I kept following Grore and his men as they went through the smaller roads, trying their best to hide themselves.
I followed until they reached a big house; it wasn't surrounded by any houses that I could use to reach it.
I decided against heading straight into it and decided to go buy a bowl and a mask. Fortunately, there was a store nearby. I quickly went in; there were many masks on the walls.
I chose a black oni mask; it had two horns on its forehead and four tusks in its mouth, and the mouth was a gap with sharp teeth in the contour.
It was pretty hard, but I managed to buy a silky robe that the man called a kimono. It was mainly in black with some red in it with a golden dragon in the back.
I then got out of the store after putting on the new clothes and mask. I paid the man 50 coins before leaving into what now I know is the auction house.
I saw 2 men at the door; one of them was always looking at the other for instruction. I waited till a third man came from behind the corner and whispered something to the older man who went behind the corner with him; I saw a chance to get in, and I took it.
"Where do you think you are going?? This isn't a place for kids!!" Said a grumpy man with a hoarse voice stopping me from getting in, "Don't you know who I am??"
"My father is waiting for me inside!! You better not make me call Father over!!" I spoke with a high Valeryan accent feigning anger. "No, please!! Get right over!!" he spoke with some fear in his voice while looking around for his superior.
'Must be his first day at work.' I snickered when I passed him. The halls were huge, and there was a staircase next to the counter. I listened to some conversations, and here is what I learnt thus far:
"The auction takes place every Sunday and Saturday; the second floor is only for VIPs, while the first floor is for normal bidders. The backroom is where the goods are stored."
I went to the counter where a lady was sitting and asked for a ticket. "That would be a 50-coin ticket. Where are your parents, young man?? We can't give you a ticket without the consent of your father," she said, looking around for someone. "Father told me to get my own ticket, as soon I will become a man." I said handing the money over, "I am sorry! We still need your father's consent." "Fine, I will go talk to him!"
I looked around until I saw a very old man with a young woman in his hand. I dashed towards him and tucked at the old man's sleeve. I looked at him and said, "Do you need any help getting into your seat??" The man looked at me for a second and asked, "Who told you I need help??!" He was slightly angered at what I said, "The woman over there!" I said while pointing at the woman in the counter.
He looked at her angrily and went to the counter. "Are you insinuating that I am not a capable man just because I am old?!! Why don't you mind your own business!! How about we take this to the master!!" He told her while the young woman remained behind, "There's no need, sir!! I apologise for the inconvenience!!" She said, bowing to the man in an effort to de-escalate the situation, which worked as the man left.
"Here's your ticket!! I once again apologise for the inconvenience!!" She handed me the ticket. I kind of felt bad for her, as she was just doing her job, but I need to find what they were smuggling.
As I entered the auction room, I was awestruck, as there were stacks of rows neatly placed one after the other. My seat was at the third row; it was near the end of the row, and the seat number was 67.
I was looking all around the room getting acquainted with it. There were some columns that I could use to climb to the VIPs rooms. I decided to wait until the auction begins so that everyone's attention will be on the stage. I need to go to the back room and see what's there.
After a few minutes the room was getting crowded, as the auction was about to begin. Next to me on seat 68 sat a woman in her mid-twenties; she had fiery red hair and green eyes. She was wearing a red dress with a necklace with a ruby on it.
She turned to me and said, "It is so nice to meet you, Jade." I was shocked. "How do you know my name??" I nearly shouted; she looked me in the eyes.
"I have seen you many times in the flames. I can see why you are so important to the prophecy; too bad you are not the Azor Ahai." What she said just now left me speechless: "We will meet again, as this isn't the last we see of each other." She stood up and got ready to leave.
"You will find what you are looking for, but know that what you take from a realm can't be given back." She left me sitting like a duckling. 'Well, that wasn't weird or anything!' I told myself.
Suddenly the lights turned off, and the spotlight was on the auctioneer. He was a short man with green hair and a purple beard. "In the stead of the auction master, I welcome all the participants to this event!!" he shouted so as to be heard.
"Without any further ado!! Let us begin this auction, as the first item we have is a shield forged by Tobho Mott himself; the beginning price is 1000 coins!!" The room went into an uproar, "1500!!" "2000!!" "3000!!".
I quickly slipped away using the free space next to me thanks to the redhead lady. To run for the back of the room, I jumped into the column at the far end and stuck my leg onto the small ornament decorating it. I then jumped from ledge to ledge, keeping myself as close to the wall as possible.
"7000!!" I heard a voice from one of the balconies at the right side of the room. I couldn't clearly see who it was, as there was a veil to protect their identity. But everyone seemed to stop their bidding and just wait for the auctioneer to move on.
"Going once!! Going twice!! And sold to the man in room number 3 for 7000 coins. Now I would like to inform you of the special item at the end of the auction. Who here doesn't know the might of dragons??"
"The stories of dragons of old Valyria say that Balerion could swallow mammoths whole and that he could breathe a fire so strong that it could melt iron and stone."
He remained silent for a while to allow the guests to swim in drama. "Now what if I were to tell you that we have not one and not two but three dragon eggs, and they are all up for bidding?"
If what I earlier determined was an uproar, then I have no idea what to name this shouting; it was a brouhaha of sound coming from all directions. Even the VIPs were making a fuss.
I decided to use the brouhaha to mask my infiltration, as I jumped over to the backstage and hid behind some crates, "Sshhhhh!! Did you hear that??" a blurry man said to his colleagues.
"Yeah, I did!! It's some rich people making an uproar about three useless fossilised eggs!" said one of the men with distaste.
"Yeah, but then again, they have so much money that 7000 coins isn't that much to them. It's probably a single day's profit." said another with envy.
"Come on!! They need help to bring those slaves to the stage!!" They then took a chain and left it inside the single door in the backstage area; the place where I was is strategic for hiding; however, they will most likely come over to take whatever is inside the crate I am hiding behind.
After 10 minutes the three men reappeared from the door with 10 girls and 12 boys in tow; as they went past me, I dashed towards the door and went inside. The place was dark and gloomy. There was some noise from time to time, but it was mostly the people working.
The place was huge; there were many crates and three cells, one next to another, separated by a thick wall. There were bloodied chains in each wall of each cell. I glossed over the cells room and went straight ahead. There it was at the left side on the top; for some reason I recognised and felt attracted to it.
I searched for a ladder all over the place, with no luck, and each time after 5 minutes, there were some workers who came over to check stuff; they would remain for 3 minutes looking over stuff and another 3 minutes making fun of someone named "Razgol" and leave.
'I need to be quick; get the box down, take whatever is inside, return the crate and leave, all in the span of 5 minutes. Wait...' I went in the stair's direction, and there was a crate. I took it and ran to where I was before.
I jumped on top of the crate and took the crate down with me as gently as I could. I put the pirate's crate and got on top of it and put the other crate in. 'No time!!' I quickly took the pirate's box and ran to the staircase once more.
Just as I am about to run up the stairs,* the door is opening. I dashed with the crate as fast as possible to the corner, where I put the crate and hid behind it.
"Hey!! Did you hear that just now??" asked the same man as before, "What did you hear this time??" said his companion, "I heard the crates move!! "I swear!!" said the man, "There is nothing!! Stop giving us these false alerts of yours!!" the other man said as he closed the door.
'Well, going through that way is impossible. Now what do I do?' I thought.