Chapter Eight - THE FIRST DAY IN THE CAPITAL CITY

I am distressed at my first uneasy night in the capital city. The cot I am supplied with, in a room on the second floor of the house, is comfortable enough for me but I am restless. I think, maybe, it is because I am excited at the fact that I am finally here, in the first city of the Ki-Ki Sector. When I had been accepted as a citizen because of my sculpting skills I had longed to see the capital city and bring my profession here to please the citizens.

Now that I remember that fact, I think I know the real reason for my restlessness. I came here to be an artist, not a slave. I have entered the gates a lesser man than I had imagined I would be and now my real reasons for wanting to be here have been overshadowed by my circumstance.

I shall never be able to walk Fedarn as a free man and explore as I wish. This alone is enough to make me lie awake and stare at the cracked ceiling of the room.

Still, in any event I am here and now I must make the most of my situation. At least I will be able to see the greatness of the city before leaving with my master for Udjein Major once more. There are very few citizens who can boast that fact, I am sure.

As morning creeps through my broken window I yawn and try to believe that it is not morning at all, and that I am merely dreaming the idea that I have not slept. When I hear my master shouting for me I realise that it is no dream but the truth. My eyes have hardly closed all night and now, when I do feel the need for sleep, I must be awake.

The sun is high in the sky as I head down the narrow steps to the huge room where I know the slave master to be. I have checked on the simpleton and he appears to be improving although he sleeps heavily.

The room is surrounded by pillars and has an open roof where the brightness of the day pours in. The pool in the room is wide and appears clean, although fruit from Maru’s morning meal is floating in it. The heavily painted woman who greeted us sees me enter and laughs a word I do not recognise. My master laughs with her whilst chewing his food.

“Where have you been?” my master asks. It is not a reprimand, he appears to be interested.

“Forgive my tardiness, my Lord,” I say placatingly, and take my usual position to one side, standing with arms crossed and sword at my hip. My master looks at me and then at the woman.

Before he can talk she says, “Trust me, Maru. You can make more money from him if you simply sell him as a fighter. If you reduce your price Monima may be placated.”

“But will he buy men from me in the future, my dear, that is what I am worried about. He pays well for all his dull personality.”

I wonder if I should tell my master about the guard I saw the day before but I know I am not to interrupt him when he is with company.

“He is hardly a man,” my master says. I cannot rid myself of the feeling of anger when he talks in such a way. So indifferent and brash. “Monima will hardly be satisfied anyway.”

“Then give him to him. He will fight, he will have to, and Monima is hardly in a position to refuse. He will be out of the capital city and back to his school before the first few days of the games are over, if what the decree says is true.”

“And what does the decree say?” Maru leaned forward.

“With Atheus as the new Prime Lord and victory over the Setnin Sector there are to be over one hundred days of games! How many fighters are there in the Sector to match such a need!”

“I am not sure...”

“Maru, you do not want Monima as an enemy. I have shared his bed as well as yours and I know of his personality. He is violent and selfish and will take from you what he wants, in men or blood.”

“He wouldn’t dare! Such a thing is not permitted within these walls!”

“But you will not be in these walls forever, Maru. Placate him and be done with him. You cannot fight him.”

The pause that follows has the woman watching Maru with interest and Maru staring at bobbing food on the pool’s surface. He has a goblet of wine in his hand and he sips at it in thought.

I cannot fight in the Master Theatre! What honour would there be in being carved by a master fighter, trying to fend his blows away with a stump? Surely the slave master was not seriously considering handing me over to the trainer to satisfy his need to even the odds between them? I would die for sure out of the arena even if I survived my fights. The trainer was, by the sounds of their conversation and the title of Monima the Vengeful given to him by Livu, a very dangerous man. One night I may fall into dreams and remain there.

Maru stretches out on the long cushioned seat and sighs heavily. “I do not know. We will see.”

Is that an end to it? Is that all he is going to say? How can a man simply decide on his own future by arbitrarily casting away the lives of other men? He is not a Fleet Commander or a Prime Lord. It is not for him to make such decisions!

I am thinking as a man, not a slave. With the life of a slave it is different and he would use a man as a bargaining tool as easily as money. I was one of my statues, now. I had been taken, moulded to my master’s requirements and now I was to be used as a possession.

