#scorpus/tenax

[tenwhiteandalusians]

so no one was going to tell me if i got literally one episode further tenax drops that he’s the one who saved scorpus from his mom’s pimp AND that he’s intimately familiar with scorpus’ dick when he was younger. guys. guys.

[giallos]

Those About to Die as Text Posts 1/?

[notsuch]

I have a normal amount of feelings about Scorpus and Tenax,,,

A sucker for smart best friend and chaotic dumb ass best friend.

[justinewt]

Pugna Inter Fratres - THOSE ABOUT TO DIE REWRITE Chapter Five

[THOSE ABOUT TO DIE MASTERLIST]

Previous Chapter / Next Chapter (08/30/2024)

Summary: Being reunited with her brothers was the best gift Aldea could have ever asked for. Some tensions here and there rose amongst them after things didn't turn the way they expected, especially between Elia and Fonsoa. They disagreed over the way to handle things after something happened to their horses and Andria and Aldea were kind of in the middle of it, but the latter would soon move on from that after that - though momentarily - after the arrival of two numidian women in her home.

Words: 6.9k

Warnings: title means "fight between brothers" // Those about to die spoilers (episode 2 "Trust None"), fluff

The moon was higher in the sky when they reached Aldea’s house. No one was standing outside the front door. Tenax must have dismissed Dacia and Noro already. She and Scorpus climbed a flight of stairs, his toga slightly slipping off his head as he began pounding on the door. Aldea joined her hand at her waist, looking around, waiting for Tenax to come open the door and they finally heard the lock slide open on the other side. They leaned back in surprise when they came to face with Tenax brandishing a butcher knife. He realized it was just Scorpus and Aldea and he lowered the blade, stepping away from the door.

“By the Gods. What are you doing?” The charioteer walked in, looking at his friend as the latter put away the knife. Aldea followed Scorpus inside. The door creaked as she pushed it behind her, and she quickly went in the bedroom to put her cloak away and combed through her hair with her fingers, proceeding to braid them for the night as she glanced at the two men.

“What do you want?” Scorpus pulled out something to show him and she heard a thud as he placed it on the table. Tenax shrugged. “What’s this?”

“One cotter pin, cut halfway through. My racing partner is dead, and I would be if I hadn’t switched rigs.” Tenax walked towards him, picking up the cotter pin to take a closer look. “Was this one of your fixes? Scorpus loses, you collect big. I break a few bones or my neck to make it look real.”

He frowned, putting down the pin, “No, of course it’s not. I told you; I have much bigger plans for the both of us than a few more rigged races.”

“Then find out who sabotaged my rig and kill them.” Tenax acquiesced, letting out a quiet sigh. Aldea slowly approached them upon hearing Scorpus pick up something else from the table, noting how it apparently looked a lot like his horse Incitatus with a chuckle. She saw her husband took a little gold horse figurine from the driver’s hands and dismissing him, telling him to take his winnings on his way out. “Aldea.” He gave her a nod and as he put one foot on the landing, he turned towards Tenax, pointing at him. “Don’t take me for granted.”

“I don’t.” He replied with a tight smile before locking the door and turning to Aldea, shooting up his eyebrows, spreading his arms open in despondence, urging her to explain herself and she knew he wanted to know where she had been and why she was coming home so late. And yet, she still asked a stupid question as if she hadn’t understood. She didn’t think before speaking. “Well?”

“What?”

“Where have you been?”

“I told you. My brothers are in Rome, so Nica took me to them. We attended the race, and I spoke with them before Scorpus offered to walk me home.” She got closer to him and slid her fingers over the collar of his tunic, locking eyes with him. There was a bright smile stretching her lips. “I never thought I’d see them again, and they’re here, in Rome. I can see them everyday now.”

“That’s great, Aldea. I just want to make sure that you’re safe.” He placed a gentle hand on her stomach, and she put her hand on top.

“I am as safe with my brothers as with Dacia and Noro. And Gavros and Scorpus were there too. I'm alway well surrounded.” Their faces had gotten close to the point of being mere inches apart, the tip of their noses rubbed together. They shared a tender kiss, and she went to bed while he left the apartment, having to take care of Scorpus’ sabotaged-rig problem. She slept soundly that night, with no nightmare, dreaming of her youth. She was around 6, compelling a then 8-year-old Fonsoa to play mom and dad with toddler Elia. He had always been such a sweet, angel-looking boy, even more so then with his big eyes, staring at her and following her and Fonsoa everywhere. In the early years of her brother’s life, it was more of an innocent game for her, but she realized over time that ever since he was born, even though she was only 4 then, she had always taken her role very seriously and loved taking care of him. There were only two things she truly loved doing, caring for her baby brother and being with their horses. She was happy with living this life forever.

The memory she relieved in her dream changed, it was a few years later, Elia and she were laughing bubbly, rolling in the tall grass to go down the hill and she woke up. She felt as though she was on cloud nine as she took her time to get out bed and put on her stola and cloak. Those memories put her in a state of absolute peace of mind. She was so used to Tenax being gone the whole night that she didn’t even notice he still wasn’t home, and she left for the Circus Maximus, to meet with her brothers at the stable. It wasn’t the afternoon yet, she would have some more time to spend with the three of them before they had to show the horses to Scorpus later on, and she would be with them then too. She didn’t have to work today as there wasn’t any races or fights, and in any case, if she didn’t want to work one day, Tenax wouldn’t actually care. He only let her work because she wanted to keep herself busy. If she felt like spending the day at home or at the bath or the theatre, she could.

She arrived at the Circus during hora undecimal, about half an hour before noon and they walked together to Tenax’s tavern to eat together. They got quite a few glances as they exchanged in Spanish the whole time, speaking at a fast pace too, as they asked their sister about her life in Rome, how she came to know Tenax – whom they still had yet to meet – and she told them the whole story. She told them how she followed this young sailor she thought she was in love with and got stuck on a merchant’s ship and was sold as a slave upon arriving in Rome, bought by Tenax and made a freedwoman a couple months later. She said the merchant never returned to Rome, keeping it to herself that Tenax had the later killed because of what he had done to Aldea. They would get scared for her, knowing Tenax’s doing, and she would have to reveal details she wanted to keep secret. It wouldn’t do anyone any good to know that she was forced to have intercourse by and with the merchant for over a week and that he broke her collarbone because she tried to fight back. She wasn’t hiding the latter under a cloak for nothing.

“You were sold as a slave?” Elia reacted instantly when Aldea said it, raising his eyebrow in a mix of utter shock, worry and anger.

“It’s okay now, I’m free. Tenax lets me work and do basically anything I want. He only asks me to be careful where I go. Rome can be dangerous.” She took a sip of her wine, looking down at her plate. “But he has over a dozen men working for him, and I know that he asked them to keep an eye out for me so I’m safe anywhere I go.”

“He seems to be a good husband.” Andria noted while Elia squinted his eyes, slightly frowning. He still doubted that whoever was her husband was a good enough husband for his sister and it made her smile amusedly. She gave her older brother a nod. Tenax proved to be a good husband indeed. She went on to tell them about their time as a married couple and it was enough for Fonsoa and Andria to hear that she was happy and well treated, or they wouldn’t have let her go back to Tenax, maybe even dragging her back home to Baetica if she needed to be saved from her marriage, but there was no need, and they could see that. Even Elia understood she was happy in her relationship. And now she had her family with her. It felt as though life was smiling on her once again. Ever since she became her own woman again at the end of summer 75 CE, four years ago, almost only good things happened to her; she eventually got into a relationship with Tenax, they got married and now she was expecting a child, and she was reunited with her brothers. She let it slip, during the conversation, that she was pregnant and the shock on Elia's face, his eyebrows raised as high as possible and his wide eyes, made her burst out laughing. He let his cutlery fall on the table, clattering against the wood.

“What— estás realmente embarazada?” He exclaimed, asking her if she was actually pregnant, grabbing her arm. Fonsoa and Andria chuckled, proceeding to congratulate their sister. Fonsoa, sat next to her, giving her a broad, proud smile, putting his hand on her back.

“Your child will be blessed to have you as a mother.”

“You were a natural.” Andria added, a soft smile on his face.

“You see, Elia, we’ll become uncles. You need to grow up.” He teased him, stretching his arm behind Aldea to push his brother’s shoulder with a chuckle. Elia dodged his hand, leaning to the side and let out a groan, annoyed to het pushed around by his brother. Fonsoa gently squeezed Aldea’s shoulder, insisting that she will be a great mother, and they finished their meal. A few minutes later, during hora quartadecima, a couple hours after they started eating, they met with Gavros at the Blue faction’s stable and prepped the horses for the try out on the tracks. They geared up four of their dozen Andalusians, attaching them to a rig and Andria warmed them up, making them run for a round in the arena. Fonsoa leaned against the door, his arms crossed while Elia, his hands on his hips, was growing impatient and aggravated by Scorpus’ delay. He still wasn’t there, and they had been waiting for what felt like an eternity. Aldea looked at the sun, up in the sky, indicating it must have been hora sedecim, and if she wasn’t home by the next hour, she thought that Tenax was going to wonder what she was doing out there that was making her so busy that she was missing dinner.

“Where is he?” Having to wait so much made Elia snappy. Gavros put his hand on his shoulder, assuring the driver was coming and he did a few seconds later. Scorpus appeared behind them as the chariot was approaching and Andria brought the horses to a halt.

“They’re small, your Andalusians.” He walked past Andria and stepped on the rig.

“It is not their size that makes horses fast. And no whip. They run better without it.” Scorpus still picked up his whip and Elia glared at him as the charioteer drove away. The horses went gradually faster and within seconds they were full on galloping. They saw Scorpus give a few snaps with the whip but eventually putting it away and instead only snapping the reins, his dark curls blown in the wind. Elia’s angry face gave way to a cheerful smile.

“They’re fast.” Gavros noted. After a full drive around the spina, Scorpus slowed down the horses and got off the rig, letting out a sigh of relief. He was clearly more than satisfied with the beasts and immidietaly made an offer to the brothers.

“Twenty thousand serteces for the ten. But… the three of you stay on as stable hands to get the most out of them.” Elia’s smile faded after getting excited at the price he had proposed. While Fonsoa and Andria agreed to it, he didn’t seem that excited anymore and looked upset.

“We agreed to go back!” Aldea’s head twitched. She didn’t know they were supposed to go home. They hadn’t told her yet.

“Elia. Look around. Do you really want to go back?” Andria asked.

“Yes!”

“We’re in Circus Maximus, and this is Scorpus, he’s trying to buy your horses and hire us. And we got out sister back.” Fonsoa stepped towards his brother. Aldea held her arms, crossed over her chest and kind of looked around, seeing Fimbria watching them in the distance. He crossed her gaze as he was leaving and she squinted her eyes, wondering why he had been staring at them. Elia kept on arguin, insisting Scorpus wanted to trap them in Rome, which he called “a sewer of a city” and the high price offered to them for their horses didn’t seem to make him budge.

“I will take the money, but we agreed to come here, sell the horses, find our sister and go back! We found Aldea, we can go back.” She bit her lips, listening to him. She would have gone back with them in a heartbeat if she hadn’t met and fallen in love with Tenax, and she was married now, it wouldn’t feel right to simply ditch him after years together.

