The Auction house attendants insisted that no guards were allowed inside so Anna waved away Jensen’s squad before entering. Catching the attention of the squad leader, Orchid told him to stay near Jacob and the carriage before he followed Anna, Rats arm hooked with his own.

Like he had expected, the auction house was a gaudy display of wealth, from the sparkling water feature in the lobby, to the gilded railings adorning the spiral staircases. The lobby itself was tiled in polished marble that glistened from the lights of the mana lamps. The lamps themselves were inlaid in pairs along the walls, ensconced within a series of decorative metalworks, each of which had a unique motif. Whether it was an animal, plant or geometric shape, the cold metal looked organic and alive.

A soft murmur of voices permeated the entire area, as multiple groups of guests discussed amongst themselves. Uniformed attendants were weaving their way through the crowds, offering refreshments and appetizers.

A smartly dressed attendant approached them and smiled.

“Lady von Hohenzollern, such a pleasant surprise that you have graced us with your presence today.” He said gently.

“Thank you very much. I apologize, I don’t know how I should address you.” Anna giggled in response and Orchid felt a cold chill as he saw her acting skills displayed in full force.

Remove her penchant for melodrama, and you have a Noble Lady right underneath.

“You may call me Hermann and I will be your host for the evening.”

“It doesn’t seem that everyone has a host to guide them Hermann.” Anna hinted at the discrepancy without asking directly, the way ladies in high society were supposed to act.

“We offer our personal services to our more… discerning customers.” He replied smoothly.

“Meaning people with the biggest pockets.” Orchid murmured to Rat as he watched Anna exchanging pleasantries with their new host.

“The auction will be starting shortly, but if you don’t mind, why don’t I show you to a balcony we set aside.”

“Since you weren’t aware of my arrival, how could you set aside a balcony for me?” Anna asked while she pulled out a folding fan from her sleeve. Spreading it wide open she held it in front of her face in such a manner that only her eyes were visible.

“My Lady, for one such as yourself, humble auctioneers like us must always be prepared.” Hermann spoke confidently, but it wasn’t difficult to detect the smugness in his voice.

“Well, I wouldn’t want your preparations to go to waste, so why don’t we go and see what’s special about this wonderful little auction house? Ready my dear?” She addressed Leon with her final question.

Leon just nodded and expressionlessly stared at the attendant.

Hermann met the gaze for a breath before paling and dropping his line of sight. He appeared subdued as he led them to one of the staircases under the watchful gazes of the various patrons of the auction house. The attention they were gathering suited Orchids plans perfectly, and he made an effort to avoid staring at the people around him as if he was used to being the center of attention. They crossed the hall in silence but left knots of conversation as they passed. Clearly, being attended to by the auctioneers wasn’t a regular occurrence.

Passing through a massive double door of an indeterminate wood, that was guarded by some expressionless armored figures. They were led into a small antechamber that was furnished with luxurious materials and extravagant displays. Being served with refreshments they sat around a small coffee table in plush velvet couches, as Hermann conversed with Anna.

Rat’s eyes roamed the room with avarice and hunger. Her hands were twitching so Orchid grabbed the hand closest to his and squeezed tightly.

“Don’t look so fiercely at all these fine looking items, dear.” He hissed.

“I’m sure they won’t miss a few things little Purple.” She whispered, trying to take her hand back.

“Of course, they will. I doubt they have many people coming through here. More importantly, don’t forget that we’re rich and happy and have no need for their things.” Pinching her hand when he saw her try to sneak a coaster into her dress, he smiled at her menacingly. Turning to an attendant and calling for some more tea, he casually munched on an apple from the bowl in front of him while listening to Anna’s conversation.

“I had heard that your Ladyship had been accepted as a Cadet at the Academy, so it surprised us that you would grace us with your presence when you must be so busy.” Hermann was saying.

“I happened to be heading South along the Highway with my friends when we passed Bismark. A travelling merchant who’s an acquaintance of my father mentioned that your Auction house was doing quite well these days and it would be worth my time to come and see.” Anna took a sip of the tea from the gold rimmed ceramic cup she held in her hand. No sign of any discomfort in using utensils that could possibly be more expensive than Orchids house.

