Glori had begun a campaign of charisma to which she had never engaged before. She had begun to win over the entirety of the castle staff, and she was crushing it. Now one might assume that, as the princess, she already had the castle staff in her back pocket. But the truth was, she had their deference, not their loyalty.

Her ability Dazzle had always been something she had considered helpful, but she had never deeply considered the profoundness of it in actual use. With a word here, a smile there, she now had their worship. She was doing this to create her spy network, or at the very least, a paradigm of one. As she couldn’t continue the church research on the sly herself, she was working on nurturing the undying loyalty of those who could. And she had never seen such an improvement in her profile so fast. She brought it up in her mind's eye to look it over again.

Glorius Rex

Lvl - 4

Class - Noble (Reach level 5 to unlock class features and class change options)

Sign – Dazzle (All charisma based skills gain 25% boost to efficiency)

(Reach level 5 to unlock stats and skills)

Level four. She was already level four. That was almost inconceivable. She was only fourteen, and neither of her older brothers had reached level five until they were sixteen. She had seen sudden growth when she had started actively using her charm, as opposed to her title to gain loyalty, she could only assume the boost to her level was directly related to that.

Either way, she had gained a boost to her confidence that she was making the right moves. She was only a whisper away from level five, her strength would begin to blossom at level five she told herself. And then she would start making her moves, she made a silent promise to herself. “Wherever you are, whoever took you, I’m coming for them little brother.”

***

Tibi would have been thrilled about the chance to conserve his energy. Unfortunately, he couldn’t move. He had been secured with his hands chained behind his back, chained to his feet, with another set around his neck. Every time he made any attempt to move his dead legs he would choke himself. He was now trussed up in the corner of a cage.

He had gotten no view of the city as he had been hauled through it, and he thought his neck would snap when they had tossed him down in the cell. He knew there were others in the cell with him, but only from the sound as he was lying on his side facing a wall. He had activated his enhanced senses to amplify his hearing, and he could hear the others talking.

It sounded like those considered the best goods, had been given a quick bath and provided a simple thin linen robe. Those who hadn’t been deemed as valuable had been sent to the corral with hosts of other slaves for bulk auctioning.

Tibi had not received a bath, they had instead cut his clothes off of him and dumped ice cold water on him. The pirates may not be willing to hurt him but the scrubbing felt like it had been done with a wire brush. When they had finished they tied a trip of cloth around his waist that just barely covered his privates and had dumped him alone for hours before the others had arrived. He could only assume Tonka had deemed him too dangerous to chance it in a bath.

Suddenly he heard a voice he recognized. The voice grew louder as those talking approached. “I assure you this is no joke” A sparkling laughter of a woman. “It can only be a joke, no one has ever paid such an astronomical sum for a slave. You either think this is funny, or that I’m a fool.” Her voice dropped and went from light to dark in a moment. “and if you think I’m a fool you will be joining the hogs in the pen.”

There wasn’t a moment of silence. “I assure you my lady, you need but see him.” There was the sound of jangling keys and an unlocked cage door. “What is this ridiculousness? You think because you truss him up like a pig it makes him more dangerous?”

Tibi felt hands on him as two strong pirates lifted him and carried him out of the cell. He got a brief glimpse of those around him before he was face planted on the ground outside the cell. Tonka was there with a handful of his men, and opposite him was a tall beautiful redhead with pale skin and silk dress. The wealth of her jewels and attire was not lost on someone like TIbierius.

The Savage Sands were known to have their own ruling class, but they were not someone that would help Tibi. They built their kingdom on the backs of the slave trade, and there was no love lost between Valeria and the Sands. He decided it was best to keep quiet for now.

Tibi felt the chains loosen around his neck and he gasped in relief. They kept the chains around his ankles and wrists, but unchained the rest of him. “Stand and let the mistress look at you.” Tonka spoke quickly. Tibi saw no reason not to comply so he stood and stretched his arms and legs as well as he could. Twisting his neck from side to side to get the crick out, he noticed a pirate on either side of him with heavy cudgels.

“Come now, Captain Tonka, a boy of maybe thirteen can’t possibly need this much security.” For the first time Tibi noticed the three hardened men behind the noble lady. They instantly put Tibi on guard; these were no cheap pirates, but stone cold killers. They wore clean presentable uniforms with leather jerkins and bracers; the man in front specifically wore a golden pauldron on his shoulder. It matched his gold necklace.

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Tibi locked eyes with the man, his short golden hair and large brown eyes contrasting on his long chiseled face. “You may do with him what you will once you purchase him my lady, but while he’s in our care we will keep him tightly bound” The lady stepped forward and put her hand under TIbi’s chin. Any thoughts he might have had went by the wayside as the wolf of a guard stepped close to Tibi’s side.

The man’s hand rested on a long dirk, a much better weapon for these close quarters then the foolish pirates sabers. With the man so close Tibi didn’t dare make any untoward moves. With the chain running from his wrists around his back, his reach was negligible regardless… or so he told himself. “Open your mouth” She spoke lightly. Tibi didn’t want to play along, but he had no choice. He had to play along or he would be stuck with Tonka.

He showed his teeth, and let her turn his head. “Nice teeth, well muscled, maybe even some noble blood in him.” Tibi blushed beet red when she lifted his loincloth and inspected his manhood. “I can go as high as twenty-five” the woman said firmly. Tonka stroked his beard; it seemed almost an unconscious tic. “Such a shame. Alright men, go ahead and kill him” The pirates smiled and the two with cudgels stepped closer.

