Snippet #2178130

"Well, I must admit I think this whole idea that we have a choice in the matter is a ruse. Sooner or later we will all end up playing Rashid's little game" Nova explained, the words dripping with gloom. He had meant to address Cerise, but he realized that they really did apply to everyone. In fact the whole reason that Rashid was giving them a choice was probably so that he could watch them stew for a little bit, simmering from an even longer period of sleep deprivation and nerves rubbed raw.

Although for whatever reason he felt fairly confident that Rashid would keep his word about letting the survivors live, Nova realized that such an offer was so open to interpretation. Although the Ausi had been hoping that that meant the survivors would be released unmolested from the captivity, that could simply mean that he would let them live as slaves under his control. And how many survivors did Rashid expect to have? Half of them, as winners of one time duels? Or only one of them, as a winner of an entire tournament? Would Nova have to systematically kill all of his companions, and make it entertaining at that, all for a remote chance at once again regaining his liberty? That thought, as well as a gnawing hunger, made him want to chew his own paw off.