willing the muscles to work but they refused. The tattered material of what was left of her top fell to the ground and she challenged them bare breasted, curling her lips and shouting a grand “fuck you” in her mother tongue. An arrow thumped into her shoulder driving her back against the wall, marking it with her blood, the blood of the north, the blood of a warrior class of women, blood which Rome had yet to reckon with fully.
Then it happened so fast she didn’t have time to react, or perhaps it was she who had slowed due to fatigue and blood loss.
Dana gasped as the air rushed from her lungs through her ribs and past the penetrating blade. She fell limp to the ground as the man pulled his blade free. The crowd hushed, watching her body spasm for air, but they didn’t know her mind was already free of this place. As the light faded behind her eyes and her blood painted the sand, Dana felt relief that it was over. No pain stirred her, she was finally able to go into the next life with honor.
Her eyes widened in death and reflected nothing but the sun and sky.
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A raucous roar rose up and the crowd, fueled with bloodlust, surged as one to their feet. Lucretia however sat, head in her hands feeling a failure deep in her bones while her husband fumed, until a shadow fell over them. “If this is what the house of Batiatus can train a woman to do,” a voice intoned, “I fail to imagine what your men are capable of. You will find your Gladiators favored in the games with increased frequency, I promise you that.”
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There was quiet now, and Dana heard the trickling of water. She heard laughter, women’s and a child’s. She looked around and realized she was standing in a cool wooded clearing by a pool and could not see them because she was blinded by the sunlight reflecting off the rippled surface. She knew that laughter though and she smiled through happy tears and took a step toward them.
Never looking back.
A/N - Thank you all for reading and the reviews. After reading them, a big part of me wanted them to live and ride off into the sunset together. But when I began writing this story I always intended for them to die, Gaia in the way she did in the show and Dana choosing her own destiny. If I had changed the ending from the conclusion I had been writing toward, the story would have suffered. I wanted to give the character Gaia someone who was just for her, who had no other politics or desire to manipulate or use her. Because for all her bravado and hope, as a single woman without any wealth she was as lost and screwed from the beginning of Gods of the Arena as any of the slaves. Despite this, she still lived life her own way and seized the day.
Where Dana is concerned, I don’t claim any historical accuracy as far as the place women later claimed as Gladiatrixes in the arena. I do however believe that there are always female trailblazers in all sports, and the ones who come before the paradigm shifts often prove themselves above and beyond worthy to be there.
In America, it has been nearly 40 years since Title IX and the divide between women’s and men’s professional sports is still a great one. One small shift is that women who are athletic and muscular are beginning to be celebrated and represented in the media. Personally I think that physically powerful women being represented as sexy is a good thing because it gets strong images out there that let little girls know it’s ok to lift weights and eat to get stronger and better at their sport. Girls shouldn’t have to feel like they have to choose between rocking the playing field and rocking their partner’s world when they become interested in relationships.
That’s why I write characters like Dana. There is no single way to be a woman! ☺ Oh and sexytiemz. I like writing girls’ sexytiemz :D
Archive: Just ask
Author: Fox - madfoxzz
Disclaimer: I don’t own anything in the show, Ijust like to fiddle with them. I don’t claim to speak through any official channels for either show, or the production company, and there is no profit being made. But ah, Dana is mine, so get your own Nordic goddess!
Pairing: Lucretia/OFC Dana/Gaia
Fandom: Spartacus - Blood and Sand/ Gods of the Arena
Rating: NC to the MFing 17 This section has graphic sexual content, and violence. So NSFW if I were you I wouldn’t even think about this fic after reading it while at work for fear of making some sort of inappropriate noise that could get you in trouble. You’ve been warned :D
Spoilers: Beneath the Mask
A/N ☺ Thank you for reading and commenting! This last part has been a long time coming, but I hope it’s worth it for ya! One thing here, consent is implied but safely assumed. They did stuff like this several times in the show and Lucretia is well aware of the things she becomes willing to do when under the influence. She’s made a conscious choice to use the drugs anyway, so we can assume she is willing. You don’t necessarily need consent in the Sparty-verse to stay in genre, but I sure as hell do.
