One Night in the Mine

"I've no great love for Sultan Arif, his policies are bad for all Artazians." Yunis explains. "If he ever comes looking for you again, I will simply report that you died in a mining accident. Also, though it's doubtful Zal would ever find out unless I told him, I'd rather not have to face him if he knew I was holding you as a slave. Besides, it's time he owed ME a favor for a change."

"Thank you very much, then." I reply.

"I don't run a hotel here, you know. I will send a message to Zal in the morning. But until he comes to claim you, you will be a work slave here. It should only be for tonight, though. I'll tell the guards to go easy on you."

I dread having to go into the mine, even for one night, but I decide not to try to test Yunis' patience, especially given his generosity in promising to release me. So I don't object to his putting me to work in the mines. It's only one night, after all. A guard leads me down a sloped ramp cut into the rocky earth. I am forced to trade in my clothes for the standard issue loincloth, with the promise that they will be returned to me when I am freed.

I am then given a small pickaxe, and set to work. The conditions down here are as bad as my vision indicated. Most of the workers look tired and worn down. Though I am not whipped, several others working near me are. I toil for hours in the hot, dusty conditions. Finally, exhausted, we are relieved by the morning shift. I follow the others to the dormitory and collapse on a small mat on the floor.

1. Yunis awakens me a few hours later. "Zal and your freind are here."
2. The day passes, yet no one comes for me. Will I be forced to work a second night in the mines?

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