A/N: Hurricane! Woooo!
I hurried this chapter along (and yes, I know it's obscenely short) since extended power outages are expected.
Thankfully I have a gas stove, though I'm not too keen on lighting it with a match.
Excitement!
They were moving again, the men surrounding them on all sides ignored them for the most part.
Jazar rode next to the cage, in a good mood for the time being.
"I see you've got yourself patched up. Good, good. We haven't caught any more offerings today so you two will have to bring in a pretty penny."
He took in their bloodied and bedraggled appearance.
"Looks like you'll be needing a bath. Ha!"
For whatever reason, the slaver found this statement inordinately amusing and continued to laugh loudly for a few minutes before settling down.
"Now, I'm going to explain to you a bit of what's going to happen. It's in your best interest to listen."
His tone reminded Merlin of a woman in Camelot's marketplace that always tried to talk him into buying jewelry 'for that special someone'.
"See I'll be auctioning you off to a sponsor for whom you'll compete in the tournament. The auction itself is a sort of competition- you'll want to show your best side so you attract the attention of a noble with deep pockets. Your sponsor is the one that makes sure you're fed and housed throughout the duration of the Gauntlet- or lets you rot in a cell with little food or water, either way."
He seemed positively tickled at the thought.
"You'll have a short amount of time to talk yourself up to the bidders- I'd suggest you not hold back. Fetching a generous backer is really the only thing you can do to prepare, especially since the events are always a secret- well, except the last one. That's always the same, I suspect you might even enjoy it Pendragon! Or did you already know about your... friend here?"
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Arthur snapped.
Merlin had a sneaking suspicion, but certainly wasn't going to share it.
Jazar just laughed at him.
"Oh you'll see- if you live that long!"
More laughter.
"I think I prefer it when he's in a bad mood" Arthur muttered.
Merlin silently agreed.
Jon and Hunith crept through the trees, heading back to where the band of slavers had made camp the previous night.
As the boy had explained to the woman earlier, the rogues typically left their captives in the camp largely unguarded during the first part of the day while they went 'hunting'.
Provided they followed their typical pattern and Merlin had indeed been caught, the young man should still be where Jon had left him.
The redhead held a finger up to his lips and motioned for Hunith to hang back while he peaked over a cluster of bushes into the small clearing.
It seemed like ages since he had escaped from this same space rather than hours.
Noticing a distinct lack of slavers and cages he cursed, immediately apologizing to the woman beside him.
Hunith gave him a crooked smile. "I've heard far worse in my day."
The smile gave way to an expression that was both worried and resolute.
"What do we do now?"
Jon sighed.
"Well, they won't be moving very quickly, but the whole band will be surrounding the cage now. They'll be back in their stronghold by nightfall and there's no way we'll be able to get them out of there alone."
The weight of his words kept both of them silent for a moment.
"We'll need to get help."