[Notes
- I refer to the heroine, Meda, as an Ethiopian as this is what the Romans would probably have called her. In actual fact she is from an area now found in modern Sudan.
-Coruncanii is a fictional town.]
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- A few miles away from a little village in East Africa, close to Meroe (Sudan) 1 AD -
Meda peered through the long grass, keeping her breathing low and careful as she watched the leopard chew the oryx leg that had placed out. With excitement she clung to the bit of rope tied to one end of the oryx leg. Her twin brother had already failed to tame a leopard of his own, and thus had proven himself unworthy of the title of leader of their rapidly growing clan, that at the count of the last full moon, were two hundred heads thereof. Unlike her brother who was too impatient and lazy to track a leopard, she had tracked this one from the dyed red length of rope that she had kept as a collar around its neck since she had first encountered it when she managed to briefly isolate it from its mother. For two weeks of every three years she had patiently come back, isolated the cub, sometimes fought off the mother and sibling without injury to them. Then keeping the cub tied to a tree she would feed it, call it by the name she had given it; Cothut, before untying the leopard cub and releasing it near its family.
Now thirty six moons on, Meda was close to taming the leopard, having taken the advice of her mother, chieftainess of the village, and unlike her brother, she had vowed not to return to the village until she had completed her task. Under her breath, she prayed to the goddess Amesemi for her protection, then little by little she tugged the rope.
"Come now little one, though you are not so little now. Let us see if my mother's tricks have worked, I pray they have."
Cothut followed the food in puzzlement as it moved, his paw lightly darting out, until Meda emerged and looked at Cothut. At first Cothut was very still, but then he pounced.
Meda was knocked flat on her back onto the grassy knoll behind, and cursed herself for not being more agile. But before she could ready herself to meet the god Anubis boldly she felt Cothut traipse off her and then roll around playfully. Meda, shaking somewhat got up, dusted herself down and warily approached Cothut.
"Oh my! Thank Amesemi that my mother was right! Thank Amesemi!"
Meda tentatively picked up a small sack she had left close by, opened the cloth and gave Cothut some scraps from the meat carcass she was carrying. She stroked Cothut's ears, as her mother had suggested. Cothut munched away at the meat Meda offered and muzzled her hand.
"Come Cothut, I promise you no harm. Once the villagers see you as proof of my triumph then I shall bring you back home, where you belong. Finally! Maybe my mother will even allow me to marry."
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From afar a small group of men watched as Meda, overjoyed and feeling protected by her leopard companion, travelled down the trail that she had created over the years. Her secret spectators watched her keenly.
One of the men said, "That is your sister, Meda, right there? Skin like dark bronze, a body like a goddess?"
"I would have her! Such tits! Such arse! She certainly stirs the cock!" Another said.
Their group leader scowled at them, "she can stir the cock all you wish fool, but you are not putting your cock in her, she is worth much more as a virgin, too much for your meagre coins. The girl has more to offer than your average village woman, we have to be sensible here."
Mena's brother, with a tense but deviant look upon his face, nodded and responded, "She is a great gymnast too as my mother, for whatever reason, favoured her over me for such training. She is literate in Meroitic and speaks three dialects spoken five clans wide. Her beauty is so renowned that one prince in Meroe has asked to be introduced, though I doubt he would have done so if he knew she was so stubborn and unrelenting. Also, as you can see, she is very skilled in animal hunting, and apparently training."
"Why is it that she is training a leopard? What a way to occupy one's time."
Mena's brother responded, "It is thought by the village elders that whoever can tame a leopard can also tame a village, for both require patience, fearlessness and wisdom. I could easily have done so myself, but my mother has always made her favourite clear and seemed to forget my presence during training."
"Well, she will not be able to forget your presence now. So tell us again, what is this plan of yours?"
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Meda talked to Cothut the leopard, occasionally feeding him meat scraps as she walked through a meadow towards the village. Other creatures that would ordinarily approach her to do her harm scampered away at the sight of Cothut. Meda felt empowered by her friendship with the leopard. She neared a part of the trail where the avena grass was thick and tall, as were the songs of grasshoppers.
"Let us not worry, though this part of the path always fills me with trepidation." Meda said softly to Cothut.
She took a few steps forward, but heard a loud rustle, she stopped and crouched, stroking the leopard's ear as she did so, "Wait, wait, I have my spear if it is anything bad."
The rustling got louder until a man emerged, making her heart quicken, until she saw that man was her brother, "Pakatucho, what are you doing here? You are far away from the village."
Pakatucho smiled such a smile that his lips curled back, "So are you dear sister, and what is this, a leopard?"
Cothut licked his own paw and predatorily stared at Pakatucho. Meda hastily fed Cothut a scrap of meat, "I have done it Pakatucho, trained my leapord Cothut. Thirty six moons it took, but I have done it. Perhaps we can walk into the village together?"
"Yes, yes, and let me carry your spear for you." Pakatucho said eagerly.
Meda did not trust her brother as she had sensed the envy in him for the many years they had trained together, "That is okay, I can carry it myself."
"And what am I to defend myself with if your new leopard friend attacks me?"
"Well if you insist, though I am surprised that you did not bring your own spear." Meda saw a certain fire burn within her brother's eyes. She did not trust him but she thought it unwise to tell him so. She handed over her spear reluctantly, and stroked Cothut. Though she should have been more weary of the wild leopard than she was of Pakatucho, she felt that it was the one she could trust.
They walked together, making idle chatter over village affairs, of village characters and their escapades after having one too many gourds of sorghum beer. They spoke of the rain they had recently received as a blessing from their gods for all their hard work tending to the land.
Then Meda heard another scuffle from the bushes.
"There is something in the bushes, give me a spear, perhaps we can kill it and take it back to the village."
"Don't worry sister, I also know how to use this spear. Just stay there sister, stay still, stay still..." Pakatucho crept on ahead as Meda stood still and Cothut waited faithfully by her side.
The leopard growled again, increasing Meda's sense of unease. Suddenly from the back Meda could hear a whooshing sound of something dropping overhead and realised it was some sort of trap she had walked into, the leopard tried to run but was also caught by another net. Meda cried out in the confusion.
"Pakatucho brother, help, it is a trap!"
Five figures emerged, three of them with dark bronze skin like her and Pakatucho, and the other two with light copper complexions, like some of the people further up north. She had only ever seen such people when they visited for trade.
Pakatucho chuckled darkly , "Oh poor sister! On this great day when she was to be a chieftainess, she will be a slave. When you have ascended to such great heights, the plummet can only be painful."
The men clambered on top of her laughing as she struggled, "You bastard! Why? Why?"
"Well, I heard there were men hunting for leopards and good hunters for the empire of Rome. I thought, why deprive them my sister, who will fetch a handsome price in any auction. In exchange, they are giving our village two ox and Persian cloths. And of course, more personally they are giving me a clear path to the chieftaincy."
One of the dark-skinned men spoke to her in a dialect she understood, "Now now pretty girl, you will fetch a good price for your brother tells us you can even walk on your hands as well as some walk on their feet. As for your leopard, it will make good game for slaughter in the arena."
Later that night, bound and captured, Meda watched as the men shook Pakatucho's hand. Tears ran down her face in helplessness as the reality sunk in. She looked at Cothut, who was in a wooden cage and prowling around.
"I am sorry friend, I have betrayed us both with my naivety."
She lowered her head in shame, only glad that her captors, due to their greed for money, gazed lecherously at her nude physique, but had not forced themselves on her for the price that her virginity wielded.
Whatever else she would lose on her journey to the slave block, at least she would retain that.
