140AD - The Rise to Empress || [GxG] ||

Chapter 37

Translations:

Pankration. (Greek) = It literary means 'all force',  and it's a combination of wrestling and boxing. It was a dangerous sport, in which everything was permitted except biting, gouging (stabbing with your finger in your opponent's eye, nose, or mouth), and attacking the genitals. The fighters would wrap their hands in hard leather, often studded. One would think that it would be for the protection of the attacker's hands, but it was more meant to hurt their opponent. Some scholars note that many fighters were killed by accident during these matches when an odd shot landed on someone's temple. This was a popular Olympic sport in Ancient Greece for about 1,400 years. It came to an end in the year 393AD along with all gladiatorial fights. (Another free history lesson lmao, I do these for the sake of myself, but maybe there's an odd someone that would find this interesting as well.)

Irrumator (Latin) = Bastard / Asshole.

Praefectus. (Latin) = The highest rank in the Praetorian Guard; head of the Praetorian Guard.

Natura non constritatur. Iratus est natura. Natura enim pacificae. (Latin) = Nature is not saddened. Nature is not angry. Nature is peaceful.

Condemnant quo non intellegunt. (Latin) = They condemn that which they do not understand.

So̱stós (Greek) = Correct / Right.

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That night when they set up camp, Leonardo himself cleaned Lexa's wounds on her back left behind by the studded whip a few days prior. She sat with her back toward him as he slowly continued to dab at the open skin. "It's a miracle that you don't have severe sepsis. These are all open wounds, slightly inflamed but treatable." He had a bit of knowledge in the field of healing since his previous master oftenly got injured during pankration.

"I used most of the drinking water I had to pour over my back, to wash out the dried blood and on some occasions, I removed a piece of dead flesh with my fingers. If the war had taught me anything, it was to immediately treat wounds with what you have available before it would be too late." The memories were still freshly etched into Lexa's mind, especially the sharp and burning sensation from pulling a bit too far back on a piece of skin until it reached healthy flesh.

It was like picking at one's cuticles and just pulling a bit too far. It was a tedious sensation, one annoying enough to irritate the most patient of people. But it had to be done, and Lexa didn't regret any of it, even keeping in mind the hours she spent biting on her teeth in hopes that it would lessen the pain, but such unsurprisingly never worked.

A sudden liquid poured over her back, the burn almost feeling as if her flesh was about to start sizzling like a hog suspended over a fire at any moment. Lexa's muscles momentarily convulsed while grinding on her teeth and baring them simultaneously. The liquid continued to pour over her back, the stream flowing from the right to the left and back again.

"Erghhhhh!" She growls through clenched teeth, clutching the crimson material in her hands tighter and tighter until her nails start to dig through it and into her palms.

"You're not about to bite me, are you?"

"I'm very fucking tempted to." Lexa grunts annoyed, slowly returning her body into its previous resting state. "If you're going to pour something resembling fire over my back again, a warning would be nice."

"My apologies." Leonardo offers, taking a swig of whatever was in the clay bottle he bought in Rome before passing it on to the Gladiatrix sitting in front of him. "Here, for the pain." Lexa gladly accepted, drinking more than half of it in three large gulps.