Vanquished by S. E. Green

Author:S. E. Green
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2015-11-09T23:00:00+00:00

~32~

The next morning at breakfast the atmosphere is heavy with my sister’s death, the rain pelting the sands, Sera still in the medic room, everything…

Across from me sits Camille and Gem, silently eating, liked they’re weighed down with the denseness, too.

“How you doing today?” Gem asks me.

Resolutely, I nod. I’ve always hated that question. I mean, do people really want to know? Do they really want to sit here and listen to me spout off about our crap for a life? What good is it going to do any of us and our morale?

How am I doing? Like shit. My sister’s dead. How do they think I’m doing? But I know it’s a nice thing to ask and that she’s being a friend, and so I manage a reassuring smile and then quickly change the subject. “So you and Razo snuck off during our night of debauchery. Anything to tell?”

Gem blushes, and it strikes me as odd. Such an innocent response for this sinful place. She glances over her shoulder to where Razo sits with Ignatius. Razo must sense her look because he glances up and sends her a little smile.

She lets out a tiny giggle and then slaps her hand over her mouth in embarrassment and turns back to me and Camille. “I can’t believe I just giggled.”

Jealousy pangs through me, and I frown. But, yeah, I am jealous of the fact she’s found a modicum of happiness in this place. Jealous… and pleased, too. Gem is my friend. I want only the best for her.

“Sure we kissed,” she tells Camille and me, “but that’s all. Mostly we talked. Do you know he was born here?”

“What?” Camille gasps. “That’s awful. I can’t imagine being raised here.”

“Twenty-two years ago to a house slave,” Gem tells us. “Dominus bought him at fifteen and he’s been here in this ludus ever since.”

“What about his mother?” I ask.

“As far he knows she’s still working in the same villa he grew up in.”

I flip my attention over to Razo. This is his world. He’s never been beyond these waters. He has no clue what life is really like. Cars and cell phones and TV. And electricity for God’s sake. How unbelievably odd. But… if anyone were to know the ins and outs of Saligia it would be Razo.

A scream pierces the air and we all stop what we’re doing and look around. Another one shrills through the rain, and I realize it’s coming from the terrace.

I jump to my feet, as does most everyone else, and we hurry out onto the training ground.

Naked and bug-eyed, Felicia hangs from a length of rope and from the grayness of her body, I’d guess she’s been there several hours if not all night.

Her injured arm is wrapped to her stomach and red welts angrily crisscross her body.

Yet another scream pierces the morning air, and I switch my gaze to Domina standing on the terrace, staring in shock over the balcony. Clearly, Felicia did this final act on her own.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.