Gladiatrix Ch 1
Gladiatrix Ch 2
Gladiatrix Ch 3
Chapter 4
Days later Batiatus convinced his father to take their novelty to the arena for her debut.
The crowd hushed when Dana stepped out of the shadows, her foot hitting the sand with a gentle puff of dust. While the idea of a barbarian woman meeting her end in blood sank into the minds of the multitude, Dana walked to the middle of the field and shifted her weight side to side while swinging her swords. The glint of the morning sun danced off her blades and over the crowd and her competitor as he entered from the other side. Quintus and Titus watched both the fighters and the spectators carefully. Gaia and Lucretia smiled nervously at each other. They were certain of the outcome should everything go right, but things rarely went right.
Dana planted her feet and watched as her opponent took one glance at her, then turned his back and preened for the crowd. Her jaw worked, she was angered by the dismissal but she knew she needed to wait him out, not get foolish and lunge at him. Over extending an attack would make it easy for him to simply trip and slash her from behind. He was more heavily armored than she, so she needed to make him move to get between his defenses.
Finally he turned and lumbered toward her. He took a full arm swing at her without bothering to raise his shield. She stepped aside and her blade flashed. He looked dumbstruck at the air where she had been, then wiped his cheek and looked at the blood on the back of his hand. Dana used his confused pause and pounded her foot into the back of his knee, drilling his leg into the dirt. His body pitched forward and he attempted to catch himself, but then crumpled, flopping to the earth face first.
The arena was silent again as the crowd slowly processed what had happened. The big man’s helm had fallen off when he sprawled lifeless and blood pooled under him from a cut across the back of his neck. When his head pitched forward, Dana’s smaller blade had penetrated the space between his helm and the protective manica over his shoulder, severing his spine in one slash. The fight was over nearly as soon as it had started.
Noise erupted from every corner. Dana looked away from the waste of human life laid out on the sand and up into the stands. She straightened when her eyes found Gaia and Lucretia but gave no other indication that she had seen them. Instead she turned in a circle and pumped a fist into the air for the cheering crowd. Satisfied she had played the part, she walked back to the door while removing her helm and shaking out the auburn braids Naevia had carefully plaited into her hair the night before.
As she entered the slave area Ganicus thumped her on the back, propelling her forward an involuntary step. Dana turned to assess his intention and was met with his open smiling face. She nodded, reached out and thumped him on the shoulder in the same manner. Turning back to the aisle, she took a step toward her cage but a foot snuck between hers, yet again meaning to trip her. She simply trod on it, hearing a satisfying grunt of pain from its owner and a snicker from his friends. It was still early in the day, and there was the chance she would have the opportunity to rest. She wasn’t going to waste her time with owner of the foot. He had barely earned the mark and would likely get killed soon anyway.
And he did, later that same day.
Chapter 5
The two women were sitting on the bed and whispering with their heads together when Dana was escorted into the chamber. Dana felt a lump rise in her throat and attempted to swallow, as she now understood why she had been brought again to Domina’s rooms. This was something new.
Domina turned her head and looked at Dana with deeply stoned eyes. She moved to stand, but Gaia pulled her in and began kissing her while catching Dana’s eye over her friend’s shoulder. Dana could see in her eyes that Gaia was not as high as her friend was. The gladiator stepped forward when Gaia gestured to her while petting Lucretia’s back. Dana understood that this was for Lucretia’s pleasure, and from their position, had an idea of what Gaia had in mind.
Kneeling next to the bed, Dana drew the curls off Lucretia’s neck and nibbled along her shoulder until she came to the material of her dress. Pulling away she looked into Gaia’s eyes and reached forward to her Domina’s knee. Sliding her hand back, she gathered the fabric of the dress up as she went. When she reached Lucretia’s hip Gaia took over, running her own hand over Dana’s and under the hem. Lucretia hesitated and aimed a curious look at Gaia as the dress drew up her body, but she raised her arms and allowed its removal all the same.