It tastes the same however you drink it. This is true wastage. The ceramic would have been an excellent material for Glyph disks.

Setting the cup down, Anna fanned herself briefly before continuing, her every motion exuding elegance. “I must confess that I wasn’t interested until Sir Kale insisted that we come and enjoy the atmosphere of the city of Artists. He’s quite the connoisseur of the Arts.” She smiled and gestured towards Orchid with her fan.

“Someone that Lady von Hohenzollern considers a connoisseur must be quite impressive. I wonder if Sir Kale has something that he is looking for specifically.” Hermann was speaking to Anna but the sidelong glance that was sent in his direction told Orchid that the Auction management was suspicious of their presence.

“I’m just a dilettante.” Orchid chuckled and sidled closer to Rat. Placing his arm around her shoulders, he leaned back while ignoring the sudden stiffness he could feel in her at his touch. “Lady Anna truly overestimates my abilities. I happened to hear that there may be an original piece of Glyphart of Bismarks founder available for sale, and thought to bring my dear Lady Lizbet along to show her his world-shaking skills.”

Hermanns eyes widened for an instant, almost unnoticeable, but Orchid had been staring at him while talking. “I’d be interested where such an untrue rumor like that came about.” He said with a small cough.

Wait. That was meant to be nonsense.

Don’t tell me there really is such a thing. That was the one rumor I felt was farfetched enough to serve as a silly disguise.

“Well, we’re here to enjoy ourselves, so it’s unfortunate that it’s untrue.” Orchid dismissed the rumor and took some more tea. “Something else may come to our attention. I have a good feeling about today. What do you think Liz?”

“Whatever you think, dear. This is your field of expertise after all.” Rat glared at him and shifted under his arm in obvious discomfort. Orchid hoped it looked like she was nestling closer from Hermann’s perspective and patted her shoulder calmly in a familiar manner.

She’s going to hold this over me for a long time to come. I think I’m already regretting this plan.

“If I may be so bold Sir Kale, you are a lucky man to have such a beautiful and loving companion.” The flattery drew a glare from Rat and Orchid faked a booming laugh.

“That I am Hermann.” He chuckled a little seeing the dumbfounded expressions of his friends at his acting. “What news of interest is there my new friend? We’ve been out of touch during our journey.”

“Nothing of note Sir Kale, except for the attempted assassination of the Ice Witch.” Hermann dismissed that as if was old news. Anna’s jaw dropped open but she quickly recovered and Orchid stared in wonder at the news.

“When did that happen?” He cleared his throat to combat the sudden dryness he felt.

Someone went after the Hag?

“Almost a month ago. It was the biggest news at the time. I’m surprised you didn’t hear of it.”

“We were travelling and didn’t interact much with people coming from the North. What happened?” Orchid asked mechanically, still trying to digest the new information.

“Seems some of those Illati fools snuck two master mages and a squad of their death Knights into the capital during the festival. They struck at the hospital in the Blue district that the Ice Witch visits sometimes. It looks like they were right to try for her though. Despite her age, she took out one of the mages and held the other assassins at bay until reinforcements could reach her. They say the Blue district lived up to its name as it was frozen in magical ice for almost a week after that.” Hermann’s dry recitation of the facts showed that he didn’t find the news important and was just repeating what he had heard.

“Those Illati are really becoming bold.” Anna interjected when she saw Orchid at a loss for words.

“Unpleasant people who don’t appreciate Art. Good thing Marshal von Ziegler is there to keep those uncouth barbarians in line.” Snorting at his own words, Hermann changed the subject and continued to probe Anna to find if they could do some sort of business. However, Anna just played the role of the disinterested Lady that had been dragged here by her friends for a good time, perfectly.

