Within one of the cages Kaleb had pointed out, she spied something that made her heart soar and her stomach lurch all at once.
Inside the cage was a lonely-looking Faelyr, ears low and tail limp.
“Faelyrs for sale!” shouted the merchant, pacing up and down a narrow strip of the square. He worked a large stand, behind which were dozens of steel cages, and wore a sand-colored garb with a wide straw hat that kept the sun off of him. Within the cages, peering out dourly, were Faelyrs of every size and color. The poor creatures looked pitiful as they awaited willing buyers.
“Kaleb!” Minx grabbed the dragon shifter's shoulder and pointed at the stand. “Look! They do have Faelyrs!” She tugged him onward. “We need to see if Mau is here!” Without stopping to speak to the merchant or even to feign interest in buying, Minx started quickly to the nearest cage and peered into it. The Faelyr within perked up at seeing her and loosed a great purr.
It wasn't Mau, though. Sorry, little one. I'm looking for someone in particular—my best friend. Quickly, she climbed atop the cage and started onto the next, glancing between the bars of every cell in view.
“Hey!” snapped the merchant. “Get down from there! If you've got a question about the merchandise, you've gotta ask me!”
Kaleb watched from the sidelines as Minx disappeared behind the edge of the stall. “Don't get yourself killed!” he warned.
A large mass of cages awaited her behind the seller's stand, each of them bearing at least a single Faelyr—and in some cases, two or more. She studied the faces of the poor things, seeking that of her old friend, but finding only unfamiliar eyes staring back at her.
And something else.
From behind one of the cages there stepped a large man with a blade in his hand. He was dressed in rags and easily dwarfed her in both height and width. Minx knew the kind very well; he was a hired gun, a mercenary tasked with looking after the goods at the slave market and ensuring the safety of the merchandise. “You stop right where you are, little miss,” he snarled, holding out his blade as a warning. “You aren't allowed back here.”
Minx didn't care about following procedure. She was going to scour this barbaric place in search of her friend. It didn't matter how many armed men they sent after her. “Get out of my way,” she ordered. “I'm looking for someone.”
The mercenary chuckled, advancing so that his shadow now eclipsed her. “Yeah, and I'd say you found him. They don't let just anyone back here to mess with the goods. Now, you're gonna put that bow down real nice and slow, and we're gonna have a long talk with the manager, all right? Make any funny moves and I'll bleed you dry.” The fist he had locked around the handle of the blade tensed as if in promise of swift action.
“I don't think so,” replied the Fae huntress defiantly. “Get out of my way.”
“So, that's how it's going to be?” blurted the mercenary. “Don't say I didn't warn you!” He reared back and jabbed his blade at her, releasing a savage yell.
Minx, though, had been on the move before he'd been able to thrust the knife. Swiveling to the side, she yanked an arrow from her quiver and held it out, the tip pressing into the strongman's throat. “I warned you, didn't I?”
The mercenary stumbled back a few paces, a nervous laugh leaving his pale lips. “Not bad, miss, not bad.” He cleared his throat, sizing her up for a beat before suddenly launching another attack. Without warning, he reached out and seized the shaft of the arrow, wrenching it easily from her grasp. Then, with a mighty upward swing, he brought out the knife and sought to bury it in her stomach.
And had he been dealing with a clumsier opponent, he might've been successful.
No sooner did the blade catch the light of the high sun did Minx step just out of range. With the mercenary's arm still outstretched toward her, she took him by the wrist with both hands, leveraged the whole of her slight weight, and fell to the right, offsetting the man's balance and taking him to the ground. Then, before he could try and pry her off of him, she dealt a hard blow to the back of his elbow. His hand lost control of the knife and it clattered to the ground. On the verge of twisting his arm out of its socket, Minx leaned toward the man's sweaty face and offered one final warning. “If you come at me again, I'll take it personally. You won't get another chance.” Giving the limb an extra twist for good measure and extracting a shrill yell from the mercenary, the Fae huntress let go of him and stepped away, resuming at once her examination of the cages.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the mercenary guard did not follow.
Her tour of the grounds completed, Minx found no sign of Mau. She slipped out from behind the seller's stall and was reunited with Kaleb, who'd been waiting nearby. “You didn't have to make the poor guy cry,” said the dragon shifter, pointing out the mercenary limping down the square.
“There was no sign of her,” reported Minx. “She might be here, but I can't hear her thoughts. Are there other markets like this one? Other sellers specializing in Faelyrs?”
“I'm not certain, but nothing would surprise me at this point.” Kaleb pointed across the way, to a smaller stall fronted by a lone man in baggy dress. “While you were searching behind the scenes, I took a look at the other sellers. Seems that gentleman is offering tickets to an exclusive auction taking place here. Might be a big deal—they're catering to the wealthier shoppers. Now, I'm not saying there's any guarantee, but do you think—”
Minx finished the sentence for him. “Do you think that's where Mau is being held? That she's going
