Sandro out of my league—until somebody found out I had the important trait, the ability to control my magic in all quadrants without difficulty.
Some struggled to control their magic in their home quadrant.
“I’ll keep that in mind. I’m not spoon feeding you if you get stuck in the boundary being an idiot, though. You could talk me into dragging you into the nearest quadrant and kicking you until you get up, though.”
“I will do my best to avoid needing to be spoon fed.”
“Thanks. I’ll try to do better at that, too.”
“You had a feeding tube, which did not look comfortable, and I am grateful you remained sedated through that. I’m more grateful you were released from the hospital, as it means I can start looking into getting you out of the Alley for better treatment. I’m thinking I’ll take you to the West. There are a lot of good doctors there, and I can find out if you were treated well here—and if you weren’t, they’ll be able to deal with it.”
“The East is better for infections and general medicine,” I replied.
“While that may be true, it would put you in more danger, and I would have to figure out how to override the bounty out on you. In the West, I can draw up another provisional uncontested courtesan contract, which will offer you limited protections there. In the East, the bounty’s contract overrides anything I might be able to file, and if I lose track of you, I might not be able to locate the auction until it’s too late. The bounty for you has been really careful to keep the details of your auction a complete secret.”
That didn’t comfort me at all. “And right now, I couldn’t fight off a child armed with a wet noodle.”
“Yes, I’m aware. It’s a problem. I’m not the only bounty hunter with access to Asylum.”
“I’d work on figuring out where that auction is going to take place, then. But I have a question.”
“What is it?”
“Why would anyone want to kill me?”
“I don’t think they want to necessarily kill you. I think somebody knows about the family behind the bounty and aims to hurt them. They are sparing no expense getting you to the East in as good health as possible. I see a lot of value in you, but that’s because I’ve seen you in action. You’re beautiful, that’s true. But you’re not from a powerful or wealthy family, and your parents aren’t precisely powerful or wealthy. You do have a stellar blend of genetics, and you’re a first generation vixen, which makes you valuable enough, but I know how much the bill for your care is, and I’m aware how much I was paid for serving as the middle man for your care. For the record, I consider that money to be yours, and as soon as possible, I’ll be transferring it into your bank account.”
“Wait. But why? You were the one who did the work.”
“You deserve compensation for being involved in this. Right now, I’m more concerned about your health.”
“Can uncontested courtesan contracts be transferred? Let’s say I’m sold at auction in the East. Could you acquire me from the purchaser?”
“Under some conditions, it is possible. I’d have to find out who your buyer is, get to you before any marriage contracts were signed, and there are ridiculous fees for it, and you can only sell a contract for a very brief period of time. That’s a loophole allowing wealthy relatives to purchase an uncontested courtesan for someone. They buy the contract, and then they gift the contract to the intended recipient. So, yes. It can be done.”
“In any case, I’m basically stuck. Someone is trying to kill me, for some reason, likely involving whomever is trying to send me to the East. You’re trying to marry me, apparently, because I’m good at pissing you off and have the goods in the form of my genetics. You seem to be in a position to have wealth and power, so why not play the game? If you show up and enter the bid war, don’t I get paid more? And the whole uncontested courtesan thing only works if I ultimately decide to cooperate. I could just be stubborn and demand to honor the first-signed contract. That puts me on a better moral standing. That contract expires, but it might buy time.”
“If you’re purchased by an honorable family, yes. They would respect that. It wouldn’t change your status as their uncontested courtesan,