“We could really be someone here. Make a name for ourselves.” Andria tried to convince him to change his mind. Elia shook his head, briskly licking his lips. “Horses, as many as you want.”

“I have all the horses I want, back in Baetica.”

“Boys. Scorpus is waiting.” He rose his voice, drawing attention to him. Andria gave him a nod, briefly turning back to his brothers, proposing to vote on the matter. Fonsoa was in, of course but Elia, unable to stay put, restless, refused to vote and walked away, nudging Fonsoa as he left. The latter called out his name and took a few steps after him but stopped himself and turned back to Andria.

“I’ll go talk to him.” Fonsoa softly grabbed his sister’s arm.

“He’ll be fine. He’ll come around.”

“We have a deal.” Andria then declared to Scorpus. The latter extended his hand towards him.

“The little shit stays as well, yes?” Andria acquiesced, giving his hand a firm shake. As he was leaving, he looked over his shoulder at Aldea. He was going to see Tenax at their home and waited for her to decide whether she was coming with him. Fonsoa comfortingly rubbed her back, reassuring her about Elia. She gave her brothers a hug and walked back to the Suburra with Scorpus. He jumped up the stairs and pushed the front door open. It had been left unlocked and he directly went inside. Aldea closed the door behind them. He had basically run down the street and was out of breath.

“I have just driven… the fastest horses in my life.” Tenax glanced over at them, sitting in the kitchen at the dinner table while Claudia served him something to drink. He tilted his head, looking at Aldea as she made her way to the table and sat across from her husband before the plate set up for her. Claudia gave her some food.

“Are you sure?” Scorpus leaned on the table and sighed.

“They’re the horses of Aldea’s brothers… they fly with the wings of Pegasus. So, I bought them. Well, with your money.”

“So you’re in?”

“Of course, I’m in.” Aldea followed him with her eyes, not really knowing what they were talking about as Scorpus walked behind her and grabbed a piece of bread from a bowl. Tenax looked aside, leaning his elbow on the table, bringing his hand to his face, thoughtful. Scorpus eventually left, leaving the couple together to finish eating.

“You were with your brothers?”

“Yes. I spent the day with them. I’ll go see if they’re at their place after. I need to check on Elia. He wasn’t too happy about having to stay in Rome.”

“Elia, that’s your…”

“My little brother. I hope he’ll come around… I’ll try to convince him to stay. He doesn’t like Rome, to say the least.” She sighed through her nose, chewing on her food. Tenax didn’t say much else on the matter of her brother being unhappy in the city. She knew he didn’t want her to leave, but he loved her and no matter how reluctant he would be, he would let her go if she chose to go back, but put down her fork and held his hand, hopefully letting him know she wasn’t planning on leaving. She was set on convincing her brother to stay. She wasn’t about to let go of the boy she raised and watched grow into the handsome young man he was today. “What were you talking about, with Scorpus?”

“Come. I have something to show you.” He stood up, wrapping his fingers around her hand and slightly pulling her towards him. She got up in turn and he led her to the bedroom. After pressing on one of the tiles on the wall, he pushed the hidden door open with his shoulder and briefly let go of her hand to go fetch something in the criss-cross shelves at the back of the small, secret room where he kept all his most valuable items and property titles. There were hundreds of those in those shelves, but Aldea knew about all this and had known for a while so she was a little puzzled what he might have to show her. He grabbed a tube and turned to her with an excited smile.

“What’s this?” Unscrewing one of the ends, he showed a scroll inside.

“500 shares of the Blue Faction.”

“500—” She was shocked. they grabbed onto each other’s shoulder. “What? How did you get your hands on 500 shares of the Blue Faction?”

“Rufus made a round bet at yesterday's race, betting his wife's shares on Scorpus to win in the last to second round.”

“Oh, that’s why he pulled back in the middle of the race and stayed behind until the last round? I knew there was something like this going on but, well,” She chuckled in disebelief. “I didn’t know this was what was at stake. What will you do with it now?”

“I’ll sell it to the highest bidder, and with the money, Scorpus and I can start our own faction.”

“That’s great news.” She caressed his cheek, the tip of her finger brushing of his beard’s hair, and she softly pressed her lips on his. He then closed the secret door and they both left home. She headed for her brother’s place, a couple streets away, while he headed for the Esquiline Hill to go negotiate with Consul Marsus over the 500 shares. They weren’t the lead owners of the blue faction, and he knew they would want to have this advantage over the woman who he and his wife had lost the position to, Caltonia. By buying those shares, they could retrieve their position as lead owners and he was going to use this fact to get the consul to buy those shares, giving him enough money to fund his ambitions. He would still need to get approval from the Aedile Ludi, who was no other than the emperor’s youngest son, Domitian. She wasn’t too worried about it. Her husband could be cunning and had a certain way with words, he would probably get Domitian to approve a fifth faction by the time the next race came around.

Aldea went to see if her brothers could be found in the room, they were renting but the housekeeper apologizes to her and told her she hadn’t seen them come back yet. Aldea returned to her apartment and Tenax returned in the first hour of the night. She wasn’t going to wander around town, pregnant and on her own so she would wait for either of her brothers – she hoped it would be Elia – to come to her instead.

“So? How did it go?” She asked, as Tenax walked in the room. He went straight to grabbing her face and kissing her, letting her know it did go as well as hoped.

“I sold the shares to Consul Marsu, nine thousand serterces.”

“And Domitian? What did he say?” His fingers sipped into her hair, his thumb caressing her cheek.

“I piqued his curiosity. I told him he would have half ownership over the faction, in secret, and that a river of money awaits us.”

“Well, I’m sure he’ll approve your faction. He needs money. He’s been spending the empire’s fortune in every single betting tavern across town. With all the money he’d earn from this, he wouldn’t have to care about his debts anymore.”

“Yes.” He kissed her again, more strongly, as he was thrilled by the thought of finally being able to set his plan in motion and get his own faction. It would get them more money and allow him to sit next to his very own faction’s banner and be somewhat at the same level as the patricians that owned the other four. She didn’t share his ambitions, as she had no such ambitions to begin with, but she supported him in his endeavors and he needed and wanted this, to elevate himself socially, though he would probably not say it in so many words. After all he had been through at the hands of the powerful patricians of the roman empire, it felt, to me, as being a rightful revenge and she would be by his side throughout it. That was one reasons, if not the main one, as to why she couldn’t leave. It felt wrong to abandon and give up on him after the life they had built together, and all they had shared. And they were expecting a child. She couldn’t possibly deprive him of his child, and right to be a father.

She moved away from him, approaching the window as she heard quick steps outside their house. She saw the old woman who watched over Tenax’s property where her brothers were staying. The housekeeper was about to walk through the front door until Aldea called out to her, making her look up.

“You wanted to know when your brothers came home.” Aldea gave her a nod and left, after telling Tenax she wouldn’t be long. She walked to the other insula and as she entered, she could hear them argue in the distance. Because of how clear their voices sounded; she guessed their door was opened. She slowly walked up the stairs.

“Elia, how many times do I have to say it? It’s not forever. We’ll all go back together soon.” Andria tried to calm him down.

“When, exactly? A—After you’re grooms instead of stable hands? After you start driving?”

“Give it a chance. One fortnight, then decide.”

“No.” He was quick with his answer. His mind was still very much made up and he was dead set on leaving Rome. He felt betrayed and lied to, and he told them as much. “You’ve lied to me. Both of you. You never intended to go home. Did you? We said, we come here, sell our horses, find Aldea and go back home.”

“Elia…” She heard Fosnoa sigh. “We sold our horses, and found Aldea. You've been talking about finding her every hour of the day for years. We found her.”

“Yes, and I’m sure she wants to go home too.” She quietly sighed, her hand on the railing as she paused in her tracks.

“Elia, she has built a life here.” Andria said. “She’s married and happy, and she’s with child. You can’t expect her to leave it all behind? Don’t you want to stay here, be close to her?”

“You can’t say that’s not all you’ve wanted, ever since you were a child.”

“Take good care of Ferox.” Elia ignored Fonsoa, turning away from him as he finished packing his things, but he must have seen movement from the corner of his eyes because he turned his head and saw Aldea coming up the stairs. She saw him, mouthing her name and he looked down at his bag, almost shameful of the fact he was getting ready to leave.

“Elia.” She spoke softly, but he avoided looking directly at her, darting glances her way.

“You never intended to go home.” It almost sounded like an accusation. She sighed.

“I never expected I could go home one day. And I met people here, in Rome, that made me love my life here. Elia… please look at me.” She put her hand on his back, and he finally made eye contact with her.

“Do you know how much father’s missed you?” Fonsoa spoke his name, but it didn’t stop Elia from speaking. “First he lost… our mother, and then you. Do you know how much your disappearance destroyed him?”

“Elia. Enough.” Fonsoa rose his voice again, grasping his shoulder, and this time, Elia shut his mouth and went quiet, slightly flaring up his nostrils and shaking his head, freeing his shoulder from Fonsoa with an abrupt shrug. Aldea could see on his face that he felt awful for being mean to her but also that how much he felt hurt and let down by his siblings overshadowed the love he had for them, and especially for his sister.

“Please, Elia. Sleep on it. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He wouldn’t look at her and she couldn’t the hurt in her eyes before she turned on her heels and left. As she walked down the stairs, she locked eyes with Fonsoa, still standing in the middle of their room and his eyes told her he was sorry about this. She gave him a soft smile and went back to her home. Tenax opened. He had been waiting for her to go to bed. Seeing she looked down, he stared at her worriedly, caressing her cheek. She took his hand and kissed it. She just wanted to go sleep it off, hoping Elia would at least stay in Rome for the night, or even better, change his mind altogether. The day had started off well and did not end on a high note.

Tenax and Aldea woke up the next morning, got dressed, ate some breakfast quickly and then left, heading together for the Esquiline Hill, hoping to find Scorpus there. But he wasn’t home and so began a search of the neighborhood to find their friend. Aldea stayed on the other side of the street while Tenax went to check if he was in the brothel he frequented but again, he came out of there alone and shrugged, exchanging a glance with his wife. They kept looking and found him at a tailor’s shop, looking at colorful pieces of fabric. Tenax ordered the tailor to get out and he snatched the fabric away from Scorpus after he drapped himself with it and threw it back on the table at the center of the room. Aldea, her hands joined by her waist, waited right by the entrance and could hear them even though Tenax was careful to speak quietly.

“Is this what you call discreet?”

“Word will get out, once we get Domitian’s approval.

“If… we get approval. Come. He’s meeting us at the stables to look at the Andalusians.” Scorpus smirked at the news, patting his shoulder on his way out. As he walked past Aldea, he, as Scorpus does, gave her a flirty look and smile and she shook her head amusedly. Looking back at Tenax as he followed him, Aldea saw his eyes briefly widen in annoyance. They then heade towards the stables of the Circus Maximus and got there about a dozen minutes later. The Blue faction stables’ doors were opened ajar, and they were unpleasantly surprised by what they saw inside. Elia was crouched next to Ferox, Fonsoa and Andria standing nearby. In all the other stalls, the horses were lying on the straw, barely breathing and lethargic. Aldea looked at them in worry while Tenax swore through his gritted teeth.

