Chains and Challenges

“Slave?” Hana sounded out the word, foreign as it was to her, “What is that?” Lucius had hoped she would have let it go after his prompting, but it was clear curiosity had taken hold and she as not about to take no for an answer. Though when he obliged, he could not mask the disgust the boiled up from within,

“It’s an old custom, though it might be better to call it a symptom of society. Essentially, people who are captured in wartime or have excessive debts lose their freedom. They become no more than property, things to be carted about and used as their owner pleases. A rare few get the opportunity to buy their freedom, but most will spend their lives in that manner.”

Hana was aghast, “That is horrible.”

“Yeah, it is. But there are some people who –”

“I’m putting a stop to it.”

Without another word she began to step forward, glaring daggers at the robed man on stage. Lucius may have been imagining it, but he swore a mote of greenish flame sparked between two of her fingers. Acting quickly, he grabbed onto her upper arm and pulled her back, hissing quietly into her ear,

“What do you think you’re doing?!”

He felt her muscles tense under his grip as she froze in place, “Let. Me. Go.” The words she uttered trembled with barely concealed rage, touching off a shiver of nervousness through his body. She had given him fair warning, a grim reminder of what she was capable of. He by no means wanted to see her go fully wild, as the last time she did he was nearly roasted, but he had to stay firm,

“I know how you feel, trust me. I’m right there with you. But you just can’t go off and blow up the auction. All that would do is endanger innocent people, and it would bring down the entire guard on our heads. I’m certain that you’re incredibly powerful, but even you can’t take on an entire city. Even if you could, what would you do then? Where would you take them? How would you care for them? Be reasonable. There’s nothing to be done.”

She blinked in surprise at his firmness and he felt that some of her muscles had relaxed, but she was far from done, “Fine then. You do it. If my way will not succeed, then you must have a better option. Tell me of it.”

Those nearest to the pair began to take notice of the disagreement, some of whom began to move away to distance themselves from the couple. Lucius took notice of the growing attention and tried to end the dispute the best way he knew how,

“There is no better option. Neither you nor I can do anything here. It is better that we simply move on, we’ll do nothing besides cause a disturbance if we keep this up. Now come on, we really should go.”

It was like pouring water on a grease fire. Her eyes exploded with anger as she wrenched her arm free of his, rounding on him with a fury,

“Coward! Are you so afraid of action that you have turned your mind and heart to stone? You see as clear as day that this is wrong, but you choose to accept it? How could you simply allow such things to happen, and barely bat an eye? You say there is nothing to be done, and yet you know this to be untrue! If you intend to lie to me…then you should first believe the lie yourself.”

With that final twist of the knife, she stormed off into the crowd, leaving him alone and sputtering at the mercy of the onlookers around him. Several pairs of judgmental eyes analyzed and criticized, likely making up their own scenarios as their imaginations ran wild. No doubt they had made him out to be a terrible villain, one that doesn’t even follow after making a young woman so displeased.

Lucius was rooted in place by the shock of what had just befallen him, completely paralyzed by Hana’s sudden outburst. Head spinning and desperate to make sense of it all, he subconsciously defaulted into a defensive mindset. Balling up a shaking fist, he stalked off in another direction, pleading with his feet to take him anywhere but there,

“She’s being unreasonable! The hells does she expect me to do, huh!? Just magically fix all of society’s problems? There was simply nothing that I could do. And where does she get off with being so pushy? She literally just learned about it, so how come she’s so aggravated? Ridiculous…I don’t get her at all!”

He stopped and leaned his back against the side of a building, fuming and confused. Taking a series of deep breaths, he forced himself to try and reign in his runaway emotions. Her final words clung to him like barbs, and the more he thought on them, the more sobered he became. Was there truly no way to help those people? Or was he simply afraid of being the odd man out? Could one person really make any difference?

A guard passed by and informed him under no uncertain terms was he allowed to loiter there, so Lucius sighed to himself and dusted himself off. It occurred to him that he needed to find a way to patch things up between them, though he doubted that mere words would be enough. Even though there was a good part of him that was supremely frustrated with her, nothing would be gained by standing around. He looked around for inspiration, and found exactly what he was looking for. There was a stall nearby that sold a wide variety of products, among which were cosmetic products. Looking over the displayed items, he found a hand comb made of what was likely whale bone that had two different sets of teeth, one coarse and one fine. It wasn’t exceptionally fancy, but he hoped that it would do. After some good-natured haggling, which ended in Lucius feeling as though he had got a better of the deal, he turned about and then made a startling realization.

Where exactly had Hana gone?

Anxiety’s icy claws gripped his chest as he whirled about, casting furtive glances this way and that in the desperate hope that he might spot her amongst the wandering crowds. Unable to spot her initially, he ran back to the Forum where they had parted. Unsurprisingly, though he had held out a small mote of hope, she wasn’t waiting there for him to return. He tried to remember which way she had gone, but panic clouded his memory. There were too many ways a person could have gone, and it would be impossible to guess on a whim. She was well and truly beyond his reach, the mere thought of which brought with it a trickling of terror.

Amid his panic, he spun about and collided with someone, bouncing off them with a grunt of surprise. A firm hand grasped him on the shoulder, steadying him and averting an embarrassing fall. As Lucius muttered a half-hearted apology, he laid eyes on the person whom he had inadvertently run into. A tall man with stylish blonde hair looked down at him with a hint of concern through hazel-colored eyes. The man was exceptionally well-dressed in bright colors, his neck and fingers adorned in jewelry. Two armed men stood just behind him, appraising Lucius with wary eyes.