But that is what it is to be a slave and, considering it was my decision to place myself here, I was in no position to bemoan my bad luck. It was hardly worth despairing over my fate when I had allowed myself to walk this path. It was this that Anto had tried to tell me when he had called me a coward.

The meal appears to be over and my master stands, motioning for his attendant to fetch his robe and motioning for me to stand by his side. As I approach he throws me a fruit and nods towards the door. “Here, take this and wait for me. We will walk the market and I will see what trade I can muster.”

I do as he says and as I take a bite out of the fruit I walk to the door. I am waiting for a long time and as I finish the fruit my master walks up to me and points at the portal. “Well?”

I open the door for him and we step out into the street.

There is a sound emanating from somewhere and it takes me a while to realise where it is coming from. It is a great roar, like a far-off storm, and it sweeps along the sky and reverberates from the city’s buildings. At first i think it is a descending starship, but it is the crowds of the Master Theatre and they are obviously appreciating the spectacles they are being offered.

The market is just outside the Master Theatre walls and is filled with many faces and creatures. Banthas walk the street, their strange horn-like call drowning out the voices. There are also strange animals I do not recognise, like a thin, stretched riddabeast with bony joints and peculiar humped backs. They carry packs and people alike. Many fine people walk the street and stand at stalls covered with trinkets, cloth, food, jewels, pottery, tools, even a weapon smith has a stall with a bright furnace behind him belching dark smoke. Somewhere I hear a tune whistling and people laughing, and I also hear shouts of joy and alarm. The whole spectacle is too much for me and it is all I can do to stay close to my master.

I am jostled and shoved as we make our way through the crowds of people. I have my hand on my sword hilt and I am glad I have no credits to speak of for I am sure that if I did it would have been stolen by now. A thief using the closeness of the crowds would turn a profit easily on a day like this.

As we are standing by a stall covered in fine cloths of many colours I allow my eyes to wander the crowd. There are many skin colours and species and I marvel at the representation I see before me of the many parts of the galaxy. They all seem to share the feeling of happiness as they cavort together and trade for mutual benefit.

Is it just the surface I see, I wonder?

My master’s startled cry makes me turn and I see him with his back to the stall, a large heavily built Barabel standing over him with a strange head dress that is a simple cloth tied to his head by a cord. He has crooked teeth and tanned skin and he is saying something that is obviously causing Maru some distress.

As I approach him he turns to me and glares, his eyes looking me up and down as if daring me to intervene. So I do, by placing my hand on his chest and shoving him back into the crowd. He staggers and is thrown away by several angry passers by. As he regains his footing I stand in front of my master and hold my blaster tightly, ready to draw it if necessary.

The man looks past me and at Maru, saying, “My master will have payment for his dead, slave master. Be sure of that. If you value your future, then he suggests you make amends.” He does not want to fight, especially as we both notice two of the street guard taking an interest in our altercation, and he mingles with the crowd.

I turn to Maru. “A man of Monima, my Lord?” I ask with an air of partial interest, taking him by the shoulders and standing him straight from his angle against the stall. He waves me off with a huff of breath.

“Of course! I want you to be vigil, slave! You sleep in my chamber tonight!”

At first I am unsure of my master’s statement. I look at him with distrust and he does not see my expression but his bluster and his apparent fear explain his meaning. I do not know whether he likes the company of men, and I, personally, do not wish to find out. It is fear that makes him say this. Is he afraid that Monima will send killers in the night? Perhaps. If his men are foolish enough to confront him in the street then they are brave enough to come to his chamber with a killer’s blade.

We push our way back to the house, my stump around his back and my other arm outstretched to force the people in the market out of our way.

Back at the house Maru walks back and forth, cursing his fortune and ignoring the woman’s words of calming. There is plenty of the day to be had and I do not wish to waste it within this hot, musty building in hiding. I stand to one side and think of the simpleton. I had not had chance to properly check his condition after rising from my bed and I fear he will wake and feel abandoned.

Maru’ words are loud now and I do not know why for I have not taken notice of his ranting. After a while he calms and then looks sidelong at me for a long time.

