The dust layered on the road thins as we move deeper into the city. Sandend reminds me of Agrabah – full of earthen-coloured buildings and with a skyline of flat roofs, and colourful, onion-shaped domes. From the air, I saw the obvious wealth of the houses increase toward the centre – fine buildings line the main roads and the lord’s district, while ramshackle lean-tos choke the space close to the walls.

  I’m not in the mood for small talk, but I tolerate Layton playing tour guide – his commentary might prove useful later.

  At least he’s already sent off a group of guards to start the search. I hope they will be discreet – I don’t want my quarry scared off before I’m able to get into the streets myself.

  I do approve when he informs me that he’s instructed the gate guards – and sent messages to the other gates too – that all wagons and cloaked figures must be investigated thoroughly. If they get spooked, they might make a run for it. I consider the possibility that they might have an alternate exit out of the city, and ask Sirocco, Ivor, and Noir to circle the city and watch for suspicious groups.

  During our walk, Sulir shifts closer to me.

  “Would you like me to see if I can confirm your Bonded are here?” he asks in a murmur that won’t carry past the two of us.

  “If you can do that, yes,” I agree, nerves running through me. He nods and then I see him concentrate.

  Vibration starts in my chest and spreads. Not painful, but unpleasant – enough that I loosen my jaw before my teeth start rattling against each other.

  Finally, the vibrations reduce and then vanish again. I look at Sulir with an inquiring eyebrow while using Seal to keep this conversation private. He gives a short, sharp nod.

  “They’re here, my lord.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “I am. There is still strong magic shrouding them – I cannot tell what direction they are exactly – but they are in the vicinity.”

  “If you can’t tell which direction they’re in, how are we to find them?” I ask slightly harshly.

  “My Skill can estimate their approximate distance – it is how I know they are in the city. I will know when we’re close.”

  I nod slightly and then release Seal. A game of hot-and-cold, then. Hopefully I can get some information which will narrow down the areas of possibility so I don’t accidentally storm the wrong stronghold.

  As I saw on the map the ritual drew for me, all six main roads of Sandend lead towards the same central circle, like spokes on a wheel. The centre of the wheel is a massive market – a true one where the loud hawking of at least a couple of hundred merchants, the chatter of shoppers, the squeak of carts, and the cries of various animals combine to make a single ear-assaulting din.

  Those closest to us go silent and draw back as they see my companions. Kalanthia in particular draws the greatest number of gazes – and the most fear. But when they see that their lord is with us, most of them relax. Though I do see some who seem to lose their nerve and decide that they might visit the market another time.

  The court of justice is off the same central gathering point, as, I see, are the banks. I make a note of them, though my magical money pouch should render it unnecessary to actually visit.

  “I’m sorry, can you repeat that?” the wide-eyed guard at the entrance asks as he eyes our motley group. His gaze falls on Kalanthia and moves up, widening all the time.

  “We caught some bandits on the way in. We’re looking to deliver them to…justice.”

  The guard finally notices the lord beside me and pales. Not the most observant – an odd choice for security.

  “My lord!” He drops into a clumsy bow. And then, after rising, he darts a look at me and drops into another bow, perhaps assuming anyone accompanying his lord is likely to be of similar status.

  Layton also darts a look at me, no doubt seeing the irritation on my face.

  “My good man, please summon your fellows to take possession of these bandits so we can go about our day. We have other tasks to accomplish today.”

  “Right away, my lord!” The guard nearly trips in his haste, dropping his spear before scrambling to retrieve it. Colour creeps up his cheeks as he twists around and presses a button.

  “I suspect he’s new,” Layton mutters to me quietly. I look around to see there’s a faint hint of embarrassment on his own face – perhaps he’s taking the guard’s lack of composure to be a slight on him since it’s in his city.

  “It matters little to me, as long as we can be done with this quickly,” I return, barely keeping myself from shifting restlessly on the spot.

  Fortunately, the guard who arrives with three of his fellows is more competent than the door guard. The bandits are quickly collected and my spider silk bindings are exchanged for manacles and chains. My desire to have one of the bandits sentenced immediately causes a slight delay, however – apparently all the ‘judicators’ are currently on break and we have to wait for one to arrive.

  Thankfully, we’re not left on the doorstep, but are instead invited inside the utilitarian building and ushered to a side room. It doesn’t look much like a courtroom from Earth apart from the fact that there’s seating in the section near the door, on either side of a central corridor. A waist-high fence with a central gate divides the room in two about halfway along. The section beyond has little furniture – a table at the back and a cage in the far corner, to which the bandit is swiftly delivered. One guard remains silently next to the cage. We settle down on the chairs to wait.

