The underground casino was a lot busier at night. There was sort of a crowd outside. Not a line, not a group of people, but several small groups of disreputable-looking people were gathered in the general vicinity of the entrance. Close, but not close enough to be lit by the lanterns above the entrance. As the trio approached, Anton saw one group go up to the door and speak with the guards.

Anton could feel the eyes on him as they approached, but Kelsey ignored them. She also ignored the group arguing with the bouncer, brushing them aside like they were nothing.

“We’re expected,” she said.

“Hey! You can’t do that—” the courl she had just shoved yelled. Then he stopped, his outrage diverted in mid-rant, as the guard nodded and opened the door for Kelsey. “—You’re letting her in? Do you know who I am?”

Anton glanced at him as they moved past. He was wearing silk, but no rings, and his sword looked pretty basic.

Steel Sabre, Weapon, Good Quality, Tier 1

The courl himself wasn’t much more impressive.

Nazim Alpash, Law Clerk, Overall Level 4, Law Clerk

“You’re Tier one?” Anton snorted. The courl was clearly older than him. Nazim drew himself up to reply, but the door closed behind Anton before the Law Clerk could come up with something.

Inside, it was much more crowded. The quiet and casual air of the place during the day was gone, replaced by a bustling crowd of richly dressed people, looking far too eager to join the games that were on offer. Everyone was drinking and speaking too loudly, and only the ubiquitous guards kept things from getting out of hand.

Once inside, they were handed over to a different pair of guards. “If you’ll take a seat, the boss will be ready for you in a bit,” one of them said. He took their weapons, at least the weapons that they had been carrying. Kelsey had their real weapons in her Storage, but Anton and Aris had carried some basic swords, just so that they wouldn’t be walking the streets unarmed.

The guards led them to a fairly small table. Given how crowded the room was, though, the fact that it was empty was fairly impressive. Anton looked around, but he couldn’t see anyone who looked like they had just been evicted from their seats.

“Stay frosty,” Kelsey said. “We’re going to be waiting here long enough for him to make his point that he’s important, and we’re not. He’ll probably try something to make you lose your cool.”

“Why would he do that?” Aris asked. “Aren’t we here to make a deal?”

Kelsey waved her hand vaguely. “It’s a criminal thing,” she said. “He needs to establish that he’s the one in charge. Making you lose your cool means that he managed to control you, at least a little bit.”

“Oh,” Aris said. “I should have asked before, but what’s cool, and how do I lose it?”

Anton had been wondering the same thing, but it was generally easier to just shut up when Kelsey used terms he didn’t know. Kelsey chuckled.

“Um, I guess composure would be the proper word?” she said. “Like, he’s going to do something to make you upset, or angry.”

“So anger is hot, and cool is the opposite of that?” Anton asked.

“You got it, daddy-o,” Kelsey said, smirking. Anton felt his face get hot. This was why it wasn’t worth asking about her weird terms.

A guard stepped up to the table. “The boss is ready for you now,” he said.

They all followed the guard to a back room. Here, the tables were more widely spaced. The players looked richer, if not any less desperate. The guard led them up some stairs, to a balcony that overlooked the gaming area. There were a few nooks set up here, and the guard led them to the largest of them.

Rashaq Nazari was waiting for them. The booth boasted a wide banquette, padded with leather, that wrapped around the three walls. It was deep enough to let the crime lord lean back and rest his feet on the low, ornately carved table that occupied the centre space.

Anton remembered his resolution.

Rashaq Nazari, Fixer, Overall Level 24, Laborer/(broken) Merchant/(broken) Fence/Fixer

Anton blinked at the list of broken paths. There was a story there, of how he went from Labourer to Merchant… probably a grim one. The courl himself had his arms draped around two women, one on each side. They were curled up next to him, leaning into his embrace.

One of the women was a courl, with fur as black as Rashaq’s but with brilliant sapphire-blue eyes. She was dressed in brightly coloured silks that wrapped around her, revealing more than they covered. Her legs were drawn up underneath her, allowing her to show off her delicate silver ankle bracelet.

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Sylara Veleska, Courtesan, Overall Level 19, Doxy/Concubine/Courtesan

The other was human, a girl not much older than Anton, with golden skin and lustrous ebony hair. Her eyes were a warm brown, and her dress, a thin silk shift that clung to her skin was a cascade of midnight blue, adorned with delicate silver embroidery that shimmered in the half-lit gloom.

Amina Deshara, Courtesan, Overall Level 18, Slave/Concubine/Courtesan

Both of them stared at the group with fixed smiles and guarded eyes. Both of them wore unadorned silver collars.

“Won’t you sit down?” Rashaq said, nodding to one side of the nook. “Our other guest should be arriving shortly.”

“Classy,” Kelsey said, taking her seat. “You brought your sex slaves.”

The easy smile on Rashaq’s face flickered. “Crude,” he said. “As befits barbarians. This is my casino, why wouldn’t I bring my girls here?”

Sitting down next to Kelsey, Anton kept a hold of Aris’s hand. Amina’s skin was too light to be Zamarran, and Aris wouldn’t be able to see the path of the slave girl. Still, Rashaq had made it obvious what the girls were.

Just keep your cool, Anton reminded himself. The girls didn’t look scared, or mistreated. He wasn’t here to save every slave in the city. He looked over at Aris and she seemed to be following Kelsey’s advice. Then he looked over at Kelsey and his blood ran cold.

