Caged By the Lich

Calias

PRESENT DAY

“ I fucking hate these journeys.” I growl the words as waves crash into the boat I am on.

The gorgon who is manning the vessel lets out a gruff laugh but quiets down when I let out another low growl.

I left Ikoth this morning against my better judgment for my usual trip to New Solas. A lot of my business is based in the xaphanian city, and after nearly fifteen years of running my family business, I am used to the journey.

That doesn’t mean you have to like it.

What makes this journey worse is that I had business with Ikoth’s king last night. King Vag’thimon has become particularly tetchy since the xaphans declared their intention to expand their military base on New Solas.

This damn ceasefire isn’t working. Why don’t we just go back to war and end things?

My thoughts are as tetchy as King Vag’thimon’s tone was last night as I think about our relations with the xaphans.

The boat docks at Glebe’s port as the sun is setting, and I groan loudly as I lift my heavy body from the small, cramped seat and walk to the waiting carriage.

I hate the xaphans, like all demons do. I hate doing business with them, even though New Solas is one of the most prosperous cities in Aerasak. And I hate being sent on what could be called an espionage mission, to scope out what they are doing with their military endeavors.

When the ceasefire was first signed, most of Aerasak sighed with relief. The war had been long, brutal, and bloody. And frankly, the only ones who hadn’t been materially or financially affected by it were the xaphans.

The ceasefire helped the rest of Aerasak recover, and things have been better.

But everyone knows that the xaphans do not mean to remain peaceful for long. And that fact is even more clear now that they’ve decided to expand their military base.

My driver pulls away from the ports immediately, and we head through Glebe’s main city to the outskirts.

This is another reason why I hate traveling to New Solas. It is so godsdamned long.

To get to New Solas by tomorrow, we’ll have to travel over a mountain pass called The Ridge, which connects the two continents.

“At least this thing is bigger than my seat on the boat,” I say as I shift in my seat in the carriage.

The driver says nothing as we head up the gravel road that leads to The Ridge.

I fall asleep, which is not something I allow myself to do often, but I am exhausted.

When I open my eyes, the sun is rising and the carriage is trundling into New Solas.

I can feel the physical change on the road as we cross from Glebe into New Solas. The road becomes smooth and even, and the sound of wheels grinding over gravel falls away.

I squint as golden light bursts into my frame of vision.

I always forget how much the xaphans like their gold, I think to myself and snort as we roll down a hill and through a beautiful suburban neighborhood.

I cannot help but think of my hometown in Ikoth, Nyxia.

Nyxia is a tiny town at the base of one of Ikoth’s volcanoes. It is a lush, beautiful village that thrums with life.

What I love about Nyxia is that it isn’t a big city like Sarziroch or New Solas. It is a small, quaint village that thrives economically and has no need to line its streets with gold to make a point the way New Solas does.

This trip will be over soon. Just get through it as peacefully as you can and then go back home.

My driver drops me off at one of New Solas’s premium hotels. I drop my bags off and head straight to the ports. I feel refreshed after sleeping in the carriage, and I just want to get this over and done with as soon as possible.

“, you big bastard!” The voice, gruff and loud, calls out to me the minute I step onto the ports.

I turn wearily as my friend and business partner, Dhymhi, walks up to me.

“I should have known you would be here,” I say as I shake his hand.

I am not unaware of the way nearly everyone is looking at me as Dhymhi and I speak. I am taller and larger than everyone on this port. I am even taller and larger than Dhymhi, who is a gorgon and is over six feet tall.

You shouldn’t have worn the cape, I think exasperatedly.

I have always been an imposing figure, but as I have grown older and allowed my hair and beard to grow out, I have been likened to a monster.

Dhymhi and I talk as we walk from the ports to the markets. I nod at several of the traders who have stands at the market. All of them work for me.

They straighten up and stop chatting, smoking, or drinking, and focus on the business in front of them. They know that there will be consequences, horrible consequences, if they do not meet their daily targets.

I might try to avoid New Solas as much as possible, but the city brings in good business, which I cannot ignore.

“Did you get the new shipment in?” Dhymhi asks me as we walk to the part of the market where the slaves are sold.

“Yes,” I murmur as I keep my eye on one of my slave traders. “They came from Vesnios, correct?”

“Yes. Some xaphans wanted to buy it, but considering it was a shipment of dried pilna flowers, I didn’t want to sell it to them.”

“Of course not.” I turn my attention back to Dhymhi. “We don’t need the xaphans in control of the drug trade.” My voice is sharp, and Dhymhi stiffens.

I soften my voice as we continue to walk. Everyone around us gives us a wide berth.

“Well, the Unseelie bought it. They won’t sell it,” Dhymhi says after the slight awkwardness between us has passed. “Knowing them, they’ll probably snort it themselves.”

I let out a dry laugh. “That would be like them.”

We come to a stop in front of another slave trader’s table, one who does not work for me.

And that is when I see her.

She is in a large cage, huddled up to another woman, a pregnant woman. She is human, with the largest, darkest, most vivid blue eyes I have ever seen.

The world comes to a halt. My world comes to a halt.

Because suddenly, all that exists is her.

She’s filthy, is the first coherent thought in my head when I finally start to think again.

Because she is. The human girl who has so quickly, so intensely, caught my attention, is covered underneath layers of grime. Her body, painfully thin and bony, is covered in bruises.

Her hair, which I am sure is beautiful, is matted and almost gray.

“I want her.” It’s the first thing I say, interrupting Dhymhi who is still speaking about the dried pilna shipment.

“What?” he asks me, his voice confused.

“Her.” I point at the human girl, who isn’t looking at me. “I want to buy her.”

Dhymhi looks at her carefully and then turns doubtful eyes to me.

“You want a human girl? Who looks like that?”

“She’s stunning.” I breathe the words. I cannot take my eyes off her. Her beauty aside, there is an aura surrounding her. An aura of frailty. An aura begging me to take care of her. “And I want her.”

“Well, I suppose there’s no accounting for taste,” Dhymhi says slowly, thoughtfully.

Dhymhi, who would fuck anything that moves, cocks his head to the side. As if he is considering her.

A streak of uncontrollable anger flares through me at the thought of Dhymhi with her. With my girl.

My human girl.

“Don’t even think about it,” I snap, and the venom in my voice carries all the way to the table next to us, sending the patrons of the table fleeing.

“She’s all yours.” Dhymhi raises his hands in surrender. “But are you sure you want someone like that? She looks like she requires a lot of work. Look at her. She’s limping.”

We both watch as the human girl moves around the cage. Her right leg drags behind her, and she winces with pain when she sits down in a corner of the cage.

“She needs me,” I murmur.

“She won’t be any good.” Dhymhi knows it is futile to try and talk me out of it. Out of her. But he tries anyway. “You’ll spend more money fixing her up than you’ll ever get back from her. If you want a plaything that badly, then get one of those nice ones over there.”

Dhymhi jerks his head eagerly towards a pretty, plump woman who is staring suggestively at us.

“You have money. You can spend it on her if you want to,” I bark at Dhymhi. “But I want her. She is mine.”