In a quiet daze, Yasmin did as Agrian said, though she wasn't sure she believed him--and yet, they walked out of the arena and through the portcullis when she had been expecting it to seal shut again. It felt surreal, two gladiators just...walking out like that. No arrows in their back, no soldiers rushing in to stop them, even after Agrian had pulled that move before the Shah herself!
A move that she had been complicit in.
She couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe just leaving like this was even an option.
While Agrian headed one way, Yasmin went the other. At the infirmary, she annoyed the healers with her fidgeting because she expected at any moment for the world to explode. But they managed to clean and stitch her side and flush her eyes, and thank Hakeshna that there would be no lasting damage. The sand had given her a minor scratch on her left eye, but it would heal within a day or two.
When passing slaves tried to talk to her as she headed down the halls to her cell, stunned by the gossip spreading through the Colosseum, Yasmin could only shake her head. Quiet wasn't usual for Yasmin, but for once she had no words. She couldn't hear much beyond her own loud thoughts as she tried to process what had happened, as she realized Agrian really had saved her life, as guilt sank in at the fact that she would have never done the same, not even for him, even though it would crush her to kill him. She would have killed him, because killing and dying were the only two options she knew.
In her cell, she set her helmet, shield, and scimitar aside, stripped off her armor, and slipped into her robes. It was hard to get comfortable on her cot with her side aching, but that wasn't the reason she didn't sleep. She was exhausted enough for it, mentally and physically, but she could only lay there and stare at the ceiling, her heart drumming loud in her ears, her hands sweaty and shaky as they lay folded on her belly. It was too easy. It shouldn't be this easy. Agrian was right; they would be punished, and even though he'd claimed they wouldn't be killed, there were punishments that might make them wish they were.
She didn't know how long she had laid there before her cell door burst open and her master burst in, red-faced and flanked by two of his other slaves. "Get up!" he snarled. "Get up right now!"
When Yasmin only stared impassively at him, her dug his fingers into her short hair and hauled her upright, smacking her across the face with his other hand. She sucked in a breath but made no other sound. The man couldn't hurt her; you couldn't hurt someone who had little left to lose. But she? She could break him. He was a large man, strong, but he had never fought in the ring. Never fought more than petty thieves. She could break him in two blows, and knowing that hurt more than any beating he gave her--because she knew it, but still had to take it.
"How dare you defy me. How dare you defy me out there! What was that? No, don't answer, I'll tell you what that was! That was a fucking embarrassment!" he spat, shaking her once before shoving her back onto her cot. She clenched her jaw as she landed, pain radiating through her side. But still she remained quiet.
"What? You've got nothing for me for once? Did that fight take your tongue and your goddamn spine? Do you realize how much money I lost today, from you stumbling and crawling like it was your first fucking time? Get the fuck up, Yasmin!"
Deliberately slow in the face of his urgency, Yasmin climbed to her feet and straightened her robes. She glanced up at him.
"Are you in league with him?" the man demanded. "Was that planned?"
"No, sir."
"Oh, no? Because you don't fight like that, Yasmin, so that's sure as hell what it looks like to me. You better hope it didn't look like that to the Shah, but I don't see why else she would summon for you."
Yasmin's breath caught.
"That's right. She demanded you be brought to the palace. So get some clothes on! Your best ones!" he added when Yasmin glanced down at her robes. "Clean your face, for Hakeshna's sake. Make yourself presentable! Go on! Move your ass!"
This was it, what Agrian had mentioned. They were in deep shit, all right. But Yasmin washed her face and sifted through her meager belongings for something cleaner than what she had on, but found what she had on was the least stained. Fastening her slave veil, since they would be leaving the Colosseum and going out in public, she stood ready for her master's orders when she was done.
"Now pick up your things. Pack up."
That made Yasmin blink. "Why? This isn't a vacation, sir."
"Because," her master said through grit teeth, "if the Shah doesn't call for your head, you won't be coming back to me. You embarrassed me today, Yasmin. If the Shah doesn't kill you, I'm going to sell you. You had it good while you had me. I never gave you the whip or hot iron. Others? Others are not so forgiving."
It didn't take long to pack, and before long, they were on their way.
To the Shah's palace.