Leucena had awoken to the sound of crying, trapped within a dark, dank cell, the sound of heavy footfalls reverberating from the other side of the wooden door. The room was filled with women, some young children, some older, all in a poor state. Only a handful of the younger girls appeared untouched, many of the others were either in a state of distress or sitting with a hollow look within their eyes. It was clear to the levelheaded Leucena that it hadn’t been long since her capture, eyes drifting from the room and women she noticed the thin sliver of sunlight entering through cracks in the barred windows.
“It should be early in the morning judging by the condensation on the stone, the ground is cold but heating up… So, there should be more sunlight filtering in, if not it means we are in the shadow of the hippodrome… Which means we are in the western portion of the city, the only place where the sun rarely reaches, that fact is well known. Now, how to get away?” Leucena mumbled silently to herself as she moved around the room, analyzing every little detail she could.
She was so focused on her task that she failed to notice the child walk up to her and tug at her tunic. What she saw was a thin, pretty face set upon a malnourished frame, given time and proper nutrition she would blossom into a great beauty. “Do you know when mommy will come back? The other sisters tell me to leave them alone… Can you help me auntie?” The girl was too young to be aware of what was occurring, and undoubtedly her mother must have had similar looks and was unlikely to return.
Leucena took the young girl’s hand in her own, “Well of course my dear, I would be happy to help. But we must find a way to get away from the bad uncle’s outside. Then we can go and look for your mother. For now, stick close and listen to what I say… can you do that for me?” The little girl nodded in response, closing her hand around Leucena’s.
At that moment yelling could be heard from the other side of the door, the women in the room rapidly splitting into two groups. One of which cowered in the corner, comprised of the bruised and battered, clear signs of abuse, marks of those who had already suffered. The other were the younger oblivious girls, the ones who were scared but had not yet been broken at the hands of their captors. Leucena rather than sinking into the background walked forward, placing herself squarely between the women and the men who would be entering the room, a makeshift bulwark against the abusers.
The door was thrust open, slamming the rotten wooden frame into the cracked stone wall. “Leucena, you are finally mine once again.” Argades rushed into the room, his arms wrapping around the cautious woman. She did not resist, instead taking the opportunity to take a glance at the men following the crime lord, in addition to those standing guard on either side of the door frame. “I won’t let anyone steal you from me ever again. That bastard lord will not have you; we will make our escape to somewhere safe. Start fresh, a new life… with you by my side!” Leucena had not said a word, with Argades concocting his own fantasy within his mind as to why she left him to begin with. He grabbed the side of her face, forcing himself upon her, his tongue violating her mouth, even as she tried to resist to whatever extent.
“Dammit! As much as I hate it, this is all for now. Once we are at sea and away from the capital there will be more time for us to be reacquainted my love.” Argades caressed her cheeks, oblivious to the intense murderous gaze with which she was aiming in his direction. Convinced of his dominance and power he turned towards his men, a murderous aura threatening death, “If a single one of you fuckers gets any ideas, I will personally flay you alive… Understand!” The men surrounding Argades winced as his eyes passed over them, not even one hesitating to nod affirmatively. However, he did not only threaten them, quickly promising them the other women and girls in the room so long as none harmed a single hair upon his prize’s head.
Leucena had been watching quietly, trying to gauge when to interject, how best to protect the women in the room in whatever way she could. Yet she had finally had enough, the pent-up anger and agitation following last night’s events exploded at once. Her leg snapped out in an upward arc, connecting with the side of Argades’s head, sending him reeling. Leucena would have followed up, but the quick response of one of the guards had her on the ground, arms locked around her neck, his bulky frame pressing down on her.
“Fuck every single one of you bastards, we are not your prizes! We don’t belong to you, and I refuse to be locked away and like a bird in a cage!” Leucena spit curses at the surrounding men, with many of the women staring at her with eyes open wide in shock. Their fists shaking, the anger and humiliation simmering beneath the surface, even so they remained silent, heads bowed in fear.
Due to the commotion the guards outside the door had all entered, crowding around Leucena, some watching in amusement, others impressed by the woman’s tenacity, while a few wished for something to spill out from her tunic. The men were jeering and cheering until a few seconds later when the man holding her yelled out in pain, blood dripping down the length of his arm. Leucena stood tall, from between bloody teeth she spat out a chunk of flesh, the same piece she tore of the screaming man’s forearm. She didn’t hesitate long and lunged at the man, sending her knee into the bridge of the bleeding man’s nose.
At this point the surrounding men’s focus had changed, they weren’t treating the woman in front of them with the same lackadaisical attitude they did the other women. Yet Leucena wasn’t done, she turned toward another, pulling the pin from her tunic, and letting it drop, every single man in the room stared with hungry roving eyes as she bore all before them. Unaware of the thing bronze pin that had held the piece of cloth, not until one of the men went down, the thin bronze stake sunk to the end just above and in front of the ear. In one precise move Leucena had plunged the makeshift weapon through the man’s temple, and into the brain tissue below.
As the man fell to the ground dead the others were in shock, Leucena had nothing left to use. Her tunic had fallen to the ground leaving her exposed, she stumbled slightly, taking deep breaths because of the time spent pinned with the bleeding man’s arms around her neck, while she was still exhausted from the lack of sleep. Leucena was in no condition to keep fighting, but understood the need to do so, the fire in her eyes burned bright and she put both her hands up, ready to lash out once or twice before succumbing to the inevitable.