Dana leaned down and pressed her lips to the dimples on either side of Lucretia’s lower back, resting her hands on the woman’s hips, then slowly made her back way up. As she did this, Gaia’s hand found hers and their fingers wove tightly together even as Lucretia suddenly arched away from Dana and moaned loudly. The gladiator followed the new arc of her back until her lips roamed up the side of Lucretia’s throat.
The woman’s head tipped back and rested on Dana’s shoulder, so Dana slid the rest of her body up onto the bed and let her Domina lean against her more heavily. Looking down to see what Gaia was up to, she caught deep dark eyes looking back up at her as Gaia pulled the other pert nipple between her lips and suckled on it gently. Dana’s breath caught and she closed her eyes to concentrate. She could feel Gaia’s action and Lucretia’s low moans in her own loins, the air felt like it was getting thin.
Dana needed to release Gaia’s hand to move, so she gently did so. Laying Lucretia down into the sheets, Dana undressed herself first, then unraveled Gaia’s garments as well. Gaia paused long enough in her ministrations for Dana to take her dress over her head. As the woman went back to kissing the entirety of Lucretia’s belly, Dana could not resist running her fingertips up Gaia’s sides and around to her chest. She nibbled at a shoulder blade and pressed her body against Gaia’s back while she pinched and toyed with both nipples in unison. Gaia let out a low sigh into Lucretia’s soft skin, her body responding to Dana’s touch as naturally as breathing. Her lips never left Lucretia, but Gaia bent her body up to mold herself against Dana’s. Her hips twitched reflexively when Dana’s hand slid between them. Sighing, she took Dana’s hand away from herself, placed it on Lucretia, and moved to the side.
Dana looked over at her with a hint of mischief tugging the corner of her mouth, then took one of Lucretia’s ankles and with one move, flipped her face down into the bedding. She gave the round firm butt now facing her a sound swat. The body below her tensed, but before Lucretia could turn Gaia was at her lips, kissing, purring and petting while giving Dana a stern look that was contradicted by the sparkle in her eye.
Dana soothed the reddened skin with her lips, then dragged them up and through the curve of her back as her hand descended and massaged Lucretia’s inner thigh. Lucretia wantonly pushed back toward Dana’s hand, but Dana made no move to fulfill her. Rather, Dana left her hand where is was, and reaching under Lucretia’s midsection with the other, pulled the smaller woman up onto her knees and held her firmly against her own body.
Gaia disappeared behind Dana for a moment, then the gladiator felt a hand on the back of her leg pressuring her to spread her own thighs further apart. Drawing a steadying breath, Dana shifted her weight and did so, even as her fingers finally grazed Lucretia’s sex, drawing another moan from the woman. Dana bit her bottom lip as Gaia slid between both women’s legs, took hold of Lucretia’s thighs and pulled her to her mouth, eliciting another echoing noise from Lucretia.
Lucretia’s breathing became ragged and her body spasmed, then relaxed as Dana held her up. Watching Gaia’s eyes down another woman’s torso made it difficult to concentrate, so Dana distracted herself by teasing Lucretia’s opening with one hand, and a nipple with the other. Lucretia was wet and wanting but Dana let Gaia toy with the woman under hands as long as she wanted to.
Minutes seemed to pass before Gaia finally stroked Dana’s knuckles with her fingertips. Dana took the hint and pressed into Lucretia with two fingers, then quickly added a third. Lucretia groaned and writhed against her, her movements guiding the rhythm at first, but then Dana felt Gaia’s hand at her own center and two fingers slid inside her, and any control the other two women has was lost. Dana gasped and held Lucretia still more tightly against herself. Gaia added a third finger and thrust harder into the Gladiator causing her to bite Lucretia’s shoulder to keep from sobbing with pleasure.
Fucking the woman in her hands with more force, Dana’s hips rolled in synchronicity with Lucretia’s. She desperately tried to remain in control, but her mind was slowly melting away from her body. She focused on her fingers inside Lucretia, plunging and stroking as the other woman whimpered and pushed against her. Dana knew what Gaia’s tongue could do, but tried not to think about it just then, instead casting her mind about to remain aware of her surroundings. She had known from the first glance Gaia was distracting, she had just not known to what extent.
