LEANORE 11
By Heck



Comments to heck@beadyeye.net

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CRASSUS CLOSED THE DOOR behind him. Leanore leaned back against it and closed
her eyes, feeling the cool polished wood against her back. For the first time
in an age, she allowed herself a deep breath.

So this was what it was like to be alone? It had been so long since, she had
almost forgotten the sensation.

The two rooms she had been allocated were, by anyone's standards, sumptuous,
although she suspected that, by Julia Domina's, they were fairly cramped and
ugly. A window overlooked a neat kitchen garden, shadowed in the moonlight,
while the cool marble of the walls and floor lent a warm, pinkish hue to the
jasmine-scented light of the oil lamps. A low padded platform draped in soft
linen sheets did duty as a bed, and the room was equipped with a chaise and a
low table of fine ebony.

The smaller room contained a copper tub and a curtained alcove. When she
twitched aside the drape she found a hole in the floor with a plank suspended
on brackets above it.

Brought up on the wild savannah, where washing was done in the river or in
pots filled from it, and other functions were performed behind bushes or in
hastily dug pits, the idea of a bathroom was foreign to Leanore. The Eople
were scrupulously clean and particular in their personal habits, but their way
of life did not cater for such luxuries. The purpose of the room puzzled her
for a minute.

It did not take her keen intellect long to figure it out, however, and it was
with real relief that she made use of the garderobe.

She was still exploring the rooms a few minutes later, when a sharp rap
sounded at the door. Without waiting to be invited, Crassus pushed his way
into the room, followed by a small woman in late middle age. Her careworn face
was lined but still bore the traces of the beauty she had been. She moved in a
subservient manner, and smelled of soap.

"This is Claudia", Crassus announced. "She is to be your bodyservant".

"Claudia", Leanore acknowledged. The woman bobbed her head, but said nothing.

"I shall see you in the morning", Crassus informed Leanore. "The Domina has
instructed me to discuss your training requirements with you". The contempt in
his voice, Leanore felt, was not directed at her, but rather at what he
thought of as a whimsical indulgence on the part of his mistress. "Goodnight".

When the door had closed Leanore and Claudia looked at each other in
uncomfortable silence for a long time. At least, Leanore looked. Claudia just
stood facing her with eyes downcast. At length, Leanore reached out a large
hand and took Claudia's chin in it, lifting it so she could see the eyes. The
fear reflected therein was plain to see.

"Why you are afraid?" Leanore frowned. "There is nothing to be frightened of.
I will not hurt you".

"It's not that". The woman's voice was quiet and timid. "It's the Domina. She
expects too much from you. And if she doesn't get it, I'm sure to get the
blame". A single tear welled up and trickled down her cheek. Leanore felt a
lump of sympathy rise and gather in her throat.

"I do not understand. Why would she blame you if I do not meet her." She
failed to find the word.

"Expectations?" Claudia supplied. "You don't know the Domina. When things
don't go her way, everybody suffers. She can be so cruel".

"Ssh, do not worry". Leanore pulled the woman close and draped a friendly arm
across her thin shoulders. "By the gods of the Eople, I will not let anything
happen to you. My, you are a woman of just bone!"

"I know". Claudia swallowed a sob. "But the Domina doesn't pay me very much,
and I have two sons to feed".

"Pays you? Are you not a slave, then?"

"No. But sometimes I wish we were. Them, at least, we've have a decent place
to live and decent food to eat".

"Trust me", Leanore said quietly. "You do not want to be a slave. Freedom is
too precious". She gave a short, humourless laugh. "Is it not strange? A
servant being paid to look after a slave".

"I suppose".

"Do not cry any more. You will not have much to do. I can look after myself".

"Oh, no, you mustn't!" The fear was back in Claudia's eyes. "If she found out
I wasn't doing my job, she'd have me beaten again!"

"Again? She has done it before?"

For an answer, Claudia let her shawl droop from her shoulders and turned her
back. A lattice of healed weals patterned her skin. Leanore felt a surge of
empathy, and found it hard to keep the outrage from her voice.

