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Chapter Twenty-One - Gladiators

The first person she saw was Marcus, the one who had bound Xander to a chair. Wanting to turn and run, she forced herself to look at their faces in turn. The guard beside her cracked a joke, though some of them were slow to smile. No Flavius, which was worrying. “Do you know why I am here?” she asked, vexed because her voice sounded so small. One of her hands was trembling and she grasped it with the other one before clasping them in front of her to disguise the fact. “Yes, Princess,” one of them said. He looked older than the others, and at least he had afforded her some respect. “My name is Eithne,” she told them. “It would please me if – if … ” There was no easy way of completing that sentence without implying shame. “You are still the daughter of a Queen, my lady. No matter what.” It was the same man who spoke up, coming to her rescue as easily as if it were second nature. Had he had his own family in another life? “What’s your name, gladiator?” she asked. “Carl,” he said

Chapter Twenty-Two - Carl

The woman they sent to his quarters was unusual in that her face was wet with tears. Carl came close to hammering on the by now locked door and insisting on a replacement, but he was intrigued. No other female had ever presented as reluctant, and especially not after a victory. She must be new.“Sit,” he ordered, simply, as he unwound the bindings around his trousers.Some fighters preferred leather as it made a statement; he let his prowess do the talking.“Where?” she asked.He looked up in surprise. It was a strange question given that there was little other than a bed in the small room. Carl patted the opposite side to where he was perched and she moved forward reluctantly. She reminded him of a deer prepared to bolt at any moment.“What’s your name?”“My real one, or the one they told me to use?”His head snapped up, concentration suspended for the time being.“Whichever you prefer to disclose.”“Ginny,” she said, perching herself on the mattress. She held herself stiffly, as if

Chapter Twenty-Three - Worries

He told himself it was only a fallback position. In reality, Xander saw no way back to Ormond unless he waged war. Curse Ephron for not warning him about the old witch. The heir apparent had been so wrong about Eithne, too. If he had one regret, it was that he hadn’t treated her like the lady she clearly had been raised to be. Though not by Clara, obviously. Even if he had considered cutting his losses and moving on, there was the Princess to think about. He couldn’t just leave her there. This whole gladiator idea meant that people were bound to be exploited. He sought out Drago, so often the voice of reason, and found him rocking his newborn son to sleep. There had been an initial panic because of his premature arrival but all was well now. “Have you come up with a plan yet, Commander?” “I’m still working on it, Will,” he said, through gritted teeth. “It’s a tricky one. Still, at least we have two men on the inside.” “They’d better not harm a single hair on her head.” A smile p

Chapter Twenty-Four - Missions

The practice sessions were endless. All the maidens were required to attend, some even wearing a favour bestowed by their gladiator. Eithne fumed and it wasn’t because she had missed out on that, being branded a harlot by her own mother. That was a jousting tradition, though her own knight was long gone.Because Clara was absent, probably receiving yet another massage in the royal chambers, she made it her business to speak to each of the girls. It wouldn’t harm to let them know the latest and hopefully receive their take on each combatant.Not wanting to single out the other high-born ones, and since she knew and trusted Flavius – Jocasta’s words of caution causing her to doubt suddenly – Eithne started with Hermione. If Marcus were to emerge victorious, they needed a plan in case he reneged on his vow.The miller’s daughter was plump and rather nervous, twisting her hands endlessly until she reached out to stop her.“I’m on your side. Truly,” she said. “How was he when you had that

Chapter Twenty-Five - Cassie

The young Princess was a born storyteller – not a liar, though, he was convinced of that – recounting details of her early life as if they had happened to someone else. If he were in the market, Xander reflected, she might have made a good queen. Where was another matter – that accent! – yet it was becoming easier to decipher as time went on.*It was the day of her first appearance in the royal court and King Rupert’s youngest daughter was nervous, excited and hiding a secret from everyone except her personal maid. Even so she sat patiently enough and upright on the carved wooden chair, staring at her reflected image in the mirror atop her dressing table, while Beatrice combed her long dark locks. The brocade gown was stiff and laced tightly at the back. It bore the faint aroma of the chest it had been stored in for so long, dense wood and something indefinable, like old perfume except more bitter.Had it really once belonged to her lady mother, the Queen?Cassie resisted the very re