When Lucretia’s body tensed and went limp, Gaia’s rhythm inside Dana didn’t falter. Dana moved her hand to Lucretia’s thigh as she felt the bedding shift. A hot mouth wrapped around her clit sucking hard. The Gladiator grit her back teeth and threw her head back as she growled loudly. Two more thrusts and Dana shattered, but Gaia didn’t stop until Dana cried out and nearly collapsed over her. The Gladiator froze, muscles flexed and trembling as the waves crashed through her. Dana clung to Lucretia, afraid of dropping her, but her muscles shaking too hard for her to do anything else. When Gaia slid out from underneath her, Dana sat back on her haunches and panted for breath.
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Gaia rose to her knees and watched her gladiator ease Lucretia down onto her side. Her friend had had a bit too much and now sated, was dozily making herself a pillow from the sheets and falling asleep. Dana turned to her and Gaia noticed she was still flushed and catching her breath. Reaching out, Dana took Gaia’s hand and held it pressed against her chest as she lay down. She could feel the Gladiator’s heart still pounding.
Lying down next to her, Gaia played with Dana’s fingers and thumb. She loved Dana’s hands. They were strong and still gentle. When Dana touched her, these hands made her feel treasured, comforted and safe. They also made her wonder where the woman had come from. What place could create a woman of such dichotomous qualities? She was a fierce fighter and gentle lover, soft and yet hard, beautiful as she was deadly.
Gaia watched Dana’s face as the woman closed her eyes, finally uttering a deep sigh and stretching her shoulders. When her eyes opened she seemed to look deep into Gaia’s very soul. Lost in the fathomless gray depths Gaia tried to stifle the feelings, but they came anyway, unbidden. Feelings served no purpose and were often unrealistic, but that did not stop their existence. She leaned in and took Dana’s lips. The Gladiator sighed again as she tasted herself on Gaia’s tongue. Gaia smiled into the kiss and rolled on top of the taller woman. She felt a hand at the back of her neck and another trailing down her side…no not just hands, but Dana’s hands. Feeling a stir within her she sat up, straddled Dana’s thigh and ground her self down. She was already so wet her hips slid freely up and down the hard muscle.
Dana closed her eyes and inhaled sharply, flexing her quadriceps against Gaia’s softest skin, her own hips rocking on their own as Gaia rode her. She finally rested one hand on Gaia’s hip and the other on a breast, kneading the tender flesh in her palm.
It seemed to Gaia that Dana had waited as long as she could stand when she finally pushed Gaia down and rolled on top of her, her hand working its way between them and into the smaller woman. Gaia sighed and relaxed, letting Dana take her. Dana began with a slow pace, drawing long deep strokes in and out of her while she feasted on Gaia’s neck, shoulder, and breasts. When she took a bite at a nipple Gaia gasped and before she could relax again Dana’s speed quickened, though she stayed deep inside.
Gaia wrapped her arms around Dana’s shoulders and pulled herself up against the woman. She felt the muscle under her hands flex and roll while she drove her hips down onto Dana’s hand. Dana rocked back on her knees pulling the smaller woman with her so Gaia was again riding her thigh with Dana kissing her neck, drawing gentle sounds from Gaia’s lips with each thrust and caress. Gaia hadn’t known that it could be like this with a woman. She had only had other ladies, mostly for her husband’s pleasure who, while enthusiastic and satisfying in their own way, were less forceful and adept as well.
Dana had no use for custom and no use for pageantry. Once invited, she didn’t hesitate to take pleasures as viscerally as a man, or give pleasure as intuitively as a woman. Gaia let the strong arms hold her up as the fingers inside her curled and drew fire from her belly through every part of her limbs with each stroke. She looked into Dana’s face, watching the Gladiator watch her as her body built toward release. Dana was just as aroused giving as she was receiving, Gaia could see that in her eyes, but she wanted to see how far she could push Dana all the same.
Slowing, Dana laid her back down and straddled Gaia’s thigh, each thrust deliberately different from the last, still building but denying release. Gaia bent her knee and watched Dana’s features shift and relax as she pressed her thigh into Dana’s center. When she felt how wet the Gladiator was she pressed into her harder, encouraging Dana to do the same. Dana’s hips shifted in time with her plunging hand and she began to grind down, a faraway look in her eyes even as she watched the woman beneath her. Gaia bit her lower lip and arched as her body crested and pitched toward oblivion. Seconds later Dana moaned and collapsed onto her back next to her, breathing hard and slowly pulling out of the other woman.
