Chapter 52 #2
It was magnificent. And yet my thoughts drifted, unbidden, to the burned library in Noctharis.
To the blackened shelves that stood like the bones of some long-dead beast. To the ghosts of all the knowledge that had been forever lost. To a prince cloaked in shadows, bent over a charred desk with an ancient tome in his hands.
This library was everything Noctharis's was not. Bright. Immaculate. Alive.
Yet somehow, I found I missed the ruin.
By midday, we descended to the palace entrance, where an elaborate palanquin awaited us.
Its frame had been carved from bleached driftwood in flowing, wave-like patterns, gauzy blue curtains tied back to reveal cushioned seats within.
Four bronze-collared servants waited beside it, each powerfully built, their posture so rigid they might have been statues.
The moment Thalassis and I climbed inside, they raised the poles in one smooth, practised motion, and the palanquin glided forward with scarcely a sway.
Two guards fell in beside us as we passed through the palace gates and into the streets of Pelaga.
The humidity was oppressive, wrapping itself around me like a heavy blanket.
Sweat gathered at the nape of my neck, soon beading across my skin before we'd even gone a block.
Thalassis shot me a knowing glance before reaching into a small compartment beside him and producing a small folding fan.
He offered it without a word. I accepted it gratefully, snapping it open and stirring the air across my face.
The faint breeze helped, but only a little.
I turned my attention to the windows, trying to distract myself from the cloying wetness in the air.
Markets spilled into broad avenues beneath sweeping bridges. Merchants displayed strings of luminous pearls beside intricate shellwork, bolts of brightly dyed cloth, polished coral sculptures, baskets overflowing with fruit, and glittering fish laid upon beds of ice.
The palanquin paused as a great spotted ray lifted from the seabed ahead, sending a cloud of pale sand swirling behind it before gliding soundlessly over the streets and slipping through the magical barrier in the distance.
Thalassis smiled at the awe plain on my face.
“My greatest achievement.” He puffed out his chest as he gestured toward the shimmering bubble surrounding the city.
“The barrier’s magic changes the very nature of the water within its bounds.
To us, it behaves almost like air. We breathe it.
Speak through it. Walk through it easily.
Yet the marine life experiences none of those changes.
To them, the water remains exactly as it has always been. ”
He shifted closer, and his hand came to rest lightly upon my knee.
"The barrier also filters what passes through. Fish and smaller creatures may come and go as they please.” His thumb traced idle circles against my thigh as he continued talking.
I resisted the urge to move away. "Anything large enough to threaten Pelaga...
" He nodded toward the faint outline of something enormous moving far beyond the barrier.
"... finds itself gently encouraged to remain outside. "
I made a show of fumbling my fan, letting it slip from my fingers. It clattered to the floor, and Thalassis bent to retrieve it at once. I accepted it with a grateful smile, then smoothed the folds of my dress over my lap before he had the chance to settle his hand there again.
We rounded a corner and emerged into a square packed shoulder to shoulder with Fae.
“What’s happening?” I leaned forward, trying to make sense of the chaos unfolding below.
A young faerie stood upon a raised platform, bronze collar gleaming against the turquoise of her throat, the delicate gills at her neck fluttering rapidly. Beside her, an elegantly dressed Fae called something to the crowd that I couldn't make out over the overlapping voices.
Arms shot into the air, clutching ivory tokens of different shapes and sizes. Each gesture prompted another cry from the man on the platform, louder than the last, until the square dissolved into a blur of competing voices and raised bids.
The male pointed into the crowd and a ripple of applause broke out as an older Fae stepped forward.
The faerie lowered her head as he climbed the platform and produced a small leather pouch. The auctioneer accepted it, then unclasped the chain from the post behind her and placed it in the male's hand.
The Fae gave it a single, brisk tug. Without protest, she stepped down and followed him into the crowd.
“Pelaga has the finest skin market in all of Elantis.” Thalassis watched me with quiet amusement.
“Skin market?” My gaze searched the square for the young female, but she'd already disappeared. Another faerie climbed onto the platform in her place. Without ceremony, the auctioneer fastened the bronze collar at his throat to the ring set into the post behind him.
“Slaves, Elowen.”
My head snapped toward him. “What?”
His brow furrowed. “What did you think the collars were?”
“I thought…” I looked back at the platform, struggling to reconcile what I was seeing. “I thought they were servants.”
He barked out a laugh, slapping a hand against his knee. “I suppose, in a manner of speaking, they are.”
The male upon the platform stood perfectly still, his expression vacant, as though whatever spark had once lived behind his eyes had long since been extinguished.
“Many of the Courts rely upon slaves,” Thalassis continued easily.
“They maintain nearly every aspect of society, particularly here in the Tidelands. They staff our households, tend our farms, harvest the reefs, repair our roads, maintain the barrier, and perform the labor High Fae are neither suited nor inclined to do.”
“They're... faerie?” Lesser species of Fae.
“Of course.”
The auctioneer unclasped the male's chain from the post and handed it to the Fae who’d won him.
Another figure immediately took his place. A wispy female climbed onto the platform, a scrawny boy no older than six shadowing her every step. The auctioneer secured both collars to the same ring.
“Ah.” Thalassis leaned forward with open appreciation. “This pair will fetch a fine price.”
My eyes flew to him. “That's a child!”
He smiled at me with indulgent affection, as though I were the one being unreasonable. “You have such a delightfully soft heart. Don't worry, Elowen. Families are sold together. Children aren't separated from their parents.” He chuckled softly. “I'm not a monster, you know.”
My hand tightened around the fan.
“If you find Pelaga harsh, never visit the Stonelands,” Thalassis said, reclining against the cushions. “Their slaves are worked to death in the mines. And they're not merely faerie, who are hardy enough to survive such labor. They sell humans there as well.”
The mother didn't reach for her son, but they stood so close together they might as well have been touching.
Around them, the bidding grew increasingly frantic, voices rising over one another as hands shot into the air.
The female closed her eyes for the briefest moment, her exhaustion plain to see.
Beside her, the boy's webbed fingers reach for the threadbare fabric of her skirts before curling into a shaking fist.
Revulsion settled heavily in my chest.
People were buying other people. And no one around us seemed to think there was anything wrong with it.