Tanys Gladiatrix (The Chronicles of Tanys Book 2) (12 page)

Tanys shrugged aside the tiger's bloodlust and formed a mental image of the whip. Immediately, the tiger's mind recoiled, flooding Tanys' brain with memories of a large satyr, undoubtedly the stable master, wielding the hated whip. Tanys felt the bite of the lash across her shoulders and flanks, the flick of the whip across her face. The whip embodied hatred and fear. An image flashed into mind of Tanys, holding the whip, and beating the chained beast, and it filled their shared minds with dread.

Tanys pushed away the hateful image, smothering it with her will. In its place, she forced an image of herself taking up the whip and casting it away, of herself, stroking the tiger's fur and bringing it food.

Gradually, the overwhelming sense of hunger and pain began to subside. Tanys felt the tiger's heartbeat slowing in its breast, and its growl dwindled away into a soft whine of submission.

Tanys slowly opened her eyes to find the tiger silently watching her. She took the strip of pig flesh from around her neck and approached the tiger cautiously.

The tiger dipped its head slightly as she drew near, as though expecting her to strike it. Tanys lifted the meat in one hand, extending the other to stroke the fur of its mighty neck. The tiger took the meat from her hand in its teeth, stripping the scrap of flesh from the twine cord and gulping it down.

Tanys brushed her hand over the tiger's thick, soft fur, tensing herself for any signs of hostility from the big cat. She started to pull away, but the tiger pushed forward, rubbing its bristly whiskers against Tanys' ribs. She let out a ticklish giggle as the weight of its head pushed her back a step. She reached around either side of its head and scratched behind its ears.

The tiger groaned happily, pushing against her. The mountain tiger's brindle fur felt good against her bare skin, and she lay herself across its back, patting and stroking it. She did not need to share its thoughts to know this was the first kindness that anyone had shown the animal since its capture.

At last, she remembered her task and pushed away from the tiger. She stooped to retrieve the whip, and when she did, the tiger jumped back, wary and cringing.

Tanys shook her head, whispering soothing words. She carried the whip to the doorway and tossed it out of the room. The tiger relaxed immediately, its golden eyes perplexed.

"You did it," Berra said, sounding a little surprised.

"Well done," Baran said, "You're starting to realize who you really are."

Tanys turned to face them both. "Let's get this animal something to eat."

Tanys left Berra and Tyll deep into their wine cups late that evening. Baran joined her as she left the dining hall to return to her room.

"You surprised me today," Baran said, "I've never seen anyone take control of a beast like that."

Tanys searched his eyes for falsehood but found none. "I wasn't really controlling the tiger, it was more like... sharing our bodies."

"The best I've been able to do is to anticipate the animal's movements," he said.

"I guess I'm just more in touch with my animal nature," she grinned.

Baran smiled. He paused as they passed into a shadowy hallway and took her into his arms, kissing her.

Tanys winced as his hand brushed over her bandaged arm.

"I'm sorry," he said, pulling back.

"It's all right," Tanys, said, "It doesn't sting as much as when you stuck me in the ass."

"That wasn't your ass," he said, "and I thought you enjoyed that."

Tanys slapped him hard across the arm, trying not to laugh. Baran laughed, retreating toward his quarters, and Tanys gave chase. She gave him a good goosing to the backside as he made it to the doorway of his private room.

They paused together at the threshold. Naietta was inside the room, cleaning and arranging Baran's few belongings.

The mute girl froze when she saw them together at the door. Her face flushed, and her eyes fell. She moved quickly to leave, pushing past Tanys as she did.

"Oh, no," Tanys said, grabbing Naietta by the arm, "I've had enough of this!"

Naietta looked afraid. Baran tried to speak, but Tanys cut him off.

"Baran, get your pants off and get on the bed."

Baran held his tongue and did as he was told. Naietta was trembling as Tanys turned back to face her.

"You've been moping around and avoiding me for days now," Tanys said, "and that ends tonight!" She guided the terrified girl over to the foot of the bed and turned her to face the nude man stretched upon it.