“Gavros went to get a physician.” Elia told them.

“Why didn’t someone tell me?” They turned around upon hearing Felix’s voice behind them. The young boy came running towards them.

“Domitian, he’s here! Outside!”

Tenax sighed heavily, “As I said… Fuck!” He turned to the brothers. “All right. I’ll divert him. Aldea, I want you out of here.” She wasn’t going to argue with him. He had other other fish to fry – bigger fish. She followed him outside and walked to a piller against which she leaned, seeing him talk with Domitian from the corner of her eyes. He tried to slow him down, to give everyone in the stables, just a little more time to find a quick solution to keep up appearances. On her way out, she heard Scorpus tell everyone to close the stalls’ curtains so they would find a short-term solution. Domitian wasn’t buying whatever Tenax was telling him to keep him out of the stables and he walked inside. She saw Felix come out and Aldea approached but when Domitian turned back to left, she stepped aside, hiding behind the large door. Plebieans bowed as the emperor’s son walked past, followed by Tenax and Scorpus. Before he turned to the other two, all three had their back to her so she slipped inside to go to her brothers. Fonsoa held out his arm, placing his hand on her back, drawing her towards him. Gavros arrived with thr physician and the man with the white beard knelt near the horse, holding a small flame to his eye to take a closer look.

“Augendus, the best there is.” Gavros spoke. “He was once veterinaries for the Greens.”

“You were right, Gavros. Most definitely nightshade.”

“What can you do for them?”

“Bury them.” He shrugged, shaking his head and looked up at Tenax.

“I’m not in the mood for jokes.”

“There’s little you can do. A magnus might say put crows in their stalls for three nights… and use bells to call out the Orci spirits from their livers.” Tenax smirked in disbelief.

“I’m not gonna bet my life on that one. Do what you can.” He then took a step towards the Corsi brothers, glaring and poiting a threatening finger at them. Elia stood up. “No one has seen this. If you tell a single fucking person, you will die in ways you cannot imagine. Do you understand?” Aldea stayed silent as he addressed her brothers. It wasn’t her place to speak, even less to cut him off. She shouldn’t even be in there and was mainly allowed to be present because of her link to the six men inside. Even simpler than that, as his wife, she stayed out of his business, and this was business. The fact it involved her family didn’t matter. she wasn't going to undermine his credibility by speaking when she should remain quiet. “Don't believe my threats to be empty just because you are my wife's brothers. Remember… the only person you have to fear more than Domitian… is me.”

“We understand, sir. We have seen nothing here.” Andria acquiesced. She could tell he was intimidated and took Tenax’s words very seriously, and he was right to do so. A faint smile appeared on his face, like a ray of sunshine managing to break through the clouds momentarily. This was as much a friendly “nice to meet you” smile as it was a threatening “if something happened to Aldea, I’ll kill you” kind of smile. He then motioned for Scorpus and Gavros to follow him outside and left the Corsi in the stables. The poor horses groaned at their feet. Leading his sister along with him, Fonsoa called to his brothers to go talk in private in a stall a little further in the stable.

“All right, little brother, you win. This is getting too dangerous. I say we play along until dark and then slip out of the city.” Aldea frowned, slightly shaking her head. She held her arms, looking around. Elia took his eyes off the ground and glanced at his brother.

“To go where?” Andria asked.

“Anywhere other than here. Home?”

“I’m not gonna leave our horses to die.” Elia argued.

“Now he wants to stay?” Fonsoa smirked in disbelief.

“We have reared these horses since they were foals.” He insisted. “I love them. And I’m not going to leave them behind.”

“The Emperor’s son has seen us.” Andria added. “How far would we get if we run? We have no option. Fonsoa, you said it yourself last night… we can’t expect Aldea to leave the city either. She’s married and with child. I say, we throw in with Scorpus and Tenax.”

“It will be fine if you listen to what Tenax says, Fonsoa.” Aldea then spoke, following Andria as the later walked away. She looked over her shoulder when she heard something slam against wood. Elia was still in the stall, with Fonsoa following in his siblings’ footsteps. She sighed through her nose, quietly. He had been shoved by Fonsoa into the wall of the horse’s stall. She watched her brother walk past her and turned back, going straight to Elia.

“I’m fine.” He said under his breath as she grabbed his shoulder and made him look at her, putting her finger under his chin to lift his head. He softly pushed her hand away and she took a step back to give him some space and sighed before walking to the door where Andria was peeking out, looking at Scorpus, Tenax and Gavros. She arrived as Tenax pointed at her brother, ordering him to keep someone safe and since Scorpus led him away with him, pretending to go fetch some fresh horses, she understood he had sent Andria with Scorpus to go get something. She crossed eyes with her husband after he sent Gavros to get guards to stand.

“Where is my brother going with Scorpus?” Tenax looked around, bringing her towards the wall.

“We’ll talk about this later. Right now, I need to deal with this. I want you to go home.” She stared at him for a few seconds before nodding with a sigh. He saw she wasn’t really pleased to leave so he gave her a comforting look and she walked away. Before she even left the area of the circus, she glanced behind her, thinking of her two brothers and she was surprised to see Fonsoa, carrying a sack, leaving the stables. He didn’t notice her right away, staring into space angrily. She stopped in her tracks and waited for him to look at her which he eventually did as he came closer. He came to a halt.

“Where’s Elia?” At her question, he looked away with an annoyed snort and kept on walking. She called his name and walked with a brisk step to keep up with him. Seeing her struggle, he apologized and slowed down his pace. “Are you leaving?”

“Yes. I’m not spending another night in this city.”

“Fonsoa…” He turned to her, stopping suddenly and grabbed her shoulder.

“You’ve been living with this man for four years? We’ve been here for two days and it’s already getting dangerous. He threatened us.”

“I told you; everyone will be fine as long as you keep this situation to yourself. His threats weren’t empty, but he won’t harm you. He has to be like this. Life in Rome is quite unforgiving.” She tried to explain but he shook his head.

“No. I won't let this be my life, or yours, or my nephew's.”

“You can’t make me leave.” She argued with a scoff, leaning back, starign at him in incredulity.

“Aldea, this man is dangerous.”

“I’m the one living with him, Fonsoa. I know him. I get to say if he’s dangerous. Please, just trust me when I tell you that he’s not.”  She couldn’t believe she was having this conversation with him in the middle of the street and switched to Spanish mid-sentence. They argued all the way home until they stopped by the front door of Aldea’s insula. She looked desperate to convince her brother to change his mind and tired to fight with him.

He sighed, apologizing, “Lo siento, Aldea.”

“Please, reconsider.”

“I’ll see you later.” He gave her a kiss on her temple, and she watched him as he walked away and stood there until he disappeared from her sight, and only then did she enter the insula and get into the apartment where she got to cooking to keep herself busy while Tenax wasn’t home. Claudia came out of her room and proceeded to help her cook, cutting the foodstuffs together in the kitchen by the candlelight. Not long after, the two women stopped when the door suddenly opened, and a young Numidian woman was pushed into the room. Aldea looked at her, squinting her eyes in confusion. Tenax came in after her, closing the door behind her. He asked Claudia and Aldea to leave them and the Spaniard didn’t move for a couple seconds while the housekeeper went back in her room, but after a second look from Tenax, she walked past him and the young woman, glancing at her from the corner of her eyes and she closed the doors behind her, leaving them slightly ajar, peeking out. Tenax stretched out his hand towards the chair, asking the girl to sit but she glared at him, somehow reminding Aldea of herself when she first stepped in his home.

“I said sit.” He pointed at the chair again, with his index finger, the light making his signet ring shine.

“After you take me, sooner or later you will fall asleep, and when you do, I will slit your throat.”

“You’re going to still my throat?” He nodded his head, and she could feel him shoot up his eyebrows in skepticism. The girl gasped as he took a step towards her and grabbed her by the throat. Aldea carefully pushed the door, so as not to make any noise, though she wouldn’t have been punished if he saw she was listening – he expected she would and knew she was – and she approached her ear from the opening as Tenax lowered his voice, speaking closer to the girl.

“I own you. You are my slave.” Aldea frowned, not understanding why he would buy a slave, after not doing so ever since he bought her. He didn’t actually need a slave then; she didn’t know why he would need a slave now. “I can do whatever I want with you.” Someone started pounding on the door. The loud knocking interrupted him and Aldea grabbed the doors handles and opened them entirely, stepping outside of the bedroom as he pulled out his dagger before unlocking the front door and came face to face with another Numidian woman, standing on the landing. Tenax exhaled, seemingly exasperated. “You don’t give up.”

“I’m her mother.” He sighed, inviting her in with a gesture. She rushed towards her daughter, and they threw themselves into each other’s arms. Tenax glanced over his shoulder upon feeling Aldea come up from behind her. The look she gave him was asking for an explanation, but he responded with a wave of the hand, meaning he would deal with her later and he turned to the newcomer as he put away his blade.

“I already told you. She’s not for sale.”

“Everything is for sale. At the right price.”

“Not her.” She stood before her daughter, as if shielding her while Aldea watched Tenax from behind, puzzled by what was going on.

“Why did you buy her?”

“I need to know things about the person who bought your other daughter.” Aldea joined her hands at her waist, nodding to herself, now understanding why he bought a slave out of nowhere.

“I see. You seek to use this daughter as a go-between to my other daughter to spy on your enemy. I have an alternative.”

“I’m listening.”

“I will be your go-between.” She offered. Her daughter parted her lips, about to protest but her mother continued. “But you don’t touch her. And when this is over, whatever it is, you allow me to buy her… at your cost.”

Tenax scoffed, taking a few steps in the woman’s direction, “No. When all this is done, I will consider selling her to you for whatever price I like.”

“I need lodging.” He smiled, amused and chuckled, glancing over his shoulder at Aldea and showed the room at the back of the flat.

“You can stay with your daughter for a couple of nights.” He stressed the last few words and turned around, slipping his hand from Aldea’s shoulder to her back as he led her to bedroom with him. They would finally have some time to talk, just the two of them. Aldea had a lot of things to ask him to clarify the situation. The last thing they heard before he closed the doors behind them was the woman telling them her name, Cala.

[To be continued…]  

Previous Chapter / Next Chapter (SOON)

Published (08/20/2024) by Andrea

[crossbackpoke-check]

do you guys um. mods asleep anyone on the dash want to read 1.5k of roman history (tatd) fic i would be christening (haha) the tag for. and also help brainstorm with me to make it more than a scene but not an entire Plot 🙏

[rav9n-16]

Would anyone be willing to do one on the wonderful series that just came out "Those about to die " ? PLS 🙏🏻✨️

There are so few !!😫

[honeybuzzbear]

LOOKING FOR SOMEONE TO WRITE AGAINST MY HERMES FROM THOSE ABOUT TO DIE, OR TO DO SOME KIND OF ACHILLES X PATROCLUS / SERVANT X KING / SPOIL OF WAR TYPE PLOT WITH THE FACE CLAIM!

