QUOTE : Did they . . .” I didn’t know how to ask the question. Or even if I should. “No.” She shook her head. “One of them tried. The brute with the long orange beard. You know the one?” I nodded. “I bit off half his ear and kicked him in the balls so hard he still limps. You might have noticed.” I had noticed, actually. He not only limped, he scowled. A lot. Elka grinned fiercely. “If we hadn’t run away, Charon would’ve had to pay that bastard blood money, taken out of whatever price I fetched once we got to Rome,” she said. “But I also heard him say that whoever bought me would wind up paying far more than the price of bruised balls and half an ear. He seemed pretty sure of it, so I guess he decided I was worth keeping alive. Anyway, none of the other slavers felt much like trying their luck after that.