As Cass expected, the Sand District was a slum, What she did not expect was the Warrior Caste presence there. Odal was quite open about their presence, even as Cass watched a small group, a family likely, separated and beaten. Apparently they had violated the rules regarding gatherings on public roads, limit of four that a family of five could not help but break.

There were many rules like that, restricting what those in the Sand Caste could do, for example, they had to wear tan belts even in their own district. However, Odal was quite proud about the lack of organized crime in the district. Under the fierce pressure of the Warrior Caste, gangs simply did not exist.

Odal did not want to go very far into the district, and Cass let him take her back to the castle. She had questions, but they were not the kind that Odal would be able to answer, she would have to find the answers herself. This was a very different society than the one she had been raised in, but looking past the surface, many things seemed the same.

Odal guided her back to her room, where the servants informed her that Cass had been invited to dinner with some of the Strioi who had come down to the castle to visit her. Likely they were the same people from before, Cass figured that they still wanted to talk about her glyphs despite her refusal, which was only to be expected she supposed.

She was provided with clothes to wear to the dinner, a much more conservative dress robe, but still quite pretty. It seemed a solid blue at first but on closer inspection there were complicated designs in different shades in the fabric and it was tied at the front with a brightly colored cloth band, with more beautifully intricate designs. A far cry from the grey cloaks of the Stone or the tan bands of the Sand she thought.

The dinner itself was… Amazing. Her Master had been generous, but Cass had never been to a banquet like this. She had never even dreamed that something like this could exist, the long table was piled with all kinds of exotic foods with servers and chefs constantly refilling plates and drinks for the well-dressed folk that were in attendance.

“Ah, there she is!” One of the mages smiled as Cass entered. He had been one of the ones that had interviewed her earlier, but he had not left any impression on her. “Elder, this is the new Strioi I was telling you about.”

A man stepped forward, Cass thought he might even be more ancient than Lord Evans, but he was a completely different personality. He was ancient looking, but he stood straight and strong, and there was an intensity to his eyes that was only second to her Masters in certain situations. He had dark eyes and despite his advanced age, his hair still retained some of of its dark color to it.

“So this is her?” The man was not as welcoming as the others it seemed, which suited Cass fine. Rather than wait to be introduced, she walked up to the two who were talking about her.

“I am Cass,” Curtsying was hard in this dress, but she managed it. Admittedly, she was not very practiced in curtsying, but she knew, roughly, how to do it. “Might I ask your name?”

The mage from earlier seemed a little shocked, but the older mage just seemed amused. “Not very timid for a slave, are you?”

“Is there a reason I should be?” Cass had taken on parts of Hall’s personality to a small extent. Her Master did not offer respect to those below him, and maintained etiquette but never went beyond that for his equals. He had treated Cass as dirt until she had proved himself, and the more she interacted with people aside from her Master, the more she understood his attitude. Did Rat deserve respect from her? After repaying her debt to Birdie, did she need to treat her as Cass’s equal? Did Odal have the right to not be pressured by Cass?

The answer to those questions was no, they did not.

“Aside from the Magesbane still in your system?” The man was still amused, “No, there is not. I am one of the Elders of the Strioi, Cassan Klein.”

“Well, it is a pleasure to meet you Elder Klein,” Cass curtsied again. “Unfortunately, I am not yet familiar with this kingdom and I have no idea what an Elder is.”

“Old, for one thing.” Klein laughed, “You came from Haj, so perhaps the best way to explain what I am is to say that I am the lord of all mages here in Beergmutar.”

Cass blinked in surprise, she did not think she would warrant that kind of attention. She did not know much about the countries surrounding the Haj Empire, but she knew they were much smaller. However, she still would not expect someone so important to take interest in her. Perhaps this banquet had been scheduled for a while?

Klein quickly disabused her of that idea, “Normally I would not attend such a poor banquet, but I was interested in the things I heard about you. A Strioi with glyphs… We had thought our magic more advanced than Haj, and yet here we have an example of our hubris…”

Wait, did he say ‘poor banquet?’ There was much in what he said that Cass should be thinking about, but the idea that this magnificent event was on the ‘poor’ side… This much food could have fed hundreds for days, or dozens for weeks… She almost thought she was dreaming.

“Ah, I am sorry.” Cass apologized for the lapse in the conversation, “Since I woke I have had trouble concentrating, there is just so much to take in.”

Klein waved it away, “It is a side effect of the Magesbane, do not worry yourself about it.” Then he reached into his robes and produced a vial that he handed to her. “I heard that you refused to go into detail about your glyphs, though the basics you explained will undoubtedly lead to great advances for us overall. However, I thought that perhaps a gesture of goodwill and thanks for what you have already given us is in order.”

