Chapter 50 part 3

Beth then nodded and turned to continue on her way to the slave auction with Hesha. The girl had an expression of mixed emotions across her face, ranging from wonder to bewilderment. From annoyance to eagerness.

She had a feeling that Hesha was going to be pestering and annoying her with questions later on, but right now, she felt good that they'd be able to make it to the auction now. Not only that, but a way to bypass the line that from how it sounded, could have cost them most of the auction time just to get through it.

Or at least a significant delay that would have made her impatience really go for a stress test. As the only ones who didn't have to wait in line were pretty much those who had already spent a lot in the auction and typically spent a lot regularly, which afforded them special perks, such as being able to get a preview of the 'merchandise' that would be auctioned that day. So they could know if they would really be interested or not.

When they reached the auction, Beth was shocked at how long the line was. She suspected that a number of these people were in line primarily in hopes of trying to buy someone they knew. To save that person from being a slave and potentially ending up in a worse situation than they'd been pulled out of when they first became a slave.

Beth couldn't help but feel that she and Hesha were in the same boat. Though, in Beth's case, the one she wanted to save was likely going to be well past her own ability to save. At least on her own.

When they reached the entrance, Beth showed the guard the wooden plate she'd been given and was only a little annoyed when she still had to pay the entrance fee of one tish per person. Though, she couldn't say that she was that surprised. What annoyed her the most was that she had been hoping that they'd be able to bypass that altogether.

Still, getting past the line was plenty for her. After all, this way they'd be able to quickly deliver what she assumed was a message before looking for Hesha's brother. Unless they somehow stumbled on her brother before they found the duchess' steward.

Beth and Hesha had been given rough directions about where to find her, but she couldn't be sure that it would be that quick and painless. Especially since nothing in this world had really turned out that way since she'd been there.

Even returning Kystia to her home had been rather painful. Aside from the suspicion, they also had to deal with accusations, stemming from the suspicion. Then there was the revelation that Amelia looked like Kystia's mother somehow and no one could make sense of that.

As they moved into the building, Beth felt like they were entering a marketplace, with all the noise she could hear echoing off the walls. Much of it was basic conversation, but a few were clear sounds of auctions going on.

Those auctions weren't like the kind she would see in the grand auction houses in movies, with someone clearly and carefully calling everything out as each person cast their bid. However, it was much like when she was with the car auctions. Primarily with the rhythm they were conducting the auctions.

Pausing for a moment to look at a girl with black hair and pink eyes standing stark naked on a pedestal in front of a crowd of people. The biggest notable thing about her was that the left half of her face was covered in burn scars being auctioned, she listened to the auctioneer do his thing. As people either raised their hands to indicate their bids, gave gestures to bid, or called their bids out loud.

"…two,wegottwo.Nowhowaboutthree?Wegotthree?Wegotthree?Wegotthree.Howaboutfour?wegotfour.Seven,wegotseven.How'bouteight?Wegoteight?Wegoteight?Seven going once. Seven going twice. Sold for seven tish!"

The way the auctioneer spoke had a rhythm that Beth always felt had a musical quality to it. Kind of like how rap often sounds to her.

When the girl was sold she was escorted off back where the next slave was being brought out. This one a young man who had a noticeable limp and whose eyes darted around like he was certain he was about to be attacked in some way at any moment. He had black hair and dark rose eyes and Beth wondered what might have led him up to that point.

However, she pulled her attention away, wanting to make sure that she took care of what she needed to. Such as delivering the message she'd been entrusted with.

She navigated her way through, not sure what exactly she was looking for. Even though she'd been told what to look for, that didn't mean she actually recognized what they were talking about as she looked around.

If it wasn't for Hesha, Beth doubted she'd be able to find the steward they were looking for. She noticed several people had various emblems and insignia, or at least what looked like that, either stitched on their clothing or as a piece of jewelry like a pendant. Many of which were placing bids themselves on various slaves.

The steward Beth was looking for was off to the side with a long piece of parchment, looking like she was verifying something or reviewing a list of some sort. When Beth approached her, she waved Beth off, like she was merely trying to just bug the woman.

The woman had light brown hair that looked like it was starting to either turn white or gray, Beth couldn't be sure. Her eyes were a brilliant shade of purple, and she was so chubby that she looked like she rarely ever missed any part of a meal, if ever.

"Sorry, but I was asked to give this to you," Beth said, holding out the scroll case to the woman. While she couldn't be sure that it wasn't a message, she didn't think that it could be anything else. Even if it wasn't in the typical 'message' format.

