Kate Poole - Beast of Caledonia

Beast of Caledonia

Kate Poole

In an ancient time, in an ancient land, their worlds collided. Can their love survive? Can they?

Sara is the daughter of the emperors legate in Caledonia, the Roman name for Scotland. Annachie is a Pictish warrior captured by her fathers soldiers and made a slave. Their friendship grows into a love neither of them can even acknowledge, much less consummate.

When her father finds them in what he thinks is a compromising position, he gives Annachie to a notorious slave trader and takes Sara back to Rome. Thinking that she will never see Annachie again, Sara agrees to become a Vestal Virgin. But six years later, her world is turned upside down when the games in the Coliseum feature the renowned gladiator, the Beast of Caledonia. Annachie!

Only for him would Sara forsake her vow of chastity and risk her life. And when she faces the ultimate price for loving him, only Annachie may be able to save her.

An Elloras Cave Romantica Publication

www.ellorascave.com

Beast of Caledonia

ISBN 9781419928505

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Beast of Caledonia Copyright 2010 Kate Poole

Edited by Helen Woodall

Cover art by Syneca

Electronic book publication July 2010

The terms Romantica and Quickies are registered trademarks of Elloras Cave Publishing.

With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Elloras Cave Publishing, Inc. 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502.

Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publishers permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/). Please purchase only authorized electronic or print editions and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted material. Your support of the authors rights is appreciated.

This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the authors imagination and used fictitiously.

Beast of Caledonia

Kate Poole

Dedication

To Anna,

I miss you every day, girlfriend.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Colleen McCullough and HBO for helping me with my research. (Im much too lazy to do all the research they did!) I know that I have played fast and loose with some of the realities of ancient Rome, but please cut me some slackit is fiction, after all. If you want an accurate account, I highly recommend Ms. McCulloughs amazing, excellent Rome series.

I would also like to thank my reader, Toni, for all her comments, suggestions and encouragement. You helped me more than you will ever know. Thanks also to my poor, unpaid publicist, Chris E., for the encouragement and for working on that potential book-signing opportunity. E.V. wont know what hit it!

Thanks to Helen Woodall, Editor Extraordinaire and Queen Frog, for not giving up on me when it took me three years to submit my second book!

And last, but never least, great big thanks to the TartsKathy, Kate, Christie and Janet. Without all of you, I would still be spinning my wheels.

Chapter One

Rome, 149 A.D.

Hurry, Sara, well be late. Ocelina tugged at Saras arm, forcing her to almost run to keep up with the girl.

Im coming, Im coming, Sara replied, even though she wished to drag her feet.

They turned a corner and Sara saw the Flavian Amphitheater in the distance. More games, she thought. How could anyone call men fighting, maiming and killing each other a game? Sara hated the games. She tried to look down at her lap or close her eyes to avoid seeing the wounds and the death throes of the combatants. But she couldnt close her ears to the howls of dying animals, the cries of injured men, or the cheers of the bloodthirsty crowd. And she couldnt keep from smelling the blood and excrement that spilled into the sand.

But twelve-year-old Ocelina loved the games. It worried Sara that one so young could be so insensitive to violence and death, even though it was the way most children were brought up in Rome.

Why are you in such a hurry, Lina?

The girl stopped and faced her. What? Havent you heard?

Heard what?

The Beast is going to fight today. I saw the advertisement painted on a wall near the Forum.

The only wild beast around here is you, Annachie.

Sara shook her head to erase the memory. Who is the Beast?

Ocelina stared at Sara, her mouth agape. Where have you been? He is only the greatest gladiator in the Empire. He has never been defeated. Ive heard that he often refuses to kill his opponent, even if the sponsor of the games tells him to, unless the man is so maimed the Beast knows he will not live. Or, only if he has to, to avoid being killed himself. I wonder what hell do if the emperor orders him to kill someone.

There was something Sara had never heard ofa gladiator with principles.

Ocelina leaned close to Sara and, behind her hand, she said, And they say he fights naked. Lina giggled. I have never seen a naked man before. Have you?

Yes, I have, Sara thought.

Why were you naked when my fathers soldiers brought you here?

My people fight naked to show the enemy that we do not conceal a weapon.

Again, Sara fought back the memories. He must be dead. Slaves do not live long in the arena, nor under Septimius care. Do not torture yourself with thoughts of things that cannot be. She chose not to answer Ocelinas last question, saying instead, That cant be true, Lina. He must protect hishis genitals in some way.

Ocelina giggled again. A pouch, Sara, only a leather pouch. Then she sobered. But they also say he is quite ugly.

Sara breathed a sigh of relief. It isnt him, she thought, for he is not at all ugly.

By this time, they had come to the great portals of the Coliseum. Statues of the gods loomed in the arches above them, and the canvas awnings rippled in the morning breeze. Sara and Ocelina made their way down the short flight of steps to the area reserved for the six Vestal Virgins, the priestesses of the goddess Vesta. Unfortunately for Sara, their seats were just above the high wall separating the arena itself from the spectators. If she had a mind towhich of course she didntshe could almost reach down and touch the heads of the fighters. She wished she could move much higher up and farther away. Or better still, stay home in the shaded, peaceful garden in the Casa delle Vestali, the House of the Vestals.

Soft cushions had been placed on the hard stone bench for them to sit upon. They took their seats and waited for the emperors entrance.

Before long, with a flourish of trumpets, he made his entrance. The roar of almost fifty thousand spectators seemed to shake the very stone beneath Saras feet. Antoninus Pius turned to his left and right, saluting the crowd. The Vestals, senators, and other dignitaries bowed to him. When Sara raised her head, Antoninus nodded to her.

She was not surprised that he remembered her. She thought back to the one and only time she had met him

* * * * *

Your daughter is a bit long in the tooth to become a Vestal, Quintus.

Sara stood before the emperor, her hands clasped together in front of her, staring at the floor.

Yes, Sire, her father replied, I know she is. But I ask only this for the service I rendered to you and to the Empire while in Caledonia. I would be forever in your debt, Sire.