Chapter 90 The Mystery Lot

An hour later, something drew Evernya awake. Her eyes fluttered open to see Boswell announcing the last mystery lot.

“Now, the lot I’m sure many of you have been waiting for! Just a month ago, Montgomery & Morrison approached us to auction off this unique lot never before seen in Sespina! Without further a due Imported from beyond the barrier, a Kitsune!” Boswell announced as a naked petite teenage girl with a familiar silver collar around her neck and black bands on her limbs walks out, flanked by a middle-aged man and woman on each side.

The girl in question had almond-shaped, deep brown eyes and beautiful, dark brown, straight hair flowing down to her mid-back. Her skin was creamy white with no visible blemishes. The most striking feature of the girl is five bushy fox tails, the same color as her hair sprouting out of her lower back. Her tails were so long and bushy they appeared bigger than the petite girl who owned them. Atop her head were two tall triangular fox ears of the same color as her hair and tails.

Meira’s face reddened with rage, exclaiming before anyone else could react. “What the hell! I chose this auction house because they never sold enslaved people! How desperate are they to stoop so low to sell people? The owner made an oath to me he would never sell slaves!”

“How long ago?” Aiden inquired, annoyed but not enraged.

After taking a deep breath, Meira replied, “A bit over 50 years ago, why?”

“About five years ago, the original owner died, passing it to his children who sold it off,” Aiden informed.

“No wonder everything seems different. How could I have missed this? He seemed healthy for his age when I saw him 11 years ago.” Meira questioned.

“Well, from what I heard, it was sudden, and the funeral was private,” Aiden added.

“Such a shame he was a nice old guy. I wish I would have known all of this ahead of time. I probably wouldn’t have bothered to come.” Meira commented.

Unbeknownst to everyone else, Evernya curled up in her chair, hugging her knees with a pained expression whimpering, “Meira, please save her.”

The barely audible whimper directed everyone’s attention to the fetal, shaking girl. Tears ran down Evernya’s pain-filled eyes as her already white skin paled further.

Upon taking in her kitten’s state, Meira sprang up from the couch, kneeling in front of her kitten with teary eyes. Meira gazed directly into her kitten’s unfocused, pain-filled eyes, asking, “Evernya, listen to me very carefully. What exactly do you feel right now?”

Evernya tried her best to focus, forcing out, “Pain nothing like what I’ve felt before. It feels deeper, but somehow distant at the same time. I want to run to her and take her pain away, but I know I can’t.”

Meira turned toward Aiden to order, “Aiden, call Alexa in here now!” Meira scooped up her shaking kitten, carrying her to the couch while hugging and petting her hair. She placed her kitten on her lap, blocking her view of the stage, hoping to calm her down.

After running several scans, Elizabeth stared at the pair with confusion as she reported, “Physically and magically, she is fine. I don’t know what is wrong.”

Having expected as much, Meira replied, “It won’t show up because the pain isn’t hers, it’s the poor Kitsune’s. If she is feeling this much, I can’t imagine how much that poor girl is feeling.”

A few seconds later, Alexa entered the room in her usual graceful manner until she saw the scene before her. “What’s wrong with her!?” Alexa asked in a slightly panicked tone.

“Tell whoever is in charge that they need to call off this lot and bring her up here according to the Alpha Mate Act of 1863!” Meira ordered, causing Alexa to stare at her, confused.

“Just do it! Your boss should know what it is. If he doesn’t bring him to me.” Meira yelled, causing Alexa to jump before scurrying out the door as fast as her heels would allow her.

“You think the Kitsune is her mate?” Elizabeth questioned in disbelief.

“Yes, only a highly compatible soulmate would feel the pain of the other from this far away,” Meira replied, as she continued to comfort her kitten by hugging her close while gently petting her hair.

With a confused expression, Elizabeth questioned, “I thought mates are only from the same breed? Sure, from surviving mythic era documents, kitsune is part shifter but hardly the same breed.”

“Remember, we don’t know Evernya’s exact shifter breed. The last recorded Kitsune is from the mythic era. Who knows, maybe they are more compatible than we think.” Meira said.

“You’re right. It’s not unheard of for different shifter breeds to be soulmates. However, a full soul binding may be tricky,” Elizabeth commented.

As Evernya adjusted to the pain, she regained some awareness of her surroundings, causing her to question in a shocked tone. “She’s my mate!? I thought mates meant instant love. All I feel is her pain and a need to protect her.”

While smiling down at her kitten concealing her worry, Meira explained, “You won’t. Many soul mates don’t become lovers. Instead, they may form a close sibling or best friend relationship. You should feel a need to be near and protect them, which a lot of times turns into a romantic relationship but not always.”

“I mean, she is pretty in an exotic sort of way, but I don’t know if I am interested in her romantically,” Evernya commented before tensing as another spike of pain assaulted her.

“I suppose she is fairly attractive, similar to the resident of eastern Sespina,” Meira commented.

“They all have beautiful white hair and red eyes over there?” Evernya questioned.

