Serrah Earns Her Callouses

When Serrah had been captured in the raid, she had resigned herself to the life of a house slave or whore. She had spent the whole walk from her village to the sea trying to make peace with her fate of spending her life in the kitchen or on her back. The fates are rarely predictable however, they had another plan for Serrah.

The slave market had been busy in the morning, Serrah's sister had been sold to a wealthy family, her younger brother to an acting troupe, her mother to a local fish merchant. The slavers had put her up for auction towards the end, hoping to get a higher price for her from those that had been waiting to see what was available. The day was scorching though, almost everyone had gone home by noon. When Serrah was pulled onto the block, There were only two bidders left, a trainer of gladiators and the owner of a great stone quarry. Female gladiators had fallen out of fashion that year, they were barely worth the cost of training...