If they were, they weren't discussing it. Their conversations centered around trade. One man was displaying goods the others were negotiating for. Some of my conviction began to wane, and I frowned. It was always possible only one of them was a traveler like me and was there on business.
"Who are you?"
I whirled and stared at the man before me. His eyes were narrowed, his hand on the hilt of a dagger.
"No one," I murmured. "I was lost." I stepped away.
At the sound of my voice, his gaze sharpened. He snatched my arm and hauled me into the room with the others, all but slinging me onto their table. I caught myself with my injured hands and suppressed a groan at the streak of hot pain.
The others stared at me then the other man, surprised. One of them yanked my hood back, and that seemed to unfreeze them.
"What is this?" one asked and wrenched the tiara off my head. "This pearl is of great quality."
"She's dressed like a Mongol," another said.
Several other made cruder comments, and I straightened and took a step back. "Excuse me. I did not mean to intrude."
"You speak when spoken to, whore!" The man nearest me snapped and slapped me hard.
Startled, I rested a hand against my stinging cheek.
"Who do you belong to?" another demanded.
"No one." I backpedaled, only to run into the man who tossed me into the room.
He closed the door behind him, and I started to suspect this was not going to end well. Cursing myself silently, I debated what to say or do.
"By all rights, she is under my roof and therefore mine," an older man who looked to be in his sixties declared and stood. "But I will sell her for a fair price."
Sell?
At first, I thought the men were as taken aback as I was. They were quiet for a long moment, exchanging looks, before one slapped a hand on the table containing misshapen silver coins.
"Broghun, tie her up!" the owner of the hotel ordered.
The man behind me grabbed me.
"No, wait! I'm here with -" I objected and yanked away.
He slapped me, this time hard enough to make my head spin.
And then the sense of detachment crept upon me.
Not now! I ordered my tired mind. I started to fade … and struggled to concentrate on my senses the way Batu told me to. Stuck in my internal war, I was vaguely aware of having my hands tied and my mouth gagged. I couldn't utter a single word anyway, not when I was in this horrible stage of detachment.