  When the judicator arrives through a door in the opposite far corner to the bandit’s cage, a no-nonsense woman with steel-grey robes lined in white, she takes in the situation at a glance.

  “My lord, you have some urgent need for this accused?” she asks after moving to the fence and bowing to Lord Layton. He gestures to me.

  “Not me – Heir Titanbend caught some bandits and wishes to have one sentenced and remanded to his care directly afterwards.”

  The woman eyes me critically, before dipping another bow.

  “This is a little irregular. Can I assume that the lord is prepared to pay the service contract’s full fee upon sentencing?”

  “Assuming it’s an appropriate fee,” I agree. She looks briefly insulted.

  “My lord, I am a public judicator – my job is to render justice. Not extortion.”

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  “In that case, my apologies.” I may be a little too cynical from time to time.

  The woman makes a small indecipherable noise and then turns to the bandit in the cage.

  “What are the crimes of the accused?”

  Mathis stands up and steps forward to the fence.

  “Multiple counts of robbery, assault, and also multiple counts of accessory to murder, extortion, and illegal enslavement.”

  “I see.” The judicator turns and walks over to the bandit.

  “You are accused of robbery. Do you admit to this?”

  “No,” the bandit growls, though his tone is fearful. I see the judicator’s eyes glow white.

  “Lie. At least one count of robbery confirmed. You are accused of more than three counts of robbery. Do you admit to this?”

  “No,” the bandit replies, though this time, he’s sweating and I see his eyes dart to me.

  “Lie. More than three counts of robbery confirmed.” She raises an eyebrow and looks at the bandit. “Do you wish to continue like this, or will you admit to me exactly how many counts of robbery you are guilty of?”

  The bandit looks at her for a long moment, and then I see him slump.

  “I don’t remember,” he admits. “Too many te count.”

  “Truth,” the judicator briskly confirms.

  The interrogation continues, confirming everything I’d learned – and more. Thorough work, though I can’t help wondering at the Skill’s limits. Would plausible deniability work to avoid it? Or if someone somehow removed the memory of themselves committing the crime?

  In the end, it takes about twenty minutes for the judicator to finish her questioning and to give her sentence.

  “Sentenced to the collar, with a service contract of three gold coins.” She sends me a glance. “Is that acceptable, my lord?”

  “It is,” I agree, though I’m a little surprised at the price. No wonder few slaves ever earn enough to buy back their service contract. A labourer couldn’t hope to see that money in over a decade of work, and even a master craftsman might only earn that much in a year or more.

  She nods sharply, then indicates to the guard. I see him pull out a collar from his pocket and approach the cage door, while warning the slumped bandit inside not to make any funny moves. For a moment, the bandit – Rory, apparently – looks like he might try, but in the end he just lets the guard clasp the collar around his neck. It seals together magically without a seam. Rory just stares at his hands as the guard leads him out by the chain attached to his manacles.

  Meanwhile, the judicator moves over to the table. A few minutes later, she walks over to hand me a roll of parchment.

  I quickly scan it – it’s my first time actually looking at a service contract, but it’s pretty simple. Basically, it just details Rory’s crimes and sentence and acknowledges that I’m taking responsibility for his care and behaviour from this moment. There’s already a fancy seal underneath the sentence – this one glimmers in blue.

  “Upon adding your seal and rendering the three gold coins of his service fee, you will be given possession of your new collared.”

  I nod, then look at the slumped ex-bandit. He looks a lot smaller like this, his shaggy hair hanging in front of his face.

  “Rory,” I call quietly, feeling an abrupt spike of pity despite everything I now know he’s done. Or perhaps because of it – I’m sure that becoming a mugger and then bandit wasn’t his only option in life. But he chose to harm others and this is what he’s earned for himself. “Does our agreement stand?”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I see the judicator’s eyes narrow, but she doesn’t say anything. There’s a long moment of silence, then the ex-bandit raises his eyes. Helpless anger twines with fear on his face, but a moment later, he nods.

  “It does, me lord.”

  I nod, then trigger Dominate. Agreement or not, I’m not going to trust him until he’s proven I can.

  The Battle of Wills is quickly over – I don’t need his consent here when I already made it clear on the balloon that I would require a Bond if he wished me to buy his contract.