Naietta made a soft, protesting noise as Tanys lifted her chin and forced her to look upon Baran's nakedness. Baran smiled gently and made no move to cover himself.

"I know you worship his dirty laundry," Tanys said, "maybe because he was the only one in this hell hole who was ever nice to you, but he's not a god. He's just a man. He's a good man, though, and it's time you had a bit of that."

Tanys placed her hands on Naietta's shoulders and pulled them back from their perpetual droop. The girl's breaths came fast and shallow as Tanys' hands massaged her muscles and stroked back her long hair from her face. The discomfort of being the center of attention was almost more than Naietta could bear.

Tanys reached around to cup and lift Naietta's large breasts in the palms of her hands. "You're beautiful," Tanys said.

Baran watched as Tanys stroked and petted Naietta's body. Slowly, the tension began to fade from Naietta's muscles. She sighed as Tanys' fingertips traced the curve of her jaw line down to the hollow of her throat. On the bed, Baran shifted his hips, the growing hardness between his legs becoming evident.

Tanys' hands moved to Naietta's hips and the lacing of her loincloth. Naietta closed her eyes, whimpering softly as her garment fell away to reveal the dark tuft of hair surmounting her maidenhood. Tanys gently caressed the girl's narrow hips, lightly stroking the creamy roundness of her buttocks. Tanys bit her lip at the sight of so many whip marks, eternally etched into the poor girl's skin. That did not matter tonight.

Baran groaned, the head of his cock throbbing in anticipation. Tanys took Naietta's small hand and led her around the side of the bed. Baran took her from there, pulling the girl down and wrapping her in his mighty arms.

Naietta gasped, her eyes tightly shut as Baran pressed his lips to her delicate throat. The strong fingers of his right hand closed around Naietta's breast, squeezing and kneading the ample mound. His left hand seized her rump, lifting her astride him. Tanys crawled onto the bed behind Naietta, reaching down to guide Baran's massive shaft toward the fragile petals of Naietta's nether lips.

Naietta hissed through clenched teeth as Baran's member probed and tested. She gasped three times in rapid succession then shuddered as her body opened to him. Tanys nestled in at the foot of the bed, enjoying the show. She watched as Naietta rode up and down, Baran's hands wrapped around her slim hips and his manhood thrusting to half its length inside the girl.

Tanys lightly stroked the small of Naietta's back with her fingertips then traced down the crease between her round, firm buttocks to where Baran's impressive size now stretched tight the tender pink flesh of Naietta's sex. Tanys' hand explored lower, grasping Baran's bouncing sack and squeezing gently, rolling the heavy balls in the hollow of her palm. She gathered them up, forming a ring with her fingers around the base of his engorged shaft, pushing the bundle upwards to rub between Naietta's thighs.

The girl sank lower, taking more of him in until Baran was sinking hilt-deep with every thrust. The two lovers moaned and gasped, lost in the ecstasy of their wild passion. Tanys as well began to squirm restlessly, the sight and scent of their lovemaking arousing in her body sensations that were not unwelcome. Tanys tugged apart the drawstring of her own loincloth and tossed it aside. Her hand, damp from love play, slipped from around Baran's cock and drifted to attend her own unanswered needs.

Tanys braced herself against Naietta's bare back with her free hand then leaned forward against the girl as a wave of dizziness swept over her. She slipped her arms around Naietta's chest, rubbing her hands across the mute girl's heaving breasts, planting hot kisses on her shoulders and neck. Naietta leaned back into her arms, softly moaning as her breath quickened with every thrust of Baran's cock. She wept openly now with a pleasure that transcended pain. Baran cried out, ramming his hips hard against her as he climaxed. Tanys pressed her teeth into Naietta's pale shoulder, her own body shivering with release as the lovers came.

Tanys remembered waking once, late in the evening, to find the three of them lying together naked on the bed. Naietta lay in the middle between Tanys and Baran, cradling their heads and stroking their hair. She was humming a happy, wordless tune, and she looked down, smiling at Tanys with a look of complete joy on her beautiful, scarred face.

