When dinner rolled around, I snuck my portion of food out from the kitchen and hid in my room as I ate what little there was. My room was bare but I preferred to keep it that way. While other girls collected little items and favors from their potential suitors or from their families, I had never been exposed to either. The only thing I had from my family was my name, but even that I wasn’t sure about. I had no blankets or books, no letters or trinkets. I was one of the orphans that Daya had brought in while many of the newer girls were more often than not contracted by Daya. Some families were choosing for their daughters to be in the hands of Daya rather than be subjected to what uncertainties were out there. I couldn’t blame them.

I sat on my bedroll for a long while, staring at the floor in deep thought. There were too many risks in trying to escape. The Waystland was not a good place for someone with no protection. I could be subjected to the Ring, I could be taken by raiders, I could find no work. It wasn’t the uncertainty of the Waystland that scared me though. It was knowing that even if I did manage to run away, Daya would be right at my heel. If I cost her something this big, she would throw aside any feelings she could possibly have for me. Our history wouldn’t matter. It wasn’t an option.

Daya was always willing to make a deal, but I clearly had nothing to offer. I couldn’t leave and find some treasure for her that would make up for the riches and power she was likely going to make just by selling me off. I had no valuables of my own. She had likely already thought through who my replacement would be, so it was clear that I couldn’t bargain my own services and skills. Those she seemed willing to part with. She had everything she needed at the moment. Everything except power and a safety net from one of the highest ranking officials in the whole desert. Councilman Ere was currently her biggest desire. If I wanted a way out of this, it would start with him.

A knock at my door sounded, and my head whipped in the direction of it. When I cracked it open, I saw a hoard of girls standing before it, brandishing a tray of desserts. Via was at the back, but spoke up first. “We thought you would like some company.”

We all crowded into my room, sitting on my dresser, crossing our legs over one another as if we were a knot in a rope. The first minutes of settling in and distributing small chunks of the cake Vivienne had made after dinner was over. The youngest girls clearly were there just for the fun secret meeting, but the older ones looked somber.

“So, does that mean it’s true?” Vivienne asked.

I nodded. “We discussed the terms of my contract today. I had a primary meeting with him. He doesn’t seem like a bad man. He just… he hasn’t done anything wrong, actually.” I began braiding the hair of Lelani, who had finer and straighter hair than my own. People with this hair always fascinated me, and I could feel myself calm down the longer I pulled one strand over the next.

“He’s a councilman?” A little girl in the corner perked up, Thea, her eyes glittering.

I smiled. “He is.”

“I can’t believe it! Do you think that means the rest of us have a chance in the future at marrying one?”

The room broke out into a clattering of voices. Excitement coursed through them all. Imagine the riches, imagine the gowns. Imagine being in the mouth of Kafali, high up away from the dirt and the monsters. It truly would be a dream.

“I think…” I started slowly, wrapping my hands around Lelani, “you will all think twice after seeing the rest of the councilmen. Councilman Ere is rather young, and I believe the others are much more wrinkly. Some of them use canes.” I made a disgusted face at Thea, which she reflected back at me. “If I were you, I’d want to wait until you were older. Maybe by then a few of the old raisins will have” I dragged my finger across my throat and stuck my tongue out. The younger girls laughed.

“I’m not sure…” Eva mused. “I’ve heard that the older the wiser. Older men know how to treat their women. In every way.” She winked to Via, and the older girls laughed.

Lelani turned to me. “What are they talking about?”

“You know,” I laughed, “I’m not sure. Maybe you’ll have to wait until you’re older to find that out as well.”

We went on for some time like that, just relaxing and trying to lighten the mood. Eventually, the girls complained that their bodies were cramping from being packed into the room. Via began ushering everyone out. “Eva and I have to go put these ones to bed. Since Daya is gone, she left us in charge of the babysitting. I think Lennox is in charge of delegating chores, but I think she said to leave you be.” Via watched as the last girl walked out into the hallway of the sanctuary. She turned her pretty brown eyes to me and frowned. “Aumee, if there’s anything I can do for you, just let me know. I can’t imagine what you’re going through.”

I sighed. “I shouldn’t have gotten so cocky about my place here. At the end of the day, I’m just another one of Daya’s girls. I’m sorry for forgetting that. I shouldn’t have acted so special.” I paused. “I’m sorry if I ever upset you like that. I know you’ve already come to terms with being sold, but I shouldn’t have acted the way I did. I wish I had supported you more.” I had to look away.

Via pulled me into a hug. “It’s alright that you thought you had found a home, Aumee. You could have calmed it down, sure, but…” we both laughed as we stood in my doorway. After a few seconds, we pulled away from one another. “Alright, I have to go put them to bed.”

I nodded, looking out to everyone. “When did Daya leave? I thought she would still be here when I got back.”

“After your meeting, she came back and locked herself in the office for a few hours. She left while you were bathing, I think. She definitely seemed like she was in a rush. She didn’t say where to, though.” I could feel my face betraying some of my emotions, and Via could see it on my face. “If you’re going to do it, then you better be smart about it. She’ll be gone for a few days, but I have no doubt in my mind that she’ll be able to sense whether or not something is in the same exact place as it was when she left.”