Glancing over at Lucretia who hadn’t moved at all through any of this, Gaia knew her friend was asleep for the night. She had Dana to herself for a few hours and she intended to make the most of them. Taking Dana’s hand in hers once again, she waited until the taller woman looked over at her, then began licking the Gladiator’s fingers clean.
#####
Dana’s lips parted as she watched. The supple warmth of Gaia’s mouth encircled her fingertips while her tongue parted them and her teeth lightly rasped the scarred but sensitive flesh. Watching Gaia so thoroughly explore this small part of her, Dana thawed completely to the woman. Raising her gaze to Gaia’s eyes she watched the light dance and glitter in their depths. If she could only… but she stopped that thought in its tracks because she could not. If she were still free, she would never have met Gaia. As it was, they had met, but neither of them were free. Perhaps it was those limits themselves that made their time together all the more wonderful, but Dana wouldn’t hazard a guess. If she were to think too much on what it was between them, the spell might be broken.
Dana took her hand away and kissed Gaia’s still parted lips. Taking her time she explored and tasted, yearning to know every part of the Roman. She was drowsy, and this would make for a hard training day tomorrow, but if she had learned one thing from these people, it was to take the opportunity when you have it. It may not come again. She could be sold or killed at any moment and this made her all the more aware that she needed to make each moment worth living.
So Dana reveled in the woman next to her, pushing away fatigue for another day. She never wanted to stop touching her, kissing her, making love to every part of her as if tomorrow would never come. At that moment, Dana found she did not really care if it never did.
Moving her lips down the soft skin of Gaia’s neck, Dana traced the length of a collarbone and around the curved side of her breast down to her ribs. She paused and nipped at the skin there, then made a line of kisses back to center and up Gaia’s chest. She teased like this, avoiding Gaia’s breasts completely for what seemed like an eternity. Then her lips alighted on Gaia’s nipple. Not yet touching, her top and bottom lip simply framing it as her hot breaths washed over it.
Gaia arched toward Dana, who pulled away just as much. She ran her hand up Gaia’s side then back down to her thigh. Gaia arched again and this time Dana’s lips closed around the little bud. Pulling it into her mouth with her tongue she gently flicked and sucked then left it to lazily kiss her ribs down to her hip. Finding Gaia’s wrist nearby she gave that some attention too, nibbling at the sensitive flesh on the underside of her forearm up to the bend of her elbow. Dana found every part of the woman, and every sound she made, intoxicating. She was beginning to feel like an addict, desperate for the next fix before the last wore off.
Dana arrived at Gaia’s lips again and moved to kiss them but the other woman pulled away as her lips curled in a seductive smile. Dana moved in again slowly only to again be denied. Finally Dana lunged in, catching the back of Gaia’s head with her hand and took Gaia’s taunting lips by force. Gaia’s giggle changed to a gasp into the Gladiator as the kiss deepened. Dana was the first to pull away this time, and when she did, a whole, open smile graced her face.
Gaia caught her breath and reached up to trace the lines of skin that crinkled around Dana’s eyes as if reassuring herself that the smile was real. The smile broadened as Dana retreated down Gaia’s body, but then faded into an expression of need when she spread Gaia’s thighs and nuzzled into the warmth she found between them. Gaia took a handful of auburn braids and tugged, encouraging Dana all the more.
They traded pleasures for the remaining hours of the night. With a final kiss Dana took her leave in the predawn light before Lucretia woke or Quintus returned. When she left the room the guard Gaia had paid to keep his tongue escorted Dana back to her cell.
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When Lucretia awoke and stretched she found Gaia snuggled against her back.
“I had the most scandalous dream,” Lucretia said as she twisted around and grinned at her friend. Gaia opened her eyes slowly and there was a look of fatigue in them. Lucretia’s tone turned to one of concern, “Did you not rest well?”