"She will not do it again", she growled between clenched teeth. "I will see to
that. And it is not right that you should live so poorly while she.it is not
right."

"Thank you". Claudia was genuinely grateful for the sentiment. "But I don't
see what you can do about it".

"Leave it to me. It will be fine. But for now, if you have to do your job, you
better tell me what it is".

Claudia relaxed a little. She was on familiar ground, now.

"I'm supposed to look after your personal needs. Clean your rooms, keep your
clothes mended and clean, help you bathe. That sort of thing".

"Bathe? Ah, the copper tub. Now I see".

"Would you like to bathe now?" The servant looked anxious to please and,
despite the fact that she had already been bathed today, Leanore's heart went
out to her.

"Yes please", she smiled. "That would be nice".

*

Several days passed before Leanore saw Julia Domina again. In that time, she
had been quite busy. Crassus had taken her list of requirements for the
gymnasium, which had included, among other things, a half-ton of round, flat
millstones in various sizes, and actual opponents, sparring partners, with
whom to practice combat. Claudia had brought her more clothes than she had
ever seen in her life, all made of finest silk in many colours, and all in the
one-shouldered, short-skirted style of her hated old shift. It seemed she was
to be dressed according to the Domina's taste, rather than her own.

Claudia also brought her the costume in which she was to represent her
patronne in the arena, and Leanore viewed it with distaste.

Oh, there was no doubt she looked fabulous in it, exposed breasts riding high
on her muscular chest, and it displayed her superb physique to its best
advantage. But as a practical item of battle-dress, it was worse than useless.

It consisted of a stiff purple leather helmet with a lilac coloured plume, and
indecently short mauve leather skirt, and a pair of chainmail gauntlets. No
armour at all, nothing to protect her from the blows of her opponents, and
obviously designed to titillate.

The gymnasium, though, she was well pleased with. Set up in an outdoor
stockade, with high walls topped with broken glass to discourage curious eyes,
it was a large area on which no expense had been spared. In one corner, a
thick mat made of the pounded husks of coconuts covered a large area. The
walls surrounding it on two sides were also covered with the same material,
and it was an ideal place for sparring without injury. Elsewhere, bars on
which she could balance or pull herself up, a Dolly, stuffed horses she could
vault, frames she could climb, and ropes she could shin up, filled the space.
A two hundred and fifty pound sack of rocks, attached by a chain to a thick
leather belt, could be dragged back and forth across the packed-earth floor to
strengthen her legs and increase her endurance, and the heavy millstones had
been supplied with an axle with which to lift them.

On the eighth day she was in the gymnasium, performing her third set of
pull-ups. Rapt in concentration, she did not hear the door open.

"Forty-seven,.forty-eight,.forty..nine,.fif.ty!"

She dropped to the ground. Panting hard and covered in a fine sheen of sweat
that made her body look as though it had been carved from polished mahogany.
She turned her head at the sound of single applause, and straightened to face
the arrival.

"Domina". Her voice was one that would call no woman mistress, but
nevertheless acknowledged the position her patronne held.

"Magnificent!" Julia's eyes were alight with admiration and.something else, as
she approached. Flanked by two armed guards, she was wearing a silvery-grey
silk dress that exactly matched the colour of her eyes. Her flaming red hair
was expertly coiffured, and Leanore could not help a little gasp at the beauty
of the woman.

"You really are working hard!" The aristocrat's eyes feasted on Leanore's hard
and fecund shape, where the white silk of her shift clung to the sweat on her
body. "I'm confident you're going to make me proud".

Leanore stared at her with ill-disguised disdain.

"If I am to be a slave, I might as well do it in comfortable surroundings. And
if I am forced to be a gladiator, the only way to survive is to be the best
gladiator I can be. I am not caring of your pride".

The redhead glared at her for a moment, allowing anger to tinge her
expression. She pasted a smile on her delicate lips.