I smiled. “I’ll let you know how it goes.”

“Please don’t. I need to be able to deny it if I want to keep my head.”

“That’s fair. I’ll try to respect your wishes.”

She chuckled. “If only you had experience in doing so.”

Via grabbed the girls and left. While I waited for them to round the corner of the hallway before I could set out towards the patio, I grabbed my bag of supplies from the corner of my bedroom. Searching through it, I pulled out a rope with a grappling hook on the end. I didn’t see a need for anything else, and I had time to come back later. I had rope looped over my shoulder as I walked, a heavy metal grapple dangling at the end of it. Daya wasn’t carefree enough to leave her office unlocked while she was away. Luckily, she enjoyed the breeze that came off the desert during the day. The balcony left her surprisingly vulnerable.

Once I made it to the patio, I stood just under the edge of her office balcony high above. In order to throw the grappling hook, I would need to really get it in the air, and really hope that it didn’t come crashing down on either me or the beautiful, unscathed tile. I backed up and climbed on top of a small table for the extra height. I began swinging the grappling hook at my side, trying to decide what angle would be best for catching it on the ledge. I found myself frozen, just twirling the rope.

“Please work,” I whispered before launching the rope and hook into the air. I watched as the rope wavered, the hook dipping just slightly before catching at the last moment. I let out a breath. Thank Deorcae. I gave the rope a tug, and when I was convinced that it was sturdy, I began my climb.

Yanking myself onward and upward, I began to get excited. Having come this far was already a feat in and of itself. I could have checked whether or not the door was open to begin with, but in the end this showed me that I had the skill to do this as well as gave me something to distract me. Besides, if I were to leave Daya in a few days, she couldn’t be mad at me for very long for scuffing up her stone ledge. I was finally in reach of the railing. I hoisted myself over it, shaking my arms a little bit to forget about the strain.

Sure enough, Daya’s curtains were pulled shut. I used the cloth of my robes to pull them open just slightly to peek inside. The room was empty. Perfect so far. Daya’s office was always so pristine, with beautiful spines of spellbooks and histories lining the walls, stands for relics and treasures that she had managed to get her hands on. If she didn’t have all of the girls in the sanctuary, we joked, she would someday have enough items to make our home a museum of magical and dangerous artifacts. Where she kept the rest, even I wasn’t sure. She definitely wasn’t willing to sell them off.

I made my way over to her desk, easing open each of the drawers. One was locked, no surprise, but I would worry about it later. If I didn’t find what I was looking for out in the open, the drawer would be the first to come out. I scanned the desk for any obvious papers, but she had tidied up before leaving. The unlocked drawers offered nothing important, just old contracts and profiles for different buyers she had been in contact with. Another drawer contained sketches of some of the girls, old and new.

Pausing, I searched through the first few. It would have been nice if the drawings were for sentimental purposes. If they were to remind Daya of all the girls she had taken in or bonded with. But no. They were for sending out to buyers who were too far away from Arden to come visit the sanctuary. The longer I stared, the angrier I became. I began scooping out all of the drawings, trying to look and memorize every single face. I knew some of these girls. I had always told them that Daya was helping them, but even I was scared.

I am scared. I’m years older than some of the girls under Daya’s care and I have nightmares of men taking me. Holding me. Grabbing me. Kissing me. Who was I to tell them not to be concerned? I needed to memorize their faces. I needed to feel like I would remember them. They weren’t dead, but who they were as young, hopeful girls was gone. That part of them was taken when they weren’t allowed to choose the man they would be bound to for the rest of their lives.

Tears began pouring over my cheeks as I looked at the drawings, trailing my hands over the charcoal lines, leaving gray smears on the paper. I was making a mess. I organized the papers to the best of my ability and moved to sit them back in the drawer. As I went to place them, my eyes caught a small glint of light along the bottom of the drawer. I reached down, feeling carefully. It was too dark to see in the drawer, as barely enough light was coming in through the curtains and off of the everlasting candles.

A key. I could feel the smooth, cold metal in my hands as I grabbed onto it. It was small, simple, and very much the perfect key for the locked drawer. I knelt in front of the keyhole, squinting in the dark to make sure everything lined up. Sure enough, a turn, a click. The drawer was open.

Rather than trying to read the words in the dark, I gathered up everything I could get my hands on from the drawer. I moved to where there was the most light and sat down, exhaling deeply. This was it.

The contract was right on top.

The ink was dry, but I knew she must have scribbled it all down just before rushing away. The black ink from her quill had danced across the paper, painting it all out.

Leda Galahad Ere was born in Waystation 17D. Her parents were in trade, specifically plants and seeds. She met Sander when he was visiting the Waystation, and again when she came to Arden to sell her parents’ items. It didn’t take long for Sander to ask for her hand in marriage. She has no experience in fighting, but does have experience of the desert and what it can provide. She was to provide at least three possible heirs to the Ere manor within ten years. She would attend all functions for her husband, no matter the need. She was not to communicate with Daya unless supervised, and could not be asked by Daya to complete any tasks or assignments for her. Leda is new to Arden, and would enjoy the life of luxury that Councilman Ere could provide. She would have no experience with weapons to those other than the councilman, but would act as his number one source of protection and information. Leda Galahad would become to Sander Ere what Aumee was to Daya.

