Wolf’s Empire: Gladiator by Claudia Christian and Morgan Grant Buchanan Read Free Book Online

flexibility, and agility make up for brute strength, and I’ve developed a new method of medium-range fighting focusing on spin and rebound.”
    â€œReally, I’ve got nothing against women in the arena. I’ve known some who could hold their own, one in particular who was astonishing, but everyone will compare you to Julius Ovidius, and you won’t measure up. A discus fighter needs a strong arm, and powerful legs.”
    â€œI’m at the top of my class in military studies and close-quarter combat,” I said. “I’ll win many victories for your team.”
    Marcus closed the lid of the weapon case in a way that let me know the conversation was over. “Thank you for bringing this in. It’s beautifully crafted and it’s been a long time since I’ve seen one, but you should understand that it’s not fit for a lady. It takes years of training to discipline both yourself and the discus, and trust me, no father wants to see his daughter cavorting in the arena. It’s asking for trouble. You should find another way to upset him, one that doesn’t put your life on the line. Or if it’s self-defense you’re after, then learn to fire a concealable ion pistol, or if you want take some combat courses, some of my students teach them after hours to make a little extra. There’s even a class for high-born women.”
    He was already walking away, but I wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
    â€œYour spear fighter, Lenticulus. He drops his right elbow before he thrusts. It slows down his attack as well as telegraphing so his opponent can counter.”
    â€œYou’ve got a good eye, I’ve been telling him about that,” Marcus said. “But it doesn’t mean you’re cut out for the arena.”
    â€œYou will train me. I command it.”
    He laughed out loud at that.
    â€œWhen you become a gladiator, the moment you step into the arena, you are considered a slave. It is a public ritual. You must swear an oath to give up not only your titles but also your citizenship until you cease training under your lanista and leave fighting in the sacred arena for good. Do you understand? No matter who you were before you stepped in, in the arena there are only slaves. You make legal and potentially lethal submission to the games, the team, the trainer, the editor. It’s the last even playing ground in the empire.”
    â€œThere are plenty of nobles who fight in the arena and those rules are overlooked.”
    â€œNone of them are women. Even the idea of ritual slavery would create a scandal. Go back to your fine chambers and pretty robes.”
    I flipped open my sling case, snatched up Orbis, and ran ahead to block his path. His face darkened. “You’ve got spirit, but it’s the spirit of a spoiled princess who’s used to getting her way. You had best move aside.”
    â€œThe Sertorians killed my mother and my brother. A Viridian woman can’t join the military, and I need to make them pay. Personally.”
    â€œI know you now,” he said. “There was a news story all about you a few months back. You’re Lucius Viridius’ daughter. Your family was on Olympus Decimus when the bombs fell, and you’ve been hanging around the Senate bothering them in the hope they’ll let you join the legion. Let me save you the trouble—petitioning the Senate is a lost cause. The Sertorians have more than half the Senate in their pockets.”
    â€œYou think I haven’t worked that out already? Why do you think I’m here? The men who killed my mother and brother fight in the Ludi Romani. I have to work my way to the top of the league if I’m to kill them.”
    â€œYou want to fight in the Ludi Romani? You can’t be serious.”
    â€œI need this. I was told you’d understand, that you’d lost someone unjustly and bore no love for House Sertorian.”
    His face hardened