Chapter 59: Auction

Once everyone had arrived, the auction began.

Before it did, two of the women in uniform came into the booth. One of them carried a black telephone, and she set it down carefully on the table between the platters.

"If you would like to place a bid, you only need to pick up the phone and make a call," she explained. "Someone is listening directly on the other end. They will send your bid straight to the front, and Lady Ember will announce it."

"That’s simple enough," Leon said.

"If there is anything else you need, please let us know."

They bowed and left. The door closed softly behind them.

Down in the hall, the chandeliers dimmed. The noise of the crowd settled into a low murmur, and every seat on the floor was filled. A spotlight swept across the stage and stopped on a woman in a stunning red dress.

Lady Ember walked up to the podium with her chin high.

"Good evening, everyone, and welcome to tonight’s auction," she said. Her voice carried across the whole hall without effort. "We have a very special selection for you. I hope that you find something that catches your eye."

Applause rolled through the crowd.

Leon stood at the window with his arms folded. Sophia and Lily had turned their chairs toward the glass, and both of them were leaning forward, watching the stage. Everyone in the booth was paying attention except Xander, who was still on the couch with a plate of shrimp balanced on his knee.

Leon glanced over his shoulder.

"Xander. Is your father here?"

"Yeah." Xander wiped his fingers on a napkin. "He’s somewhere in the hall. He’s hoping to get the core too."

"Does he know that you know who is selling it?" Leon asked. "That it’s me?"

Xander shook his head.

"No. That part of my father’s business doesn’t concern me. If he wants the core, he’ll outbid everyone for it. I don’t need to be involved." He popped a shrimp into his mouth. "I’m only here to enjoy the food."

Leon smiled and turned back to the window.

Down below, the first item was wheeled out on a velvet cart by two women in white gloves. A hush fell across the hall as they lifted the cover.

It was a sword.

The blade was black and gleaming, with a faint ripple of scales running along its length, like the skin of something very old. A deep red line ran down the center of it. The women held it up to the light, and the crowd leaned forward.

"This first item," Lady Ember said, "is a sword made of black dragon scales."

She gestured toward it.

"Thirty percent of the blade is dragon scale, and the remaining seventy percent is a specially made alloy. It is best suited for fire and lightning users, if someone with those abilities wishes to make use of it. It is extremely sharp, and it can cut through the hardest steel. It was made from the scales of an A-ranked dragon, taken from an A-ranked gate."

She paused.

"The bidding will start at ten thousand credits."

Leon raised an eyebrow.

’Ten thousand? For that?’

It was cheap. He knew it was only a starting price, meant to draw people in. A weapon like that would easily sell for over a hundred thousand credits, and it might even reach two hundred thousand. Weapons of that quality were not easy to get.

"Ten thousand," Lady Ember said. "Do I hear ten?"

Hands went up around the hall.

"Twenty thousand," someone shouted from the front.

"Thirty!"

"Forty."

It climbed fast. Fifty thousand. Sixty. Hunters in the crowd called out bids, one after another, and nobody wanted to let go. It was a weapon that was worth it in many ways, and they all knew it. The numbers rolled on, seventy, eighty, a hundred. Paddles rose and fell.

At a hundred and fifty thousand, the pace began to slow.

Fewer hands went up. The hunters on the main floor started shaking their heads and settling back into their seats. A hundred and fifty thousand was most of what they had.

Then the telephones began to ring.

"A bid from the private rooms," Lady Ember announced. "One hundred and eighty thousand."

"Two hundred thousand, from room F."

"Two hundred and twenty thousand."

It slowed again. No regular person had two hundred and twenty thousand to spend on a weapon, and no truly rich person wanted to pay that much for it. It was a very good sword, but it was not that good. At best, it would sell for two hundred thousand. Anything beyond that was too much.

Still, a few private rooms were eager.

"Two hundred and fifty thousand, from room D."

Silence fell across the hall.

That was a good price, and a good profit for the auction house. Lady Ember looked pleased. She raised her gavel slightly.

"Two hundred and fifty thousand. Going once."

Nobody moved.

"Going twice."

Leon walked over to the table.

He picked up the phone, put it to his ear, and spoke calmly.

"Three hundred thousand. For the sword."

The line clicked. Down on the stage, a woman at the side of the podium rushed a note to Lady Ember. She read it, and for a moment, her eyebrows rose.

"Three hundred thousand," she announced, "from room C."

The hall exploded.

People turned in their seats, craning their necks toward the private balconies. Voices rose from every row. Someone was willing to pay three hundred thousand credits for that sword. It was far more than anyone had expected.

In the booth, three heads turned toward Leon.

Sophia stared at him. Lily had a half-eaten pastry in her hand. Even Xander had stopped chewing and was looking at him with his eyebrows raised.

Leon shrugged and put the phone down.

"What? It’s a good sword. I can use it, or I can give it to Robert. It’s a good deal."

"Three hundred thousand," Sophia said slowly, "is a lot."

"It’s a very good sword."

Down below, the noise was settling. Lady Ember lifted her gavel again.

"Three hundred thousand credits, going once."

Silence.

"Going twice."

Nobody responded. Nobody dared to go higher.

"Sold, to room C."

The gavel came down with a sharp crack. There was a short burst of applause, and then the women rolled the sword out of sight and brought the next item on.

It was another weapon, then several more. A spear, a staff, a pair of daggers. Leon watched them come and go from the window and did not lift the phone once. Some went for hundreds of thousands, and some for less. None of them were interesting.

Five items passed

Then the next one rolled out.

Leon’s eyes narrowed.

He straightened up and took a step away from the glass. Slowly, without looking away from the stage, he got to his feet and reached for the phone, ready to bid.