  Finally, I pay the judicator the three gold coins, and add my magical seal to the contract. Funnily enough, as we’re leaving the courthouse, one of the guards hurries up to give me a pouch of coins – apparently bandits have a hundred silver coin bounty on their heads as encouragement to bring them in alive. I don’t need the money so pass the pouch over to Mathis to share among the guards – they appreciate the gesture, if the looks and bows of thanks I receive are anything to go by.

  Closing the distance to Layton’s manor doesn’t take much time after that – it’s only a couple of streets away from the marketplace.

  Layton shows me into a sitting room. From there, he orders for tila to be brought and for his guard captain to fetch any reports about recent crimes in the city. Kalanthia stays outside with all of my companions except for Bastet and…my new slave. They’re eager to start searching – I completely understand. But I can’t just release them onto the city given what reactions their presence is likely to garner. My kidnapped companions need them fresh, not tired from a pointless fight.

  The guard captain returns quickly, his arms piled with scrolls.

  “These are all the recent reports, my lord,” he informs us as he lays them down on the low table on which the tila has been placed. He hesitates. “I…can’t say that any particular report springs to mind – Heir Titanbend’s companions could have been brought in on any number of wagons. If only one was a human, and a collared slave at that, the guards might not have noted its arrival as anything but wares for the market.”

  That makes my stomach churn in anger, but given I’ve been angry ever since they were kidnapped, it doesn’t change much. I pull the dagger out of my Inventory. The guard captain and Layton both tense until I place the dagger down on the table.

  “This was found at the scene. It has an emblem on it. Do you recognise it?”

  The two men lean forward and eye the carving.

  “A nisha?” Layton questions – he looks baffled. The guard captain looks more thoughtful.

  “I’ve seen that emblem around the city. I believe it’s associated with one of the criminal gangs that operate here – despite our best efforts to stamp them out.”

  A flicker of interest comes through my new Bond with Rory. I turn my head to look at him sharply.

  “Do you have anything to add?” I ask him. He hesitates and I sense him questioning himself whether he should speak or not. Yes, you should, I tell him firmly and feel his shock and sudden fear at the intrusion of my voice into his mind. He wonders with terror if I can read his mind. I decide not to confirm or deny at this point. I’ve fulfilled my side of the bargain. If you know something, speak now. And I will know if you’re lying or holding back.

  “...Yes, me lord,” he agrees roughly, his voice revealing trepidation mixed with a hint of resentment. I gesture him forwards from where he’s pressed himself against the wall. “The nitha…it’s Dexil’s gang.”

  “Dexil…. I’ve heard that name before,” the guard captain replies, his brow furrowing. “Though only recently.”

  “They’re new,” the ex-bandit agrees, shooting that same fearfully resentful look at me. “Came te the city not long ‘fore I left.” He gives a shiver and his hand goes to his side briefly. “They’re tough blokes, though. Wanted me te join them. T’was one reason I quit the city. I was already too close te bein’ nabbed an’ collared te join a gang.” His hand drifts up to pull at the band of metal now sealed around his neck and resentment briefly outweighs the fear inside him. He glares at the floor as if it’s personally offended him. I wonder if he’s imagining my face there.

  “Where are they located? Where are their headquarters?” I demand firmly. Hope makes my chest feel tight – this is the first lead we’ve had which might actually get us somewhere. Rory is silent for a moment. “Answer me,” I order firmly, pressing on the Bond.

  “South-side. Near the wall,” Rory blurts, his mouth moving without his permission. “That’s what I heard. But I’ve never been te their main quarters.”

  “That’s the edge of the prosperous merchant district,” Layton comments. He exchanges a glance with the captain and then returns his gaze to me. “Wagons come and go at all times of the day and night there – one carrying your Bonded wouldn’t even get a second glance."

  I stand up.

  “Looks like we have our first area to investigate.” I send a look at Rory. “And you’ll tell us everything you know about Dexil and his gang while we travel.” It’s not a request. And he realises it.

  The man swallows again, his gaze dropping even as the emotions on his side of the Bond churn.

  “Yes…me lord,” Rory agrees roughly.

  I take a step towards the door and then curl over myself as a sudden sense of agony briefly overwhelms my senses.

  The pain is slamming through one of my Bonds. I blunt it fast and straighten to meet Bastet’s eyes – she felt it too. Urgency floods me, not just for who’s hurting, but because I can feel it at all – and what that implies.

  Loran.

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