I just think he's neat, you know. I already have a few characters with the FC but would like to develop some proper plots with him.

If interested, send me DM or interact!

18+ only.

[sharing-my-stories]

Excerpt from my Those about to die FF

Tenax let out a frustrated sigh and shook his head before he turned away to leave. Just before he was stepping up the stairs again, he stopped in his tracks and turned one last time to Scorpus. “Do you know a woman by the name of Lydia?”, he asked loudly into the silence of the Dungeon.

Scorpus head flung to him immediately and looked at Tenax perplexed. “What?” he asked, obviously confused, and stepped up to the metal bars again. Tenax raised an eyebrow, as Scorpus reacted so directly to his simple question. “I'm supposed to tell you, that she's here.”, Tenax answered and also stepped closer to the barrier keeping the two men apart. “Where is she?”, Scorpus asked with his thick accent and his hand grabbed one of the bars, looking at Tenax intensely.

Tenax thought about it for a second and once again, he was able to turn the situation to his advantage. “Ride for the golds, and I'll tell you, my friend.”, Tenax spoke with a small smirk on his lips. Scorpus pressed his lips together and left out an annoyed huff before he nodded. “Fine! Scorpus rides for the Golds, and you'll tell Scorpus where she is and never call Scorpus a friend again!”, the driver said through the bars.

[labeteenmoi]

Kings of the Subura

Part 2

Fandom : Those About To Die

Pairing : Tenax x OC

Warnings : Mentions of violence, rape and slavery

Summary : Wavering feelings and power teachings

Note : if you want to be tagged for the next chapter, just raise your finger

The bell rang.

“The race is on! Bets are over!” the man behind the counter shouted as he closed the jar filled with betting odds amid protests from the latecomers.

Another chariots race Tenax already knew the results of. He didn't even have to fix it anymore; he had the greatest power in the Subura: information. Tenax knew all there was to know about anything race related: who runs for money, who runs for glory, who runs for life. He also knew about all the power struggles involved: who owed who, who owned who, who fucked who. Incidentally, what the horses ate for breakfast and how much quality shit they had had mattered too, and he knew that too.

However, all that power, his pride and joy, mattered a little less lately. As he was distractively watching the chariots enter their second lap in a cloud of dust as they passed in front of the stable’s door, his mind shifted to the creature that roamed his house like a caged tiger, yearning for freedom, or at least for a hint of it in the streets of Rome, something he had always denied her.

Almost a month had passed since he had brought her home and the least he could say was that this woman’s pride was beyond imagination. No matter how good the care and security he provided to her, she resisted fiercely and that was probably the very reason she was growing on him. He liked it, her irrepressible spirit of rebellion—not in deed, she did what she was told, but her attitude was untamed, her eyes insolent, her repartee sharp on the rare occasions she bothered to answer him. Briga was far from purring while rubbing against his leg — she still seemed constantly tense, on alert, watching his every move whenever he got too close to her, but Tenax could see a change in the way she looked at him, a formal coldness had slowly replaced the ostentatious hatred she used to address him, and sometimes, he could swear, there was even a hint of curiosity.

It was only in the quiet, soothing moment of Claudia's bath that she seemed to find real comfort. The occasional glances he threw at her at that moment, a moment far too tempting for him to constantly be able to hold back, gave him the opportunity to witness a few rare moments when she let her animal sensuality express itself. In the incandescent darkness of that room, she looked something like a snake, undulating and glistening. Then she would see him and stare as if she had spotted a prey; fascinatingly deadly.

What never ceased to amaze him was how oblivious she seemed to all of this, oblivious to this aura of danger that emanated from her, unconscious to the attraction she exerted on him. Either she had no clue, or he was extremely good at hiding it. Anyway, it could be of use for his business. Not that it was his plan all along, he wasn't the kind of man to do things on a whim usually, except when it came to her apparently. Tenax could recognize an opportunity when he saw one.

The last silver fish tipped over to a cheer from the crowd announcing the final lap. Tenax's eyes widened in the ray of sunlight that streamed through the door's skylights as if suddenly coming to. The rider of the blue faction, Scorpus, had taken the lead, as usual. He didn't seem very happy about it though, whipping his horses with rage.

Tenax didn't linger after the race ended that day, each time a little less than the last. His home had gained in appeal lately, in a way, he wanted to return there more and more as the days went by.

At this twilight hour, it was bath time, so it was not surprising to find the first rooms empty. However, the quiet of the place struck him as soon as he passed through the door. No light came from the kitchen which was unusual, and the slight whispers of Claudia and Briga's conversations in the bathroom were muted.

Tenax stiffened, moving cautiously towards his room. He pushed the door open wide with a slight creak. The air that reached his face was thick, loaded with humidity and floral scents. Someone had indeed used the bathroom but as he moved a little further into his bedroom he saw the bathroom was empty.

When he turned again, peering into the darkness at the back of his room, a movement of air made the hair on the back of his head stand on end, immediately followed by the cold contact of a blade on the side of his neck. He froze for a couple of decisive seconds. Gritting his teeth angrily, he suddenly stepped back, hitting hardly the body of his assailant that he carried in his momentum against the wall behind him. The knife bearer let out a slight hoarse gasp under the heavy shock. Tenax immediately realized that this body was much lighter than he had anticipated. It was her, of course. He turned around quickly, pushing aside the hand that held the blade with one arm and grabbed the slave's neck, who didn't seem surprised.

"What are you doing?" he growled sharply.

Briga grabbed the hand on her neck.

"...You should have knocked." she muttered sarcastically under her breath.

Tenax took a breath, trying to calm down a little. He loosened his grip on her throat just enough to let her gulp.

"Drop the knife now." he snapped with a hint of worry in his wide opened blue eyes.

Her eyes narrowed as she formed a slight smirk before letting go, the kitchen knife fell heavily to the floor with a loud clatter.

Tenax sighted lightly, she could have pressed a little harder on that knife if she had really wanted to, cut just a bit at this exact point of his neck and he would have bled to death at her feet no matter how quickly he had reacted. She knew how to kill, now he knew, and it could be useful in the future, well, since she had chosen not to end his life on the spot of course. He should have felt dread but instead, he felt somehow aroused. The aftermath of gambling with his life when the odds seemed quite off. Suddenly, his thoughts interrupted: something on his peripheral vision seemed strange, there was way too much skin.

Lowering his face, his eyes fell on a damp chest to which were stuck soaked strands of her black hair that heaved with each deep breath she made. He moved away a little, realizing that he was still pressing his all body against her, and then saw her stomach and further down, her legs; she was naked and still wet. Tenax's hard gaze faded little by little, as it travelled the firm contours of her body.

The fine grain of her skin, tanned no doubt by the sun of her native province, appeared clearly to him now that he saw it so close. Claudia's care had borne fruit; she was immaculate, as if she had never been bruised. Despite the dizziness of such a magnetic vision, he began to feel observed and suddenly raised his head and met her piercing gaze. Briga was indeed watching him in silence, without any sign of embarrassment at being thus exposed to Tenax's eyes, without any sign of aggression despite his proximity and the contact of his hand on her neck, the elbow of which grazed the tip of her breast. She was too busy scrutinizing his reactions to her nudity to care much.

Briga still didn't know if she could trust him and somehow, she needed to prove to herself that he was just like these others perverted men who caused all her troubles. She needed to confront and kill this increasing attachment feeling he had awakened in her over the weeks she had spent with him. She had seen his haunted eyes when he thought he was alone in the room, the inner struggles he sometimes seemed to have when coming home. She had heard the screams at night, his wanders in the darkness of the apartment trying to catch his breath. He had secrets and dark thoughts that usually seemed to disappear as soon as he laid eyes on her. Do vile men ever feel remorse?

Maybe he was different after all, and that mere thought was enough to make her mad. More than once, she had trusted a Roman only to be painfully played in the end, how could she still be so naive? So, she often looked on his face for the same scornful looks that she had seen on the faces of her Roman delinquents. His occasional, not-so-accidental glances while she was taking her bath couldn't be that innocent.

Tenax suddenly had the feeling he was somehow being put to the test. That was some vicious way but certainly the most effective one, clever girl. He did want to feel more than just her neck under his hands, he wanted to smell these scents of rose oil all over her body which turned out to be all the more intoxicating once applied to her skin, to kiss her lips, but above all, he wanted her to want it too. He was closer than ever. So close, and yet, that enticing creature was expecting to see him losing control. He would hate not to disappoint.

He raised his head in a controlled inhale, hardening his expression.

"Where is Claudia?" he curtly asked, closing a little harder his hand on her neck.

She startled slightly, blinking at the pressure.

"She’s resting," she let out looking him straight in the eyes, "she felt ill.”

Tenax sustained her look, he wasn’t sure she was telling the truth. After all, she had just reminded him that she wasn’t as harmless to him as she had let him believe lately. He searched her face for any signs of a shifty glance but saw none, she seemed sincere enough to reassure him. He asked more calmly:

"Where is she?"

"In the guests room."

As she had answered in a soft voice, veiled by the pressure on her trachea, his eyes had landed on her lips. She talked so rarely that he had barely ever seen them moving. Fleshy velvety dark-rosed lips that never smiled, only sometimes grinned disdainfully at him when not firmly shut. But now they were parting slightly under his sudden hypnotized glance. Briefly looking up, he saw a glimpse of confusion in her eyes as she witnessed his softening mood, felt her breathing becoming barely perceptible under his hand but her pulse quickening.

Strangely, his own pulse caught the same rhythm as hers. A warm sensation invaded his own chest, a shiver ran up on his skin and before he knew it his hand was no longer holding her neck but simply laying on her collarbones, still held by hers.

It was as if time had frozen, the surroundings had disappeared, and they were all alone in the middle of an undefined mist. Their gazes travelling over their faces, he slowly leaned in, uncontrollably attracted towards her mouth that trembled a little at his approach when, suddenly, the walls of the apartment began to shake from violent blows.

Tenax and Briga opened their eyes wide in surprise, abruptly emerging from whatever spell they were under. The knocking started again, someone was banging on the apartment door with their fists and shouting "Tenax!! I know you're here!"

Tenax suddenly turned his head towards the door behind him:

"Scorpus!" he breathed shortly. "Get dressed," he addressed Briga eagerly.

She took a few seconds to react, her mind still foggy from what had just happened, then hurriedly grabbed the dress lying on the bed. Tenax opened the door without waiting and at the same time Scorpus burst into the apartment in front of a dazed Claudia who had rushed from the corridor.

With a quick glance, the man caught a glimpse of bare legs in the half-open bedroom door as Tenax was closing it.

"Scorpus! What's going on, my friend?" Tenax said hurriedly, opening his arms wide to the newcomer with a faked smile, pretending to ignore his rudeness.

The man had stopped dead in his tracks, staring at the closed door behind Tenax with a disconcerted look, before looking back at his host who was advancing. He seemed to regain his senses and pointed an accusing finger under the latter's nose:

"Where's my money?" he barked.

"Scorpus, I warned you not to bet on the lap," Tenax sighed, "the white faction has been running new horses that are younger than yours..."

"What?!" Scorpus shouted indignantly, "You didn't tell me anything!" he bellowed.