The script at the bottom of the page had two lines. One for Sander’s name, and one for Daya’s. Daya’s line was already marked with her beautiful, swooping signature.

I began racking my brain for any memory of Daya and Sander mentioning children during the primary meeting this morning. I had made sure not to lose track of what they were discussing. Unless I hadn’t. I couldn’t be sure. When would they have discussed this while I was in front of them? Had they? The only other possibility would be if they had discussed it prior to the meeting, which was entirely plausible. From what Via had said, it seemed like the Councilman and his followers had visited the sanctuary quite a few times. How long had this contract been in the works?

I sat the paper down, resting my head in my hands. What did I expect to learn from breaking into Daya’s office? That the contract was fake? That there was a loophole?

A loophole. I snatched up the paper and read it over again, and there it was.

Leda Galahad Ere is not to communicate with Daya unless supervised. Daya may not ask Leda to complete any tasks, assignments, or scouting missions during her time as the wife of Councilman Sander Ere of Arden.

Would he catch it? Surely. He seemed smart enough to. Or, at least, not dumb enough to. If the man could convince the Council of Arden to ease the restrictions on the Ring for the sake of his younger brother, then surely he’s clever enough to catch a loophole in a contract.

Leda was unable to talk to Daya. Daya wasn’t allowed to ask Leda for things. If Daya were to send someone like Aumee, though, someone who is at Daya’s beck and call… they could do the asking. The writing was not clear enough to prohibit something like that.

I couldn’t help but laugh. If she passed this right under his nose, Leda Galahad Ere would be a spy for the strongest hold in all of the Wayst. Daya’s hold on everything and everyone could tighten that much more. The control she had been waiting for was right at her fingertips.

I sat the paper down, intending to pick it all up and head back to my room. There was nothing left for me to see. Daya was going to get what she wanted, and I would be forced to bear the children of a man I didn’t know before today. That’s how this was supposed to go.

I placed my contract back onto the top of the messy pile, sighing and picking it all up to straighten the edges out. I couldn’t help but flip through the next few papers. If they were locked away with my contract, they were bound to be interesting.

A few correspondences were first, ones from Waystations all around. Whoever the informants were, they seemed to be coming up empty-handed. I looked to see if there were any correspondences that reported an item Daya was looking for had been found. When I landed on it, I had to blink twice.

Fallon Ere had signed his name off on one of the correspondence letters. It made sense for him to be an informant of hers, as his connections to the council of Arden made him desirable to Daya, as did his endless supply of fighters, but it was his connections to other Ring Masters outside of Arden. Waystations spotted the desert, and many of them used fighting as a means of keeping business circulating the area. Arden had made the practice illegal, but with the help of his brother, Fallon turned the tables. Perhaps he had tried to do the same against Daya.

His letter informed Daya that a spellbook matching her description could be traced back to a family in Waystation 20J. It was dated to just over a week ago, which felt odd considering the fact that Fallon was right here in Arden. If he needed to deliver a letter, he could have done so in the same day, even the same hour, as writing it. I read the letter over a few times more, trying to glean any possible details. A spellbook, leather bound, with a clasp shaped out of black sand, an insignia of a single black hand decorating the front in gold. It didn’t sound particularly interesting, but perhaps that was why Daya waited until now to go searching for it. That, or the fact that only two kids in the family were remaining. Whatever the case, it could explain why she would be gone for a few days.

I wanted to put everything away, but something kept tugging at me.

Normally Daya was able to track an item down to a very particular region, or at least a section of the desert. From the looks of the correspondances Daya was receiving, they were all looking for the same book and were all scattered across the Wayst. Daya wasn’t just looking for an item, it seemed like she was intent on finding it, and finding it fast. To send all of her informants out at the same time meant bringing in attention, as whispers were likely to be running rampant on where such a thing could be found.

I looked back to the letter from Fallon. It wouldn’t make sense for her to put something off for a whole week when it clearly was important to her. She could easily be off looking for something else, but it just wasn’t adding up.

I sighed. It was time to give it a rest. I carefully placed everything back where I had found it, making sure to lock the drawer and position the key as close as possible to how I remembered it being. When I was done, I slipped back out of the office and onto the balcony. I removed the grappling hook and instead looped the rope over the railing, holding onto the end of the rope and the hook. Carefully, I eased myself off of the edge, holding tightly to the ends. As I fell , the rope caught at its halfway point, which left me swinging a few feet off of the ground. I ground my teeth together as I felt the burn on my hands from clinging so tightly to the rope. After hanging there for a few seconds, I switched my hands so that I was only holding onto the grappling hook.

I fell the few feet down towards the ground, the loose end of the rope whipping up and back through the railing before it fell down to the ground with me. I didn’t protect my joints the way I should have, but it was good enough. Gathering my things up, I left the patio, taking one last glimpse of the office.

Wherever Daya was, I really hoped she was getting what she wanted. For the sake of everyone involved.