Last Man Standing

Chapter 17: Secret Cargo

The scruffy man and I went back to our room to wait for Tiberius after Evander's cost was paid to his previous owner. The scruffy man put the shackles back on me to keep up with appearances.

We had to come up with a way to sneak Evander out of the pits, into the caged wagon and then into Tiberius' training grounds without him knowing. We wanted to keep Evander our little secret for as long as possible, especially while he was in such a useless state. Once he recovered, the scruffy man would train and present him to his Dominus as a gladiator; we figured the scruffy man had a better chance at being forgiven for his purchase if it later benefited his master.

Tiberius staggered into the room reeking of booze. He was in a much better mood since we had last parted.

He smiled at me. "Ah, there's my little champion! You, boy, are going to win me a lot of money and recognition in the arena! I bet thousands of people are going to come from far and wide just to see a scrappy little thing fight off beasts of daunting size!"

He put an arm around my shoulder to prop himself up.

I was in no position to test his good mood, so I just said, "I will do my best to serve you, Dominus."

He slapped me on the back, "That a boy!"

"Are you heading home, Dominus?"

He turned to the scruffy man. "Yes, just about. I'll be taking my three champions back in my wagon. You take this one and the dark man-... what is his name?"

"Bassam Shapur. But he goes by Bash."

Tiberius burst into hysterics. "Ha! Bash. I like that! Perfect for a gladiator..." He turned to me. "Although after tonight, the name seems more fitting for you, boy!"

His laughter echoed in my brain again. I tried not to wince.

"As I was saying, I want you to take your gladiators and the whores in your cart. Make sure you stop by to see Sextus on your way home. I don't want those girls taking up space and eating my food. The sun won't be up for another couple of hours, so he should still be working."

The scruffy man nodded. "And I'm sure he'll be pleased with the stock."

"Yes, he always is. And we'll be seeing some of them by the weeks end at the training ground; your boys have earned their fair share of fun."

"Thank you, Dominus. The men will be glad to hear it."

He walked over to his Doctore, sliding his arm around his shoulders in a friendly fashion. "And I'm sure there will be a nice girl or two there for you, right? In fact, have a couple of whores on me! You deserve to be rewarded for tonight's stock!"

They both looked at me; Tiberius with excitement and hope for a rewarding future, and the scruffy man with sheer embarrassment.

The scruffy man sidestepped the conversation by pulling out the remainder of his winnings from my fight. "Dominus, I have another payment for you."

Tiberius took the bag and, to his credit, he counted it accurately despite his current state. "Seven weeks. You've done well." He put the coins back into the pouch and stuffed it into his robes. "I'll subtract this from the time you owe me. It will be a shame when I finally lose you as a Doctore... you'll be hard to replace."

He nodded, "You are too kind."

"Well, it's time for us to leave this hell hole!" He chuckled at his own words, and then stumbled out of the room to collect his gladiators.

The scruffy man turned to me. "Go wait with Evander. I need to follow Tiberius to the cages to collect Bash."

He released me from my shackles before sprinting off after his Dominus.