All the buildings in the red zone were old and slightly damaged by time and countless daily street fights. Cuts and cracks on the walls as well as marks of burned walls. Most of the windows were closed, even blocked with furniture or fortified with planks. Countless rubbish was lying on the floor, pushed by the wind or piled up near the walls. Some poor children searched in them for food or something of value.
One of the slaves let out a painful grunt and looked at his bare feet. Blood was slowly dripping from a cut made by broken glass. The man tried to remove the glass shard, but the pirate got impatient and pulled the chain. The man stumbled forward as he was standing on one leg. With a thud, he fell to the ground onto the remaining glass shards. His left leg was bleeding from a knee to the foot, as many deep cuts painted his leg red.
“What are you doing?! Keep moving!” Shouted the pirate as he pulled the man up with force, tightly squeezing his arm. He then pushed him forward and walked behind the limping man.
Evan was walking slightly in front of Navia, but the shouts caught his attention. Turning around, he saw the wounded slave. “You idiot! Can’t you see he is bleeding?!” He shouted as he approached the man, a vein popping out on his head. He then forcibly gave the man a half-empty bottle of whiskey. “If no one buys him because of the injury, you’ll pay up front.”
The pirate hesitated for a moment, but he couldn’t oppose his captain. The sound of losing money was the worst part that he heard. “Yes, captain…” The pirate took the slave to the side of the road and poured the alcohol over his wounded leg and foot. The slave let out a painful grunt, to which the pirate responded, “It’s better than dying.”
Edgar came up to them and gave a piece of cloth without a word to the pirate. He observed him closely as the pirate bandaged the wounded slave, making sure he did it properly. Once they finished, they were at the end of the group.
“I swear… They don’t care about anything unless it's their personal belonging…” Evan cursed in his head, clearly unhappy with the situation that occurred behind his back. His hand went under his coat to look for something, but he couldn’t find it. “Where is my whiskey…”
Leaving the narrow alley, the group entered a large plaza that was “clean” compared to the street they had gone through. The whole plaza was just empty stone pavement. Right in front of it was a church, but it didn’t have any crosses or stained glass. Like it was abandoned and reused for different purposes. Right in front of it were many carriages and carts with guards standing right beside them. Each guard had different armor, suggesting a different company had hired them.
Evan led the group to the back of the church, where there was an entrance protected by steel doors. He knocked on them three times, and then he waited. After a moment, the shutter was moved, revealing someone’s eyes.
The captain tried to bow, but he almost fell forward as he attempted to greet the person. Slowly stabilizing himself, he said, “Captain Evan, The Strider. I came with ‘items’ for an auction.”
“How many?” The man behind the steel doors asked, his voice as heavy as the doors he protected.
Evan turned around to count all the slaves, but as he was not facing the man, he said, “Fourteen… And two for the Barons Auction.”
“Barons Auction? How special?” The man asked, curious about the mention of the special auction.
“Don’t you trust The Strider when he says someone is special?” Evan asked, hoping the man would let him in, but the grunt from the man made him say the truth. “Okay… Brimwon survivors. Sounds exclusive… Don’t you think so?” Evan leaned against the doors and got closer to the shutter, proud of his find.
The shutter quickly closed, and the doors opened. Evan almost fell inside as he was still leaning against the doors, but he quickly grabbed them before he could fall.
Evan turned to his companion, his eyes sharp with authority the crew respected. “Edgar. Take care of the usual items.” Once he turned to the pirates that held Navia, he burped and lost his shine for a moment. “The three of you will come with me to the Barons Auction.” Said Evan, holding a hand over his mouth to not vomit in that moment.
The whole crew followed Edgar inside while Evan and the three pirates with slaves waited by the doors. While they were waiting, Evan ran to the building right in front of the church and let it all out. The auction guard waited for the rest of the crew to enter the usual auction house that was inside the church. Once they left, the guard signaled for Evan to follow him. They went up the stairs to the second bell tower. Halfway up, the guard stopped and began tapping the bricks. He pressed one of them, and a whole wall moved, revealing a hidden entrance to the building right behind the church, built wall to wall.
From the outside, it looked abandoned and on the brink of collapsing; inside, there was a banquet hall with many tables with white-green tablecloths and waiters walking around them, serving drinks and snacks to people with elegant jackets and dresses. Chandeliers hung above them, lighting the center while at the sides remained darkness where people hidden behind pillars talked about business. By some of them stood their personal guards in their battle uniforms and armor. Many guards who stood by the pillars wore green coats and only had sabers by their belts.