Whatever pre-conceived notions the men had of the woman were gone now, their wandering eyes and uncontrollable lust had cooled considerably. One of their own lay dead, and the other bleeding, while the woman had knocked down their boss first. It was clear to everyone that she was able to hold her own, that she knew how to fight and was like a rabid wolf, willing to do whatever it took to win. Soon enough the remaining men charged forward, Leucena managed one or two quick jabs that did little more than to stun one of the men.
The other three were on her in no time, two held her in place while the third delivered a powerful blow to her gut. Followed by a strong left hook to the face. This second blow rattled her brain, leaving her head hanging and causing her eyes to drift into the back of her head. Around a half minute later she came to, still in the arms of the men. The man in front saw her awake and grabbed a handful of her hair, yanking her head up and crouching slightly to be eye level with her.
“I can still see defiance in your eyes girlie. Honestly, I think you know what me and the boys would’ve done with ya if youse wasn’t the boss’s prize. You’re a feisty one, I’ll give ya that… I’m sure the boss wants to break ya in, after that who knows? Maybe we lot’ll get a taste. What do ya think of that, eh?” The thug flashing a gap-toothed smile, filled with yellowed teeth, while others were missing completely.
Leucena fearlessly responded with a light chuckle, her response barely audible, even at such proximity. The man leaned in closer wanting to hear what she had to say. “Fuck you! You stupid degenerate pig fucker!” Leucena yelled out before gathering up all the swill and blood in her mouth and firing the glob. Having gotten as close as he did, the thug had no time to step back or react and instead took the ball of spit and blood to his left eye. He screamed out in anger and pain, swinging his fists in the air, all the while the detained woman laughing at his pain.
“You Bitch!” The man screamed in rage, having had enough he removed the knife from his waist, preparing to stab the blade into the constricted woman. However, before the man had the chance to lunge forward another blade came down. An iron axe head came down, splitting the man’s skull in two. Blood and brains spilled out from the shattered skull, drenching the confused Leucena and her two remaining captors.
“No one! And I mean No one will harm my woman’s face. This piece of shit tried to kill her, so he gets the death penalty… The rest of you better remember this!” Argades kicked the warm corpse of his former guard. After finishing with the corpse of the guard, he strolled over to Leucena, with his other two men quickly releasing their hold and stepping away from their unpredictable boss.
Argades grasped Leucena’s blood covered face within the palm of his right hand, gazing directly into her emerald eyes. A sadistic smile stretching from one side of his mouth to the other, “You are everything I remember and more… I am so glad that your fighting spirit is stronger than ever before. It will make it so much more worthwhile when I break you!” Argades took no heed of the filth covering the woman, once again taking the opportunity to explore her mouth with his tongue. He appeared to savor her distress, her anger, and the fact that there was little she could do, even going so far as to let his hands wander across her now unclothed form.
“I just cannot hold myself back, I have waited ten long years for this… If only that bastard Merkurio was here, then I could’ve flayed him alive in front of you… How would you have reacted to that, I’m curious. If only I didn’t have work to do! No, it will be fine… I can wait until tonight. But I am going to need to teach you a lesson for hitting me… Just remember my pet, this hurts me more than it does you.” As all the others watched, Argades began to beat the exhausted Leucena. Not once hesitating or pulling his punches, laughing as he used her as what was effectively a human training dummy. Both the captive women, and Argades’s own men flinched or cowered with each strike. He did take care not to harm her face, nor to hit areas that could be lethal, instead he appeared to be quite familiar with human anatomy and where he could cause the most pain without killing the target.
Not even three minutes had passed before Leucena was on the edge of consciousness, she had remained strong but even she cried out asking for mercy. Yet there was none that the sadistic crime lord wished to give, opting to increase the frequency of attacks instead. It was only through the timely intervention of a frantic messenger that Leucena was given her reprieve. Upon receiving the written message Argades screamed at his men and rushed out with all in tow, not even bothering to take the corpse of his dead subordinates with him.
“Auntie are you okay?” The little girl who Leucena had befriended earlier ran to her side, as did many of the other women. Although most of the women were fearful, her defiance in the face of such odds sparked a small measure of hope within their hearts. “I… I’m fi… ne little… one. I ju…just… need to catch…ahhh! Fuck!” Leucena clutched her right flank, as she struggled to stand upright.
Before anyone had a chance to ask how she was doing a loud clink could be heard close to the sealed window. Seconds later the same sound was heard again. Finally on the third try the stone luckily passed through the bars and bounced off the ceiling. On the rock was an attached piece of papyrus, and upon reading the message Leucena couldn’t help but chuckle, even though it hurt her sides to do so.
“It… would… appear… we are not… forsaken ladies. Help is… on the way.” Hidden on the back of the square piece of papyrus was a crude drawing, apparently a map depicting a route through loose floorboard and a series of weakened wall stones. If followed there would be some risky points but would eventually lead them to the first floor where someone would be waiting to help them escape the building from a hole in the pantry wall.
“This… route… is a bit… difficult… in our… current… condition. But… we have… another option.” Leucena held out her hand, palm facing up towards the little girl at her side. The girl looked at the open palm before her face lit up with a devious smile, and in the next instant she lowered a set of bronze keys into Leucena’s hand.