Lucius’ heart sank, he had just nearly run over a noble. Thankfully, the well-dressed man seemed to harbor no ill will and even deigned to inquire as to his well-being,

“Well now, what do we have here? Slow down a bit, son. You seem all kinds of turned about, everything alright?” His voice was smooth and confident, perfectly matching someone who had been born into plenty and power. Lucius found it a bit irritating, but he wasn’t about to say such a thing out loud. Instead, he tried to keep things polite and brief,

“Yes, thank you. Apologies for getting in your way, Mister…?”

“Salerius. Caius Salerius Dominis, but I prefer going by Salerius. Full names are so tiring to trudge through, you know?” The name struck a chord in Lucius, who was growing more wary by the second,

“A Dominis! Damn, he’s part of one of the four major clans! They’re career military, through and through. Not that he seems the fighting type…” He did notice that the man named Salerius carried a rapier at his hip, but such things were not unusual. But he had no time for making pleasantries with an eccentric noble,

“Lucius. Pleasure to make your acquaintance, but if you’ll excuse me, I have something that I need to do.” He moved to separate himself, but the man’s grip was stronger than he first thought and he could not break free without exerting more effort. Salerius grinned wide at him,

“Now, now. Rushing something will only lead to more mistakes, you know. Better to take things nice and slow, y’know? What troubles you? Who knows, maybe we can help you out and do our good turn of the day?”

His men chuckled to themselves and nodded in agreement, though the glint in their eyes unnerved Lucius somewhat. Glancing about through the corners of his eyes, he could see that people had begun to take a wide berth when walking near them. Those that looked their way did so with furtive, hurried eyes, or more often than not, purposefully looked away. The bad feeling is Lucius’ gut worsened,

“I’m looking for a friend. We got separated and she’s new to the city. I don’t want her wandering into a bad neighborhood or something.”

Salerius nodded sagely, “Ah, I see, I see. Yes, you certainly don’t want to have your fine, female companion wandering into the wrong spots. Nasty people all over, even in a lovely city such as this. Tell me, what did she look like? I know this city rather well, after all. Maybe one of my boys has seen her?”

His instinct flared with warning bells, “Something’s not right here. But what? Why am I getting such a bad feeling about this guy?”

Unfortunately, Salerius’ logic was solid. A noble was supposed to have good knowledge of their city, and many knew who the prominent citizens were. If anyone was to have the connections required to find a missing person, the local nobility was a solid resource. This was, of course, if they were willing to help others, which most typically weren’t. And those that did often demanded absurd rewards for any “assistance” they might offer, no matter how trivial. Still, it was the best chance at a lead he was going to get without filing a report with the city guard. It was a risk for sure, but he was desperate for any clue as to her whereabouts, so he took the gamble,

“She’s a bit shorter than I am, fair skinned and with bright hair the color of flame, accentuated with eyes as sharp as emeralds. She was wearing simple clothes and a heavy travelling cloak, probably in a bad mood as well. We…uh…had a bit of an argument before we got separated.”

Salerius at last took his hand away from Lucius’ shoulder, placing it on his hip and gave a low whistle, “Well damn, that sounds like some woman. I think I’d remember if I’d seen one like that…” He then paused, as if thinking, then snapped his fingers in exaggerated realization,

“Now hang on a moment! Hey, Gaz. Didn’t you say not too long ago that you saw a woman that ran into a bit of trouble not far from here? Did she happen to match this young man’s description?”

The burlier of the two attendants smiled toothily, “Aye, I think I might’ve. Run afoul of some ne’er-do-wells in an alleyway. Lucky for ‘er I was nearby with some of the lads. Fixed ‘er right up, no trouble. ‘Course, she was so grateful for our help that she asked to stay with us fer a bit, as way of sayin’ thanks!”

Suddenly, the sour feeling Lucius had made sense, and fury kindled in place of his fears,

“You! What have you done with Hana!?”

Salerius’ face darkened, his joviality melting away to reveal a sinister smile that dripped with sadistic superiority,

“Oho, seems we have a smart one here, boys. I’ll make something very clear to you, little man. It isn’t our fault that she wandered into our hands. You should really blame yourself for letting such a catch like that get away from you. Such is the way of the world; your loss is my gain. Her name’s Hana, then? What an exotic name, I like it already.”

His suspicions now confirmed, Lucius lunged forward with his hands outstretched, seeking to seize the offending nobleman, only to be stymied by the point of a blade being pointed directly at his throat. Nearby onlookers cried out in surprise and fear, raising a great din in the surrounding streets. Guards that had been idling at the periphery rushed forward, only to be waved down by Salerius,

“You’ve got guts, little man. Don’t you know the punishment for assaulting a man of my status is death? But you know what? You’ve got quite a spark to you, one that makes me think you’ll be good entertainment. A duel. Right here, right now. If you manage to defeat me, then not only will I ensure that your lady is returned to you in good condition, I’ll even gift you my prized sword.”

Lucius didn’t hesitate, “And if I lose?”

Salerius chuckled, “I believe you mean ‘when’ you lose. Don’t worry, I won’t have you killed for a first offense. I am a generous man, after all. You will relinquish any claim you have to her, simple as that. Clear? Or is it that you’re incapable of defending your lady?”

“Firstly,” Lucius snarled, “she’s not some piece of meat to be bartered over. Secondly, that’s twice today my honor has been called into question. Once I can handle, but twice? No way I’m letting that go. Hand over that sword now, it’ll make things easier.”

Salerius’ face twisted into a mocking smile, “Oh my, this is going to be fun.”