The auctioneer was so excited that he about stumbled over the edge of the stage. Catching himself he called out loudly "I have six thousand tarsas for the beautiful slave before us!"
The wealthy buyer from one of the southern seacoast cities, who had offered the previous offer of five thousand tarsas raised his hand again angrily.
"I have seven thousand tarsas! Do I hear an answer from the mysterious gentleman to my right?"
The hand lifted again and the auctioneer almost beside himself screamed out, "I have a bid of eight thousand tarsas!"
The wealthy buyer from the south looked absolutely apoplectic, but he raised his hand again; though he looked noticeably reluctant to do so.
"I have nine thousand tarsas!"
The crowd's attention had been going back and forth between the two and now it returned to the mystery man, who flipped back his hood as he arrived at the base of the slave auction stage.
Looking up into her scared eyes Roric winked at her! Krista almost moaned in frustration at him. How could he wink at a time like this! It was an unimaginable fortune of money to be paid for a slave girl no matter how pretty she was.
Krista's hands were clenched at her sides in tight fists and her insides were tied up in knots of tension as she waited to see what Roric would do. The crowd was silent as the handsome stranger reached inside his cape and withdrew a hefty looking black velvet bag. Undoing the pull cord he stepped close to the stage and sprayed the contents of the bag out across the stage in the auctioneer's direction.
Exquisitely cut gems of every imaginable color spilled out onto the smooth wooden floor of the stage. The gems caught and reflected the light as they tumbled over and around Krista's bare feet.
Krista's mouth fell open in complete shock as her stunned gaze lifted from the glittering jewels to Roric's face. He had just spilled out a king's ransom onto the stage.
The auctioneer choked out, "The bidding is closed! Release the girl to her new master and may he be well pleased with his expensive purchase here today!" The auctioneer then commenced to fall to his knees and help pick up the gems that were scattered all across the stage.
A guard rushed forward and unlocked the iron manacle around Krista's ankle as pandemonium reined in the auction house. Krista walked to the edge of the stage and would have jumped into Roric's' arms, but his big hands came up and closed around her narrow waist and lifted her down.