added to the contract, which registered me as Sandro’s provisional uncontested courtesan, unavailable for auction and any proceeds of my sale into the system would go to me. According to the paperwork, I counted as his sole uncontested courtesan, the provisions applied only to the Alley, but if I was sold in any other quadrant, I would be paid my sale value and Sandro would also be paid my sale value.
As that was a Federal law, I would have additional rights due to the provisional contract.
No such law had existed when I’d first run away from home, and I wondered what other changes had happened. Most in the Alley no longer voted due to circumstances, leaving the other quadrants to squabble over who had control over the United States. More often than not, the East or West elected the latest figurehead of the government while the quadrants opted to mostly rule themselves.
The documents controlling uncontested courtesans proved the Federal government still had some sway over the quadrants.
“Why isn’t everyone using this contract?” I asked, waving the sheets of paper at Sandro, who dared to smirk at me.
“That contract is costing me twenty-five thousand, paid to the United States, but if you are sold in the East, the buyer will have to pay you and me to keep you, plus another twenty-five thousand to establish a new contract for you, and my contract will grant them the option to force me to buy you at your auction ticket price if they don’t want to pay the additional fees. And yes, I would have to pay you, too. To add to the fun, I’ll have to pay the taxes on your sale value. Your earnings from the sale are not taxed since you’re the one being sold, but that’s one of the few concessions given to courtesans. This confirms your status as an uncontested courtesan in all US quadrants, too. No other quadrant can try to change your status to something lower.”
No wonder Sandro had accepted my general challenge; as long as he had the money, he could win even if he lost and another bounty hunter got their hands on me. “This better not mean you’re expecting me to move in with you and pretend like I actually like you.”
“You will be able to come to my home and rest there whenever you need if you do not have other arrangements, as is your right as my provisional uncontested courtesan. I’ll give you my address within Asylum, and your pass will give you unrestricted access to my home. I wouldn’t venture far, as there are those in Asylum who don’t like anyone they don’t know. I don’t think that’ll be a problem for you. You aren’t the kind to like drawing too much attention to yourself.”
I shrugged. “And you’re not going to restrict my movements?”
“That seems like a good way to piss you off rather than convince you to cooperate with me. My mother will be both furious and proud of me for interfering in her attempt to choose a wife for me, and my father will be proud of me for defying my mother. If she really wanted to choose a wife for me, she should have hurried up about it.”
“Does this contract bar her from doing that?”
“Actually, no. It doesn’t. She would have to pay a penalty for doing it, which would be paid out to you, plus she would have to pay you the same sum as the other courtesan’s market value, and she would become responsible for you, as you were in a provisional contract with me. It would become very complicated legally. My mother would have to decide which uncontested courtesan would become the matron of our household and my wife, and she’d have a war on numerous fronts. If she picks you, she’ll have to pay off the other uncontested courtesan. It would create problems. Which is why as soon as we’ve finalized the paperwork, I will be notifying her by phone there is an active provisional contract in place. That should discourage her.”
“And your mother can legally do this? Pick a wife for you, I mean.”
“She can.” Sandro shrugged. “Her generation made the system, my generation is stuck with it, and they outnumber us right now. I don’t see the system changing anytime soon, because the system is rigged against those who might want to change it—and there are enough incentives for those trapped in it to keep it that way, especially among the