Page 23 of Gladiator's Captive
“Of course not.” This time, the Muharib answered, but his tone was cautious, guarded. “This would be little better than fighting in the arena for your father.”
“Then what are you going to do? Where are you going to go?” As Rager’s gaze stayed on me, the markings on his skin took a darker turn. “You can tell me. It’s not like I’m in a position to tell anyone.”
Rager seemed to hesitate, the display of feeling so unusual on his sharp, stoic features that I stared, not even daring to breathe, then he nodded.
“There is a city, out there in the desert. An entire city beyond the reach of the Galactic Empire.” Rager spoke slowly, with a deep, almost dreamy tone. “This is where I’m headed. I’ll find my way out of Valcan there.”
Tartarus? Could the rumors be true?I had heard about the secret city, hidden so deep into the desert that even the Galactic Empire didn’t reach there. Or didn’t bother with it. Nothing to gain by fighting a community of small-time criminals and smugglers. Even ants had their place in the great scheme of things in the bosom of the Empire.
“Then you need money.” I had no idea how my voice wasn’t shaking, but it wasn’t. “You will need a lot to buy your passage out of Valcan.”
Rager frowned, but he kept silent, his face closed off. He didn’t like being challenged by a woman, I could tell, but he didn’t contradict me, either. This was my chance to make my offer, my only chance in truth.
“I can get you money. Enough to buy passage to any world you want, inside or even outside the Galactic Empire.” I spoke all in one breath, like I was afraid that if the words didn’t get out, they would get all jumbled together in a meaningless mashup. “More than you can spend in a lifetime.”
Cold eyes stayed on me, the pupils thin and attentive. Feline, animal features locked in place, betraying nothing of what he felt.
“All I’m asking for is that you don’t send me back.” I pushed on despite my desire to stay quiet. “To my father, I mean. Don’t send me back to him and I will give you enough money to spend the rest of your life as a rich man.”
There it was. I had put all my cards on the table.
“What makes you think I would take money from you?” Rager’s eyes glowed, but there was no emotion in his eyes or his voice. “And more, what makes you think I won’t take it and send you back anyway?”
I swallowed hard. This was the moment I had been dreading.
“Because you were an honorable man, once. You were a general in the Muharib army, a leader, a man other men looked up to.” I blurted my answer out. “You won’t steal from me. I know you won’t go back on our deal once it’s made, either.”
At least that’s what I hope. You’re my only hope.
There was a long pause, Rager only staring at me, the air filled with tension and unsaid things. His body hovered close to mine, tall and broad. Power in its rawest form.
“Why?” Rager’s fangs showed in the low light, white and pure. Feral and deadly.
“I can’t.” This time, my voice shook. “I can never go back. Please. I won’t get in your way. Just get me out of Valcan and I will disappear. You will never hear from me, ever again.”
His broad body pushed me toward the rock, its cold seeping through the thin fabric of my dress and I shivered. Doubt insinuated itself in my mind. Maybe I had judged him wrong after all.
“You play a dangerous game, little girl.” There was a growl underneath his tone and another kind of shiver slithered up my spine. “What you are asking me is impossible. I can’t take you under my responsibility and just abandon you out into the Galactic Empire like that.”
I swallowed repeatedly, but it was useless. My throat was closed and my heart was beating so hard it hurt.
“I don’t understand.” This was the truth. I didn’t understand. Or I was too scared to.
“You want to come under my protection or not?” There was a harshness in Rager’s tone, more than there ever was before. “And make no mistake here, little girl. This is a one-time deal. There is no walking back that line. Once you’re mine, you’re mine forever.”
I exhaled in shock. My mind swam in a thick ooze as I struggled to understand.
“You mean if I don’t go back to my father, I have to stay with you?” I couldn’t help the incredulous tone in my voice. This was too much. “Why would you want me?”
“My reasons are my own.” Rager’s voice was gravelly and low and his body pressed against mine, flattening me against the rock. There was no mistaking his intent, his message.
I was trading one owner for another, escaping my father’s forced marriage for some other kind of contract. Only Rager was no civilized man.
“I accept.” My hand went to the necklace hidden inside my dress and I pulled it out. The star ruby, large as a quail’s egg, sparkled under the reduced light like it was on fire from within. It was a wonder without price, a truly unique jewel, inherited by me from my mother. And by my mother by hers, for as many generations as we could trace. The only possession the law had allowed to pass directly to me and one my father had been ever so envious of.
And now I was going to give it away to pay for a life of my own.
I’m sorry, Mother.I closed my eyes as I prayed to her name.I hope you understand.
