The Gladiator Prince (17 page)

She took off her cloak and peeled away one of the wool leggings. It was long and thick, but she knew it would work… for now. There was no delusion in her mind; this was a mortal mound that would need a surgeon’s hand. As quickly as she could, and ignoring Bahar’s cries, she wrapped the wound tight with the strip, hoping it would staunch the flow of blood. It soaked the material instantly.

Raising her head, the two men were still circling in the center of the clearing and had gotten between Adrastos and her.

Bryn’s eyes grew wide, and a smile split his face. “I know you. You are the gladiator prince.”

“You are mistaken,” Thane said flatly and moved his sword.

The man jumped back out of range and lifted a finger. “No. I have seen you fight.”

“Have you?” Thane replied smiling back. “How was I?”

Bryn stopped in his tracks, and his face twisted strangely. He looked down confused, but then slowly lifted his eyes to the gladiator and swallowed. “You were… good.”

“I have practiced since then.” He lunged at Bryn who barely jumped out of the way in time.

As quick as lightning, the man’s sword was on the ground.

Thane stood back and lowered his weapon. In two long strides, he had Bryn’s tunic in his hands and lifted him off the ground.

“I will not kill my own people, Bryn. This I promised my wife. If I see you or yours near me again, I will forget that vow. Understood?”

“Yes,” he squeaked, his air cut off by his tunic.

Thane threw him to the ground, and Bryn scuttled back on his hands away from him. The men in the pile were waking up, as was the woman. He rushed to them, gave them whispered commands and disappeared into the wood in under a minute.

“Quickly, Adrastos!” Phaedra cried. “Help me. Bahar is badly hurt.” Even as she said it, Bahar turned ghostly white and went limp in her arms.

Chapter XVII

“I cannot do it!” Adrastos bellowed, tearing at his hair. “He will die under my knife.”

“He will die anyway.” Phaedra swallowed back the tears, the fear chewing away at her insides.

Thane had carried Bahar to the Greek’s wagon and carefully placed him on the cot inside with Phaedra right behind him. Mercifully, Bahar had not regained consciousness, but his breath was thready and slow. Phaedra had pushed past Thane and put her hand on Bahar’s chest. His heartbeat was also very slow. She sent Thane out to get Adrastos.

When Adrastos came through the door, he tried to turn back, but Phaedra stopped him. “He needs you, Medico. You must help us.”

Adrastos turned around, and Phaedra cringed at the fear on his face, but some inner strength enveloped her senses, and she tightened her lips. “I know you can do this, Servius. I know your hands will remember. You have to try.” Her voice cracked, and she could not stop the sob making its way up her throat. “Please.”

He helped her up and got down on his knees next to Bahar. Rubbing his hands, he pulled away the blanket covering the boy and lifted his tunic. “I will need your help. But first…” He rolled up his sleeves and put two fingers at Bahar’s neck. “Tell the Brit I will need boiling water; a lot of boiling water.” He turned to Phaedra, and his eyes took on shadows from the lamplight. “Do we tell him your secret now?”

Phaedra searched his eyes looking for an answer, but it was not there. Could she trust Thane? He came back, saved Bahar’s life. Could she trust him with this?

“No,” she said quietly. “Not unless we have to.”

Adrastos grunted an acknowledgement and turned back to his work. “Then Thane will have to stay outside, which is all for the better. I need him to gather things for me.”

“What things?”

“He will find pots for the water strapped to the side of the wagon. Then herbs.” He stopped and stared at the blanket, biting his lip thinking, but it was not coming to him. “The month,” he blustered more to himself than Phaedra. “What month is it?”

“It is March.”

“March, yes.” He sat back on his heels and turned his face sideways to her. “I will need plants. Can Thane gather them for us?”

The question befuddled Phaedra. “I do not know. I could gather the plants for you…”

“No,” he said, looking back at Bahar. “They are common, but I do not know their Briton names. Do you know stellaria media?”

“Yes, chickweed. It is abundant in the forest.”

“Good. Tell Thane we will need at least a dozen plants… and herba militaris. Do you know it?”

Phaedra had to think. The pounding in her head from fear, panic and lack of sleep was making her nauseous.

“Do you know it?” Adrastos demanded.

“Uh, yes. Is that not Achillen
millefolium?”

“Yes.”

“Yarrow. I think that is the common name.”

“A fern-like plant with clusters of white flowers at the top.”

“Yes, yarrow. It grows wild here.”

“Good. It will not have flowered yet. It cannot be helped. Have him bring me at least twenty yarrow plants as well. And tell him it is urgent. I cannot staunch the blood without it.” He pulled the cover off Bahar and frowned at the bloody mess in front of him. “I will also need Belladonna.”

Phaedra could not get her voice to work. “Belladonna? It is poison.”

“It is medicine, little one. Medicos have been using it for generations to bring about a deep sleep before surgery. Do you know it or not?” he asked irritably.

“Yes, I know it.”

“The berries will be green, but we can still use them. Tell Thane to bring what he can. I have a small supply but it may not be enough.”

“I know all those plants well, medico, and could gather them very quickly…”

“I need you here, with me! Now go tell the gladiator what we need.”

She left the wagon to find that Thane had already built a fire. He was coming out of the woods with a clay pot full of water and stopped when he saw her.

“Is he…”

“He is… still alive.” For some reason she felt very uncomfortable and had to clear her throat. “Adrastos needs herbs. Do you know yarrow, chickweed and belladonna?”

