All three of them looked like they had something to say, but I raised my hand before any of them could speak up, and said, "Me first."

I went on to explain to them what had happened in Mudgard, how my friend Ty had been abducted by a person or group I suspected of being fairies, and how the McCord twins had arrived at the Elfwood Circle Stones and found evidence that Ty may have been taken to the Fayne.

"May have?" Aura asked, her arms crossing over her chest. "You believe this could be a ruse?"

I nodded. "I'm not sure… it could very well be an elaborate smoking gun to keep us off their trail…"

"But you'd like to make sure all the bases are covered?" Aura prompted.

I really loved how we were both so in sync during a crisis.

"I made a promise to Arah that I would find Ty," I said quietly. It was all I could do to keep a calm face. But deep inside, I was boiling like a volcano ready to explode. "So, any suggestions on how we can make sure I keep my promise?"

Luca advocated we storm the Trickster capital and threaten Kairon to divulge where he'd stashed Ty.

His obvious hatred for the fairy who stole away his future was peeking out there, but I wasn't sure Kairon had anything to do with Ty's abduction. Otherwise, Aura would have been in the know. It was a fact she pointed out to Luca, deflating his hopes of an early revenge, or at least a chance to make that old b.a.s.t.a.r.d quake in his boots.

Still, I agreed to send Nike back to Orryn tonight so we could get information on human kidnapping directly from the horse's mouth as soon as possible.

Varda suggested we send out the kobolds with new orders to gather information across the Westmarch. When I asked her why it had to be the Westmarch, she responded with, "Because we're here. It's likely whatever bad situation is happening is somehow connected to you and to us, right?"

Somehow, I found her logic infallible. Leave it to the dwarf to suggest connecting all my misfortunes into one big giant mess just waiting to explode on all of us.

I laughed. Although it was bordering hysterics, it was the first real bout of laughter to come out of me since learning of Ty's abduction, and not for the first time was I glad I had Varda on my team.

"Okay, send Fila to Thor so he can relay the new orders," I said after I'd calmed down. "And have the rest of the kobolds in the tower head out as soon as they can."

After a second or two had pa.s.sed, Varda raised her hand. "And the orders are…?"

"I want any news on recent human abductions and slave auctions happening in the region," I instructed.

Varda nodded. She prepared to head down to find Fila, but then stopped in her tracks to look back at me.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Um, what should I tell the merchants, Commander?" she asked.

I furrowed my brow. "What merchants?"

"The ones who are here to interview for renting s.p.a.ce in the tower grounds… you do remember you asked to meet prospects, right?" she explained in a tone that suggested she didn't think I remembered.

I vaguely recall a hurried discussion about inviting merchants to visit the tower to see if we could do business together way back when my rivals visited.

"And they're here now?" I asked, annoyed this sudden interruption.

Varda nodded. "Should I tell them to come back another time?"

I had half a mind to say yes, but seeing the worried look on Varda's face cooled my head somewhat. It must have taken a lot of haggling for her to get these merchants to come visit.

I sighed, shaking my head as I did. "It's alright. We'll meet them." I glanced at each of them in turns. "But I want to stress that getting news about Ty is our priority for the foreseeable future." My gaze lingered on Aura. "You okay with this? It'll mean putting Darah's orders on the back burner."

Aura didn't even hesitate when she took my forearm and lightly squeezed it with one of her delicate elven hands. "Finding Tiberius comes first."

With my orders relayed,  Luca went in search of the sprites while Varda, Aura and I made our way down to the second floor of the tower in order to meet our latest batch of guests. Not knowing what to expect, I found myself gazing out at a larger gathering of fairy merchants than I expected.

"What's going on?" I asked, my brow furrowing once again. As if my nerves weren't frayed enough by the whole Ty situation.

"There was quite a lot of interest among the local merchant guilds when we let the word out we were considering opening shop here, Commander," Varda chirped in, sounding very pleased with herself. "Apparently, a lot of people aren't satisfied with the huge number of taxes and regulations inside Jester's Court and Broken Sellsword's Canyon is just too far south from the greater Westmarch region."