"Of course I did, you were probably still drunk…" Tenax retorted, shaking his head in disapproval.

The man sighed heavily, ostentatiously rubbing his eyes in disappointment. He looked up at the closed bedroom door, holding his hips, and seemed to ruminate for a few moments before fuming loudly:

"I lost big on that, Tenax!"

Tenax approached him, opening his arms again in a gesture of comfort as the man cast furtive glances at the door. Ignoring his friend’s approach, he kept on:

“And who’s in your room there?” he asked suspiciously, pointing toward the bedroom.

"Nobody." Tenax hastened to answer as innocently as possible.

Scorpus wasn’t listening, he walked around Tenax who didn't have time to hold him back, and pushed the door open, revealing Briga inside who suddenly sat up. Seeing that she had had time to get dressed, Tenax let out a discreet sigh of relief.

The newcomer stared at her for a few moments, stunned, while Briga, motionless, gave him a stone-hard look.

"Who are you?" he finally asked, visibly intrigued.

Briga remained unmoved, eyeing the visitor up and down.

Scorpus tilted his head, seemingly offended by the girl's silence.

"Who is she?" he insisted to Tenax behind him.

"No one," he sighed as he stamped his feet on the ground, "just… a slave..."

"A slave!" Scorpus exclaimed, a smile growing on his lips. He looked back at the girl, ogling her without shame. "What's your name?"

Silence still as the only answer, the man was starting to look seriously upset.

"Briga is her name, and she won't answer you..." Tenax intervened.

"Why? She can't talk?" he asked curiously before returning his interested gaze to the girl. "I bet this pretty mouth can do other things though..." he mumbled to Briga, whose eyes narrowed in return in a murderous glare.

Tenax heard it too and rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"Because she hates you, Scorpus. She hates all of us, don't take it personally." he sighed heavily, shooting a complicit grin at Briga whose fierce eyes oscillated between him and the visitor. It had been a while since Tenax hadn’t seen such a fierce look on her face, he could tell a cold anger was slowly rising in her, her knuckles were turning white.

Scorpus stamped his feet, hesitantly waving his body towards Briga but held back in the face of the hostility emanating from her.

"No one hates Scorpus, I'm not a fucking Roman." He retorted in a mock-outraged tone, ostensibly giving her a smile of the kind he usually gave to his future conquests. Nothing seemed to stop this rake in front of a beautiful woman.

The thought of the knife left on his bedroom floor crossed his mind; Tenax started to fear for his friend’s life if Briga ever remembered it as well.

“What else can I do for you, my friend?” he cut in impatiently, loud enough to catch both their attention.

“Oh, well…” Scorpus mumbled, trying to stall for time before being openly dismissed from the place, “you’re not going to help me, then?”

"There's nothing more I can do Scorpus…"

"You should take her to the races one of these days," Scorpus unexpectedly eluded, "I'm sure she'd appreciate seeing the great Scorpus at work!"

He puffed out his chest, a display that still didn't seem to impress Briga whose gaze had not softened one bit.

"Or else you introduce her to your debtors, Tenax, if she looks at them long enough like that, they'll quickly settle their debts!" Scorpus noisily laughed.

Tenax chuckled. Of course he had thought of it, he had realized her silent hard looking presence could indeed have a certain power of persuasion. Surely others besides him could perceive this feeling of danger that her attitude gave off, Scorpus did seem to feel it as well or he would have been closer to her already, Tenax believed.

“I’ll consider it Scorpus,” he answered, “now I have things to do.” He concluded firmly, tilting his head towards the door.

Scorpus bit his lip in frustration, nodding at Briga with a salacious look.

“Of course, my friend!" he eventually gasped, "I’ll see you at the Circus in three days!”

Slowly stepping back without taking his eyes off her, he added with a wink:

“See you soon, Briga…”

Tenax accompanied him through the entrance door, holding his breath for any new try at poking at his slave. Scorpus passed the door but suddenly turned back and whispered in his face with a dubious look:

“What were you doing in there with her?”

"Goodbye, Scorpus" he replied with a contented smile, closing the door in his face.

Tenax held the door for a little longer, taking some time to recollect his thoughts. Finally turning around, he caught eyes with Claudia, holding her hands together in a confused expression.

"I’m sorry, Master, I…"

"I know." Tenax interrupted gently, "Are you feeling better now?"

"Hum… yes, thank you, Master."

He glimpsed at Briga, just long enough to see her staring into the void, when Claudia kept on:

"I’ll prepare supper right away, Master. Briga, please come, child." She called in a still sleepy hoarse voice.

Her name came to her as a distant sound in the air, only after some instants she seemed to have heard it and raised a confounded face to see Claudia and Tenax looking at her in puzzlement.

The way this man had looked at her had shaken her core. All these weeks locked in the security of Tenax’s apartment almost made her forget what it was like to be preyed upon like this, submitted to the depraved eyes of men willing to abuse her.

Regaining her senses, she saw concern in Tenax’s eyes, and it reminded her that she could breathe, he was there. Swiftly seized by the soft and warm sensation of being so close to him only instants before, for a mere instant she wished he was holding her again, leaving her all the more stunned.

"Briga?" Claudia called gently.

She shook her head and walked across the room quickly at the renewed call, unconsciously avoiding all the eyes on her; a confusion that first left Tenax speechless. It seemed so unlike her to appear overwhelmed like that and something told him it wasn't just about him and the unexpected letting go they had experienced a few minutes before. In some way it was bothering him and that was so unlike him.

Briga had eaten with Claudia in the kitchen as usual, mostly in silence from what Tenax had perceived from his sit at the table, only to reappear in front of him for the sole purpose of clearing the table. He tried to cross her eyes that she seemed to avoid.

"That will be all Claudia, you go rest home, the cleaning can wait." He announced suddenly, staring at Briga who finally met his eyes with a hint of suspicion; it was unusual for him to send her home so soon.

Briga immediately stopped and waited by the table in silence, staring at Tenax, both wary and curious about what would happen once Claudia left. When she did, the heavy silence between them lasted for a moment until Tenax calmly ordered:

"Sit. Please."

Please? That was new and rather intriguing to her. She was more used to him showing who the master was than that. Further arousing her curiosity, she complied and took a place at the table in front of him, keeping her hands on her lap and her eyes firmly locked on his.

He took a slow sip of wine, pondering how to address the elephant in the room.

"You didn't like the way Scorpus looked at you." Tenax finally let out.

Briga took a breath.

"I've seen this filthfy look on Roman's faces before." she bitterly said, thinking back to what these men had done to her.

Tenax nodded slightly, showing he knew well what she was referring to.

"Hmm… You see, I’ve learned in the streets that rage arises from fear, it’s like a defence mechanism. As impressive as your rage mays appear at first sight, it mostly reveals weakness."

She slowly tilted her head and intensely glared at him, unsure to appreciate the direction Tenax was taking there.

He softly smiled at her expected reaction; calling her weak and getting away with it was probably a privilege all his own and he certainly appreciated the sensation it provided. But beyond that, he mostly wanted her to understand his point, it was key to the purpose he aimed for. So, he resumed, calmly but more firmly than before, imposing her to listen through.

"When men look at you like Scorpus did, it means they covet you and that, Briga, gives you power; the power to either refuse… or accept, at your own terms. In my world, that is called an opportunity. You could use that to get what you want. You could use them..."

"Refuse or accept?" she interrupted sharply with an ironic frown, his voice almost hissing, "As when you have the choice? What power do you have when you are held by both arms… or chained?"

For a split second Tenax felt his mind on the verge of wandering; finally, there was a chink in her impenetrable armour, willingly giving away an ounce of what might have happened to her. He felt the urge to know more, but now was not the time, so in a controlled inhale he simply nodded thoughtfully, holding her stare with a surprising intensity:

"We are all bound to something."

Briga narrowed her eyes, wondering in what way could a man like him ever feel restrained. It just then occurred to her that outside these walls she did not know anything about him. She didn’t know much about him even inside these walls for that matter.

She observed him silently for some time. Being used by people, using other people… This would have never occurred to her before, not in the simple life she used to have back in Lusitania. But now she was in Rome, very far from her home, her way and her life. Adapting may well be her only way out of there someday.

"So, does that mean… I could use you?" she finally addressed him, biting her lip in an equivocal way.

She was getting it. Tenax rejoiced inwardly. He grinned back and playfully answered:

"You are free to try."

"Am I? You do want something from me… but you’ve never looked at me like that." Briga dared, eyeing him up and down ostentatiously. There was indeed a shift in the balance of power between her and Tenax, she could feel it now; something about domination that felt quite pleasant.

Tenax straightened up imperceptibly, a contented pout on his face. He knew the feeling that Briga was displaying, maybe a little too much. She still had a lot to learn though, he had to put her back in her place. He stared deeply in his slave’s eyes and softly said :

"Hmm…Well, that must be because I don’t covet what I already own."

[tuttocenere]

I watched "those about to die" (what a title) on prime. Overall I liked it ok. It has a lot of flaws, but it's nice that this sort of big history drama gets made at all anymore.

A bunch of half baked thoughts under the cut:

What I'd change:

- merge the two older Spanish bros, use the freed-up screen time to flesh out the youngest Spanish bro's plotline, because as it was, it kinda came out of nowhere

- also give some more space to Scorpus' workplace drama with Xenon because that also ramps up really suddenly and then resolves really unsatisfyingly

- Hermes the boytoy deserved better, although that was probably the point. Still, he had this whole emancipation plotline and then... I mean I kinda get what they were going for, but even in the context of the general cruelty of the finale, his fate was pretty extreme

- remove the older Numidian sister, she didn't add anything to the plot at all, give her screentime to the younger sister so that we can care about her

- probably remove Berenice, nothing would change (though she does add some flavor so idk)

- the "who drives for which faction" drama took up a lot of time and was ultimately kind of pointless...

Things I liked:

The whole "Kwame X that other gladiator" situation, I liked how it was kind of open to interpretation what exactly they had going on, very old-school

The two spectators who keep showing up, those were a lot of fun, I don't know if they have names

The evil open marriage patrician couple, I like the ambiguity, you never really know what to think of them, they're kinda less evil than everyone else

The main character Tenax was well constructed, his inner conflicts make sense, he's a bad person but it's understandable

I also liked his romance arc, had a lot of depth

Some other things:

It's pretty funny how often they show a scene and then explain in dialogue what it means... Maybe an Amazon prime thing, they do this in a lot of films.

The lion was pretty underwhelming, I was hoping it would be used in one of the fights to save Kwame or generally make things turn out for the better, instead it's kind of anticlimactic what happens to it

I liked the backgrounds and costumes a lot overall

Can't believe they had Titus say no to mercy, Mozart is spinning in his grave

[tenwhiteandalusians]

the last twist of the knife

scorpus/tenax, 2.4k // @tenwhiteandalusians

“Convince me, then,” Scorpus says. Hands thrown open, a blank slate laid on the table. As if there is any argument Tenax has not already made, every assurance and its paired rebuttal a team of horses they’ve whipped to death around the curves of their cyclical reasoning. “That you are worth the risk. That your words are not empty. If I say yes, if I will race for you, where will you get this money you say we need, the approval and the respect? How will we succeed? And why?”

