Nothing right now

As tempting as the offer was something just didn?t feel right. If ?Lady Elmaela? knew where the girls were, why had she waited for Silver instead of doing something about it? She seemed like a woman of sufficient resources and connections? Silver decided that her pleasure could wait a bit longer until she had taken care of this ?task?.

?Tempting, but no. This issue sounds like it demands my immediate attention, milady.?

?I?m glad to see you?re not as? easily distracted? as most people. Very well, here?s map that shows where the girls are.? Elmaela pointed at a furled scroll on the map between the two. Silver had completely ignored until now.

?Then, if there?s nothing more you need to tell me, I?ll be going.?

?Be careful ? the place is well-guarded. When you?re done return here and I?ll tell why I called for you.?

?Very well. See you later.? Silver got up and quickly left the room.

Once outside in the back alley again the first thing Silver did was to teleport to an isolated location outside Tharros and make sure she was alone. Then she took a look at the map she had been given ? a location in the part of the city known as the Kettle was marked on it ? and began casting one of the most complicated observation spells she knew. When she was finished she could see the place as if she was there. After checking her surroundings again she began carefully examining the building the kidnapped girls were supposed to be in. At first glance the place seemed completely ordinary? but then Silver began noticing something strange. ?There sure are a lot of guards standing around? too many for this sort of place. Either the owner is really paranoid, or there?s really something here.?

Silver moved her observation spell closer, and noticed a well-hidden protection around the building ? far better than anything one would expect from such a place. ?This is getting suspicious?? Carefully, so as not to trigger any magical alarms, Silver managed to get her spell through the barrier and inside the building? and for a moment wondered if she gotten inside the wrong building. While on the outside it had seemed no different from the surrounding ones, on the inside it seemed like a noble?s home. Everything, from the obviously expensive carpets, through the high-quality furniture, and to the baths, seemed fit for nobles. ?What the hell is going on here??

Silver spent the next few minutes looking around and eavesdropping on people?s conversations (there were quite a few people present) and eventually found out what she wanted to know. Apparently an auction would really be held there ? but that was all the truth she had been told. All of the women were wives or daughters of nobles and were there willingly with the sole purpose of getting ?sold? in the auction that would take place at the end, while the men were there to ?buy? one or more of the women. The ?purchases? would belong to their new husbands for three days before going home as if nothing had happened. As for the kidnapped girls ? as far as she could tell they had never been there, if they even existed ? something Silver was starting to seriously doubt.

?Elmaela lied to me ? that much is obvious. But why? Was she tricked into believing the girls are really there?? While not completely impossible that seemed highly unlikely. ?Or was it some sort of test?? That too did not seem very likely. This left only one possibility ? malicious intent. ?But what did she expect me to do? Did she think???

Before Silver could finish her thought she sensed another observation spell. Compared to hers this one was rather crude, but it was still good enough to remain unnoticed by most people. And it was aimed at the building where the auction would take place. Slowly and carefully, so as to remain undetected, Silver traced the spell to a large house ? and inside it she found her ?client?!

?Well, well! This ?task? gets more interesting ? and more confusing ? by the minute. Now, what should I do??

The most obvious options were to walk away and forget about the whole thing, to continue to observe, or to go have a ?chat? with Elmaela and demand a few answers. But there were other possibilities too, such as joining the auction or playing along and attacking the place, as Elmaela seemingly expected her to do. Whatever her decision she had to make it fast, because the time of the auction was rapidly approaching ? and with it the time of whatever was going to happen tonight?