Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 55108 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55108 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
I can see it in my mind already, her hiding her form and gleaming black locks under the drab cloth, running to the doors, lithe and fast. “You stay low and keep your face down, and run for the ships. Try to gain asylum on a Brogan or Di’inar; they’re reputed to be the fairer ones.”
I take a deep breath and force the bile back down my throat. “I’ll... create a diversion here to buy you some time.” I’d run too, but my bad leg was injured further during the transport. I fear I would just slow her down.
“I can’t go without you!” Her eyes are wide and glassy and her breath comes shallow and fast. She sways.
“Enya.” I grab her hands hard and squeeze, making my voice harsh to get her attention. “You can and you will. You will get yourself to safety. Is that clear?” I imbue my tone with as much authority as I can muster.
Her hands are so cold. Mother Earth.
“They’ll kill me if I try.” Her voice rises.
I glance around the room. “All of us are already dead.” By twisting my arms to one side, I can insert my hand into the pocket of my breeches. I palm the knife stone and breathe out. “But you have one last chance.”
Under the guise of comforting her, I start to saw at the ropes that bind her wrists together. They put some kind of pitch glue on the knot so it can’t be untied, but my stone is sharp enough to make headway, I believe.
“Do it for your mother. She’s waiting for you somewhere.”
And as I say the words, I feel a strange warm glow in my body, as if my speech is true. In fact, I’d never believed her family is still alive; the chances are so slim. But as I say the words, it’s almost as if someone across the galaxy is nodding in approval.
“All right.” Her voice is low but determined. “I will.”
“You can do this,” I assure her. “All that running and jumping I’ve had you do in the fields? The practice maneuvers?” I’m no fighter, but I’ve created obstacle courses and fake grab attacks every planet rotation for her to try and avoid. “I believe in you.”
“But I want you to come.” She looks up at me. “How will you get to safety, yourself?”
I look away. “I will do my best to find another ship.”
I’m not going to survive this. But she’s like my daughter, and I’d give anything for her, even my life.
And then it begins. The gates swing open with a great rusty roar, and the stinking horde of males pours in, like a fetid tide of sewage. Immediately the hall is filled to the dome with shouts, screams, wails, laughter, and angry words as beings select slaves and fight with each other for the best picks.
Enya is immediately surrounded. Too fast. I’m not nearly done with the first thick strand of rope, and already the auctioneer yanks her from my grasp. I’m barely able to pull my fist up into my sleeve to conceal the knife.
“She’s mine, I saw her first,” snarls a squalid Ocretion with a warty chin.
“Not if I want her.” A nearby Goth growls and taps his sword meaningfully, narrowing his three eyes. “And I will pay double the asking price in stein.”
“I can give triple.” A Waq steps up, eyes leaking fluid, as his kind do in oxygen-rich atmospheres, onto the drop cloth he’s affixed to his chest.
Enya moans and I can’t even touch her for comfort.
“What’s that one with her?” A being gestures to me, face screwed up into an expression of distaste. “With the... leg.”
The auctioneer smirks. “A freebie, bonus with purchase.”
“Get her out of the way. She’s blockin my view of the pretty slave. And untie her neck so I can touch it.”
The auctioneer rolls his eyes. “For quadruple the stein, I’ll do it.”
The being produces money, and I’m unceremoniously dragged from the dais, and tossed to the floor at the auctioneer’s feet. He kicks me. “Stay,” he warns, his voice vicious, “until you’re needed, unless you want a dagger through your throat.” He kicks my face again for good measure.
My side burns and I think maybe he’s broken a rib with his boot, but I right myself and try to stand. Maybe there’s still a chance to save her. At least in the fracas my hands have come free of the coarse rope.
Now they’re reaching out, touching Enya: her face, her hair, her hands. When someone reaches for her breasts, I lose it.
“No!” I roar, and with all my might, I stab at the closest being hard, in the place where his thighs meet his body, and twist.
He goes down with a high-pitched scream so violent and sudden that I almost reel in surprise, and I stab again and again until suddenly I’m at the dais, and there’s Enya.