[giallos]

Those About to Die as Text Posts 2/?

[maverickscorner]

Faber suae fortunae

Or Maider's love story towards freedom.

Chapter 5

Maider took a sip of watered-down wine with a thirsty demeanor.

She had been singing at regular intervals throughout the day. It was dinner time, and thus time to go home. At the end of her shift, Cala and Audra had placed some spicy meatballs in front of her – which she had understood were called "Isicia Omentata" – and some bread, and she, ravenous, devoured everything under the amused gazes of the two women.

Now, she was watching Cala and Tenax tally up the day's earnings out of the corner of her eye, with particular interest in any differences compared to previous days, which had essentially been without musical entertainment.

The final calculations left them speechless.

–Damn– said Tenax.

–Yes, I know– Cala followed.

They briefly glanced at Maider, then went back to their conversation.

–A 30% increase hasn't been seen since Scorpus was racing.

–I know, Tenax. The girl has talent.

Maider took another sip of wine.

–The girl can hear you.

They met each other’s gaze.

–I enjoyed singing in front of so many people. I didn’t think I was that good, but I must say I outdid myself. I know many more songs, even in Latin. I’d like to keep performing.

Aura came closer to her with a friendly demeanor.

–You’re very good, Maider. This success is well deserved.

Maider smiled at her gratefully.

–However…– Tenax said.

They all turned toward him.

–You must be aware, Maider, that your talent is extraordinary. If you continue to perform, your name will spread from mouth to mouth. Your fame could become dangerous.

–You promised to protect me– she said, looking at him sternly –Or does that promise no longer hold?

He slammed his fist on the table.

–Watch your mouth. My promises are made in blood. You are my slave, and as long as it is within my power, I will always watch over you.

–When will it no longer be within your power?– Maider asked, shivering.

Tenax sighed.

–I’ll be honest with you. If your name grows, it will be impossible for me to keep you bound to me. I’ll have to set you free, let you go. And then I won’t be able to guarantee your protection.

Maider stood up, pacing the room.

–As much as I want freedom, now is not the time. I need a protector, and… as much as it pains me to admit it, I trust you. And I like Cala and Aura. Oh, and the children too.

A childish laugh was heard from behind a curtain.

Tenax sighed again.

–Shouldn't you be in bed by now?

There was a sound of hurried footsteps retreating. Then silence.

–All right. As long as you’re bringing in these profits, you are a valuable asset, Maider. My asset. And as such, you will be protected. Now let’s go home. Cala, you close up.

Tenax passed by Maider without giving her a glance. The girl looked at him, disappointed. She met Cala’s gaze.

-I know, dear, he has… quite direct methods. But I think that was his way of thanking you and telling you he’ll keep you safe. He appreciates you, in his own way.

Maider gave her a half-smile.

–Thank you, Cala. See you tomorrow.

Cala and Aura bid her farewell, and Maider followed Tenax out.

***

It was summer, and it still wasn’t dark.

Maider observed the pink sky over Rome, following her master down the road towards home.

Tenax, for his part, was lost in his thoughts.

He had lied to Maider.

He considered her an extraordinary singer, and as soon as he freed her, she would be hired by the most popular Roman families, who would make her the most famous artist in the city. At that point, she wouldn’t need his protection anymore, but she would have theirs. God, she could even hire her own personal guards.

The truth was that Tenax didn’t want to part from her.

He had seen the magnetic way her voice drew people in, and for a moment, a very brief moment, he had imagined himself lying on her lap in a meadow, while she sang tenderly to him in a foreign language, stroked his hair, and called him Quintus.

Fortunately, he had quickly snapped out of that terrible vision, but he had to slap himself particularly hard, leaving his cheek flushed.

For the gods' sake, he was Tenax! He had been for twenty years and still was now. He was Aedile Ludi and would soon become an advisor to Domitian, who adored his bloody ideas for the games.

–Panem et circenses, Tenax, remember. Give the people what they want, and they won’t want our heads when we impose a high price to pay.

That’s what the emperor had told him that morning. For some time, Domitian had looked at him in a way that transcended the chemistry between emperor and official. It almost seemed as if he desired him.

Tenax shuddered. He didn’t like being looked at that way. It was the same way his master had looked at him for so many years as a child. His father.

–I noticed you didn’t eat at the tavern. Will you eat at home?

Maider’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. He was tremendously grateful for it.

–Yes, I like eating at home– he told her -Claudia is an excellent cook. And with this heat, I relax in the peristilium. The water is always pleasantly cool.

–You’re right, it’s really hot. But never as hot as in Jerusalem. There, in the summer, it’s really scorching. Sometimes with the Ben-Hur, we’d go near Jaffa and swim in the sea. God, I love swimming in the sea. Have you ever done that?

Tenax’s expression hardened. But then he met her gaze and softened.

–When I was little. Now, in Rome, we use the thermae. And if you have a large enough villa, you have an indoor pool.

–I see.

They passed over the hill and continued straight. The house was in sight, about fifteen meters away.

–Did you know I can swim?– Maider said.

Tenax gave her a tight-lipped smile. A spontaneous smile.

–Is there anything you can’t do?

–Uh, housework.

Tenax laughed, but then quickly composed himself.

How long had it been since he last laughed?

I mean a spontaneous, amused laugh, not a condescending or sadistic one.

Damn, he hadn’t laughed in a lifetime.

He looked at Maider as one looks at something very strange or something very beautiful. She blushed and looked away.

–We’re here.

Tenax knocked three times on the door, and Claudia opened it for them. They said their goodnights, and each went to their rooms. A million questions swirling in their minds.

***

–Tenax? Hey, Tenax?

Tenax snapped out of it. He was at Domitian’s court, presenting the plans for the upcoming games. Venationes, or hunts, in labyrinths, reminiscent of the Minotaur myth. First, they would throw slaves or prisoners into the arena. Then the hunters would kill the beasts.

–Forgive me, emperor. I was saying that a rhinoceros recently arrived from Africa. It’s very large and very fierce. We believe it will provide more than an adequate spectacle.

–Excellent, excellent. I can’t wait to see this plan in action.

Tenax gave a tight-lipped smile. Around them, dancers had begun to perform to the music.

–Thank you, emperor. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must return to my duties.

–Of course, dear. Are you sure you don’t want to stay? I’ve heard that at your old tavern, you have a new artist, but my musicians are also quite good…

Tenax shivered. He met Domitian’s lascivious gaze and bowed his head, choosing his words carefully.

–Thank you, Caesar. Unfortunately, my obligations today prevent me from staying. I won’t miss the next one.

Domitian seemed satisfied and let him go.

–Very well, very well. I’ll hold you to that, Tenax.

Tenax bowed his head again and walked away.

As soon as he was far enough, he allowed himself to breathe again.

He cursed himself for thinking he could control Domitian.

Damn it, it seemed like Domitian would do anything to control him.

Tenax wouldn’t allow it.

Once outside the palace, he headed to the tavern at a brisk pace.

***

It was evening.

Maider had sung another song from her repertoire, and Tenax had noticed with both pleasure and apprehension that the crowd at the tavern continued to grow.

She had repeated the previous day’s song, and everyone had burst into a joyful dance, singing at the top of their lungs, betting, and drinking.

Now she and Tenax, having left Cala and Aura to close the tavern, were heading home.

He seemed more tense than the night before. Not that he had been relaxed the previous night, but she could see him immersed in tense thoughts. Some unknown force pushed her to try to calm him.

She liked it when those big blue eyes of his relaxed and allowed themselves to smile.

–Uh, how did it go with the emperor?

Wrong question. Tenax tensed more than ever.

-Fine.

-Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry. Do you… do you have any passions?

Tenax stopped.

-What?

She tried to explain herself.

-Uh, yeah, do you like doing anything, or reading anything, or watching anything?

Tenax blinked a couple of times.

-I like money.

-And is that your passion?

Tenax resumed walking.

-Perhaps. Yes.

Maider fell silent.

-Again, I didn’t mean to be intrusive. I was just trying to make our walks home more interesting.

-They’re already interesting. Look at the monuments, the buildings.

-The monuments speak of a greatness built on the backs of slaves. You speak of a greatness you built with your own hands.

Tenax stopped again, looking at her with an expression that deeply affected Maider. A surprised and... vulnerable look.

Tenax sighed.

-Even my greatness, if it truly is such, was built on the backs of slaves.

Maider didn’t understand, but she remained silent.

Tenax continued walking.

He was referring, as always, to a slave he knew well. His old self.

He was referring to Quintus.

***

It was two in the morning.

Maider couldn’t sleep; it was terribly hot. And then, she had too many thoughts in her head. No matter how hard she tried, what she had done to survive on that damned ship, with that damn officer, kept haunting her thoughts and dreams.

She dreamt of being there, in that cabin, dirty, forced by her own self to be seductive in order to survive that physical and mental ordeal.

Days had passed, yet Maider felt dirtier and more like a whore than ever. A woman her father and the Ben-Hur family would have rejected. Perhaps even stoned.

What would Tenax, Cala, and the others think if they knew the truth?

Would they look at her the same way, or with disgust?

She really didn't know.

And yet, she couldn't sleep.

She left her room, intending to find some cool air, and found Tenax soaking in the peristilium pool.

Tenax, who had been keeping his eyes half-closed, heard her arrival and snapped out of it. He was relieved to remember he was wearing light short trousers.

-Maider?

-Tenax, good evening. I couldn’t sleep because of the heat, so I thought I’d pour a jug of water over myself to cool off. That’s the whole story.

-I see.

A moment of silence. Maider kept staring at the pool. Tenax understood.

-Oh, do you want to… swim?

-I don’t want to disturb you.

-No, no, the pool is big. You can stay on the other side, if you like.

-Really?

-Yes. But don’t…

While Tenax was saying yes, Maider had remained in her linen tunic, taken a running start, and had literally dived into the pool.

Tenax was hit by a wave of water.

They both resurfaced.

Tenax looked at her with wide blue eyes, while she laughed amused. When he saw his expression, she pressed her lips into a thin line.

-MAIDER!- Tenax shouted, wiping his face with his hand -HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?

She raised her hands.

-It seemed fun, and I was hot!

-I ALMOST DROWNED!

-I bet you would not. The water's not so deep.

Tenax had a bewildered expression.

Maider let out a giggle.

-Come on, you have to admit it was fun…

Tenax looked up at the sky, and seeing her laugh, finally smiled.

-You’re completely crazy.

Hearing the commotion, Claudia burst into the room, holding a pan.

-TENAX! Is everything all right?! I heard noises, and I’m… Oh.

Maider burst out laughing. Tenax sank into the water, wishing the gods would put an end to his suffering.

***

Hi! It's Eli-Maverick. You would expext to find Maider's story on another account (@sharingmystoriesetc), but it was me all the time. It's time for me to take courage and publish on my main profile. Hope you like this chapter, I loved writing that. Let me know in the comments what you think. Thank you.

