Page 81 of Tiger's Dream
“No one’s ever escaped. At least no one who’s survived.”
“Then I’ll be the first.”
“We’ll see, boy, we’ll see.”
I twisted and dug my fingers between my ankle and the manacles, trying to find a weakness in the chain, but after several moments, I gave up.
“Best rest for now,” the woman warned me. “They’ll want you fresh for tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?”
“The auction is tomorrow.”
One day? I only had a few hours to try to figure out a way to save not only Anamika but myself. It wasn’t enough time.
The next day I was dragged out of the wagon and doused with a bucketful of water before being unceremoniously dumped into a building. I was forced to sit in the dirt with a dozen other captives, and I scanned the group, disappointed to find only men. The old woman I’d met in the carriage shuffled with a basket of flatbread and handed one to each of us, then came back with a ladle and a jug of water. We each were allowed only one cupful before she moved on.
When she came to me, she leaned down and murmured, “Try to catch the eye of the man in the purple turban. He’s the one who’s going to buy your girl.”
Before she left, I caught her hand. Our chains clanked together. “Thank you,” I said. “When I get her out, I promise to come back for you.”
Her wrinkled face lifted in a weary smile, but she said nothing and shuffled on to the next captive. The afternoon passed slowly as the men were taken out one by one. I heard cheers and boos as the auction went on and then it was my turn. I was dragged out of the building by a burly man with a wicked-looking blade at his hip. When I struggled, he cuffed the side of my head, and the ringing in my ears replaced the sounds of the crowd.
The area was packed with people. Slaves stood holding parasols over their owners and fanned them as they sat on rugs or chairs beneath the garish sun. I was led up to the dais and was turned one way and another so everyone could get a good look at me. My shirt was torn from my body so they could see my arms and chest, and the auction began.
It only took a moment to spot the man with the purple turban. He appeared bored with the auction and perused a tray of food instead of watching the proceedings. I didn’t know at first what I could do to catch his attention, but then I noticed the trembling girls who sat around him. Their faces were covered and they were young. Anamika was about the same age.
The serving boy accidentally spilled something and he froze. Terror turned his skin white. The man just smiled and patted the boy’s cheek. He traced a scar on the young man’s face, and the trembling boy left, visibly shaken.So, I thought,he likes to hurt kids.
Immediately, I knew how best to get him to buy me. Quickly, I shoved aside the man holding my chain and leapt down from the dais, landing right in front of the man in the purple turban. The girls didn’t even move though I could have easily fallen on them. I shouted at the slave buyers, kicked sand at the man in the turban, and spat in his face before telling him I knew what he liked to do to children.
Slowly the man stood up, smiled, and offered quite a sizable sum for me just as my handlers were drawing me back. The offer was immediately accepted and I was taken away. Just before they pulled me back inside the building, I heard cheers and turned to look at the dais. Anamika stood there in the middle—alone, dirty, and innocently beautiful. The man who bought me stood up, hunger obvious on his face.
I wished I could have felt happy that I’d accomplished my goal after I heard the auctioneer shout that the man in the turban had bought Ana, but a sick dread filled me instead. My stomach wrenched when she was brought into the same building. She was chained to the spot across from me.
Within the space of a moment, I scanned her from head to foot and felt relief to see she was relatively unharmed. She hung her head, her dark hair covering her face.
“Hello?” I said softly when we were alone.
She looked up at me with those green eyes of hers, unshed tears making them glisten in the dim prison. It disturbed me more than I thought it would to see no recognition in her eyes.
“I’m going to get us out of here, Ana,” I said. “I promise.”
I heard her gasp and then a man came in and demanded, “Were you talking to her?”
“No,” I said.
“Teach him a lesson,” a voice behind the guard said. It was the man in the purple turban. “Teach him a lesson and then let’s get underway. The sun is sweltering.”
“Yes, master,” the guard said. He drew back his arm and then his powerful fist met my face.
Chapter 17
A Villain by any Other Name
My head wrenched to the side and the copper taste of blood filled my mouth. I barely had time to notice one of my molars was loose before the second strike came. By the time my eye was swollen shut and the breath wheezed in my lungs, the man was thankfully called away. I remained still, waiting for the healing to begin and the pain to ebb, but it seemed to get worse, not better. I groaned and reached for the healing firefruit juice only to remember my bag had been taken.
Knowing the firefruit juice was gone was bad enough, but losing the truth stone was an altogether idiotic thing to do. If this was my quest, the one I was tasked with accomplishing all alone, I was royally screwing it up. Ren and Kelsey would have done much better.
