When Cass woke up, she found herself lying in a comfortable bed, with light streaming through a nearby window on to the blankets. Her head felt worse than the time she had been clubbed and dragged into that cell, but she sat up and tried to get her bearings, outside the window was… Mountains?

She had heard of them, but never seen them. However, these towering and soaring stone and rock… Thing… Could be nothing else than what they described. But that raised the question of where she was and how she had gotten here. The last thing she remembered…

She jumped out of the bed, they had been ambushed and she had been separated from her Master. Then the man had held up an orb and she had blacked out. She tried to take a step and stumbled, her legs felt weak and unsteady. Cass growled and tried to pour power into her glyphs, but all she got was a pounding headache and she threw up on the floor, collapsing to her hands and knees.

The door opened and a man with the look of the leather armored ambushers entered. Seeing her on the floor he rushed over and Cass scrambled back away from him. She was not quite afraid, but she did not know where she was or where her Master was. Cass thought these people had likely kidnapped her for some reason, and the only thing she could think of was for her glyphs. But if that was the case they didn’t need to let her wake up, they could have dissected her to understand the magic tools added to her glyphs while she was asleep.

The man drew back when Cass recoiled and approached slowly, spreading his hands to show he was unarmed, the way one might approach a frightened animal.

“Hey there little thing,” He said quietly. “There is no reason to be afraid, no one is going to hurt you here. My name is Odal, and I promise you that I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”

Cass glared at him, “You tried to kill me, knocked me out, and then kidnapped me. I don’t know what kind of idiot you are Odal, but you must be a big one if you don’t think that counts as bad.”

“Well until we removed the collar we had no choice,” Odal grimaced and rubbed the back of his head. “Even the Magesbane we fed you was just because you might not realize when you woke up and act out based on orders you no longer had to follow.”

“Removed…?” Cass raised her hand to her throat, but instead of the collar she had become so used to over the past few months her fingers brushed against bare skin.

“You are free,” Odal said gently. “The Haj Empire may keep slaves, but the Kingdom of Beergmutar is not so barbaric. The Magesbane we fed you will wear off in a day or two as well, and you will be as healthy as can be.”

Cass’s head was spinning. She was… Free? She… Did not know what to think about that… She wanted to go back, Cass didn’t care if she was leashed so long as Hall was the one holding it. But that voice that been silent in her grew louder, as if clawing for a chance to be heard.

The time before Hall had gone hazy in places as her mind had accepted her Master as her whole world, but there was a time when she would have killed to have the skills and value to be able to make her own way in the world. She was an amateur at magic, but it was a talent to valuable to pass up, she could find work… Maurice had helped her choose a dream, even though that dream was as far from her as the moon was, this was her chance to pursue it.

While Cass was lost in a daze, Odal had kept talking, attempting to soothe Cass and calm her down. However one thing caught her attention.

“What do you mean that I cannot leave the kingdom?” Cass had no idea where the kingdom was, but he did not need to know that. She had never learned any geography, for that matter she had never even seen a map.

“Just as I said,” Odal repeated kindly. “As a magic user, you are part of the Strioi Caste, a well respected and honored part of our society. There are very few laws restricting the Strioi, most of them are general laws that apply to all Castes. But one thing to note is that Strioi may not leave Beergmutar, if you try the guards will turn you back.”

“I am sorry Odal,” Cass needed to clarify what she had heard. “I was lost in my thoughts a second ago, could you please explain what ‘Castes’ are?”

Odal nodded easily, “Sure, no worries. As a mountain has a wide base to support its soaring peak, so does society have a base and a peak, each supporting the other in its own way. The spirits of the Earth and Air communicated this to us in ancient times, and thus were the Castes born.”

Cass was a firm follower of the Church, and the words Odal was speaking bordered on blasphemy, but she kept her mouth shut. Her Master had not liked the Church and had not often let her attend services, so she did not think she really had the moral high ground to lecture… But she had never heard of any belief system other than the Church, so she was confused.

“First, the Von.” Odal continued his explanation, “First among men, they are the soaring peak we all work to support. To explain in a way you would recognize, they are our lords and kings. Following them are the Spirit Caste and the Strioi Caste. The first is priests and shamans and the second are mages like you. Both of them support the Von as they reach for the glory of the skies.”

Odal himself was part of the Warrior Caste, the next Caste under the Spirit and Strioi. This was part of why he showed so much respect and kindness to Cass, here she was neither a dreg off the street or a slave, but something closer to lower nobility. She… Did not know how to feel about that either, the list of confusing and headache inducing things kept growing…

Following the Warrior Caste was the Silver Caste, which was merchant families and business owners. After which was the Stone Caste, which was workers and laborers. And finally was the Sand Caste, which was mostly the descendants of criminals. According to Odal, those who commited a crime would be marked, and they with all of their direct descendants would be moved to the Sand Caste.

The rights and restrictions varied from caste to caste, and even the kindly Odal referred to those who were part of the Sand as little more than dogs. Free dogs, he made clear, but no one would care what was done to them.

As Cass began to understand, she realized that really nothing had changed. The only difference between here and Tyine once you boiled down the cultures was her position in society.

“And if I wanted to leave?” Cass inquired, “Is there any way to do so?”

“For the Strioi? No, I have never heard of one being allowed out past the valley. A Strioi cannot be sent to the Sand, but as I recall they had their feet chopped off to prevent them from trying again.”

Odal hurried to say that there really was no reason to leave, as a Strioi Cass would be provided for with everything from housing to education.

“In fact,” Odal smiled. “There are quite a few who wanted to discuss those glyphs of yours. The glyphs on those poor slaves were already beyond belief, but glyphs on a Strioi… He shook his head.”