The floor was made of white marble with an occasional mosaic made of green tiles. Above the chandeliers was a coved ceiling made of orange wooden panels well-lit by the candles beneath them. At the end of the hall, there was a small stage.
The guard guided Evan’s group and stopped behind a curtain. “Wait here. I’ll inform the head about your arrival.” The man then gently moved the curtain and walked away.
“Loosen up her chuckles.” Quickly said Evan once he was certain the man had walked away. The pirates looked at each other, confirming if all of them heard the exact same request. “I said loosen up her chains.” He said a bit louder, making the men flinch, and then proceeded with the order. Evan kneeled down in front of Navia and Mirabell, who remained silent this whole time. “Try to escape after they take you to their mansion. It’ll be the easiest way to escape.” He whispered so only Navia could hear that.
“You’re ready to go, Evan.” Said the guard as he suddenly stuck his head out of the curtain.
“Fuck… I didn’t notice him approaching. I drank too much… Nah.” Thought Evan as he tried not to look surprised by his appearance. “Let me finish checking my items, and I’ll get on stage. Don’t want to sell anything bad to those guys.” Answered Evan with bitterness at the end.
“Good.” The guard simply said and moved the curtain to cover them from the crowd that was gathering. The showman announced to the whole crowd that a special item would be auctioned, and all of them gathered like a flock of sheep, impatiently awaiting the items in question.
“I could take a swig before talking to those rich scumbags but it looks like I can’t afford such a luxury.” Whispered Evan, imagining the taste of sweet whiskey in his mouth. Which he truly felt because his breath was stenched by it.
He grabbed the curtain and with one swift move he moved it aside. “Ladies! And Gentlemen! It’s a pleasure to see you! For the second time this month… I surprised myself with some of the catches I got recently. Mister Trumbley, how is the golden bronkin doing?” Asked Evan as he turned toward a young man in a red jacket and dark blond hair slick back who was standing near the pillar close to the stage with two ladies at his sides.
“Fits perfectly into my fish tank!” The man shouted as he lifted a glass of champagne, followed by a joyful laugh from him and then the crowd.
“That’s good to hear!” Evan shouted gladly with a fake smile on his face, but no one would suspect it as he played his role very well. “Today, I have another unusual person. It’s not their looks that are special… but the origin!”
The crowd began to whisper loudly, each one of them trying to guess who the slaves might be. “You think he got someone from Monastery?” An older woman whispered to her husband. “Maybe someone from the Noble family of Beronia?” A man standing right behind them suggested.
“Uh… None of you made a right guess…” Evan let out a sigh, trying to turn the auction into a show. “Let me quench your curiosity with a correct answer. Those two ladies are from Berionia, Brimown, The Lost City! The only survivors of the Tide that brought demise onto the city!”
The crowd let out surprised gasps, and a loud chatter broke in the hall. People were already considering how much they were willing to pay for something so exotic. For them, they were the same as paintings and exclusive items to put on a shelf, something to brag about to other rich people.
They all shared one thing in common: unimaginable greed. Even with that amount of gold and money that could be spent within ten lives, they still want more to fill the bottomless hole of desires.
“To spice things up, the two of them will be sold at the same time, so don’t count on catching the other for a lower price!” That announcement made some of the barons tense and considered how much they were willing to pay. “Who will begin?” Asked Evan, looking around for any hands in the crowd, but the first hand that was raised stood away from the crowd.
Mister Trumbley was the first to put a starting price. “Two hundred.” Those words gave hunger to the rest of the barons as the set price was low. A woman raised a hand behind the crowd. “Two hundred and fifty!” A man who didn’t seem interested suddenly burst out as he could no longer hold his poker face, “Five hundred!” He seemed glad to raise the price as no one seemed to want to pay more than that.
The people hesitantly looked around in disbelief, waiting for someone who was willing to pay more. The man went pale as he heard “Five hundred and one.” from Mister Trumbley. In this auction, there is a silent rule. If someone adds a single coin more, that means a warning that he is willing to pay any price. The man stepped back from his spot to hide as he didn’t want any trouble with Mister Trumbley.
“The items will go to Mister Trumbley for five hundred and one in three, two…” Evan announced slowly, hoping for someone else to cut in, and his eyes looked around for someone from the Markiz Family. He did make eye contact with an older man in a black suit and red scarf.
Both of them smiled as they looked into each other’s eyes. “Six hundred and two…” Announced the older man as he looked at Mister Trumbley, who almost dropped his drink after hearing the price. Adding two at the end was a silent threat to anyone who would raise the price.
“Final offer ends in three, two, one! Two items are sold to Belver Markiz!” As Evan gladly announced the winner, the people slowly clapped for the older man.