Is he contemplating handing me over to Monima so that I can pay for the deaths of the trainee fighters and he can sleep easy at night? I sorely hope not. After a short while of contemplation he commands me to stay, takes the arm of his attendant and then walks from the room.

He is absent only a short while and then he re-enters, instructing that I should accompany him to the baths in the rear of the building. I do as ordered but I am confused as to his secret conversation with the attendant. As I follow him I gather towel and robe in my hand and try to ignore the pangs of hunger I am experiencing. My tiredness is beginning to rise within me and entering the hot, steaming bath room it threatens to overpower my senses.

My master, without a word, undresses and slides slowly into the hot water, hissing and moaning as he does so. I stand to the side of the bath but hear the door to the building hiss loudly as it is activated. As I begin to turn Maru says, “You were a soldier, slave,”

It is not a question, it is a statement. “Yes, my Lord.”

“Were you stationed in the Ki-Ki Sector or have you been with the legions in the Setnin War?”

I do not like his line of questioning, so abrupt and sudden. He has not expressed interest in my past before and I do not understand why he expresses it now.

“In the Setnin Sector, my Lord.”

“Is that where...?” he motions to my stump with a flick of his hand.

“Yes, my Lord.”

He nods and I hear another noise from the main door of the house. I turn again, concerned that the boldness of Monima’ men had reached new heights, but once again Maru, seeing my interest at the sounds, takes my attention with a question.

“So you would have served under Fleet Commander Cathum?” he enquires. “Were you a good soldier?”

I pause before answering and decide against a definite ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Neither was true. “I tried, my Lord.”

“Merely ‘tried’?” he said with a small smile. “In my day a legionary was flogged for ‘trying’. We either succeeded or we failed. You obviously did not ‘try’ hard enough.” He motioned again to my half arm.

“It was a confused war, my Lord.”

“No!” My master is strangely angry at my description. “Barbarians are confused in battle, legions are precise and quick and move with the preparation of drill.”

The exact words of a Commander. I wonder at Maru and his past life, especially now I know he was in the army himself, and I also wonder to what position he rose.

Now he falls quiet. The sounds from the door have ceased and I relax a little as my master swims to the centre of the shallow pool and then back to the edge. He lays back, eyes closed, and softly snores.

Asleep! The condition I wish to be in. Am I to stand here waiting on a resting man? It would be so easy for me to lay down the towel and robe, slowly un-sheath my sword and plunge it into his back. There would never be a better time.

He stays that way for a long while until I begin to feel light-headed in the humid air. I cough loudly, bringing him from his slumber violently and water splashes over my legs as he jerks awake. He stares about and I do not meet that gaze, standing still and apparently patient.

“How long...?”

“Not long, my Lord,” I say quickly and hold out the towel for him to climb into after exiting the bath. I am clumsy with it, trying to hook my stump under one end and wrap the towel about him, which causes him to grab it from my hand and rub himself down.

As we exit the bathroom the attendant is re-entering the house. Maru watches him intently until they meet stares and the attendant nods once. Maru seems to suddenly relax, and he slumps onto his long couch.

I wonder at the strange communication, and then a small part of the conversation I listened to at the morning meal seeps into my mind.

He is hardly a man.

“My Lord,” I say quickly, “I would like to check on my friend, if I may.”

There is a long pause as Maru takes a lump of strangely prepared meat from a dish and places it into his mouth. “You may not.”

“I have left him alone for too long, my Lord, and...”

“Cripple!” Maru shouts. “I said you will remain here with me. Your simpleton friend is not to divert you from your duties.”

“But we agreed that I was to...”

“You are my slave and you will do as I say!” Maru roars. His voice sounds stern but I can hear that it is tinged with concern as it breaks at the end of his shout. It is then that I realise what has just happened.

I turn, under protest from my master, and run for the stairs. I take them two at a time, the demands from Maru growing faint behind me, and push my way past the woman of the house who shrieks loudly as my obviously angry visage approaches her. I see she has soiled blankets in her hands and the door to the simpleton’s room is open.

And the room is empty. The cot is devoid of cloth and the simpleton has gone.

He had not spoken of me when he had mused over handing a man to Monima. He had spoken of my friend.