“What is he doing?” Dagorkun growled under his breath.

“What happens to her?” Surkar pointed toward Unessa.

“She has failed. We will consume her to recoup our resources,” the leading Dushegub said.

Unessa went white. The arena snarled in outrage.

“Statement: she is ours!” the Dushegub hissed.

“I wish to purchase the female.” Surkar held out a sack.

“Inquiry: what do you offer?”

Surkar tossed the sack to the Dushegub leader. The tree snapped it out of the air, ripping it in half. Golden spheres, fuzzy like dandelions, tumbled out. Baderi fungus, filled with rare nutrients. The Dushegub equivalent of the rarest caviar, a delicacy. He just dropped enough of it to ensure the survival of an entire acre of young Dushegub saplings. To the Dushegubs, it was nearly priceless.

“Statement: she is yours.”

The Dushegubs exploded into action, snatching the fungus and stuffing it into the cracks in their bark. In seconds it was gone, and the trees slithered their way to the portal and out of the inn.

Surkar looked at Unessa. “You are free. You can come with me if you wish. You will be safe. No one will abuse you.”

“Do you wish to go with him?” Kosandion asked.

Unessa gave Surkar a long look.

“Are you strong?”

“Yes,” Surkar confirmed.

“Are you rich?”

“Yes.”

“Do others serve you?”

“Yes.”

Unessa looked at the Sovereign. “I wish to go with him.”

“The Dominion has no objections. Does the inn?”

“No,” Sean said.

The arena erupted in applause. Surkar offered Unessa his uninjured arm. She held on to him. They made a victory lap around the stage, followed by the shaman.

“Damn it all to all known hells,” Dagorkun swore. “He was beaten and humiliated, and now he’s a hero again. That lackwit couldn’t come up with that move in a million years. Who helped him? Who? When I find out…”

“It was me,” Karat said.

Dagorkun froze.

“I told him how to put this together.”

He turned his head slowly to look at her. The shock and betrayal on his face was almost comical.

“Why?” Dagorkun squeezed out.

“Why not?” Karat sneered at him. “I do not owe you an explanation, Under-Khan. Our nations are at peace, but we are hardly allies. Consider it a small reminder.”

Holy crap.

Dagorkun surged to his feet and marched off. I barely had enough time to open the door for him or he might have just walked through it.

“I thought you and Dagorkun had…something?”