She was smiling. It wasn’t a fake smile, or a forced one. It was the same grin that she’d had when the Baron had told her that she was going to be tortured.

Anton remembered what she’d said earlier. If you buy a slave off a slaver, he just goes and uses that money to get more slaves.

Anton had a feeling that Rashaq Nazari now had a very limited time to buy any new slaves.

“So where is this guy?” Kelsey asked.

“It takes a bit of effort to drag him off the tables,” Rashaq said. “Here he comes now.”

Anton looked over and widened his eyes in surprise. Courl weren’t normally fat.

Zephyrion Kaldoran, Administrator, Overall Level 18, Clerk/(broken) Law Clerk/Administrator

The courl that waddled over was richly dressed, but he was also the fattest Courl that Anton had ever seen. He hadn’t thought they could get fat.

Taking a seat opposite them, Zephyrion accepted the large bag that one of the guards was carrying for him. He looked over at his customers, panting a little, as if the trip up the stairs had been too much for him.

“Now that we’re all here, we can get started,” Rashaq said. “On my right is Kelsey, who’s looking for some information, and on my left is my dear friend Zephyrion who can tell you what you’re looking for.”

“Records, yes?” Zephyrion said, his eyes gleaming with avarice. “Of incoming slaves and their deposition? I have the records you’ll need,” he said patting the bag beside him.”

“Great!” Kelsey said. “I hate wasting time. We’re going to need you to find a slave called Chiea Lucina and tell us where she, and everyone that came in with her, went.”

“A-bup pup up!” Zephirion interjected. “We need to determine a price, first. Five gold.”

“Did you lose all your money in the casino, or do you have a particularly bad drug habit?” Kelsey exclaimed dramatically. “I can hire someone to steal the damn book for five silver!”

“Hmph! Even if they could get past the matchless security of the Administrative Compound, they wouldn’t find it! It’s safe here with me.” Zephyrion patted the bag next to him smugly.

“Oh, in that case, five copper, for someone to mug you when you leave, and they get to keep everything else on you,” Kelsey sneered.

“Now, now,” Rashaq interjected as a massive frown formed on Zephyrion’s face. “I don’t know how you do things in barbarian lands, but here, I won’t have threats made against my dear friends. Zephirion is protected, coming and going from this place.”

Kelsey’s smile got wider. “You think you can—”

“Kelsey!” Anton interjected. “Stay frosty. Daddy-o.”

Kelsey looked at him incredulously and then burst out laughing.

“Spoilsport,” she complained. “But a good point, I suppose.”

She turned back to Zephyrion. “One gold.”

Eventually, they settled on three. Only then did Zephirion take out a large ledger.

“A slave called Chiea Lucina you say?” He pored through the entries. Anton would have preferred to read them for himself, but Kusec and Erryan hadn’t known the written language to teach it to them. From the intent way that Kelsey was staring at the ledger, Anton thought that might change.

“Ah, here we are, from about a month ago,” the fat official said. “Chiea Lucina. Arrived with fifteen others. They were processed and auctioned off about three weeks ago.”

“Where did they go?” Kelsey asked. The courl scowled but turned back to his book.

“They were split up into four lots, and combined with other intakes,” he said. “One lot was sold to Dragan Vorin, two went to Zaraq Malik. The final lot was… oh, I see. Since there were only three of them, they were held back for further training.”

“How much training do you need to be a sex slave?” Kelsey asked.

“Very little,” Zephirion said, leering. “Since those three were deemed to have worthwhile skills, they were held back for language training. Doxies can pick up the language they need on the job, but skilled workers have more complex language needs.”

“All right, read out each of the names in the lots,” Kelsey said.

“Do you need something to write this down?” Rashaq asked.

“Nah, I’ve got an excellent memory,” Kelsey said. Zephirion read out the names. When he was finished, Kelsey’s face fell.

“There are two missing,” Anton said. He pulled out their list to be sure. “Dendany and Edary.”

Zephirion went back to the ledger. “They’re not listed here,” he said. “They must not have made it. It’s not unusual to lose a few on the trip.”

Anton clenched his fist. He wanted to smash the official in his stupid uncaring face, but he found Aris was holding on to his arm.

“Sorry Anton,” Kelsey said sympatheticly. “It happens. I’ll let Suliel know.”

Anton nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

“So where can we find these two merchants, Dragan Vorin and Zaraq Malik?” Kelsey asked.

“Oh, they would have left with their purchases,” Zephirion said airily. “They could be anywhere, the Empire doesn’t track merchants.”

There was a crack. Everyone looked towards the source, which was Kelsey’s hand. At some point, a bone, a rib bone from the look of it, had appeared in her grip. She had just snapped it with her fingers. As they watched, she let one half of it drop to the table. Bracing the remainder against her four fingers, she pushed with her thumb, eliciting another sharp crack.

“Could you be,” she asked, “a little more helpful?”

Zephirion stared at the shattered bone. “Ah… well, they have offices here? Agents? I’m sure you could ask them where they’ve gone?”

“That’s great,” Kelsey said. “Where can we find them?”

“There, there should be an address listed…” Zephirion started leafing through the start of the ledger. “Ah, here they are.”

“Fantastic,” Kelsey said.