“What are you talking about? She has dark brown hair and brown eyes, unless,” Meira questioned before focusing intently on the kitsune to pick up any anomalies.

A few seconds later, Meira revealed, “It’s hard to tell under all the layers of enchantments they placed on the poor girl, but I feel a faint signature of an illusion spell. Both white hair and red eyes signify she is from the main ruling family of Kitsune. At least the ruling family from the mythic era, things may have changed since then.”

“I don’t care if she is some royal Kitsune. I just want her free and safe,” Evernya asserted.

“Agreed, no one deserves to be treated like an animal,” Meira commented before switching her attention back to her kitten in her arms. “However, I care more about you. How are you feeling?”

Through gritted teeth, Evernya replied, “A little better, the pain dulled to a throbbing in the background. It wasn’t the worst pain I’ve felt, but combined with the feeling of helplessness made it almost unbearable.”

While Elizabeth pumped calming, healing mana into her kitten’s body, Meira explained, “That’s normal. The mate will only feel a fraction of the pain, warning them of their mate’s injuries. For you to feel even this much, something must be horribly wrong with the poor girl. The monsters have her so deeply conditioned her outside appearance seems normal if not a bit robotic.”

“What is the Alpha Mate Act mean?” Evernya inquired curiously, trying to distract herself from the pain.

“It’s a law allowing a free Alpha shifter to claim their mate if said mate is a slave. It’s one of the few laws humans do follow when dealing with slaves because no one wants to start a war with an entire pack over one slave. It’s rarely seen up here because of the low number of slaves, so most don’t know about it.” Meira explained, causing her kitten to relax in her embrace.

Evernya looked up at Meira with a hopeful expression. “She will be free?”

“By law, the owners must turn her over to you, but I’m sure the auction house will try to give us issues. I doubt a struggling auction house will give up on a several hundred million crystals lot without a fight.” Meira replied, causing Evernya to growl.

“How dare they sell her like she is someone’s property! She is no one’s property but herself!” Evernya roared, pulling herself out of Meira’s hold to stand up and pace while watching her soulmate on the stage paraded around like an animal.

After the Kitsune and her trainers do several laps around the stage, they stop in front of the podium as Boswell announces, “As you can see, she is a young and beautiful five tailed kitsune! She may look like a foxkin, but she is so much more. What makes Kitsune unique from their foxkin cousins is they are fire sorcerers and illusionists! Kitsune are masters of illusion, allowing them to hide in plain sight or even turn invisible! Like most shifters, Kitsune have a fox form which they can change the size of within a limited range. This particular Kitsune has undergone thorough training and conditioned to follow orders of her master no matter what!” Boswell explained in an enthusiastic tone, as if he was selling a random item, not a person.

The two middle-aged humans accompanying the kitsune gave the kitsune orders. “Display brand!” The man ordered.

The Kitsune turned her back to the crowd, lifting her hair to display a large 6-inch diameter glowing brand of two curvy M’s with a serial number under it reading KSW50700.

“As you can see, she has completed her slave training, indicated by her branding. Using her serial number, you can look up any information about her on Montgomery & Morrison’s website.” Boswell announced as the trainers order her to turn back around with her hands at her sides, displaying her naked body to the crowd.

“Hold small fireball tail 3!” the woman ordered.

The kitsune immediately complied with the order, curling one of her tails to her front and created a small round fireball at the tip about the size of a cantaloupe.

After the display, Boswell explained, “Kitsune control their magic with their tails, unlike most sorcerers who use their arms or hands. A Kitsune’s tail functions as an arm, allowing them to work much faster than a human when multi-tasking.”

“Extinguish!” the woman ordered, causing the kitsune to put out the fireball and return her tail to its usual place, among her other tails at her back.

“Illusion number one!” The man ordered.

The kitsune and her two slave trainers disappeared. “Dispel!” The invisible man ordered after a few seconds, causing all three to reappear.

“As you can see, she can follow commands on her magic as a hotkey. As part of the package, this lot comes with a list of pre-trained commands. Of course, you can tell her to do anything but expect a slight delay as she processes the command. She is still young, meaning complex magic will be beyond her, so refrain from ordering order her to do something say an arisen stage sorcerer could perform. Otherwise she may hurt herself trying as she cannot disobey orders, no matter how dangerous. Plus, if you are worried she’s too powerful, she comes installed with the slave band system allowing you to set her mana grade to anything from her max grade 5 down to grade 1.” Boswell explained.

After a minute delay, Boswell announced, “Starting bid will be 100 million, going up in 10 million increments!”

The bids flew in from the private booths, leaving the crowd in the dust. In less than a minute, the price was up to 300 million and steadily climbing.

Meanwhile, back in the private booth L3, Evernya was pacing like a caged lion. As the door to their room opened, a man who appeared to be in his 20s dressed in a gray striped suit came walking in. “Where is the shifter who claims to be the Kitsune mate!” The man yelled, not even bothering to look around the room as if it was below him. Bristled at the dismissive attitude, the already aggravated shifter stormed over to the man.