51 Holtz (2/2)
Will thought of the man's question before calling out the boss. ”I wish to do business, but I have no money.” he said with a shy smile on his face. ”I was wondering if there was another way to walk away with some servants.” he added a quick wink to add further innocence to his act.
The man laughed a booming laugh and then sized Will up. ”Kid, you should take your girl and leave. You wouldn't be able to get even one of my slaves with how you look. You would more likely become one.” Although, he thought as he looked at the girl, I don't really see a problem with adding her to my bedside collection. He thought as he looked her up and down once more.
Obviously the man didn't seem to notice his outburst earlier, and even if he did, he was far too interested in Maya to truly think straight. Will silently thanked whoever was watching over him for such luck. He put on the cockiest smile he could muster before responding. ”What are your terms?” the guards around him gawked at his insolence.
The man stopped laughing and became business only. Raising a finger, he smiled. ”One for one. You must fight a guard and beat him to gain one slave.” his smile turned savage as he looked to Maya. ”If you lose, you forfeit one of your own slaves. If you run out of slaves to present,” he pointed a finger to Will. ”You will forfeit your own freedom.” he allowed his hand to drop dramatically, giving Will time to think about what he said.
In reality, the slave trader was hoping that Will wouldn't change his mind. I'll have you at my bed tonight. He said as he eyed Maya. She tried her best not to return his gaze, which had the opposite effect on the man than what she hoped.
Will put a finger to his temple and mustered up a thoughtful expression. ”So if I win one of your slaves, and then lose a round, you would take it back?” Will wanted to give the man a false sense of security, were he to go full in and arrogantly state he could wipe out his entire city, the man would become guarded.
”You only have two tries.” the man raised two fingers. ”The slaves will not become yours until you defeat all of my men.” he looked will over one more time. ”No offense, but I don't think you could take out more than one of my men.”
”How many do I have to fight?” Will asked thoughtfully. He knew the man wasn't going to make it easy on him. The way he had been looking at Maya was enough to make him furious. I won't lose. He thought as he tried to keep his true emotions from showing.
Maya could see how Will was feeling almost as if she were looking in a mirror. I'm sorry I put in in this position, she thought sympathetically as she tried to keep her own neutral expression. Trying to look bored when she was instead furious was difficult.
”Well let's see.” the man raised his pointer finger to eye level as if he were counting, his green eyes sparkling in delight as he baited the young man. ”One.” he said after a minute.
”Just one?” Will looked confused as he watched the man unravel with another booming laugh. Of course there's more to it, he thought as he waited for the slave trader to get it all out of his system.
”No kid, we have thousands of slaves in this city.” he flared at Will waiting for his understanding. ”You will have to fight and beat a thousand men to receive any slaves from Holtz.” he waited patiently for Will to back away surprised or at least complain and walk away. ”Of course,” he said with a thoughtful tone, ”If you want more than a thousand, it could be up for negotiations after the battle is concluded.” he said in a mocking tone. Instead of backing away, Will just smiled and nodded his head.
The man looked at the young fool with a smile. Thank you so much for being so full of yourself, he thought as he looked into the sparkling hazel eyes of the child who may have just taken his first steps into manhood.
”Alright, I agree to your terms.” he said without batting an eye. ”I'll do you a favor as well.” Will said with his childlike demeanor.
”Oh yeah?” the man couldn't suppress a smile. It seemed like he would be served dinner by a new slave tonight. And I'll be served an even sweeter desert before bed. He thought of the young woman chained to his bed by sunset. He wiped his mouth thoughtfully as he flared at the loose strap on Maya's shoulder. ”How's that?”
”I won't even use a weapon. Your men can come at me with whatever they want.” he smiled as he dropped his bag and opened his jacket. He gave both to Maya and stood in only his black shirt and blue jeans. His average arms were the first thing the man looked at. Once he sized Will up, he smiled.
”I'll give you an hour to leave. If you decide to stay though, the gate will shut. When it does, there are only two ways it'll open for you again.” the man turned to walk back out of the crowd of guards. ”You'll either walk out with a thousand slaves, or you'll only leave when your new master collects you.” with that, the man turned to exit the crowd of men.
Before he was out of sight, he turned to the last guard within the formation. ”I don't care what you have to do,” he whispered in the man's ear. ”I want that woman within my bed chambers within two hours.” he said with a slight tremble to his voice.
The guard nodded with a look of pure exhilaration. ”What do you want done with the boy?” the guard waited for his final instruction while the slave trader played with his beard thoughtfully.
”Put him in the dungeon,” he said with a smile. ”We will keep him separate from the others.” he looked beyond the crowd back to Will. ”Something tells me we can fetch a decent price for him.” he said as he turned back to the guard.
”Oh and,” the man said to the guard. ”If you do this right, I'll ensure you have a decent piece of the girl as well.” he said with a wink as he left the formation.
The formation stayed where they were, blocking Will and Maya off from the rest of the city. The only break in the formation was facing the gate to the city.
Will laid on the ground and stared at the sky. Change is finally coming. He thought as he mentally prepared himself for the thousand strong challenge.