Free The Winged Serpent (The Order of the Oath) by Nadia Aidan Page A

words. “I have heard of what happened in the training arena this day.” She did not mistake the long sigh. “I never wish to lose a slave, because that is gold wasted.”
    Her heart plunged, and she experienced a moment of sorrow. Even though she did not like him, Primus had not deserved such a fate. Not since her days in the arena had she killed indiscriminately, and even then, she’d felt the deaths of those she’d been forced to slay. Every single one of them still haunted her—
    “I see the look upon your face.” Claudius waved a hand in the air dismissively. “But do not fret. Primus yet lives.”
    Aurora breathed a sigh of relief.
    “I am certain Cyrus must have shared with you that I care not about such things. This house trains fighters. That those within it should fight is a great thing.” He shook his fist, seemingly impassioned by his own words. “That I lose one ever so often is what happens in a place such as this. And I encourage it. Such brutality makes my fighters stronger, better. It leads to victory within the arena.”
    Aurora found it all distasteful, but she did not speak a word, and her expression did not reveal her inner derision. Human existence was worth more than blood and sport, not to be so casually dismissed as a consequence of a life that need not be brutal.
    “Primus still lives.” Claudius continued. “But he has no place within this ludus, and certainly not within the arena . Not if he can be so easily beaten.” Claudius’ eyes sparkled. “But you— you have secured your place within my ludus for which you shall be rewarded.”
    Aurora looked curiously at Cyrus who shook his head. This was a surprise to him, as it was to her.
    “Senator Balbus Flavian Vibius has returned to his villa here in Capena and has opened his home for a celebration two eves from this one to herald his arrival. Vibius has always shown great favor toward this house and the gladiatorial games. That is why I shall honor him with a coveted match—the champion of Capena alongside the champion of Aquileia.” Claudius’ eyes were almost rheumy with excitement. “Such a match will stir his guests. Perform well and they will demand your presence within the arena.”
    Aurora nodded graciously, her smile false as she thanked him for the honor. She held back a snort. It was not an honor, not at all.
    It was a spectacle, to parade her before Capena’s nobility as if she were a coveted prize. The only benefit to such an excursion was that she would leave this villa. Many things could happen along the way there, along the way back...
    Claudius had drawn closer to her, and his eyes now smoldered with an emotion which had not been there moments before. The look upon his face made her skin crawl, and the hairs along her arms rose. It was always like this for her.
    The initial distaste of being desired by one she was repulsed by. It would soon give way to determination, her sense of duty driving her passions.
    “There is one other detail of note.” Claudius’ pupils widened, his eyes a dull gray. “I have decided you shall fight nude.”
    Her attention snapped to Cyrus.
    “The both of you,” Claudius added.
    Aurora blanked her face, but Cyrus scowled darkly from over Claudius’ shoulder, his eyes boring into the man.
    “Every man shall be mad with lust and jealousy that you belong to me.”
    Aurora jerked at his words, then at his touch when his fingers grazed her face. She did not belong to him. She belonged to no one. It was his statement, more so than his hands upon her that fed her fury.
    It dawned on her then that she would never be able to stomach his hands upon her—which was a startling revelation that gave her pause.
    The women of The Order were trained to seduce. That was their duty—to disarm then dispatch. Aurora had never protested the touch of others in the past—it was her duty. Before she’d joined The Order she’d known what would be expected of her. She did not have to take the oath