The Birth Of The Beta

11. DANCING WITH DANGER

In the morning, Aoife managed to pull her boots up her calves and refused to have any more rest. Less aggression, and less lying about her feelings were making Aoife less likely to continue denying her bond to Pepin. Unfortunately, her day of rest had made her more determined to push the gladiators to their full potential today. Consequently, she used the new training equipment that had arrived and made a gruelling obstacle course for them when they arrived. Cornelius watched from the balcony, smiling as the gladiators followed every instruction given by Aoife. Heaving and staggering, a younger gladiator was bent over clutching his knees. He reached his arms out, making a grasping motion with his hand gesturing for water, before it could be handed to him, Aoife gripped onto it.

“You are struggling because you have told yourself you can’t do it. In the arena, there will be times when you are hurting so badly, where you are gasping for a drop of water as if you might die because the sands of the ground have drawn every drop of moisture from your mouth. You will have a choice when this happens: fight on or die. You have a choice now as well, complete the obstacle course with me, or take that drink and never become a gladiator,” Aoife’s voice was cold and commanding, but she knew she was making him stronger by being harsher.

“I’ll finish it with you!” he replied, while looking down at the ground.

“Good now, copy exactly what I do, and remember I am still in pain from yesterday, so I will be fighting through that to show you it is possible,” She instructed him.

Wooden, square planks protruded from the ground waiting and ascending in height. Squatting down, she used the muscles in her calves and thighs to leap onto the first block, she then repeated the motion onto the next block. She looked backward to ensure the inexperienced gladiator was copying her. He seemed less secure in his balance, but was diligently copying her method. After perching on the tallest block, she launched herself onto the net rope that was dangling off a wooden frame. This section had more to do with control than skill. The rope twisted as it welcomed her weight, making it seem hard to climb, and physically that was frustrating. The true aim of this section of the course was for the wolves to not extend their claws while it waited for the rope to unwrap its arms from the person’s body. Once she reached the top of the frame she waited, once again, for her student to follow her.

“Resist your urge to use your claws, it will cause you to tear the rope and fall,” She advised him.

He eventually made it to the top (although it had taken him considerably longer than it had Aoife). He looked very proud of himself. The next part of the challenge was to jump off the edge of the wooden frame they were balanced on. This was in contrast to the last task; they would need their wolves. Calling on Neve, she confidently stepped off the great height and landed on her feet, slightly bending her knees to accommodate the impact.

“If you’re scared of heights, the best way not to be up there is to jump down,” she jibed at him, while sauntering to the steps of the next trial. She heard him land behind her, but judging by the thump, it hadn’t been on his feet.

Climbing up the steps, she knew her student would struggle to achieve this without extra help. Suspended at steady intervals across a wooden bar were six vertical ropes. The aim was to swing across them using all their upper body strength.

“Firstly, you need to catch the rope, before you hit the ground. In time you’ll be able to use one arm to hold on, but for now you should use two, one above the other and use your body weight to swing you closer to the next rope. Find a rhythm and stick to it and let the swing help you forward. The worst thing you can do it not grab the one in front. If you do that, you will just end up dangling,” She smiled, and this softened the stress she could see in his expression.

Aoife not only grabbed the rope in one hand, she was able to carry all her weight on that arm, so she was floating while using the rope as a prop. She glided through the air looking like she was switching dance partners, rather than preventing herself from falling to the ground. Pepin found himself watching her in reverence, too besotted for words. Her grace had caused the other gladiators to come and watch her. Finally, she managed to impress them. When she reached the other side, the younger wolf tried to emulate her, but where she had danced, he was hugging in a frantic motion. The only thing that spurred him on was the cheering from the men below and the encouragement from Aoife. When he stood next to her she patted his arm in encouragement and laughed when she heard a possessive growl from a particular gladiator below.

“This next task is all about balance. You have to step on the top of each barrel in a zig zag motion, but the bottom of the barrel is on a circular stand so it will wobble. With your leg length you should be able to step on to each one, but you can hop if you prefer,” with her parting wisdom, she proceeded to hop on to each one, making it seem as if she had lied about the instability of them. However, when her pupil fell off the third one, he could only be amazed by how effortless she had made it seem.

Finally, they stood before the spinning column. The gladiators gripped the rope that was coiled around the platform and began to pull it, making the column turn. Sticking out of the column were steel blades, each at a different angle, so the person would have to duck under them or jump over them. When Aoife was in front of the inanimate opponent she gave one instruction.

“Pull it hard gladiators,” With an impressive speed, she showed everyone the importance of quick reflexes and fast reactions. She even had time to nod to the men to stop pulling.

“Go slower this time,” She instructed the men.

“How long do I need to keep going?” The young man shouted, as she started to walk away.

“Until they run out of rope, or you knock yourself out. Whichever comes first,” She smiled, and walked away.

A slow and steady clap could be heard from the balcony as Cornelius was stood smiling. He was always impressed with her skills like a proud father. He had found Magnus, but the house was very unsettled the last two days and arguments between them were becoming routine. Aoife noticed that Cornelius seemed frail as he wrapped his blanket tighter around him. His skin had become sallow and he was losing a little weight. Everyone blamed Magnus for these changes.

Antonia and Magnus both took a seat on the balcony next to Cornelius. The wretched woman refilled his cup and handed it to Cornelius, before looking down at the training, both literally and metaphorically. Aoife couldn’t punch Antonia in the face no matter how much she wanted to, but she could humiliate her. She had Pepin re-enact how the slaves had held him still less than two days ago. She then demonstrated to every gladiator how to release themselves from that restraint while causing the maximum damage to those who held them still. Staring up at the faces on the balcony, Magnus had his usual cold, indifferent expression, Antonia’s face was cherry coloured with anger, and a little vein throbbed in her temple. Cornelius appeared utterly bemused, and the smile on his face implied he’d enjoyed the passive-aggressive display immensely. Aoife was so busy applauding her own defiance along with Cornelius that neither of them noticed the glint of danger in Antonia’s eye as her jaw clenched. The only person who had noticed was Pepin, and it unnerved him.

Aoife may be able to move along an obstacle course as if it were a dance rather than a demand on her already tender body, but he was concerned that by choosing Antonia as an enemy she was dancing with danger. Humans had their own strict steps and Aoife had never had to learn their sequences of sinister spite. He was worried. Worried for them. Worried for her.