The woman glanced at Beth for a brief moment before returning her attention back to the parchment she held. "Don't bother me. I don't have time to look at whatever deal you have," the woman snapped, pulling the parchment closer to her face as if that would get Beth to leave her alone.

"If you're not the steward for the Duchess Versith, then I am wasting your time, but everyone that told me what to look for described your pendant," Beth answered as diplomatically as she could. She hoped this would settle the matter, though she wasn't that optimistic about it.

At the mention of Duchess Versith, the woman looked away from the parchment in front of her. She looked at Beth and Hesha disdainfully, like she was being forced to deal with something distasteful.

"You're the messenger?" she scoffed as she took the message and started rolling up the parchment she had been looking at. "Do you at least have the verification plate?"

Beth wasn't sure what a 'verification plate' was, but she figured it probably was the wooden thing she'd been given. So, she held it out, not sure what else to do with it.

The woman looked at Beth like Beth should be either doing something else or like she was doing it wrong. When Beth was about to pull the small wooden plate back, the woman held out the scroll case over it. Beth wasn't sure what she expected, but the woman seemed satisfied for whatever reason.

"Alright, are you a new messenger?" she asked, turning her full attention to Beth, aside from her opening the scroll case.

"Uh, no, I'm not," Beth admitted. "The actual person who originally had this got trapped under her hose when it died, so she stayed to deal with the guards about that and I agreed to deliver this to you."

The woman glared at Beth with an intensity that surprised her. "And I suppose you're expecting some kind of big payment, right?"

Beth blinked. "Huh? No, I agreed because she asked me to."

The woman didn't look convinced, but didn't respond immediately. "No one does anything for nothing," she replied calmly, her tone thick with suspicion.

"Look, you can ask the real messenger when she finishes up with the guards, okay?" Beth said, wondering if she should have come up with something elaborate and difficult to disprove or even respond with.

"Then you plan on leaving now?" the woman asked as she started to open the scroll case, her tone telling Beth she wasn't convinced, but wasn't going to push the matter either.

Beth shook her head. "Not really, we were going to look for a couple people that're likely being auctioned today," Beth answered. "Though, I doubt I'll be able to get one of them without any help."

"Uh-huh," the woman said, sounding like she figured out what their ulterior motive was. "Why don't you think you'll be able to get one of them? And what kind of 'help' do you expect?"

Beth blinked. "Oh, no, I'm not expecting anything from you. It's just that I heard a rumor about a slave girl who was in another city that got brought to this one, who cured others of the plague."

The woman nodded. "Yes, I'm aware of that girl. She's said she's expected to fetch a high price."

Beth smiled. "As you can understand why I doubt I'll be able to get her without help. I don't know if she's my friend whom I lost contact with or if she's someone else, but if she'd my friend, I really want to be able to help her."

The woman sighed as she unrolled the parchment that was inside the scroll case. "Even if I was inclined to help you, I can't justify helping you with anywhere near that much money. You're on your own with that one," she said bluntly as she stared to read what was on the parchment in her hands.

A moment later, the woman sighed and shook her head. It looked like she found something rather ironic. Though, whatever that was, she merely turned and walked away, not even giving Beth and Hesha a second glance.

As she walked away, Beth thought she heard the woman say to herself, "At least that would solve a few problems if I'm able to get her."

"How rude can she be?" Hesha fumed.

Beth put her hand on Hesha's head. The last thing she wanted, or needed, was Hesha to create a scene for no reason. Not only that, but there would be certainly no benefit from them doing that. If anything, it would merely hurt them more than anything else.

"Leave it alone. You know I didn't deliver that for any reward," Beth told Hesha, wondering if she should forget what she'd overheard the steward saying as she left or if she should try to figure out what it was about.

"Why then?" she asked as she pushed Beth's hand off of her head. "Why would you do something like that for nothing?"

Beth smiled at Hesha as they started to look around, not really sure where to go to find Hesha's brother. "Simple," Beth replied after being quiet for a few minutes, deciding to push the matter with the steward out of her mind and focus on the task at hand. "You never know when someone might need a helping hand. Even if they don't ask for it, you never know how a simple act of a just single kind word might come back to you, or in what form. In our case, helping that messenger out could come back to us someday and we won't even realize it."

Hesha scowled at Beth. "You're not making any sense. How would that help us at any time?"

