Unrest

A Gladiator Story

by

Marteeka Karland

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© 2014 Marteeka Karland

Editor: Katriena Knights

Cover Art: Marteeka Karland

Books are NOT transferable. Re-selling, sharing or giving eBooks is a copyright infringement.

The winds of change are blowing...

Once again, Raven found himself on the auction block. His master smirked, thinking his prize fighter was simply enjoying the carnal delights that came from bedding a high-born human, but Raven had other pursuits in mind. He wasn’t interested so much in the bedding as he was in the bathing. Each time they brought him into the bath chamber, he looked for…her. Sina.

The first two times he’d volunteered, she hadn’t been present when the other females came to bathe them. He wondered if she would be this time. The other women had refused to speak of her, or what had happened to her. They simply avoided his questions, trying to distract him with their soft touches.

But Raven was nothing if not persistent. The saying “like a dog with a bone” definitely applied to his kind. When he found something he wanted, he wasn’t satisfied until he got it. He wanted Sina.

Now, standing there while he was inspected along with the other slaves, he had to wonder how far he’d go to claim her. He’d also promised the woman, Brita, that he would help her escape if she'd help him get Sina away safely, but he found he wasn’t sure he could honor that promise. Not directly. He’d do his best to take her away personally, but, in the event it wasn’t possible to get both her and Sina out, he’d see to it Brita had someone to get her out of the city. It was the best he could promise himself for now.

“I’m not sure about this one,” a dour-looking man with a pointed goatee said. “Is he not the most vicious gladiator the games have seen since ancient times?”

“Brandwulfr. Yes,” the master replied, indicating an overly large wolf shifter. “You said the mistress specifically requested him, did you not?”

“Yes, but, seeing him this close, anyone can see he’d be as likely to hurt her as he would be to pleasure her.”

“True.” The master nodded. “But he’s never had any complaints. Even from the women who didn’t exactly come away…unscathed.”

“You know as well as I do, if she’s harmed, he won’t be the only one to die,” the other man bit out. “I’m not keen to bring Rudolph’s wrath down on my head.”

The master shrugged. “Brandwulfr will be on his best behavior. Isn’t that right, wolf?”

The legendary gladiator, Brandwulfr, bared his teeth, his muscles bunching as he rolled his shoulders as if preparing for battle. “I won’t do anything she doesn’t beg me for.” His raspy voice was more a growl than anything else. What woman would willingly submit to that? It was obvious he could care less if the wench got pleasure or not. Raven did his best to pleasure his charges, but only so he’d be chosen again so he could find Sina. Brandwulfr wasn't as...attentive. It was difficult to discern what Brandwulfr cared about other than killing.

“I’m not bringing
that
to the mistress.” Goatee’s tone was full of disdain, though he didn’t get anywhere near Brandwulfr. No doubt afraid the man might do him harm should he get within arm’s reach.

The master shrugged. “Up to you. I suppose it depends on how much you want to risk the mistress’s displeasure. If she truly wants this one, do you really want to exclude him? There are three more here for her to choose from if she decides she’s in over her head. Let her decide.”

Goatee scowled. Obviously, he knew his mistress’s tastes, and she would likely be going for the dangerous, unpredictable Brandwulfr. To say Goatee didn’t like it was an understatement.

“It’s not the mistress I’m worried about,” he muttered. “It’s her mother.”

The master laughed. “I’ll see he’s washed well, then. Should I have the cat bitches see to his lusts beforehand?”

“Do you jest? Of course you should! I don’t want a rabid dog attacking the mistress!”

“Very well. I’ll see to it he’s tended to.” The master looked more than a little amused, but Raven sensed Brandwulfr was anything but. The man looked ready to kill something. Or maybe it was just Raven. He’d never seen Brandwulfr this close before, but his visage was even grimmer and more filled with hate than any man he’d ever seen. Definitely not someone Raven wanted to fuck with. Besides, Raven had the suspicion the master was just a sick enough fuck to want to see how the woman fared if she did choose Brandwulfr.

Raven kept his gaze forward, trying to ignore the byplay, but the way Brandwulfr kept clenching and unclenching his fists, rattling his chains ominously, made it nearly impossible. Another glance in the big wolf’s direction made Raven shiver. He had no idea what kind of woman the master was trying to send Brandwulfr to, but she must either be a cold-hearted bitch indeed or she’d done something to radically piss off the master.

“Time to clean,” the master said, tossing soap to the three of them as they stepped into the pool. Brandwulfr was the only one of them still bound in chains, but he still caught the bar deftly, snagging it out of the air with effortless ease. Raven and the other man kept their distance from Brandwulfr, not knowing what to expect from the older wolf.

As if as a portent of things to come, the earth seemed to shift slightly beneath the water where they stood. Instantly, Raven was on alert. He stilled in the pool where he washed himself, waiting. For what he didn’t know. But something was happening.

“Get moving!” The master snapped the whip in the air over their heads, seemingly oblivious to the movement beneath their feet. “The women will be here soon to finish your bathing and see to it you’re properly aroused. Make sure you don’t repel them with your stench!”

Raven looked at the other two men. All looked uneasy, even Brandwulfr. The third man, whom Raven didn’t know, was already crouched as if ready for battle. The master didn’t seem to notice because he left the room, apparently to retrieve the female cat shifters who would see to the rest of their bath.

The other wolf looked at Raven. “Did you feel that?” The question was asked quietly, barely audible. No way the master would have heard him even if he’d been in the room.

Raven nodded.