"Gladiatrix", she corrected. "A female is called a gladiatrix. So". She
wandered over to lean against the Dolly. Her very movement shouted her
sexuality. "You don't care about my feelings? Well, here's news for you. I do
care about yours. Because how you feel is reflects in your performance. So you
will come to care. I want you to take as much pride in your success as I will,
and I'll work with you to insure it, nonetheless". With a casual flick of her
wrist, the woman ordered her guards to stay by the door. "You will be my
champion".

Unashamedly, the Domina let her intense gaze roam the length of Leanore's
tall, powerful body. Leanore's stomach did a little flip-flop, as if she could
actually feel the gaze.

Although neither taboo nor even frowned upon, homosexuality was rare among the
Eople, of either sex, and the thought that a woman could arouse her had hardly
crossed Leanore's mind. She was a little surprised, therefore, to find her
nipples hardening and a warm moistness at her crotch under the frankly sexual
scrutiny of the other woman's gaze. She swallowed hard.

"I have to speak you about Claudia", she managed. "I will fight for you. I
will even wear that useless leather suit, if it pleases you. But you have to
do something for Claudia. You must pay her enough for her and her two sons".

"I would think about it, if you told me who Claudia was".

"You do not know? You made her the servant of my body, but you do not know her
name?"

"Faugh". The Domina gave a dismissive wave of her hand. "Crassus deals with
all that. I didn't even know she had sons".

"Domina, you should know. You had her beaten!" She took a step toward Julia,
who coolly ignored her. "You must pay Claudia more. If you do not, I do not
fight".

The tip of her tongue appeared between Julia's lips. She studied Leanore hard
and long before replying, taking in the fact that, even though she was
sexually aroused, the big woman was in dead earnest.

"Very well", she said at last. "I agree. But only because I'm starting to like
you". She hardly moved, but her posture and facial expression suddenly exuded
even more sexual energy. Leanore felt herself weaken at the knees as Julia
stepped away from the Dolly and moved toward her. Every step was a sensual
statement.

Julia Domina was well aware of her effect on others, both men and women, and
was able to calculate the jumble of feelings coursing through Leanore. It was
well known that she was an openly promiscuous woman, taking numerous lovers of
either gender and all social strata. Static causing the sheer fabric of her
clothing to cling to her curvaceous body, she moved so close to Leanore that
the gladiatrix could feel her warm breath on the exposed skin of her chest.
Not trusting her feelings, Leanore held her breath and stood perfectly still.

"You want me, don't you?" The Domina's voice was a low, silken purr. "You
never felt like this around a woman before, did you? You're confused.
Understandable. But you want me, all the same".

Her grey eyes met and held Leanore's brown ones. Leanore looked down at her
with something akin to fear as her mixed emotions warred within her. Fear, not
of the woman, but of experiences unknown. She swallowed hard.

The expression in Julia's eyes hardened.

"But not today", she said aloud. "Perhaps soon. Perhaps never. But not today".
She wheeled abruptly and left the stockade, taking her guards with her without
a backward glance.

Leanore stared after her, open-mouthed. Her already abused emotions now held
acute frustration. And fury. With a particular set to her shoulders, she paced
away across the compound.

From a stout wooded gantry, a heavy canvas sack filled with sand hung from a
stout iron chain. It had the misfortune to be in Leanore's way. She stopped
and glared at it. Here was something upon which she could vent all her
feelings; all the sorrow and rage at being taken from her mother and all the
people she held dear; all the pain and suffering she had endured during the
journey; and now, all the frustration she had been dealt at the hand of her
patronne.

She hit straight from the shoulder, putting all her weight, strength, and
anger into the blow. Her fist connected squarely in the centre of the sack,
which sprang away from her as if snatched back on a rope. The canvas split,
spilling sand onto the earth and, with an ominous crack, the iron bolts that
secured the chain to the gantry were ripped from the timber. The sack flew
through the air, to land with a dull thump, three cubits away.

Leanore stood in awe of herself as she looked on the devastation she had
caused with just one blow and a slow smile crossed her gorgeous features.

She felt better.