"Making the possibility of a new shopping hub an enticing invitation for these merchants," Aura added.

Both girls were smiling at each other, making me recall the few times I'd gone shopping with Aura and remembering how she seemed like a different person, like someone possessed by the spirit of bargains.

"Get in line, you rascals!" Qwipps screeched. "We'll get to you as soon as we get to you!"

My eyes found him at the center of the gathered merchants, fending off their advances and demands to be recognized first.

"Oops, looks like I should go and help Qwipps, Commander," Varda said, before jogging off to a.s.sist her friend who looked like he was drowning in fairies.

I sighed. "Let's get this over with then…"

Aura and I took our seats on the long table we'd moved to the top of the dais at the end of the hall. We were joined by Edo who was there to look appropriately menacing, and Zarz who was there to make sure I didn't sound like an idiot when talking to these seasoned hagglers.

Varda and Qwipps were responsible for the first stage of the screening, asking people to answer a few standard questions before they let them through to speak to us. All in all, it was a really tiring process.

I had to explain sales tax repeatedly to the first few bozos we interviewed and it was grueling.

"Why's this sales tax sound like it'll cost me Leprechauns?" squealed a gray-haired gnome in overalls.

"Well, it actually doesn't cost you anything," I reasoned, pointing again to the piece of parchment spread out on the table. "If we consider sales tax to be five percent of your product's cost, then all we do is add that extra five percent to your pricing. Get it?"

The dumbfounded look on the cherubic face told me he didn't.

I sighed. This happened a few more times, and it was interesting to see that dumb look on so many different types of fairies. Unfortunately, it was also taking time from what could have been a search for Ty.

Luckily, three merchants stood out from the pact. The armorer Shanks, the weaponsmith Kal Duenne, and the potions master Lilipold Loomingale. Ironically enough, none of them were what you'd expect fairies with these types of occupations should be. Lilipold was an undine like Five-Thousand Man Commander Unna was, Kal Duenne was a fiery-haired, yellow-skinned hobgoblin which was something as rare a human albino, and Shanks, well, Shanks was a troll whose features were very similar to someone I knew.

His skin was rock gray and probably twice as hard as stone. He had wide blood-red eyes hidden behind square-rimmed spectacles. His hair was short and parted to the side. But it was the nose and that downward pointing mouth set in its default frown that really showed off their resemblance.

Shanks raised a ma.s.sive hand and offered it to me.

"So you're the human I need to thank for bringing my big brother's body back from the war," he said briskly.

Wow, it was my turn to look dumbfounded. Not only did Shaqs have a younger brother, but apparently, this younger brother was a fast-talking, coat-wearing merchant with enough smarts to run his own business.

"Your brother saved a lot of lives... I owed him at least that," I said quickly while trying to reform my face into a mournful one. An entirely difficult task as my mind couldn't get over how different the troll brothers were.

Shanks bowed his head politely. "You honor him."

Finally, I shook his hand which was about five times the size of my hand. 

"So," he began. "I just heard that you're looking for info on slave traders?"

I raised an eyebrow at him, but it was Aura who answered, "How do you know this?"

Shanks placed a finger on the rather large lobe of his left ear. "I listen... I also deal with information so maybe we can come to an arrangement."

More and more I wondered if this confident-sounding troll was actually related to the ever-bashful Shaqs. 

"How about you throw us a bone first," Aura suggested, already in a haggling mood.

Shanks appraised her for a few seconds before finally nodding his head. "I wouldn't mind having the princess of the Trickster Pavilion and the boy touched with fire owe me over this."

Everyone stiffened.  

Shanks raised a hand in surrender. 

"Don't worry... I know which information to keep close to my vest," he said, tapping heavy fingers on his actual vest, right where the heart would be. "So, you still looking for a hint?"

Aura and I both nodded.

Shanks leaned over the table, his ma.s.sive form casting a shadow over me. He leans as close to me and Aura as possible, and then whispers, "I hear there's a trade caravan that's recently received new stock from your mudball of a world... and they pa.s.sed through a certain canyon earlier in the day to visit an auction house where a maiden of fire holds court..."