“You were there?” Cass started, there was one thing she had to know. “What happened? Did the mages who were with us survive?”

If her Master was dead…

Odal scowled, “Those bastards seemed to be completely unharmed. The glyphed slaves like yourself were far stronger than we expected, we lost a lot of good Warriors that night.”

Cass let out a breath in relief. That, at least, was wonderful news. Collar or no collar, whatever decision she ended up making, some part of her would always belong to her Master. It was only a question of how much of her.

Her Master encouraged curiosity and learning, always wanted her to approach her magic from a new angle and expand her thinking. He told her to be open to new ways of thinking and seeing, and Cass would take his advice here. The slums and her Master were all she knew, but the world was bigger than that by far.

Odal ended up agreeing to show Cass the city later that day, after a brief interview with the Strioi he said. In the meantime a servant came in to clean the vomit. The servant kept her eyes down and said nothing, even when Cass apologized for the mess. In fact, upon hearing that the woman jumped and her eyes went wide, she redoubled her scrubbing and left in a rush. Cass was not entirely sure what she had done wrong…

The mages, which was to say Strioi, came soon after she had left. However, they left frustrated when Cass refused to talk about her glyphs. She explained the basics, how magic tools were used to regulate the power, but refused to comment on how that impacted the designs except to inform them that her own glyphs were not the same as the others. Someone without natural magic power, even if they had an Absorption Glyph, would not be able to use the glyphs that she had.

Cass had expected to be tortured to reveal the information, but to her surprise they simply left in a huff. Perhaps that would come later? Or perhaps they did not want to…

“Why refuse them?” Odal asked later as he came to escort her for the tour of the city. “I know that Haj cares little for its people, but the glyphs cannot be created by a means to terrible to name, right?”

“They belong to my Master,” Cass answered as she walked out into the sunlight. There was an open carriage waiting for them and Cass had to accept a hand getting in as her legs still had difficulty holding her upright. “And I see no reason to trust any of you.”

“You were a slave, so I suppose that is understandable…” Odal looked at her with sympathy, “But the collar is gone now, you are a free woman.”

Cass stayed silent about her own inner turmoil. She had grown used to her collar, had become happy to be at her Master’s beck and call, she could honestly say that if it was not for the other voice inside of her urging her to at least see the possibilities, she would ask for it back. Besides, her experience with freedom was more painful than her experience with slavery. She had never been in danger of freezing to death with Hall. Had never been hungry during her months as his slave. And unlike the things her Master did to her, there was no thrill in the pain of a cold winter or a week without food, Cass could see herself begging to be punished, but she would never miss a meal if she could help it.

The silent stretched on for a bit and Odal coughed. “Well, the castle we just left is the Warrior Castes main headquarters, it looks pretty large but I am sure you will be able to find your way around just fine should you need to.”

Compared to the Imperial Center it was a hut… But Cass stayed quiet about that as well as the driver moved the carriage forward. The air was crisp and cool, and very dry. She inhaled deeply and sighed. Cass did have to admit that was one plus for living up in the mountains.

And they really were in the mountains. The city, which held the same name as the country, Beergmutar, was stretched along the side of a mountain. There were even tunnels dug into it as well, old mines where the depleted shafts closer to the surface had been repurposed as living quarters.

The Silver district was not far different from Tyine, full of shops selling all kinds of goods and bursting with people. If Cass squinted a bit she could almost imagine being back in the capitol, where she had stared hungrily at the busy streets and envied those who could afford to purchase food.

The only real difference was the lack of color. The merchants were all dressed in bright colors to advertise their wares, but most of the people shopping wore some grey cloaks of some description. According to Odal, Stone Caste members were required to wear them as proof of their caste.

“Could someone in the Stone Caste become part of the Silver Caste?” Cass asked as she watched a pair of ladies haggle over some vegetables. The price seemed very high, she had to admit she was surprised that mere workers could afford it.

Odal scowled as he saw where Cass was looking. “No, you are born into your Caste and it is set from birth to death. Those people over there, do you see the waistband?”

It was a brownish color and really quite unremarkable, but Cass nodded that she did.

“They are part of the so-called granite faction,” Odal grumbled. “The whole lot of them should be sent to the sand in my opinion. The lot of them are heretics and Caste traitors.”

“Why is that?” Cass was curious as to what would elicit such a response from the seemingly gentle Odal.

“They do high level work for the upper classes, usually the Silver, but sometimes the Strioi or Von.” Odal glared at the ladies as the carriage passed, “And they think that they should not be considered part of the Stone, many of them don’t think they should have a Caste at all. If it weren’t for some of the Von protecting them, I’d round up the lot.”

Ah, so they were administrators, accountants, and the like, Cass was able to read between the lines and understand. Successful merchants would have enterprises that were bigger than they were that needed managing, the wheels of government required a great deal of manpower to move, and Cass had seen firsthand the need for mages to have assistants. But for all the power these people might possess, they were still part of the Stone in the end. It seemed like a minor complaint to Cass compared to the problems they could have, but she understood it at least.

The tour of the Palace district, the Strioi district, and the Priest district passed uneventfully. She knew where they were now at least, should she ever need to go to any of them. But as they headed back she noticed a curve in the road that would head further down the mountain. She had the Stone district pointed out to her, but the city seemed to extend further.

“What is down there?”

Another subject to bring a scowl to Odal’s face, “The Sand district. There is nothing there worth seeing.”

“Actually,” Cass felt a sudden urge to see what it was like here. “If you don’t mind, I would like to see it.”

Odal had initially refused, but Cass had insisted and he eventually relented. Odal did not seem to be a very strong willed man for a warrior, true she was weak willed herself not all that long ago, but she had that part of her beaten into a different shape.

She was only subservient to her Master, and no one else.