"Don't worry about it," Beth answered, rubbing Hesha's head, despite Hesha trying to get her head out from under Beth's hand. "It's more of a philosophy than anything logical."

Hesha shook her head. Beth didn't mind her doubt or skepticism. She wasn't looking for that, but she wouldn't have minded if Hesha had picked up on the key points and agreed with them anyway.

As they continued walking around, she wasn't sure where she might find Hesha's brother, and as they continued to see others getting auctioned off, Beth couldn't help but feel like time was getting short. A few slaves didn't get anyone to bid on them, and she wasn't sure what the reasons were, since many looked more healthy than the girl she'd seen who had the burn scar on her face. Nor was she sure what the fates of anyone who didn't get bought in the auction.

She could tell that if she let the sorrow that extended through this place into her, it would pull her down and she wouldn't be of any help to anyone. She glanced at Hesha and wondered if even the peripheral exposure to this kind of her culture was enough to keep Hesha from being plagued with the same sensations she was experiencing as she saw the hollow eyes of some of the people being sold, while others were full of despair. Regardless of if they had been bought or not.

Beth wasn't sure what she should do, only that she wasn't going to just let the impossibility of what she really wanted to do about this overwhelm her. She needed to keep focused on what she came here for and let everything else fall where they may.

After several minutes of not knowing what they should do in order to try and locate Hesha's brother, Beth came up with an idea. She walked over to one of the people who had brought out a slave and left them on the pedestal to be showcased as the 'item' currently being bid on.

"Excuse me," Beth said quietly, so as not to disrupt the auctioneer. "I was wondering if you might be able to help me,"

The young woman looked at Beth disdainfully. Like she didn't even want to give Beth the time of day. "What is it?" she asked shortly.

"My young friend here saw a young man with the slaves yesterday and has her heart set on him," Beth said, making this up as she went along. She wasn't sure what others might think if Hesha was trying to save her brother, and figured a crush might be more of a compelling argument to get others to be willing to help supply the information they were looking for. She especially was doing her best to ignore the heated incredulous looks Hesha was casting her way. "But we can't say where he might be auctioned at. So, we were wondering if you might be able to help us with that."

The young woman glanced at Hesha and smirked. "You realize you would still need to be the highest bidder, right?"

"Of course," Beth answered immediately. "I just promised her that I'd do what I could to repay what I owed her."

The young woman laughed softly. "Yeah, I can see being in debt to a kid like her must be like being in debt to a twig."

Beth wasn't sure what exactly that might mean, though she was pretty sure that it was a shot at men in general.

"Alright," she said as the auction she was at was reaching its conclusion. "Follow me and you can point him out if you see him. If you don't can't see him, then either he's already been put up for auction and sold or not, but he won't be available at that point."

Beth nodded. "Thank you."

When the auction ended with the man on the pedestal being sold for three Hesh, the young woman led him away and Beth followed with Hesha in tow.

–You didn't need to imply I wanted him like that.– Hesha fumed, using her magic to communicate with Beth.

–Relax. I know you're not interested in your brother like that, but I wasn't sure if she'd help us if she knew it was your brother. Looking at this place, I got the feeling that she'd be more helpful if she thought you were trying to buy someone you had a crush on rather than your brother.–

–Maybe you're right, but you still didn't have to put it that way.–

Beth nodded. She knew full well she didn't have to, but she was at least confident it would be the most effective method to learn what they needed to learn.

After a few twists and turns, the corridor they were walking through opened up to a large chamber, with several examples of human misery to be seen within just a few feet of them. Beth wondered if there was anything she could do to help out in some small way what was going on when all of this was said and done.

After she'd done what she could to save Hesha's brother and seen if she could find out if it was Charlie here or not.

"So, what does he look like?" the young woman said after she passed off the slave she'd led to here. "Unless you can see him already?"

Beth turned to Hesha, not wanting to say anything herself. Primarily because she had no idea what Hesha's brother looked like. She hadn't seen them when she was at that village in any way that would allow her to possibly connect him to Hesha, so she knew she wouldn't be of any help on this front.

"His skin is like mine," Hesha said after a moment of the young woman and Beth looking at her, "he has pink hair and mint green eyes."

The young woman waited a minute then sighed. "That it? We have dozens like that. You'll need to narrow it down a little more."

Hesha sighed, looking like she was getting frustrated. "Uh… oh! He has a scar on his left forearm that looks like it got twisted a little."

The young woman smirked. "Now that's more like it! I think I know just who you mean. I'll show him to you and you can tell me if it's him or not."