The next thing he felt was a whip slicing across his back and a knee to the head.
Max remembered their plan to bring him in as a slave, but was at least expecting a heads up from Dimitria.
He turned to her, but her face remained staunch and emotionless, like how she had been when they had first met.
The next thing he knew was that Slavia was in on it too, taking hold of his chains and dragging him like a lapdog.
Slavia grinned, her voice laced with mock seriousness as she whispered directly to his face. "Relax, slave. The guards on the walls can see us, so we have to get in character. Don't worry, it's just an act. Traders, remember? No one suspects the slave in chains."
"Oh, great. Love being the bait," Max muttered.
The gates of Noctira were colossal, made of blackened steel and adorned with grotesque carvings of beasts.
Guards clad in dark, spiked armor stood at attention, their glowing red eyes scanning everyone who approached. Max had a hard time telling what race they were. He hadn't got the chance to check "glowing red eyes" off his imaginary Noctiran species list.
The chains clinked ominously as Dimitria and Slavia presented Max to the guards.
"What's this?" one of the guards growled, his voice deep and metallic.
"A slave," Dimitria said coolly, her voice steady. "Captured from the outlands. We're here to sell."
The guard's gaze lingered on Max, his eyes narrowing. "You guys came at the right season, we've been in need of people to boss around and feed to the Borna for a while. "
Max was beginning to relax, their plan was finally working. Then the guard looked directly at him, his red eyes boring through his soul.
After what seemed like an eternity of silence, he spoke.
"Looks well built enough. If he's lucky, the empress will have him as one of her playthings."
With an indifferent wave of his hand, he sent them through as the colossal gates of Noctira slowly opened up to let them in.
As the gang started to step through, another guard stepped forward, his helmet tilted as if in recognition. "Wait a moment. Isn't that… Princess Dimitria?"
Max froze.
Princess?
Slavia's head snapped toward Dimitria, her eyes wide. "What is he talking about?" she hissed under her breath.
Dimitria didn't falter. With a subtle flick of her fingers, a faint shimmer passed over her face. The guard blinked, his glowing eyes dimming for a moment.
"My mistake," he grunted. "Looks like someone else."
The other guard, who seemingly saw the mistake, let out a sigh of relief.
The group passed through the gates, but Max's mind was racing.
What was Dimitria not telling them?
The city streets were a labyrinth of narrow, winding roads paved with uneven black cobblestones.
Mist hung in the air, curling around the jagged edges of buildings that leaned precariously over the streets.
Stalls lined the roads, their wooden frames draped with nets, glowing shells, and dark fabrics. Merchants hawked enchanted wares, their voices rising above the clamor.
Max was overwhelmed by the sheer chaos. The diversity of people was startling—hulking orcs with tusks gleaming in the dim light, birdlike people, called mistwings, gliding above the crowd, and elves with different shades of blue hair and pointed ears moving gracefully through the throng.
"What kind of city is this?" Max muttered, his gaze darting from one bizarre sight to another.
"A dangerous one," Slavia replied, her voice low. "Stick close."
"Those guards were vampires, and from the way they looked at you Max, I believe you were sure to be their next snack."
It was the first time Dimitria spoke up since the fiasco at the gate.
"Yeah they only left you cost that would cost us a lot of coin. They have a code of conduct about these things. If you had cost so little, they would've had you for themselves.", Slavia said.
Max shuddered at the thought, but he only had one thing on his mind that bothered me.
"Mind telling us what the business at the gate was about?"
Slavia looked at Dimitria with imploring eyes. Dimitria took a deep breath.
"Yes. I'm the princess of Noctira."
"But not heir to the throne. I'm the second daughter of the empress. Her adopted child."
That made sense. Dimitria was human, while the empress was elven. The only way that biological tree would be possible was if the empress had an affair with a human, which Max considered very unlikely.
She would want to mate with one of the more superior races of course, and in this world, humans were not one of them.
"So why'd you strike out on your own."
"You won't understand Max. I needed to make a name for myself, not live in someone else's shadow."
Max wanted to ask more questions, but Dimitria's reclined expression told him all he needed to know: that he wasn't going to get anymore out of her.
Even Slavia looked unsatisfied by the tiny bits of information, but they both decided to leave it for another time.
The trio wound through the streets, Dimitria leading them to who she considered an "old friend".
The architecture of Noctira carried the same strange aura that the entire realm had.
Buildings seemed to defy logic, with leaning towers and jagged roofs that jutted out at odd angles.
Lanterns powered by glowing crystals cast an eerie blue light over everything, creating shadows that seemed to move on their own. Or so Max thought.
They came across a market with potions and foodstuff. The clamour and bustle of traders selling goods and slaves filled the space within.
A sign reading "Blackveil Bazaar" hung at the entrance.
"We're close. It's just right around the corner.", Dimitria said.
She was smart. If anyone may have followed them, they would simply assume that this was where the two traders intended to sell off their slave.
They began to move deeper into the market when they heard it
.
"All hail the Elven Empress!" someone shouted.