5.Slaves

Tjonre turned to Raft: "Come on, let's go."

"Yes, to Evwan's tavern."

"No," replied Tjonre, "to the auction house".

"To the auction house? Do you want to buy a slave? The blonde? ”

“ No, the other girl, the one with the rainbow in her hair. ”As he said that, he smiled - stupid, Raft thought.

"Rainbow? There wasn't a rainbow ... wait! There was a flicker. Annoying, always distracted me from concentrating on the blonde slave. You mean the one that looks like a line! Why do you want to buy that? Why do you even want to buy a slave? You have never done that before. You always left that to others. And if so, why not the blonde? At least you have something from her. ”Raft indicated her curvy figure with his hands.

Tjonre raised the locket with his hand to show it to Raft, who looked at it in astonishment, apparently he hadn't noticed the whole scene. "It's not about that, I want to give this back to her."

"Then give it to her, you don't need to buy her."

"I want to make sure that she can keep it." Tjonre slipped the locket into his jacket pocket, while Raft slowly shook his heavy head and finally decided that Tjonre's state of mind was not the best, which was somehow true.

"Well, let's buy the line."

"But you can also go to Evwan's pub if you prefer."

"No, I'll go with you, I won't miss it." They strode along the fences to the Auction house, with a pack of Smilons following them in the beast enclosure, small saber-tooth martens not much more than a meter long, which thanks to their elongated canine teeth were able to strike prey that was much larger than themselves. They could also be dangerous to humans, in the open However, they only hunted nature at night. So on Ivarn it was not advisable to spend the night outdoors.

The gate of the auction house was wide open and they entered the hall, which was basically designed like an ancient theater. Around the central square, the stone seating was arranged concentrically and stepped in such a way that it rose further and further towards the periphery, so that one always had a good view of the auction site. Directly above the entrance was the area where the powerful-voiced auctioneer resided. Four armed men were standing at the entrance to prevent slaves from escaping. Vis a Vis was a second door through which the slaves and their owners entered. The house was well attended, almost exclusively by men; Tjonre and Raft sat down on one of the front stone steps, being careful not to have the feet of someone behind them behind them.

***

The slave trader Arem SiVender was a stout man with a bald head and a round face. He did his profession by the grace of the lords of this planet. He had authorized access to the only spaceport, so that he could sell his customers the coveted exotic species, a privilege that few other slave traders were entitled to. His mostly wealthy customers appreciated that, but it was also dearly for him. Privileges had to be paid for in a variety of ways. Arem only traded in slaves and exotic animal forms; He would have liked to visit a larger city with his goods, which contained some very handsome items. But you weren't always in control of your decisions. Ephram OrPhon had very kindly expressed the wish that he should sell his assortment right here this time; it would have been very unwise and unhealthy of him to turn down a wish from a member of the OrPhon family, no matter how kindly it was expressed. Among his slaves was an angel of death and this had to be placed in the right place, he didn't know any more details and he didn't want to know either. What did he care about the intrigues of the noble lords? Although potential buyers were not the first choice, he expected to make a good profit. He entered the hall through the second entrance and after a few meaningless greetings he instructed an assistant to send the first slave in. She came closer and stopped next to him in the center of the hall. It was the woman from whom he expected the greatest profit; it should fuel the enthusiasm of his audience to buy. The girl had long, blonde hair, a beautiful face that was made up in such a way that you could see her big, auspicious lips glowing bright red up to the last row, and her eyebrows were also emphasized. She had a voluptuous, well-formed body, which Arem extolled, although the audience could not see it yet, nor was it hidden behind the baggy dress. Then came the theatrical revelation; Arem loosened the stitches that held the dress on her shoulders and it slowly slid down her, slowly because the girl was holding her arms close to her body. The audience roared and hooted, the slave smiled - it was obvious that she was enjoying the display. She rocked and bent like a snake, running her hands from her breasts over the waist down her body and looking promisingly from behind a golden lock. The audience was boiling now, and Arem was cheering inwardly as the offers climbed higher and higher; now Evwam even offered and he knew what he was doing, that was also clear to the rest of the audience. So the bids rose again, the auctioneer hardly followed, after all, the auction ended at a very respectable amount; the girl went to Evwam. She pulled up her dress and headed for the entrance.