Eventually they were led to a private balcony on the third floor that looked over the hall where the auction would be held. Red curtains were draped over a stage that dominated the front end of the hall. Seats were placed throughout, packed as densely as possible. It appeared that they had received the privilege to arrive early since all the seats were empty. Hermann gave a few short explanations on the procedure and assigned someone to stand outside the balcony before returning to whatever his regular job was.

Once he was gone, Rat snatched her hand out of Orchids, wiping it on her dress in disgust.

“Use a handkerchief, Liz. Don’t dirty your dress.” Anna chided and handed one to her.

“Hey. My hand isn’t dirty.” Orchid complained as he sat down near the railing and surveyed the hall.

“It felt like it was. Sweaty and rough.” Rat growled.

“It was sweaty because of all the effort I had to take to keep you still. Why you want to steal things when we’re here to purchase items, I have no idea.”

“It’s to keep in practice.”

“I think you already have enough practice. The only reason I’m not complaining about the loss of my crystal pouch is that it’s been inscribed so I know you have it. I told you the first time you did this Rat, never take a mages crystal pouch.” Orchid grunted and held his hand out to take the pouch back.

“Rat, I hate to agree with him but he is right. We have to behave like this for a while still.” Anna was back to her normal no nonsense behavior. “Relax, Leon. When other people aren’t around you’re free to talk.”

“I don’t like this. It would be easier to take what we want and fight our way out.” He grumbled.

“Are you losing what little sense you already have? You’re a Count! Why would you need to take anything?” Orchid stared at Leon in astonishment.

“I want to fight and move my body.” Blazing eyes showing fighting intent accompanied his words.

“I’ll keep my promise and we’ll spar Leon. That’s after we get back though. Stop being so fixated on fighting. You have to use your head more when you’re an officer.” Orchid chided before returning to his study of the hall.

“How much did you bring with you?” Anna asked, taking back the handkerchief and putting away her hand fan.

“60 yellow. That’s enough to buy a small townhouse in the Capital so it should be more than enough for the auction.”

“That much?” Anna breathed.

“Should be, unless Rat took some out of it.” Orchid glanced at the Rat and nodded in confirmation of his words as she handed him five glowing yellow crystals. “We need to spend some of it frivolously for the sake of our plan, considering how much those vines are in demand like you told me. On top of that we may get lucky and find something of interest. There’s no harm in enjoying ourselves since we’re already here.”

“I could just take what we needed.” Rat complained

“We’re respectable people now.” Orchid said with a sidelong glance at Leon.

“Right. Respectable.” Sarcasm was a rare tone from the Rat.

“Completely respectable. We have plenty of income now. From respectable sources.” He emphasized his words with a glare and leaned back in his seat. “We’re out of sight of most of the crowd, but we have to at least look like the couples we’re pretending to be, so sit near each other. Rat come here.”

As he placed his hand on top of Rat’s when she sat next to him, the doors to the hall below opened and people started flowing inside, filling up the seats quickly.

“You seem to be enjoying holding my hand a lot Little Purple.” Rat grinned at him, even though he could hear the stiffness in her tone.

“Why wouldn’t I enjoy holding a pretty girls hand?” He gave her a puzzled look and gripped her hand tightly as she tried to snatch it back. “Don’t worry Rat. You’re my friend so I won’t take advantage of you.”

“I should tell you that I won’t take advantage of you.” She said with a smirk and a burst of giggling from Anna.

“Then why do I have to keep taking my items back from you. You’re acting as if you’re my wife.” He muttered, earning a fist in the shoulder.

“Fool.” Anna chortled and Leon grinned foolishly at their banter.

They hushed as the lights in the hall dimmed and the curtains on the stage were drawn back with a flourish and flare of music.

“Remember, act foolishly. Smile a lot and look drunk. That should help.” He whispered.

They relaxed and enjoyed the performances that Hermann had explained would precede the actual auction, Rat even forgetting to complain about their proximity. Orchid grinned as he studied his friends.

Even Leon’s enjoying the performance.

Rock is seriously lucky to be with Liz. When she forgets to scowl she’s actually quite pretty. I wonder if I can make him jealous by showing off her current appearance.