The vial turned out to be an antidote for Magesbane. Cass briefly debated whether or not she was being lied to, but if they had wanted they could have poisoned her in any number of ways, so she decided to trust them and take it. She gagged and nearly threw up as she swallowed it, they could have warned her about how bitter it was!

“The food in the Warrior Caste’s castle is subpar,” Elder Klein said as he guided Cass over to the table. “Nevertheless, it is satisfactory enough and I am sure you are hungry. We can discuss further over our meal.”

If this was subpar the banquets the Elder was used to would likely cause Cass to die from shock! Every single dish was a beautiful work of art in presentation, and every bite of that art was an explosion of flavor and texture. Cass nearly inhaled the food around her, she was willing to bet she was not being polite, but she simply did not care, refusing to pause until she was full. What a wonderful feeling, even her Master had not let her eat this much! Of course, she did not want to start getting fat. She used to envy those nobles who could eat enough to become obese, but she knew that her Master would prefer to be a normal size, which meant Cass had to resolve to never eat like this again. Cass had seen people die on the streets and felt less sorrow than the thought that she would have to restrain herself from food like this!

“I see that Haj still doesn’t believe in feeding their servants,” Klein laughed as he watched her eat. Cass did pause long enough to dispel the insinuation against Hall though.

“My Master fed me well, in fact, I would call him overly generous. But I have never seen anything like this.”

“I cannot see how,” Klein frowned. “Slavery itself is a pathetic institution, but enslaving a Strioi is just plain blasphemous.”

“The Church of Light does not approve of the practice,” Cass knew that several priests had railed against it quite often when she had gone to receive the small charity meals before. Then again, those same priests had no problem taking advantage of the desperate, and in the end, what really was the difference? “But they do not view it as harshly as it is taken here.”

“The Priests will likely talk to you about that some other time,” Klein took a sip of his wine and turned his full focus on Cass. “Personally, I am more interested in your glyphs.”

“I would imagine that the mages from before told you what I told them.” Cass sat back in her chair in a rather unladylike manner, she was absolutely stuffed! “My answer has not changed since then.”

Klein frowned and set his wine down, “But you are free now, why do you care if this information ‘belongs to your master?’” He looked over his folded hands at her curiously, “Given the current situation, I would think you would be happy to support us.”

“The way you say that seems to imply there is more to this situation then simply freeing me.” Cass sat up straight again, she no longer had the luxury to be ignorant of the world around her.

“Of course,” Klein smiled grimly. “Some of the southern lords in Haj have made deals with us to support them in their coming rebellion. Surely that is the reason that you were heading south, to reinforce the Imperial forces stationed there?”

Cass laughed, “We were there to fight bandits and test the limits of the glyphs. To be honest with you, I did not know this country existed before I woke up here, and I have no idea where it is in relation to Haj even now.”

Klein seemed stunned by Cass’s remark, “As I recall all Strioi are lords in Haj, did your family not educate you before they fell from power?”

“I was born on the streets, my mother was a mere washerwoman and I do not know who my father was,” Cass shrugged. “However, I am told it is quite likely he was of noble blood.”

“I see.” Klein was a little taken aback by this, and seemed unsure what to say next.

“To answer your question,” Cass continued through the pause. “I did not mind being owned by my Master very much. There were parts of me that struggled against it, but in the end I came to admire his guidance. He taught me magic, encouraged me to think and learn, praised and rewarded me with generosity for my success and punished me for my failures. In short, I am unsure if I am thankful for being freed or not. I owe a friend of mine, who helped me find a dream of my own, to at least try and see what the world away from my Master is like.”

Cass smiled as she thought of Maurice, if she ever saw her again she would have to thank her. While her words may have prolonged the process of breaking Cass before, they would help her now in deciding what she ultimately desired.

“All of that said, I may decide to go back to him in the end.”

“Hmmm, you need to see the Priests more than I thought…” Klein looked concerned and… Was that disgust in his eyes? Well, Cass could not entirely blame him. Even she knew that saying she was fine with being owned, and being secure in that knowledge enough to tell someone she just met, was abnormal. But normal and abnormal had nothing to do with good or bad, so she just shrugged it off.

The conversation effectively died there. Some more small talk was made, a few introductions to other important figures in the Strioi Caste that she was now part of, and eventually it all came to an end. Cass was escorted back to her room with guards for ‘her protection,’ and she found herself in a situation not all that different from when she had first met Hall.

However, Cass wanted to know more about this society, and while Odal had been easy to push around, he had not given answers to all of Cass’s questions. Experimentally, Cass tried to put a small amount of power into her glyphs. To her relief, the antidote had worked, her mana was her own again. These people were not very experienced in holding people, as Cass’s window was easy to open and it was a drop she could have made even before the glyphs were applied.

With her glyphs, leaving through the window was as easy as walking through the door.