Gaia shook her head and smiled as her friend turned over to face her, “I did not, but the cause of the sleeplessness was worth a day of lethargy.” She squeezed Lucretia’s arm and leaned forward conspiratorially, “Tell me of this gift from Morpheus and perhaps I will feel more awake.”
Chapter 6
One sword rose to deflect the blow but her timing was off. While her feet shifted to let the blunt spear point thrust harmlessly past her thigh, both her practice sword and her attacker’s smacked her on the forehead. The block had taken most of the force out of the strike, but it still stung and opened a gash over her eye. Dana spun around and faced both men, closing her eye to the stinging blood that had begun to flow from the wound.
Gannicus was on her left and Barca on the right. The men had trained together for a long time and it showed, they were perfectly in sync. When one backed out the other lunged. When one lunged the other attempted to flank her. They moved back, forth and around in a tight circle.
Barca lunged again with the spear. Dana kicked it hard with her foot from underneath and hit him in the nose with the shaft, causing his eyes to water and blind him for a moment. Gannicus’ sword came down from overhead again, but this time she caught it, scissoring it between both of her weapons and twisting it out of his grip and flinging it to the side. He swiped at her with his shield but she dodged that easily. Dancing away she slapped Barca’s backside with the flat of her wooden blade just to piss him off. Gannicus paused and laughed, stepping back from the fray.
Barca turned and snarled, wiping his streaming eyes with the back of his hand while keeping her off with his spear. She grinned and spun in under his guard driving the pommel of one sword into his ribs before dropping and rolling away. He grunted and doubled over, holding his side with his shield hand. Keeping Gannicus in the corner of her eye, she kicked the spear again, this time sending it wide. As Barca began to swing it back into place she dropped a sword, rolled and grabbed it from the outside, twisting it from his grip.
Seeing Gannicus move in again she carried the spear’s momentum through and attempted to sweep his feet from under him. He executed a clumsy hop but Dana stopped the spear directly beneath him so he landed on the shaft, causing him to stagger for a moment on the uneven footing. Dropping the spear she rushed him before he regained his balance and hooked a foot under his knee, bringing him crashing down onto his back. Barca began moving slowly in her direction, but stopped as they all heard Doctore’s whip crack.
Dana stopped and stood. Gannicus was already back on his feet but Barca was trying to stand tall but failing. She regretted that she may have cracked a rib. She looked up at the terrace to the ladies. They were watching her but also clearly engaged in a deep discussion. Doctore began chastising her for misusing the weapons while at the same time praising her for her creativity. Dana idly wondered what the women of the house were up to now, until Doctore’s whip cracked again and she was facing down Crixus. She wiped blood and sweat from her eyes and charged him head on, just for fun.
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Stepping into the arena for her second bout that day Dana squared off with her opponent. Mindful of Doctore’s teaching she let her foe draw first blood. It was only a small scratch but she pretended it was much deeper. The man’s face broke into a satisfied sneer. Dana wondered why, after so many bouts, did these imbeciles still seem to assume she would be so easy to take down?
Dana limped to the side and dodged another swipe of his sword, making it as close a call as possible. She deliberately staggered and swayed out of range of each of his attempted attacks, drawing laughter from the crowd. Only after several minutes of failing to hit her did he realize she was leading him on. His cheeks reddened as his frustration rose.
Realizing her opponent had gotten wise to her bluff she straightened and drove hard at him in a flurry of honed metal. Caught off guard the man stumbled back only to find the wall. She had circled him into the corner without him noticing and now both of her blades were at his throat.
He twitched and received a front thrust kick pounding into his chest just over his heart. Clutching his chest he fell to his knees. Dana glanced up for the sign to step away or end him but the gesture was moot. The strike had stopped his heart and by the time she looked back to him the only move she had to make was to step away to keep his tumbling corpse from landing on her foot.
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Lucretia and Gaia looked at one another. Dana had truly become an entertaining asset indeed. How could anything go wrong now?
Chapter 7
Not just blood, but a Roman citizen’s blood had been spilled in the house of Batiatus.