[justinewt]

Audentes Fortuna iuvat - THOSE ABOUT TO DIE REWRITE Chapter Six

[THOSE ABOUT TO DIE MASTERLIST]

Previous Chapter / Next Chapter

Summary: Tenax had brought home a young Numidian slave which sparked some confusion in their household and Aldea was even more taken aback when the girl's mother came pounding on their door but as usual she quickly got the answers to her questions and they went back to their routine, daily life, all while Tenax got his Gold faction ready to make its first appearance on the tracks of the Circus Maximus.

Words: 4.2k

Warnings: title means "Fortuna favors the bold" // Those about to die spoilers (episode 3 "Death's door"), fluff, mention of physical abuse

Tenax knew that the moment he closed those doors, he would probably get shot at with questions. He was standing his back to Aldea and turned around as he spoke, “Ask.”

“Where did you send my brother and Scorpus?” He stared back at her. He probably thought that she would have asked about the young woman and her mother, but it was obvious that her first thought, what would be the priority in her mind, would be for her brother. She still didn’t know where he had sent him off to with the famed driver, and to do what. He exhaled, taking a few steps in her direction. She was one of the few people she would ever agree to explain himself to, and it involved her brother, so he owed her an answer.

“I sent him and Scorpus to get yellow ash for the horses.”

“Yellow ash?” She frowned, tilting her head slightly. She had no idea what that was.

“A poison. But it might be the solution we need to save those horses, and my head, Scorpus, and that of your brothers. I told Andria to keep Scorpus safe.”

“Where are they going to find this yellow ash?” She was growing worried for her brothers’ safety, both regarding the threat that was Domitian’s impredicable behaviour and that was whatever trip the duo had been sent on.

“Pompeii.”

“How far is it?”

“It’s a 2-day horse ride.”

“Two days?” She looked away, thinking. Her brother had left with Scorpus earlier today so that meant he would be back in around 3 days. She wouldn’t hear from Andria for 3 days. She briefly closed her eyes, pressed her lips together in disapprobation. It seemed awfully difficult after having been reunited with him, Fonsoa and Elia just a few days prior. Bringing one hand to her belly, she sighed. It felt as though because she was so worried, she couldn’t express her anger. She was still keeping her composure and calm, but in truth, she almost never could get angry even if she wanted to. She did bicker with her brothers when they were children, especially when it came to Elia, but never real arguments that would escalate. Her brothers and father always stood as a kind of shield between her and people outside their family. When people from the village began telling her father that she should get married, he would tell them off, she would not. She learned not to speak in public settings and let her father speak, and she never thought much of it, not that there was a lot think to think about. Her father was very protective of her, and he wanted the best for her, so she didn’t really care to let him speak in her place but maybe that was because she got used to this that she had trouble expressing anger or things like that. She was taken out of her thoughts by Tenax coming closer, their bodies almost touching. He gently grabbed her shoulders. Shivers ran down her spine as he touched her collarbone, or rather lack of collarbone. She tilted her head to the side, the corner of her lips brushing over his hand. His hand migrated to her face, cupping her cheek I his palm, caressing her with his thumb as she lifted her head and looked at him.

“Your brother will be fine. I sent him to keep Scorpus safe.” The conversation had turned into an exchange of whispers in the dimly lit bedroom.

She couldn’t help but scoff, “To keep Scorpus safe. It is true that if anything happened to Andria, it wouldn’t pain you. What purpose does he serve to you? But if Scorpus didn’t return, who would be the lead driver of your faction?” She was surprised by the passive aggressivity of her comment, but she let herself be overwhelmed with the anxiety and concern she felt for her older brother. She moved away, walking to the window as she held her arms against her. She felt Tenax approach from behind and put his hands on her shoulders again. She spoke again, “That girl.”

“I’ll let her mother buy her freedom when I don’t need her anymore. Let me handle this.”

“When will that be?”

“Let me handle this, Aldea.” He repeated himself and she just nodded as she looked at the empty street. She turned toward him, their faces a mere inch apart, the tip of their noses touching, and they shared a tender kiss before getting ready for bed. In the few days that followed, she didn’t interact much with the girl, whose name was Aura, or her mother, Cala. She saw them looking at her but, thinking about it, Aldea wondered if they ever even heard the sound of her voice. She would only speak to her husband behind the closed doors of their room. She didn’t take kindly to having two stangers in their home and acted as though they were outside, not speaking her mind in front of them. But on the third morning, she woke up knowing her brother must have returned to Rome. She prayed that he and Scorpus were back, safe and sound and she shared those thoughts with Tenax as they got dressed. She approached the door and heard Cala speak in the kitchen.

“His wife, Aldea, is very quiet.”

“She is like this around strangers. Kept to herself but,” Claudia paused and Aldea opened the door ajar, seeing her, turned to the table, nodding. “she is a strong, young woman. She has come a long way.”

“Where is she from?”

“She came from Hispania, a few years ago.”

“I see.” Tenax went to open the double doors of their bedroom, and she let him walk out first as she followed suit. Cala was now asking about him. “Tell me of this man, Tenax.”

“Better than some, worse than others. I saw a subtle change in his character since he met Aldea. He lets her work at his tavern, go wherever she wants. He does business, betting at the Circus Maximus, buying, selling, doing things I don’t see… and would not speak of even if I saw them. I sometimes hear him tell her about it, if she asks, but I don't listen to their conversations. I wouldn't.” The old woman went quiet and seeing the other two look behing her, she looked over her shoulder and saw Tenax and Aldea standing there. The two glanced at each other and sketched a friendly smile before continuing to walk in their direction.

“Take her to the house of Consul Marsus and make sure she contacts her daughter.” He walked to the other side of the table to go sit and Cala moved aside to let Aldea take her seat opposite him. “I need ears on Marsus and Antonia.”

After breakfast, Tenax and Aldea left home and walked to the stables of the Circus Maximus, where they would find the brothers and Scorpus. Aldea immidietaly went to hug her brother, and he chuckled, reassuring her, telling her he was fine. They didn’t waste any more time and were joined near the poor Ferox at the end of the stable of the blue faction. Two horses had already died from the nightshade. The veterinary that Gavros had fetched earlier was resistant to try this last resort solution.

“This is madness.” He glared at them. “I will have no part of this.”

“Go then.” Tenax wasn’t about to fight with him. He didn’t care and showed the door with his hand. The old man was taken aback, clearly offended and he scoffed as he stepped away angrily. Ferox groaned and Elia caressed him, trying to put him at ease. When Scorpus got up, having finished to crush the yellow ash, Elia stood up and stopped him.

“He sait it could kill them.”

“And what else can we do?” The charioteer asked. “Put crows in their stalls? Bells to scare away the spirits?”

“Gavros?”

“They’ll die… if we do nothing. With this, perhaps they have a chance.”

After a second, Elia held his hand out to Scorpus, “Let me do it.” He gave the pot of yellow ash to the young Spaniard while Tenax rolled his eyes, his arms crossed over his chest. Elia and Gavros kneeled on either side of the horse’s head as he swooped some yellow ash with his fingers, applying it on his gums. Hopefully it would work. They would know soon. Aldea would be there for her brothers no matter what, especially Elia, who would be particularly affected if his precious horses all died. For dinner that day, Cala cooked them a meal with Claudia’s assistance. Usually, it would be either just Claudia who would take care of the cooking, or Aldea but even before Cala came around, she had kind of stopped. Cala had prepared them a quite large dish for lunch, which she placed at the center of the table. Aldea and Tenax looked at it, having no idea what it was and glanced at each other. Shooting up her eyebrows, Cala encouraged them to try it and they grabbed their fork, picking some of the food. It was pretty nice and Aldea knew that Tenax liked it as well, though he downplayed it.

“African.” She then said, with a content smile. Aura served some water to Aldea as her mother crossed her arms and went on to ask her daughter’s owner for a wage, and some work. As he told her of his betting tavern at the Circus Maximus, saying she and Aura could work there, they heard loud knocking on the door. “Pay?”

“We’ll see about that.” He turned his attention away from her as Felix ran in the apartment the second Claudia opened the door. Aldea followed his gaze and stared at the young boy. He came to tell them about the horses. She went with him to the Circus. They sped walk through the city and when they found Scorpus, Elia and Gavros, watching as the two other Corsi brothers tested the freshly recovered horses around the spina.

“Back from the dead.” Tenax exclaimed as he walked up to his old friend. Aldea stopped by Elia and couldn’t help but smile at the sight of the grin that stretched his lips. He loved his animals, and he shared a quick, but nonetheless comforting and sweet, hug with his sister and she rubbed his hair. “I owe Neptune a sacrifice.”

“They are weak.” Andria and Fonsoa pulled the horses to a full stop in front of the group.

“But getting stronger.” Elia added, holding onto his cloak, looking at Gavros.

“How much stronger? We race tomorrow.” Tenax enquired.

“Stronger than the nags we bought.” Gavros commented.

Scorpus turned his head toward Tenax, speaking in hushed tones, “You find me a second driver?”

“No one else is as foolish as you and I. No one wants to shove their thumb in the eye of tradition and join a fifth faction.”

“2-horse gigs, huh?” Aldea noted how Scorpus was looking at her older brother as he got off the rig leaving it to another stablehand to take the horses back to the stables.

“And fours.” There was a silence, the four siblings standing next to each other, in a practically perfect straight line, as Scorpus seemed to kind of nod to himself, gauging Andria with his eyes. He took a step forward, holding out his hand for him to take, to Andria’s confusion. Even when Scorpus spoke the words, “you’re in.” Andria shook his hand and just stood there. He couldn’t believe it.

“Oh, mi hermano…” Aldea chuckled and the Corsi embraced each other tightly, Elia and Fonsoa patting their brother on the back, proudly. They were so proud of him. After what happened to the horses, which they overcame, their lives were taking a great turn. Aldea took a good look at her brothers, caressing Elia’s cheek tenderly. She couldn’t describe how happy she felt in this moment. No word could be enough to describe what she felt as she looked at them. It felt so good to have them here with her, in Rome. She was blessed by the Gods, and she was more than grateful for it. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Tenax talking with Scorpus a little further and the two eventually left together because she wanted to spend the rest of the afternoon with her dear brothers. There was so much time to catch up. She enjoyed hanging out together, all four of them, like the old days, chatting and strolling through Rome. She laughed when Andria and Elia teased Fonsoa as they came across a bunch of prostitutes offering their services and the latter barely looked at them, when he used to always leave with one. Aldea could tell, from the look in his eyes when he crossed her gaze, that that was because he had met a woman. She held his gaze with a knowing smile. Fortuna was really smiling upon the Corsi.

When the sun set and the sky’s blue tint got dull, Andria returned to the Circus while Fonsoa and Elia walked their sister home. The latter clinged onto her arm, giving sidelong glances to anyone coming close to them, especially the drunkard wandering the streets outside the taverns, as if he was protecting his pregnant sister from them and it made her smile. He had always been the sweetest boy – and now young man – that she had ever known. They arrived in front of her insula and Elia instantly wrapped his arms around her as they were saying goodbye to each other. She chuckled, cradling his head in her hand and rubbing his back. After he broke the embrace, she hugged Fonsoa and the two walked away and as she turned around to go through the front door, she noticed a young Numidian girl in a cloak, staring at her. She frowned, gauging her. The girl reminded Aldea of Cala and Aura, but she wondered if there was a link between them or if the only resemblance only lied in their skin colour, but she might be Cala's second daughter, the one she offered to be a go between for.