“It’s happening…” The wolf trailed off. Raven looked at him sharply. Brandwulfr shifted his stance, tossing the soap into the water. Even the big wolf looked uneasy. “We’ve felt it for weeks, but never this strongly.”

“You’ve felt it too?” Raven didn’t know whether to be relieved or worried that others had felt the unrest.

The younger wolf nodded. “Aya, the jaguar has been pacing inside her cell every rest period and she fights with a viciousness few can compete with, even during practice. It’s so bad, the master has confined her to quarters, even tempting her with male after male thinking she was in heat. She won’t talk to anyone but Zev, and he is as on edge as she.” He glanced at Brandwulfr. “We thought it was because he is slated to fight you soon.”

“I don’t fight shifters,” Brandwulfr said. “Everyone knows that.”

“Nevertheless, the two of them have been restless. More than restless. I’ve been feeling it, but not as long or as strongly as the cats seem to have.”

“A storm is coming,” Brandwulfr muttered. “Everyone needs to be ready when it strikes.”

He’d get no argument from Raven. It made finding Sina that much more critical to him.

The master entered again, this time with the cats. To Raven’s utter shock and relief, Sina was among them. He and the young wolf were out of the water, but Brandwulfr, with his hands bound, had been unable to wash his own hair. Three women tended to that now, scrubbing the big wolf with deliberate motions, kneading his muscles and, presumably, his cock beneath the water. If so, Brandwulfr gave no outward sign of it.

Raven and the younger wolf waited to be dried and oiled by the remaining women, one of them Sina. Raven stiffened, following Sina’s every move when she went to the other wolf, not sparing Raven a glance. With the master there, he didn’t want to make a scene. That would only cause her more trouble. Instead he simply watched her.

When she bent to the young wolf’s lower legs, presenting her back to Raven, the healing wounds marring her golden skin stood out starkly. His gaze automatically went to the master. The man met his gaze boldly, as if to ask, “What are you going to do about it?” Raven decided then that, when the shit went down, the master had to die.

“Sina,” the master said mildly. “See to this one’s body.” He pointed at Raven. “He obviously enjoys your touch.” The master’s gaze was smug, superior as he sneered. “Show him what he will never enjoy again.”

The tiny cat shifter ducked her head, not meeting Raven’s gaze as she approached him. Meekly, she began to spread oil on his body with the lightest of touches, as if she were afraid to actually come into full contact with his skin.

All too aware of the master watching him, Raven did nothing, merely stared at the top of Sina’s head. The other woman working on him did her best to shield Sina from the master’s gaze, keeping her movements as routine as possible so as not to attract suspicion.

Then Raven heard the tiniest voice. “Help me…”

Neither woman appeared to be looking at him, but he knew it had come from one of them, speaking so low, no one but him could hear. Silently, he waited, knowing any sign of acknowledgement on his part could gain the master’s full attention. Instead, Raven waited until the master turned his gaze to the younger wolf, instructing the cats in something Raven wasn’t paying attention to.

“Sina?” Raven said, keeping his voice low and inaudible to the master.

“Please,” she pleaded, looking at him now. Her enormous, dark golden eyes were beseeching. “They bring more tomorrow.”

“Where are you kept?”

“In the gentling room.” Raven almost blanched. “As punishment for last time.” The gentling room was where the masters took feral wolves or cats to be “gentled” with sex. By all accounts, there was nothing gentle about the way cats like Sina were treated. None lasted longer than a few months before they were either rabid themselves or dead. By the look in Sina’s eyes, she had lasted as long as she could. And she didn’t look ready to lose herself to insanity.

“Tonight,” he said. “Be ready.”

The other cat pulled Sina away before the master returned his attention to Raven, obviously not wanting the man to become suspicious. Raven couldn’t help a quick glance at Brandwulfr, wondering if the older wolf had heard anything, and what, if anything, he would do about it. Brandwulfr merely raised an eyebrow as if to say, “
It’s none of my concern if you wish to get yourself killed
.” Likely, he was right. If Raven were caught…

“Off with all of you! To the auction blocks!” The master cracked the whip in the air, knowing better than to mark their skin before something like this. They wouldn’t bring top dollar if they were freshly marked. Still, the man laughed with glee, as if he enjoyed the humiliation, which he probably did. He seemed to take great delight in poking Brandwulfr in particular. Likely this was the only way he could be seen getting the better of Brandwulfr. Given the way the big man tensed, bunching his fingers into fists, the master was walking a fine line and was too stupid to see it.

Several moments later, they stood atop the blocks, waiting for the sky dweller women to make their choices. Never had Raven’s heart beat so hard. He was counting on the woman choosing him to be easily pleasured so she’d be sated and sleepy as soon as possible. He had to make it back to the catacombs and Sina tonight. Tomorrow simply wasn’t acceptable. Sina had suffered enough, and he’d be damned if she went through one more night of the hell she’d lived through thus far.

“How much for that one?” A fair-haired woman with milky white skin asked, eyeing Raven. She looked too strong willed for his needs so he boldly met her gaze, baring his teeth in a mock smile.

“More than you’d likely want to pay,” he growled, earning him a sharp slap from the master.

“Hold your tongue, cur, or I’ll cut it out.”

“Now, now,” the woman said, eyeing him up and down. “If you cut out his tongue, it would greatly affect the way he is able to pleasure a woman.” She circled him, running her fingers over his muscled skin, her nails scratching lightly. “He certainly is fit,” she continued, her voice dripping sex appeal and innuendo. It nauseated Raven like nothing else ever had.