The lady opened her eyes wide in a moment of shock, before they narrowed in anger. “Just what game are you playing at Captain, if you wasted my time…” she let the threat hang in the air. Tonka put his hand over his heart in the picture of contriteness. “Never would I waste my ladies time, unfortunately this rogue has killed two of my men. I could never keep the loyalty of my men if I valued their lives so cheaply. If we can’t get one-hundred gold then I must give my loyal followers his head instead.” Tonka’s smile seemed almost genuine, and his words gave the lady pause.

She gave Tiberius a new considering look. “This boy, this… child, killed two pirates?” She asked. “Privateers my lady, but yes. One of them while he was in chains as he is now, the body of poor Sampson isn’t even cold.” The lady now looked incredibly intrigued. “Deckard, what do you think?”

The man with the gold pauldron and cold eyes answered quickly. “Aye, milady, I see a warrior’s spirit in him, and if we start training now, he could be more than capable by the time he sees the sand.” The woman smiled. “Alright, Captain, you had my curiosity, now you have my attention.” The captain’s men pushed Tibi urgently back into the cell as the woman and the captain walked away to talk.

Tibi had no doubt that he was about to be sold as human livestock. He wanted to rage against the slavers, the gods, the entire world, but for now he bottled it up inside. One day he would get his chance, that day was just not today.

When Tonka and the woman walked back after some time, clearly an agreement had been reached. The pirates began rounding up a selection of slaves, Tibi included. The slaves were pulled out and chained into a line with a shackle aroun the neck going to the wrist chain of the person behind them.

Those in line with him were only the cream of the physical specimens, male and female. Tonka stood by the cage door, looking like the cat who caught the canary, a large smile plastered on his face. “Meet your new master slaves. This is Lady Cinder, your new owner.” A frown crossed the man with the gold pauldron's face and he stepped forward. “You will not address our lady. You are dirt beneath her feet. I am the mistress’ Lanista, Deckard.

I will be handling you from here, none of you are worthy of speaking to the mistress directly. Now you will follow us neatly to our compound, any problems will be met with swift punishment. Once we arrive we will decide where to place you.” The lady Cinder’s house guard took up positions on either side with another guard leading them out. There were only two more in addition to the three Tibi had seen earlier, but with the chains and the veteran looks, he made no moves.

TIbi watched as the lady stepped into a palanquin that was lifted by four large tan shirtless men. Their procession began hustling out of the caged area with Tibi near last in line. As they walked past the still grinning Tonka, Tibi glared at him. “We will meet again.” he promised the slaver. A flash of fire across his back caused him to stumble and the slaver smiled brightly. The Lanista Deckard stood behind Tibi with his whip unfurled. “You will not speak unless spoken to slave.” There was no malice in the older man's eyes, only the countenance of one who expected his orders to be followed. Tibi narrowed his eyes at Tonka as he left, but did not speak again.

This only caused the slaver to let out a loud guffaw. “I’m sure I will see you again boy.” Tonka laughed out loud. “On the sands of the arena, maybe I'll even bet on you!” As the slaver turned away, Tibi noticed the large purse that he bounced in his hand. Tibi bit down on his anger as he kept up with the procession in front of him. The Lanista walked up and down the line of slaves, this was Tibi’s first view of the city outside of the cage.

His expectations of what the shackled sands would look like were quickly crushed. The city was stunning. Crisp clean cobbled streets. Sandstone buildings up and down the street with glass paned windows and well painted signs. Pavilions and palaces of grand size peppered the skyline. No signs of beggars, homelessness or slums. At first he assumed maybe they just wouldn’t be walking through that kind of area to the Lady Cinder’s home.

Yet if the docks and slave cages he was pulled from were an example of how this city was maintained, Tibi just couldn’t wrap his mind around it. It didn’t take long to realize a city that allowed slavery and served all manner of nefarious activities allowed no garbage on their streets. The sailors kept their drunken debauchery behind closed doors of brothels. The residents kept their fear behind the locked doors of their small homes. And the lords kept their depravity behind the gilded doors of their palaces. The whole city was a facade of wealth and opulence that hid away the dark dirty secrets. It made Tibi sick.

Their walk took them nearly an hour, as they reached the outskirts of the city. Here the houses were grander, but much more spread out, clearly the homes of nobility. The gardens were lavish and Tibi saw many colorful animals he hadn’t seen before. Rainbows of birds filled the trees, striped animals roamed the grass, and a turtle large enough to be used as a mount sat at the edge of a pond. The sights would make half the lords of Valeria green with envy.

Tibi could make out a spiral Minaret with a golden domed top jutting in the distance and wondered exactly what type of place he had come too. As they entered through a grand arched wall, Tibi could make out the place that he would soon be calling home. It was smaller than the castle he had been raised in, but surely the size of a smaller lord's palace. Everything was tidy, clean and well maintained just like everywhere else in the city.

While the palanquin continued toward the main entrance, his group of slaves was led around the side toward the back. Behind the small palace was a large dirt training yard, three times as large as the yard he had trained in with Kinkade. Nearly twenty men were already on the yard training in various weapons. Each and every man training looked capable. He could see several private training areas off to the sides where he could hear more labored breathing.

Just how many slaves did this woman own? It took no guesses to see that she made her gold from the blood of chained gladiators. There was a much more rudimentary building behind the training area where Tibi could only assume the slaves where housed. There were quite a few things going on, it was almost like a small village was housed behind Lady Cinder’s palace. A village with no women or children.

This is where he had ended up. A boy who hated combat was now in chains waiting to be trained as a gladiator. Men who would live and die for the entertainment of others. Tibi was his own person, he would not be bought and sold. Let's see how these fools could force him to fight. It looked like his Dull Senses would be upgrading soon.