Dana sat in the slave baths in the early morning. All were given the day to rest, even though Dana had been kept in her cage and out of sight during the night of deprived debauchery offered by the house of Batiatus. A couple of female slaves had been through and offered her stolen wine and cheese, but she had declined. If what she had heard was true, then there was no point. She trailed her fingers through the water and watched the ripples as they collided with each other and the sides of the pool. All the ripples through life, intersecting, changing each other’s directions, but they all washed into nothing in the end. They all ended… Dana’s eyes burned. She looked up again to the shadows on the ceiling cast this time by the sun, and didn’t bother glancing down when she heard the door.
She knew it wasn’t Gaia.
Naevia sat down beside her, “She is gone,” the girl said, sympathetically. “Her body has been sent over the cliff.” Dana looked back down and nodded. A tear fell into the water and dissolved into nothing, but even though there was no longer evidence of it’s existence, Dana knew it still mattered, as had Gaia herself. Everything would go on as it had done, but Dana was changed forever, and that was what was important.
Dana understood the risks the other woman had taken, but at no point did she believe Gaia had done anything to deserve that man’s enmity. Gaia was desperate, and in her desperation she had perhaps became complacent. Her trust misplaced in a boy she once knew, forgetting to test the merits of the man he had become.
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Naevia was unsure of her feelings about Gaia. She was just another Roman after all, but she was more human than many, and as a woman without a husband or father, just as ill-treated as many slaves. The girl was however sure of her sympathy toward Dana, who took as much physical abuse than any of them. Naevia also admired Dana’s ability to mete out as much abuse as she took, and yet be as gentle as she was. She rested her head against the gladiator’s shoulder trying to comfort her.
Dana sighed, reached under Naevia’s chin and placed a palm to the girl’s opposite cheek. Squeezing affectionately, Dana then kissed the top of her head, and whispered, “Gratitude.” Naevia sniffed, but said nothing for a long while.
“I must go attend Domina,” Naevia said, touching the woman’s arm. Dana nodded and stood, then reached down and helped Naevia to her feet. Naevia gave the tall woman a shy hug, then quickly left as quietly as she had come in.
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Dana watched the young woman leave and hoped. She hoped fate would be kind to the girl, that somehow the lessons she learned would not break her. And she hoped that the girl would understand what she, Dana, was going to do next.
Chapter 8
Remembering Barca’s attack in training she spun the other direction, under the attacking arm, and slipped her blade home between his ribs. She pulled it free as he dropped to the ground.
Dana looked at the dead man before her and raised her arms to the crowd. The crowd cheered but she barely heard. Her focus narrowed, she was ready to do what she had to. She pointed the sword in her left hand to Lucretia and placed her right hand, still gripping the hilt of her other sword over her heart in a fist. Lucretia winced and shook her head, but Dana ignored it.
She gripped the steel in her hands and turned to watch the slaves drag the body of her competitor out the door. Then she looked up and surreptitiously planted her feet, leaving the rest of her body relaxed. There was nothing here for her, nothing but pain, nothing but fending off a death that she desperately wanted. Now she had real weapons, but no chance for escape. Still, she would still kill as many Romans as she could before she went down. She would take death on her own terms and let the gods decide if she was worthy to see her family, maybe even Gaia, again in the after life.
The guards were now aware that something was amiss because she was taking too long to leave. The archers on the walls nocked their arrows, but she knew they would not fire right away, she was valuable property now. She took off her helm and dropped it to the ground. She shook her braids loose as two guards walked toward her, one in front of the other.
As they got closer, the rear one split off to flank her. Dana waited until the first had almost reached her, then dropped to her knee and plunged both blades up and under his armor, into his abdomen. Withdrawing them quickly she pivoted and slashed the next guard across both thighs as he closed in on her. She ducked as he fell, his momentum carrying his body past her.
Standing, she faced the next two head on. They paused just short of her so she charged, catching them by surprise. The first received a slash to the throat, but catching movement high in the corner of her eye she spun around him and wrapped an arm around his neck quickly enough to catch 4 arrows with his body. He sagged, making him too difficult to hold on to so she dropped the body, which left her streaked with dark red arterial spray, then ran and dive rolled to the wall directly under the first set of archers. They couldn’t reach her from there due to the slope of the high wall in the new arena.
