Unlike in Teneris, life didn’t seem to be slowing down with sunrise here. The coal-black silhouettes of the shadow fae moved in and out of the shacks on the beach, strolled along the makeshift streets, and gathered in the small plazas in between. When they spotted our caravan, they moved alongside the camels. Before long, a crowd had gathered, following us. I couldn’t see their faces clearly, but the flash of their white, sharp fangs bared in sneers promised nothing good.
“Are these humans?” The shouts came from the crowd.
“Real Joy Vessels?”
Someone stuck a hand through the bars of our cage. “Are you really as sweet as they say?”
The hand squeezed my hip. Another hand grabbed Erik’s ankle.
“Good enough to eat!” Someone yanked my arm out of the cage and bit my elbow.
I cried out from pain and disgust that made my stomach roil.
“Stand back!” Piara cracked a whip.
Her lash struck the onlookers. They whined, growled, and hissed, but thankfully fell back, keeping away from our cage.
“Pay first, then do whatever the fuck you want with them,” Piara snapped at the crowd.
Pay first.
They really intended to sell us then? To someone from this mob that tried to eat us?
My fear grew into terror, chilling my limbs. For the first time since having been put into this cage, I felt truly trapped. I’d always had escape on my mind, but there was no way to escape this now. Even if I figured out how to leave the cage, what then? Where could I go without a shadow tunnel? How far could I run along this endless beach before I collapsed from exhaustion or got caught by one of these people who literally tried to eat me?
The camels stopped in front of a giant awning. Stretched over high poles, the patchwork of burlap and fabrics created a huge tent with shacks for walls on all sides.
A male shadow fae exited the tent. He wore a long orange skirt and leather sandals. His two long braids tied into a thick knot on the back of his head. Holding a long scroll under one arm and drawing a black cloak over his head to shield his face from the light of the rising sun, he gave our caravan a quick assessing glance.
“Joy Vessels?” he asked Piara, pausing his probing gaze on the humans inside each cage.
My skin crawled with unease when his orange eyes focused on me.
“Not in the best shape, I see,” he complained to Piara.
The woman snarled like a dog at him, baring her long fangs.
One of her buddies, another trader, Haral, came closer.
“They’re fine,” he said airily. “There’s nothing wrong with them, nothing that a bath and a meal wouldn’t fix.”
“And who’s going to pay for their baths and meals?” the fae with the scroll muttered begrudgingly.
“Whoever buys them,” Piara snapped.
“It’s an added bonus,” Haral drawled lazily. “Humans enjoy eating and bathing. Whoever buys them gets all their pleasure from that.”
A bath and a meal sounded fantastic. At this point, I’d sell my soul simply for a glass of clean, cool water and a bed where I could fully stretch my legs. Just getting out of this cage would already be a welcome change.
I perked up a little. Getting another master and trading a cage for someone’ssaraiwouldn’t be much of a change. I’d still be a captive. But at this point, even a bigger cage would be an improvement.
“It’s not like you get Joy Vessels here every day, Xavix.” Haral smirked, casually tossing his arm around the other male’s shoulders. “Even if we roll them in manure and sprinkle them with sand, they’ll still fetch a great price.”
Xavix shrugged Haral’s arm, then unwound his scroll.
“Fine. Let’s get it sorted out. The auction is about to start. What are their names?”
Piara spat on the black sand under her feet.
