Page 97 of House of Crimson Cloak and Silver Teeth

Shepherd laughs at our interaction. “Come on, both of you. We’re celebrating.”

“Celebrating what?” I ask.

“Shade’s out. Wolf’s the guild’s rising star. This is a good day.” He’s already moving toward the door, assuming we’ll follow. “I know just the place.”

The Gilded Lily sits in Tiamat’s pleasure district. Part tavern, part brothel, and a neutral ground where assassins can drink without watching their backs quite so carefully.

It’s the usual place Shepherd and I frequent. A place where the wine flows freely and the company is available for the right price.

We arrive to find the main room already busy. Shepherd finds us a booth away from the crowd and orders a meal. “Give the boys whatever they want, anything on the menu. My treat.”

Then he excuses himself, disappearing upstairs with a host he’s been seeing for years. Leaving me on babysitting duty.

I’m stuck with Shade, a kid in a pleasure house. Perfect.

Shade looks around the Gilded Lily with those sharp eyes, taking in everything. The workers in their silks, the private rooms upstairs, the thick carpets that muffle sound, the expensive art on the walls.

And the hanging cages.

Oh, the fucking cages.

The Gilded Lily’s owner is a noble named Petyr Ravence. He likes to display his newest acquisitions in gilded cages throughout the main room. He parades them for potential customers to inspect and purchase.

Indentured servitude laws in Tiamat allow for debt bondage. If someone owes enough money and can’t pay, they can be sold into service until the debt is cleared.

I’ve learned to ignore the cages and to avoid looking too long at the faces behind the bars. The guild has taught us not to care about things we can’t change.

I steer Shade to the bar where he’ll face away from the cages.

The server comes to take our order. I glance at the selection behind the bar and decide to take full advantage of Shepherd’s generosity. “Blackthorn Reserve. The aged one.”

Her eyebrows rise slightly. That’s easily the most expensive ale in the house. “Excellent choice, sir. And for you, sweetheart?” She turns to Shade, smiling at him.

“I’ll have what Wolf is having,” Shade says.

“He’ll have a milkshake,” I interrupt. “With a cherry on top.”

The girl blinks, then smiles wider. “Of course.”

She returns minutes later with a bright pink glass, topped with whipped cream and a bright red cherry. Shade looks at the milkshake, then at me. “Can I really have this?”

“Consider it repayment,” I say, taking a long drink of my ale. “For helping me fight for that chocolate when we were kids.”

“Thank you.” He picks up the milkshake carefully and takes a sip. His whole face lights up. “This is good.”

Despite the awkwardness, the strangeness of sitting across from a friend who’s both younger and not younger than me, I smile.

We sit in awkward silence for a while. Shade drinks his milkshake with careful concentration while I work on my ale.

“Wolf,” Shade says eventually. “What are those?”

He’s pointing at the hanging cages.

Fuck.

“Those are... displays,” I say carefully, hoping he’ll drop it.

He studies the nearest cage intensely. There’s a girl inside with brown hair and defiant eyes. She wears rags that barely cover her, and there are fresh bruises on her arms.