Agrian was stony in his silence and kept an almost protective grip on Yasmin's arm. True, she could fight well enough on her own. He'd taught her well after all, but here in the Sha's Palace, he knew this was not the same life and death struggles of the Colosseum. Here the chance for death was greater, and he'd rather see to it that at least one of them went on to wake with tomorrow.
"You!" the Captain growled. "What happened!?"
"These two were making trouble!" the first guard growled, trying to massage his throat after Yasmin choked him out. "I set them straight and then they went crazy! Execute them! For attacking the Shah's guard!"
The Captain just scowled at the man, taking what he said with a giant grain of salt. "And you slave? What do you have to say for yourself?" he asked.
Agrian instinctively squeezed Yasmin's arm, as if to tell her to hold her tongue. And he stepped forward. "We were sharing an intimate moment," he said with a deferent lowering of his eyes. But when he looked at the Captain, the man seemed taken aback. "He started to beat us. Without cause."
"You seriously want me to believe you did nothing to instigate this?" the Captain growled and his hand gripped hard on the blade on his belt. But Agrian's expression never faltered.
"We were sharing an intimate moment. Life in the Arena can be hard. You tend to keep close the companions you've made," he said, answering honestly. "We sought to protect each other. We instigated nothing."
The first guard spat at Agrian, and the gladiator stepped back, wiping his face. "Don't tell me you believe such utter kaadir shit! An attack on the Shah's Guard is the same as an attack on the Shah herself! I saw you, you scum muckers! You're lucky a whip was all you got!"
"ENOUGH!" the Captain bellowed. He cut his eyes to the slaves then to the guard and snatched the man by the neck. "I know my orders, and you would do well to remember yours. They may be slaves, but they came here as guests within the Shah's palace. Did she directly order them to be whipped?" he hissed. His grip made the other man buckle his knees. Pain was evident in his features.
"N-no, sir! She was -"
"Then under what pretense did you have to abuse guests of the Shah's palace!?"
"N-none, sir!"
The grip hardened, and the first guard choked. "Then you knowingly attacked guests of the Shah and shall therefore pay the price! Take him down to my office! I will deal with him personally." He released the man and he choked, coughing hard, as the other guards in the entourage carried him off, taking off his helmet, and his weapons. He said not another word to the pair as he slammed the cell door with a bang and locked it. He glared at Agrian and Yasmin for a burning second and departed.
Though he said nothing, the message was clear enough to Agrian. Another sound from the cell and they would both hang, without another warning.