Guards were coming from both the left and the right now, and there were still the archers on the opposite wall to consider. She dropped down and a volley of arrows clattered against the stone where she had been. Slicing to the left she cut off one man’s foot, the scream as he fell barely audible over the din of the crowd. She rolled sideways to where he had stood, but not fast enough to avoid a deep cut down her right arm severing tendon and muscle.
The blade immediately dropped from the useless hand as she stood and spun, ripping the next attacker crossways from shoulder to hip. The pain barely registered as two arrows slammed into her thigh but they caused her to stumble. She fell hard, unable to catch herself with the injured arm, and rolled away from a spear point descending on her just in time. Her still useful foot struck the man square in the midsection and sent him crashing over her head into the next man. A gash opened on her left side as she rolled away from another hail of arrows.
She hit the wall and rose to her full height, balancing on one leg. She was ready to face one more. Just one. Four guards stood warily before her. The one she had sent flying over herself and the man he had bowled over were also picking themselves out of the dust. She clutched her arm to her side, willing the muscles to work but they refused. The tattered material of what was left of her top fell to the ground and she challenged them bare breasted, curling her lips and shouting a grand “fuck you” in her mother tongue. An arrow thumped into her shoulder driving her back against the wall, marking it with her blood, the blood of the north, the blood of a warrior class of women, blood which Rome had yet to reckon with fully.
Then it happened so fast she didn’t have time to react, or perhaps it was she who had slowed due to fatigue and blood loss.
Dana gasped as the air rushed from her lungs through her ribs and past the penetrating blade. She fell limp to the ground as the man pulled his blade free. The crowd hushed, watching her body spasm for air, but they didn’t know her mind was already free of this place. As the light faded behind her eyes and her blood painted the sand, Dana felt relief that it was over. No pain stirred her, she was finally able to go into the next life with honor.
Her eyes widened in death and reflected nothing but the sun and sky.
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A raucous roar rose up and the crowd, fueled with bloodlust, surged as one to their feet. Lucretia however sat, head in her hands feeling a failure deep in her bones while her husband fumed, until a shadow fell over them. “If this is what the house of Batiatus can train a woman to do,” a voice intoned, “I fail to imagine what your men are capable of. You will find your Gladiators favored in the games with increased frequency, I promise you that.”
######
There was quiet now, and Dana heard the trickling of water. She heard laughter, women’s and a child’s. She looked around and realized she was standing in a cool wooded clearing by a pool and could not see them because she was blinded by the sunlight reflecting off the rippled surface. She knew that laughter though and she smiled through happy tears and took a step toward them.
Never looking back.
A/N - Thank you all for reading and the reviews. After reading them, a big part of me wanted them to live and ride off into the sunset together. But when I began writing this story I always intended for them to die, Gaia in the way she did in the show and Dana choosing her own destiny. If I had changed the ending from the conclusion I had been writing toward, the story would have suffered. I wanted to give the character Gaia someone who was just for her, who had no other politics or desire to manipulate or use her. Because for all her bravado and hope, as a single woman without any wealth she was as lost and screwed from the beginning of Gods of the Arena as any of the slaves. Despite this, she still lived life her own way and seized the day.
Where Dana is concerned, I don’t claim any historical accuracy as far as the place women later claimed as Gladiatrixes in the arena. I do however believe that there are always female trailblazers in all sports, and the ones who come before the paradigm shifts often prove themselves above and beyond worthy to be there.
In America, it has been nearly 40 years since Title IX and the divide between women’s and men’s professional sports is still a great one. One small shift is that women who are athletic and muscular are beginning to be celebrated and represented in the media. Personally I think that physically powerful women being represented as sexy is a good thing because it gets strong images out there that let little girls know it’s ok to lift weights and eat to get stronger and better at their sport. Girls shouldn’t have to feel like they have to choose between rocking the playing field and rocking their partner’s world when they become interested in relationships.
That’s why I write characters like Dana. There is no single way to be a woman! ☺ Oh and sexytiemz. I like writing girls’ sexytiemz :D