When he reached the fire, he rotated the pot until it had sunk into the embers of the fire. “Yes. I know them. There are patches in the woods.”

“He needs a dozen of the chickweed plants, roots and all, at least twenty of the yarrow, and as much of the belladonna berries as you can find. Be careful not to bruise them, if you can. They will need to be fresh.”

Thane stood up brushing his hand and arched his brows at her. “Is this what the medico told you?”

A shot of heat charged up the back of her neck, and she knitted her hands together looking down. “Yes,” she whispered.

“You do not lie well, Phaedra.”

He brought two fingers to lift her chin. His touch set off lightning through her body. When she looked into those pale blue eyes everything else went away. If she could only melt into him, put the world away, even for a moment.

To her astonishment, Thane leaned down to her face and placed his lips against hers. They were large and hot, wet and soft. A rush of ecstasy turned her into air, as light as the wind, as open as the sun on a bright day. His hands wound around her waist, tugging her into his body where she lost the rest of the world. Pressing hard against her lips, he opened them a tiny bit, taking her breath. When his hands entwined into her hair forcing her lips to meld with his, she lifted her arms and slid them around the hard muscles of his waist. Encouraged, Thane engulfed her in his arms and broke the sealed lips, moving his mouth to her neck.

“I need you,” he whispered urgently. In a single move, he pushed her away and held her at arm’s length. His face was tortured. “Forgive me. I have no right… with Bahar down, I should not have…”

She put her hand to his lips and brushed them slowly under her fingers. They were still wet from the kiss. The urge to demand another fought with her need to help Adrastos, but she knew what was right.

Gathering all her strength, she stepped back from him and removed her hand. “The herbs,” was all she could say.

Thane’s simple nod was resolute; he reached once more to move a wayward strand of hair from her face then disappeared into the woods.

Stumbling, Phaedra crossed to the wagon, her legs no stronger than wet clay.

Chapter XVIII

The night around him was very dark. He dared not light another fire for fear that the bandits might be back and in greater numbers. Looking again at the wagon door, Thane folded his arms to still the biting cold and to struggle again with what had happened earlier with Phaedra.

He was furious with himself for showing so little restraint, but he could no more have stopped it than he could stop his own breathing. The situation was impossible. What did he hope to accomplish? What could he offer her? He was a slave, a gladiator, and after he saved his children, he would have to return to that life. His oaths were forged long before he met Phaedra.

Getting up, he paced the ground, shooting furtive looks at the wagon. To his surprise, the door opened, and Phaedra came out.

“Is he…”

“He is going to be fine.” She shook her head and looked down at her hands. “You should have seen his hands. They were shaking at first. Then something happened. He started to cry. I turned to come and get you, afraid he could not finish, but then he laughed.” She lifted her eyes to Thane, and they were smiling. “I have never seen hands move like that. It was like watching a dance or an acrobat. The skill, the grace…” She smiled. “I am sorry. I do not mean to…”

“No,” he said taking her arm and bringing her to a stump stool he had found while they were working. “So Bahar is going to be all right.”

“Yes. In fact, he is sleeping peacefully. His breath is back, and his heart is strong.”

“He is young. He will heal quickly.”

“Yes.”

A long silence hung in the air between them filled with desire and regret. Thane wanted to apologize to her, but at the same time, he wanted to tell her how he felt about her. He found himself wanting to touch her, as if she was his and had been forever.

“Phaedra…” he began, but his voice faltered.

She touched the back of his hand. “I know what you would say. The kiss was… a mistake. I know that. You felt sorry for me, and I understand if you do not want to…”

“No.” He picked up her hand and brought it to his lips to kiss it. “You do not understand, and that is the problem. I want you, Phaedra.” He had to fight to deliver the words without passion. “It is everything I can do to restrain myself from merely taking what I want. It is more than that; I have not felt this way about a woman for a very long time. I can see by your eyes that you feel as I do.” Taking the other hand in his he held them together. They seemed so small in his. “The situation… it is impossible. You are very young; I am ten years your senior, and I do not wish to take advantage of your innocence, despite how I feel. I cannot give you what… I should not have kissed you.”

She did not answer for a long time. Staring down at the duff, she tugged on her ear and twirled her hair.

“I am not experienced at love, as you know. When I went to Rome to marry Lucius, I was so excited. I could leave my father’s home and start life with a new husband…” She stopped and her face turned sad. “A husband whom I loved absolutely. You were right. It was not a rumor. Lucius preferred men. When I found out about him, when he finally told me, I was devastated.” When she lifted her eyes to Thane, he saw the pain burn under the stoic pride. “I could not tell Lucius that; he was already ill, thin and pale. His father asked me a favor, which I granted willingly. To never tell Lucius how disappointed I was, to be his friend, his confidant. It did something to me, Thane.” Phaedra stood up and took his face in both hands. “I wish…” She did not finish. Her eyes filled with tears, and she put her fist against her mouth. Turning, she ran into the woods.

Stunned, Thane stood up and went after her.

She had not gone far. He found her in a small clearing lighted now by the early dawn. She seemed grey in the light, sobbing against a fallen moss covered tree.

Putting his hand gently on her back, Phaedra turned and buried herself in his arms.

“Everything inside me tells me this is wrong. I hear my father’s voice in my head, Althea’s scolding in my heart…” She lifted her eyes to him. “I do not want to listen to them. I do not care that it is impossible or what the consequences may be.” She folded her arms around his chest and a glorious smile shone from her face. “I want to be yours. I have never wanted anything more in my life. Please.”