Chapter Twenty-Six - Contests

The sun was high in the sky when they began the entertainment in front of the royal court. In some ways Eithne was glad the girls weren’t permitted to watch, though news filtered through after each one-to-one battle. Marcus was yet to fight, and it was heartening to hear that Flavius had bested his opponent, Hadrian. Not that she had anything against the veritable giant. It spared Ava further indignity and no doubt she would regard it as a blessing. Unless she were still smarting about what Finn had done. It seemed to Eithne she’d had feelings for him. Had he done right by her? Only time would tell. And if he came looking for her in the future, would that be such a bad thing? She felt she was helping her subjects – some of them, anyway, given that Isabel hailed from the north and Ava from across the water – and tried to take pride in that. Brutus was up next, she understood, facing Nero. From what she had been told there was only one winner unless the latter threw the contest to spa

Chapter Twenty-Seven - Cassie

Pandemonium reigned. If only there had been a king by that name. He certainly couldn’t have done a worse job than her father. Common sense told Cassie that tyrants only prospered as long as they had the upper hand and now his power was being called into question by all.Four long years had passed since that horrible day in the royal court and she was on her own, Isabel having finally left the kingdom not for the south but for the one closest to their lands. She’d heard it was a love match. Imagine that, her strait-laced sister becoming romantically involved with a usurper prince. Messages were sporadic yet they filled Cassie with hope.And maybe she would see Adam again one day.He’d bested Sir Purcell in that tourney and then escaped. She supposed he would be a man now, approaching his majority of twenty-one.Please don’t hate me.It was a daily litany, a superstition she dare not ignore since Will had seemingly deserted her.Fortunately, no-one had yet sought her hand in matrimony.

Chapter Twenty-Eight - Paying the Price

The door was capable of being bolted as well as locked with a key. Had it once doubled as a dungeon? The gladiator made it clear to Hermione and Eithne that he was in charge, setting them the task of securing it. They’d been made to wait while he used the bathhouse. The female attendant was obviously to his liking given the moans which didn’t all come from her. She giggled as she passed them, putting a finger to her lips, and Eithne saw more than she would have liked of the woman’s ample chest which was just about spilling over her tight bodice. Feeling insulted yet relieved, she hugged the miller’s daughter. “We’ll come through this,” she said, casting her mind back to earlier and the strange behaviour of Flavius. When he saw them in the passage he started to grin and even winked. She couldn’t begin to understand why. Marcus emerged a short while later looking refreshed and un-gladiator like in his Ormondian shirt and puffed breeches. Who did he think he was, Clara’s new favourit

Chapter Twenty-Nine - Indignities

“He subjected the Queen to that?”Drago was incensed, Xander less so.“If it were Clara …”He left the rest of it unsaid.“What are you waiting for?” Earl Adam queried, one booted foot carelessly sullying the fabric of a named nobleman’s carved seat. “Strip her.”Cassie shuddered, turning her face away. She expected a lust-crazed mob to surround her stepmother at any moment. Maybe she could find an excuse to visit the buttery.She became aware that the room had gone quiet, except for the Queen’s terrified pleas. “I beg you … no. For the love of – ”“Why so reluctant? She’s only flesh and blood, like us.” He gave a deep sigh. “Must I do everything myself?”“Leave her be.”Cassie could not believe she had dared to speak up on behalf of a woman who had merely tolerated her existence.Earl Adam stalked over to her, invading her personal space as if he had the right. He tilted her chin.“Know your place, slave,” he hissed, eliciting several gasps from the other women present. His eyes held

Chapter Thirty - Ephron

The weathervane was unreliable at best, just like Ephron. Eithne couldn’t understand how someone could change so much and for the worse. The wind was coming from the north today and she drew her shawl more closely about her, regretting the fact that she had been forced to steal it. Marcus was in trouble, also. The incriminating piece of paper had been laid before Clara by none other than Megan. A week had passed since the night of her shame, which had seemed so much more sordid than what happened with Xander. Strangely, she didn’t blame the disgraced gladiator, no longer regarding him as a strutting cockerel, like the one atop the spinning weathervane. In her opinion, they should have removed it in favour of a witch on a broomstick. She shuddered. To her astonishment, Marcus had come to her rescue in a way, stating from the outset that he wouldn’t be able to perform with watchers. That hadn’t gone down well, unfortunately, so he’d proceeded to demonstrate his inadequacy. That must h

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