Tanys' training continued as a coolness in the air marked the arrival of the Cashuunite winter. The brisk days found Tanys in the arena, sparring against the sisters. Many of the chilly evenings were spent snuggled beneath a blanket in Baran's bed. Often they shared the blanket with Naietta as well.

Under Berra's tutelage, Tanys' skill with the blade blossomed into true art. Of wrestling and unarmed strikes, she learned techniques that might allow her to stand admirably against even Jorva's natural gift for combat.

Thoughts of escape were pushed aside as she threw herself into her studies and her passion for the gladiator, Baran.

Naietta as well seemed a changed person. Her first night in Baran's bed had opened a door within her silent heart, or, perhaps, mended something that had been broken. She carried out her duties with a light step and cheerful expression, smiling often, her pretty eyes sparkling whenever Tanys met her gaze.

Tanys spent most afternoons in the understables, never forgetting to bring a haunch of meat, or marrow-rich bone, to the gray mountain tiger caged there.

Tanys' wounds had healed quickly, and the tiger had shown her no animosity following their initial encounter. Tanys would sometimes sit for hours, staring into the tiger's golden eyes, sharing his thoughts in that strange bonding of minds, an experience that she had come to enjoy like the intoxication of fine wine.

She had named him Ghodn after the god of unscaleable peaks. In his mind she had seen a range of silver-capped mountains, glittering beneath a shining moon. Their beauty had awed Tanys, though she had spent her life among the ice-locked peaks of the northern wilds. To look down from the seat of the gods through the tiger's golden eyes filled her with wonder. To see that majestic beast locked in an iron cage filled her with shame.

This was another prisoner that Tanys would have to redeem from the House Malchesse.

It was from a visit to Ghodn that Tanys returned one evening to find Naietta weeping quietly on her bed.

"What's wrong?" Tanys demanded, rushing to her side. Naietta lifted her face from her hands. A large purplish bruise stretched from her left eye down to her bleeding lip.

"Varkaa's back," a voice spoke from behind. Berra and her sister stood in the doorway.

"Where is she?" Tanys asked.

Tanys found Varkaa seated at a table in the dining hall, sharing a bucket of wine with several gladiators. She acknowledged Tanys' entrance with a dismissive sneer.

"I guess the little bitch is back on her... "

Tanys shut Varkaa's mouth with a devastating right cross that sent the scar-faced woman sprawling on the dusty wooden floor. Varkaa's eyes went wide as she wiped bright blood from her lip. Snarling in wordless rage, Varkaa leapt up to engage Tanys.

The gladiators in the hall gave way before the fury of the two women, clearing an ample space for their combat. Tables were dragged to the sides of the room and bets hastily laid toward the outcome.

Tanys barely noticed the growing crowd. She saw only Varkaa, dimly, as though through a red haze. Old wounds, long healed, seemed to throb with fresh pain at the sight of her hated foe, and Tanys had no intention of letting Varkaa live to see another dawn.

Varkaa lunged, dropping her knee to drive a punch into Tanys' abdomen. Tanys staggered breathlessly. Whatever else she might be, Varkaa was a skilled fighter.

Tanys recovered quickly, her weeks of practice with the sisters proving its value. She retreated before another advance, giving just enough ground to set Varkaa up for a powerful kick to the groin.

The force of the kick knocked Varkaa's legs from beneath her. She fell face first onto her elbows on the floor. Ashen-faced from pain, Varkaa managed to roll aside, barely in time to avoid the savage hammer fist that Tanys had aimed at her neck.

Varkaa scrambled to her feet again with little grace. She leaned against a table, her eyes burning with hate. Her breath came in rasping sobs. Her fingers closed around the handle of a bread knife, and a wicked grin split her face.

Tanys leapt back as the knife flashed a wide arc. A red line across her belly testified to the blade's keen edge. Tanys ducked beneath Varkaa's follow-up attack, dodging as the knife cut the air. She rolled clear of a vicious thrust and came up beside a wooden stool. She snatched it up, swinging it with such force that it battered the knife from Varkaa's hand and sent it flying across the room into a crowd of startled onlookers.