“Well, I’m assuming by the way you’ve dressed me, it can only be to appreciate my male physique?” Dayton chides. “How long has it been since you’ve removed that armor and gazed at your own cock?”
“Dayton,” I hiss.
Kairyn’s body tenses with anger, fists curling at his sides. “No.” He takes a step down the stairs that lead up to the throne. “As a participant in my games, you belong to me. But I don’t want to keep you all to myself. You proclaimed yourself High Prince in the arena, yet I see no token, and I certainly don’t feel the magic of a High Ruler.”
The muscles in Dayton’s throat work as he swallows.
“Tonight, you can be prince of the people.” Kairyn spreads an arm out to our audience, all watching with rapt attention. “Wars are expensive, you see. Tonight, these lovely fae will bid on the pleasure of you and your partner’s company.”
“I’m not fucking anyone,” Dayton growls. “And neither is she.”
Kairyn shakes his head. “Is that all that’s ever on your mind, Summer Prince? Fucking and drinking? I am not offering anything so base. The people here are curious about your ways. They pay for the company of gladiators and of the wonders of the sea. Eat, drink, and share stories, all while knowing every moment you spend with them is fueling the Green Rule.”
Kairyn sweeps past us to address the crowd. “Do we have an opening bid to spend the night with the gladiator Daytonales?”
The nobles begin to throw numbers into the air like rain. “Two thousand denarii,” I whisper. “Is that a lot?”
Dayton grunts. “A skilled blacksmith might earn a thousand denarii in a year. These people are fools to throw that amount of coin at Kairyn.”
“That amount foryou.”
He leans in and whispers, “If anyone touches you tonight, I’ll do worse than relieve them of their hands.”
“Then I’ll do my best to keep my distance, partner.”
“Three thousand denarii!” A Spring servant calls out the bids. “Going once, going twice, sold!”
A woman in draping spiderweb silk jumps up and claps her hands together, eyeing Dayton with a hungry gaze. He sighs.
“If it’s any consolation, I don’t think your fishy sidekick will go for such a price,” I say.
“I don’t like this.”
“Telling stories, being charming for a few hours … we can handle that.” I lower my voice. “We’ll steal it back and buy a thousand stuffed animals.”
“It’s a promise, Blossom. Though, I don’t know if you and the princes will fit in a bed with all of those.” His face softens, and he turns away.
My stomach twists in sadness as I watch him go. The woman and her friends greet him with cheers of glee, handing the prince a goblet of wine.
They are citizens of the Below. Perhaps there’s something we can learn from them.
“All right.” Kairyn waves a dismissive hand, already looking bored. “The siren.”
My bids start low.
“Twenty denarii!”
“Thirty-five!”
“Forty.”
A male with a protruding nose and a pointy, rat-like chin prowls forward. Stringy brown hair falls in greasy strands to his shoulders. “I’ve always been curious about the elusive sirens.” He reaches a crooked hand to one of the shells at my waist.
“If you want to touch, Duke Vermil, you must pay.” The auctioneer steps over, and the male retracts his gnarled fingers. “We have forty. Do I hear fifty?”
“One thousand,” a sweet voice says. A young woman stands next to a cubiculum covered by gauzy curtains. “My master would like to bid one thousand denarii.”
I wrack my mind. Has she bid before? One thousand denarii—that’s almost as much as Dayton went for.
