Slave Unbound Ch. 27

Sabrina took a long moment, her steely gaze fixed on him as she took a long draw from her drink. To her credit, she managed to keep a perfectly neutral mask on her emotions, one good enough that even Donovan wasn't sure what she was feeling. "In other words, you're wanting to give her a second chance to kill my gladiator. Might I ask why?"

He laughed, giving his head a shake. "You have that backwards, actually. I am offering Leita a second chance to put a final end to a woman who wants her dead, now for personal reasons. The assassin, Trinka, blames Leita the most for what happened. Not Cornelius for leaving her a slave, nor me for keeping her that was. Especially, not herself for allowing herself to be put in the situation to begin with."

The levity in his face faded. "In her belief, Leita was granted an unfair advantage over her. She insists that was the only reason that her target isn't already dead." He leaned forward. "I want her to learn, even if only briefly, that her loss was her own. That she is the only person responsible for where she finds herself. To do that, I am offering to outfit your gladiator with the same equipment that mine shall have. The same armor, the same quality of arms. Let the scales be balanced between them, so that there can be no question whose skill is the better."

"Why then a death match?" Sabrina countered, that mask still carefully concealing her inner thoughts about this offer. "Would it not be better to allow her to survive, that she might actually learn from her error?"

Donovan leaned back into the chair again, his eyes narrowing. "I want to make sure there is no room for mercy here. Trinka intends to kill your fighter, whether she is instructed to or to not. For her, this is a matter of personal pride and vengeance. I want to make sure your fighter knows that she must bring her best or bring her own shovel."

Sabrina took in a deep breath, obviously very uncertain. "Why though, Donovan? Why are you so interested in seeing this play out? Who is Leita to you?"

He'd expected this, had known she would be suspicious the moment Leita was became the focus of his business. "I have to wonder who she really is to you, Sabrina. To me, she is talented warrior being wasted. You continue to indulge her to fight against laughable lots, a level she proved herself beyond in her own fight AS a lot. They are safe fights where you further indulge her to play little games of making piss-poor combatants look worth investing in. We both know she is better than that, is worth more than what little money and prestige those matches bring your House. I believe her to be more than an equal to Trinka and I want to see if she has the strength to kill."

He sat forward again, edging up on his seat this time to fully engage her. "And you should want that even more than I do, if I am honest. There is no question that there will come a day, even keeping her safe among those pitiful lot matches, when she will be forced to kill in order to survive. The more you allow her the liberty of mercy, the less likely she will have the will to do what she must. Prove, here and now, that she can kill."

Sabrina stood from her couch and stalked away from him. He'd already guessed that Sabrina had taken a liking to the girl, was coddling her now. For all her strengths, she still had the weakness of loneliness. And it was obvious who she'd chosen to take Cookie's place; and it wasn't her new concubine.

"Agree to this and I offer you two things, Sabrina." He said, knowing he needed to keep up the pressure, not give time for that weakness to infect her rationality. "Firstly, I will grant my share of the proceeds for the fight to you, win or lose. With your talent for weaving narratives of personality to matches like this, I'm sure the profits would be rewarding for each of us already, so you would easily make back any lost investment in the girl, should I prove wrong in my estimation of her."

He stood now, pausing a moment to make sure this second point hit squarely home. "In addition, I will ensure that Cornelius Venge never reveals the Baroness's error in believing that you never fulfilled your end of the bargain you struck with her."

Sabrina whirled in place so fast, her glass flew from her hand to shatter across the floor. However, if she even registered this, she showed no sign. In an instant, she was close to him, that neutral mask she'd been so careful to maintain completely lost now. "How do you even know about that?" Her voice was low, the growl of a cornered animal. "I assume that I should also take that a threat that you will personally inform Farrah about her mistake, should I refuse this offer." There was a bit of fire in her eyes, a simmering danger that he found he quite liked, despite that she offered absolutely no threat to him in any way.

"There is no threat implied, Sabrina." He said calmly. "Of course I know. Do you really think I wouldn't question what would make you pay so much for her when even I wasn't sure she was worth even a third of that? Ironically, Cornelius hasn't put together the connection, despite his own arrangements in the same vein with her." He gave a little grin at the man's self-absorption. "Rest assured, refuse and I leave here merely disappointed. I will do nothing to harm you or your House, but I will also do nothing to help."

He strode past her, acting as though he'd lost interest in the tension of the moment. "I don't care about whatever political games you may involve yourself in. I do not even care about whatever vendettas you may forge with any other House. I merely wish to see the outcome of this arrangement. My cards are completely on the table, as always."

He turned to look at her. "If I am right, one of the reasons you pit her against lots, still now, when she had earned the acclaim for much more profitable fare from day one, in an effort to protect her. You recognize that the Baroness, and by proxy, Cornelius. is still a significant danger to her. I can nullify that danger. All you have to do is trust that I am also right about her as being strong enough for this."

Sabrina remained a burning torch of emotion for a moment more, before that fire extinguished and she dropped, wearily, back to her sofa. "Have I truly become so transparent?" She asked, more to herself than to him.

"If it soothes at all, she is obviously something very special." He said, moving over to settle beside her. "There is something magnetic to her, not just due to her skill, but her whole presence. She has had the attention of everyone from her debut. Even the Baroness, in her flawed way, recognized something in this slave, easily just one of an endless number that her husband has played with. Why else would she feel the need to make such a grand example of such an assumedly forgettable creature?"

She eyed him curiously. "Even to you? Even the formidable Donovan Solivier is caught up on this one slave?"

He chuckled. "Obviously. Why else would I be here, offering so much just to sate my own interest in her? I make no bones that I had wanted to own her, that it pains me to see her not pushed the way I would push her. Grant me this, let me see whether or not she is still as sharp a blade as I first saw her to be. Do it for yourself as well. Remind yourself that she is a gladiator. A killer."

Standing again, she paused to consider the broken glass on her carpet a moment, then went to her liquor cabinet to fetch a fresh drink. "Fine. I accept your offer. And keep your share of the profits, if it means all the more energy into quieting Cornelius. Guarantee me that any threat from her ends when your doomed assassin is dead and I will give you the death match."

He stood, smiling broadly. "Thank you, Sabrina. I am glad we could put aside pretense and talk plain of this. Hopefully, when this is done, you will see that she has so much more potential than you give her credit for."

The sour look she gave him told him that it was time he made his exit. He'd recognized she'd grown attached to the girl, but he could now see just how attached she'd really become. It was a bit sickening.

"I assume all the arrangements are being seen to by yourself, Master Solivier." She said. "Please let me know the details, once you have them." It was as much of a dismissal as he needed.

"I look forward to seeing the fight, Sabrina." He gave her a bow. "So should you. It will be a defining moment. Of that, I am certain."