“Do you know anything about magic, or are you just the Captain’s way of keeping track of me?” Xander asked as they moved through the mid-afternoon crowds.
Jenna favored him with a look that was far from complimentary. “If you never head back, the Captain might be annoyed,” she told him. “But deckhands can be found anywhere. You’ve yet to impress anyone with your wizarding, so do you really think he’d leash me to you because he was afraid you might not come back?”
Xander chewed it over for a moment, realizing that what she said was true. The Captain had no real investment in him. Still, the man did seem single minded and particularly obstinate about certain things.
“Perhaps, but I’d not be surprised if he did it out of spite.”
Jenna grinned, revealing nothing other than that she was amused by the magician’s words. Xander harrumphed and continued on through the dusty streets.
“I’ve been around plenty of magic,” Jenna said a moment later. “I spent a good bit of time among elves, they have many wizards there.”
Xander glanced at her, interested in spite of himself. “Elven magic is often strange and wondrous,” he offered, hoping to get her to continue.
Jenna snorted. “If you say so. Just as often it’s devastatingly cruel and inhuman.”
The wizard could not hide his shock. “What? I mean… you’re an elf! How could you… I don’t understand.”
“I thought wizards were supposed to be intelligent?” Jenna asked, needling him a little. He scowled in response to her.
“I am an elf, and I’m proud of who I am,” Jenna said, having taken to heart what Dexter had once said to her. “I’m not proud of many of my kin, however. They shame me, much as I have shamed them.”
Jenna smiled sadly before continuing. “You joined us after. We ran into some elves that recognized me and knew about a price on my head. They came after me, and that’s how Bailynn joined us.”
“How she… what? She looks part elvan herself, and I know there is a strong magic about her.” Xander was excited to learn more of his shipmates though he tried to temper it well.
“She was a weapon the elves used to track me down and kill me,” Jenna explained too casually. “We captured and imprisoned her, then when we escaped, the elves came after us.”
“We defeated them and took whatever magical device controlled Bailynn. We freed her from slavery to the elves, and she stays with us because she has nowhere else to go.” The first mate intentionally left out several important parts. She, like Dexter, had no great trust for Xander, but she was willing to give him a chance.
Xander digested the information carefully, then turned to look at her. “So who are you to have a price on your head?”
Jenna grinned wickedly. “Hoping to turn me in and collect the reward? Maybe restart your life where you left off? It’s a sizeable reward, rest assured.”
Xander looked at her without giving anything away, reading her carefully. He knew he was being tested. “Why tell me of it and try to tempt me? It is only you and I now.”
“I’ve been around mages before,” Jenna explained, her smile never leaving her face. “I’m next to you and, from what I’ve seen, I’m faster. By the time you started a spell I’d have a dagger in your side. Rare is the wizard that can finish a spell with that sort of distraction.”
Xander nodded. “Aye, but still, if I am as you suggest, then I’ll be looking for a chance to lose you or gain enough distance to work magic on you. Seems foolish to give away information so important so readily.”
Jenna shrugged. “You may be right,” she admitted. “Or maybe I think you’re worth giving the benefit of the doubt to.”
“A wise man once convinced me that all people deserved to be treated fairly and with respect… at least until they prove otherwise. He proved he meant it by showing me firsthand.”
Xander sighed. “The character of a paladin, our Captain,” he said sarcastically.
Jenna grinned. “Oh, he’s infuriating at times, but he’s still our Captain.”
“And so long as I draw breath,” she added, her smile fading to a look of deadly seriousness, “I’ll shed every last drop of blood I have and few that belong to others before I’d have it any other way.”
Xander nodded. “Yes, he does seem to inspire loyalty. Rather aggravating, really.”
Jenna chuckled. “It can be,” she agreed. “Come, I see some sort of a shop up ahead that looks fanciful. Perhaps you might find some things there?”
Xander glanced at where she pointed and he saw at once some of the runes and symbols in the scrollwork above and around the door. He nodded, nearly forgetting their conversation as he increased his pace towards the shop.
“So where do we go?” Rosh asked Dexter and Bekka as they stood on the side of a busy intersection.
People moved up and down the sides of the street, only a few feet separating them. Often a wagon would pass down the middle, or occasionally pass one another. Other times it would be a covered coach, a rider or two. Once they even paused to watch a covered litter born by slaves. The slaves, not surprisingly, were naked.
Dexter looked around, then shrugged and pointed to a cross street up ahead. “That way.”
“How do you know that?” Bekka asked, following him as he led the way.
Dexter shrugged and said, “standing there was getting us no closer.”
Bekka nodded, understanding the wisdom behind it. Rosh looked back and forward, then shook his head and muttered something under his breath.
As fate would have it, the road Dexter had chosen led to a hall with criers out in front of it. The wares they were barking were those of the flesh, rather than more mundane possessions. Dexter came up short and stared at the stone steps that led up into the wide double doors of the building.
“I thought you didn’t want nothing to do with slaving?” Rosh asked him, confused.
“Aye,” Dexter said, his mind grinding through some thoughts.
“You ain’t thinking about burning the place down?” He asked in a worried whisper.
Dexter turned, surprised. “Not a half bad idea,” he admitted. Then he shrugged and lightly clapped Rosh on the shoulder. “Come on, let’s see if there’s any business to be done.”
Rosh stood there staring at his Captain for a long moment while the man headed into the hall. Bekka turned to look back at him and gesture for him to hurry up, afraid he might get lost. Rosh shook his head and followed, jogging to catch up.
The inside of the hall was hot and stank of bodies, both natural and perfumed. Dexter had to pay a fee of a few coppers to enter the bidding proper, where the would-be slave owners studied the prospects as they were displayed and were able to bid upon them. Once inside they looked around the room, which had benches for seats. A barred door stood off to one side, with a guard beside it discouraging anyone from using it.
There were perhaps seven others bidding on the slaves being offered for auction, or at least seven people present. All but one of them were male, with the woman being some elderly and clearly of high rank and station, based upon the condescension with which she treated those around her. Dexter smiled as he looked upon her, a plot already thickening in his mind.
“Cap, we’re a hike from the ship,” Rosh warned in a hushed voice. “Don’t be starting nothing.”
“Why is it people always think I’m trying to start something?” Dexter asked, turning to face Bekka and Rosh. Rosh scowled but did not rise to the bait. Bekka giggled a little.
They sat through several auctions, watching as one after another slave was brought up to be sold off. None interested Dexter, though secretly he hoped desperately to be able to free them all. The best he could do was drive up the prices a little, especially when the noble woman was bidding. She seemed increasingly annoyed, but refused to give him the respect a glance would afford him.
A small man came out, flanked by an overly large guard, after several minutes had passed and Dexter had not yet acquired any merchandise.
“Good sir, it has come to our beliefs that you are not bargaining in good faith,” the man said quietly, so not to interfere with the auction.
“I’m bidding,” Dexter protested.
“Yes, but never seriously,” he continued. “If you have not the funds, perhaps you would rather visit the cells to see some of those not deemed worthy enough to go on the block?”