“Are you here for Tenax?” Aldea watched the expression in the girl’s eyes, and they twitched a bit. She didn’t know who that Hispanic woman in front of her was.

She acquiesced and spoke quietly, “I have something to tell him.”

“Come.” Aldea waved for her to come into the insula with her and they went up to the first floor. She knocked at the door of her apartment and a few seconds later, Claudia opened the door. “She’s here for Tenax. Where is he?” The housekeeper pointed at the bedroom on the other side of the flat. Aldea put her hand on the girl’s back, softly leading her to the bedroom. Aldea stayed outside and glancing over to the kitchen, she noticed Aura and Cala standing there, watching the girl from afar.  

“Did anyone see you leave?” Tenax asked.

“No.”

“Good. What do you have for me?”

“They said they are going to kill someone.”

“Who?”

“Could be something with an S.”

“Scorpus?”

She took a second to think about and nodded. The second she confirmed, he briskly walked out the door, commanding Cala to get her back and to make sure no one saw her. Before leaving, the girl, whom Aldea learned was named Jula, went to hug her older sister. Her mother than quickly led her outside and Aldea retreated to her and Tenax’s room, closing the doors behind her. She wasn’t especially hungry, but she was in fact quite tired, and she knew that Tenax would be gone the whole night so there was no need to wait for him. She undressed, only keeping her tunic on and slipped under the blanket. Turning to her side, her cheek crushed against the cushion, staring into space, she smiled. She smiled thinking of her brothers and she smiled thinking of her and Tenax’s unborn baby, as she put her hand on her stomach. She was blessed with an easy pregnancy so far and couldn’t wait to welcome their child. Their family would be complete. Never did she ever think that she would look forward to having her own child so much. She spent her whole raising Elia. He was basically already her child, but this was so much different. This baby was the product of the love she shared with Tenax, and she cherished it so much. She fell asleep, imagining their life together, the three of them.

She was woken up the next day by the drums sounding through the whole city, announcing the games. But she fully opened her eyes when the floor creaked under Tenax’s foot, and she sat up in the bed. He stood by the window, his back to her, as he tied his belt around his waist. He turnd around when he heard her get up.

“I’ll go see my brothers before the games begin.” They shared a swift kiss. She stepped away, quickly swapping her tunic for her beige stola and the cloak she tied with a brooch over her shoulder.

“Stay with them until the end of the gladiators’ fight.”

“You know I will. It is too violent – too much blood. I don’t like it.” She pensively brushed her fingers over the coins adorning her necklace, which she always wore it, so much so she sometimes almost forgot she had it on. The violence of those combats had never been her thing and violence, and blood had never been her cup of tea in general. She had always been a pretty peaceful and calm person and even more so after being so viciously abused by this Roman merchant. She was maybe even more kept to herself than ever before. She didn’t realize how much these events actually affected her, she wasn’t too sure why, but she didn’t have the time to figure it out now, they had to go. He saw how the expression on her face changed as those thoughts raced in her head and he came up behind her, turning her around and caressing her arm as he held her gaze. Just looking in his eyes brought her peace. He was staring at her so deeplu as if she were some incredible works of art that he didn’t dare touch too hard so as not to break it.

They made their way to the Circus, parting ways upon getting there with Tenax going to fetch Scorpus – it made her think how she literally forgot to ask him about whatever happened the night before, but it didn’t really matter to her – while she went to find her brothers at the stables. She embraced Andria before he had to leave to go get ready with the other charioteers and she stayed with Elia and Fonsoa while the gladiators fought in the arena. It took a while but eventually it was over, and Nica came running to her and led her to the entrance. The other factions would definitely not like to see a new one appearing, seemingly coming out of nowhere. As they walked down a flight of stairs to the factions’ section of the stands, they walked past the White faction’s booth, with Felix tapping with a solemn rhythm on a drum and a couple other kids carrying golden banners. All the Whites and Blues turned around, looking over their shoulders in confusion upon hearing the drum and watched as Tenax and Aldea sat in their seats around the corner. They were both getting stared at, but it seemed the patricians were even more curious about Aldea, who clearly didn’t look like a Roman woman, but she was obviously Tenax’s wife as she sat beside him and he placed his hand upon hers, intertwining their fingers, all without giving one glance to the wealthy right behind them and simply listening to Passus while Nica poured them some wine in golden cups.

“Today, just literally four factions are running for victory. For the first time in history, we present to you…” the immense doors at the other end of the arena opened, revealing the new faction’s drivers with Scorpus on the leading rig. “The Gold faction!” the crowd got excited at the news and cheered loudly. “With driver, none other than the great Scorpus!”

It seemed that seeing Scorpus right there greatly shocked Consul Marsus and his wife. Senator Leto, lead owner of the Whites began to shout that the rigs Scorpus and Andria were driving were theirs and Aldea pinched her lips, forcing them into a tight smile but she couldn’t help the corners of her mouth to rise amusedly as she glanced at Tenax from the corner of her eyes. He crossed her gaze. He was pursing his lips, smirking, and softly squeezed her hand and raised his cup at Scorpus as he drove past, waving at the crowd and at them. She knew he had somehow taken Leto’s rigs and made them his. He was always such a cunning an ambitious man and she loved him for it.

As people in the crowd realized Scorpus was alive – which gave Aldea all the answers to the questions she might ask herself about the whereabouts of her husband last night – dozens of them left the stands to go back to the betting tavern around the Circus, including Tenax’s to place bets on the driver who now raced for the gold faction. Aldea held his hand tighter as the drivers were unleashed on the tracks, the bells ringing as the rounds passed. She watched her brother and Scorpus with great attention and anxiety. She was anxious about something happening to Andria and him, but they fared beyond well, with Scorpus taking the lead and winning the race, beating Xenon in the last round. A large smile dawned on Aldea face as she chuckled happily. She got up after Tenax and followed him to go collect his winnings. She wanted to go celebrate with her brothers as well, but Tenax wanted them to appear together before the other faction owners. She wasn’t an owner of the gold faction, but it wasn’t anyone’s business. They were glared at and looked down upon, but they marched forward, confidently holding their heads high and looking ahead of them, Aldea’s arm wrapped around Tenax’s. She wasn’t particularly comfortable with being watched so much by so many people but tried to portray herself as more poised and self-assured than she actually was.

People – and in this case the patricians – would talk, no matter what. It was unthinkable to see a plebeian man and his foreign, Spaniard wife owning a fifth faction. Tenax smiled, slamming his hands on the counter. The gray-haired man behind the des grabbed the big bags of coins and put them in front of Tenax. He picked them and the couple turned around, coming face to face with Consul Marsus and his wife, standing in their way and just staring at them, though mainly Tenax. Without a word, they stepped away and let them through. The patricians despised them, but it was really no surprise. They returned to Tenax’s betting tavern, and everyone cheered as he lifted the bags full of coins with a proud look on his face. Everyone at the tavern cheered and clapped as he put them down on the counter, patting him on the shoulder. Aldea smiled sweetly and stepped aside. She was looking around and heard the sound of coins clicking and turned around. Cala was right there, two small leather pouches full of coins in between her and Tenax. She wanted to buy her daughter’s freedom. She had won money from betting at Tenax’s very own tavern, basically giving him back money that she won directly from him. He grinned, pushing the pouches away. Aldea watched as the two negotiated, going back and forth until they reached an agreement, but she barely listened to what was actually being said, all she could think about was to go see her brothers. They must have been all in the stables right now, but she didn’t want to just leave without even telling Tenax.

When he was done with Cala and agreed to letting her daughter go, Aldea took a step towards her husband, but they looked to the curtains through which they entered upon hearing glasses smashing in the distance. One of his men pulled the curtain and called out to him, urgently.

“Stay here.” He pointed his finger at Aldea before quickly stepping away. She didn’t even say anything and didn’t move, her hands joined at her waist and stayed by the desk, not moving an inch as though his word was law. She could hear a bunch of men shouting and arguing loudly on the other side of the curtains. They were unhappy about the new faction that had been added, addressing Tenax directly. Cala and Aura stood by as Tenax got the tavern closed. Aldea looked down, saddened by the fact she wouldn’t be able to go see her brothers if people were rioting and making a mess in the streets and that was what happened, they rioted all night long, burning street stands and shouting unintelligibly. Aldea could barely sleep but it didn’t matter, she would go see her brothers the next morning, even if she barely got an hour of sleep, or less.

[To be continued…]  

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Published (09/01/2024) by Andrea

[geralts-yenn]

How is there practically no fanfiction for Those About To Die?

I mean, yeah, the show isn't the best, but...

The whole show is nothing else but beautiful people fucking or trying to kill each other. It's AO3 in a nutshell.

My husband even said "This show is like one of your horny books" 😂

How is there no one wanting to give the pretty little twink a better story than ending up as crocodile dung?

No one here who wants to explain that Scorpus wouldn't have been a miserable drunk asshole if he would have been dicked down by Xenon?

Not one person interested in Tenax kneeling for Cala?

I'm a little disappointed here

[judgmental-eyebrows]

new bbys + ❝  just let me look at you for a little bit.  ❞

you missed me

It’s been days since they’ve seen each other, his new responsibilities keeping Tenax far busier than he had anticipated. There was a social aspect to being Aedile Ludi that he hadn’t fully appreciated.

Despite the recent grisly spectacle of Marsus’s death, Antonia was determined to keep the Blue faction in good standing, the White faction was scrambling to prepare… it was everything Tenax thought it would be.

And yet, nothing at all what he imagined.

Leaving Scorpus’s home—how long would it be before it felt like his?—Tenax’s thoughts were swirling. Before nightfall, he had to meet with the emperor and—

“Cala.”

What was she doing here?

“Is Claudia in?” she asked, and Tenax bit back a smile. She was as perceptive as ever.

“At the market.”

“Ah.” She adjusted the small basket over her arm, filled with some sort of food. “I’ll come by later to—”

“Wait.” He stopped her as she turned to go, fingers dragging across her arm, softer than a whisper. “Just… let me look at you for a little bit.”

Chin raised, Cala met his gaze. “I take it to be that you have missed me?”

He… wasn’t sure how to answer that.

Because he had.

“You betrayed me.” The words were said far gentler than their meaning warranted.

“For the life of my child! You would have done the same” Cala said, “you did do the same! I watched you hand over all your gold for the lives of your kids.”

Tenax didn’t respond. Yes, he’d given in to Ursus’s demands, but not soon enough.

He didn’t see the children as often as before, but he knew that Nica still cried for her brother when she thought no one was watching.

He wanted to voice an apology. To tell her that she had been right, to promise her that he could become a decent man, if only—

Across from him, Cala sighed and stepped back. “Everything is different now, no?”

“Yes,” he sighed, shoulders suddenly weary. He watched as Cala turned and walked back the way she came. Then, she stopped.

Without facing him, she spoke. “I think you’ll find that some things don’t change. Not if you don’t let them.”