The Real Prize

"Five million Beli?"

An uproar swept through the auction house. The opening price had clearly been ten million Beli, though that was certainly inflated.

An ordinary human slave started at just five hundred thousand Beli. But these two were twins, sisters who looked exactly alike, and both were virgins. Disco had set the price so high to appeal to the old nobles' desire to show off.

In truth, few would actually buy them at that price. The point was to get the nobles competing and drive the bids higher.

No one had expected Rogge to jump in with five million Beli. That was ten times the starting price for one human slave, or five times for two.

Disco still wasn't satisfied. But Rogge's bid had made many of the old nobles who wanted to bid think twice. Ten million Beli for a pair of twins suddenly seemed steep. That sum could buy twenty slaves. There was no need to pay so much for just two, even if they were twins.

"Lord Rogge, the opening price is ten million Beli," Disco reminded him, thinking he had misheard.

"Ten million Beli? Ah, I must have gotten it wrong." Rogge smiled.

Disco smiled back, picked up the microphone again, and announced, "There was a slight mix-up just now—my mistake. These stunning twins look almost identical. The opening price is ten million Beli. Bidding will now restart."

The room fell silent. No one placed a bid. No one even spoke. The entire auction house was deathly quiet, and Disco froze.

"Stunning twins with perfect figures, and both still virgins! They can be trained to your liking. You won't find finer companions to take out on the town." Disco launched into a frantic sales pitch.

No matter what he said, no one below spoke