Preparing to Infiltrate [Job/Private]

Assignment Overview: After taking out Bob, Lexiara finds out he takes his slaves to an auction for larger traders. Infiltrate the auction in any way and gather information on others present. Do not get caught!

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Lexiara woke early the next morning to Nymeria nuzzling at her, the infant hungry and demanding a meal. Lovingly ruffling her daughter’s brilliant red locks, Lexi settled in to feed the girl while looking over the papers she had pilfered from Bob’s belongings. While Nymeria suckled, Lexi sorted the papers into separate piles, one full of documentation on his finances, one for personal correspondence and one for things directly related to his slave trading business. First, she skimmed through the financial records, it seemed Bob had made a nice chunk of gold from some of his transactions. She made a note to look deeper into them later, there were several names mentioned there and she planned to hunt down every buyer he had ever sold someone to. But right now, she was more interested in the last pile.

The last pile had several orders made by someone named Joe, another slave trader who seemed to be organizing a large auction soon. She skimmed through the requests, the scowl on her face deepening at each one. Some were requests for laborers or people with special skills. Other requests were for young women intended for the sex trade. Near the bottom of the list, Lexi found several mentions of girls, very young girls, with notes about specific hair colors. Not wanting to imagine what the girls could possibly be destined for, Lexi scoured the documents for anything that would point her in the right direction for where the auction would be held.

Nymeria gave a soft gurgle to let Lexi know she had finished her meal and Lexi shifted the infant to bounce and rub the gas from Nymeria’s belly. Once the girl had given a rather unladylike belch, Lexi set her down on the blanket she had been sleeping on while she finished looking through the documents. It took a decent chunk of time, but she finally found directions to the auction. It looked like it would be held on the next full moon and was not too far away. The moon was barely a sliver in the sky so Lexi would have plenty of time to make plans to infiltrate. Gathering up the different pieces of parchment, Lexi packed them into her bag before getting Nymeria settled in her sling. She would need to make a stop at her settlement before anything else. Lexi took one last look around the cave, frowning at the cages before making her way off towards her home.

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The trip back to the settlement was uneventful, Nymeria cooing and gurgling in her sling as she watched the sights go by. By the time she spotted the scout for the village, Nymeria was napping soundly. She gave a nod to the man who had spotted her before making her way to the hut she shared with Shana. The other woman looked relieved to see Lexi dipping into the hut and gave her a smile. Lexi returned the smile, though hers was tense. With careful movements, Shana helped free the slumbering Nymeria from the sling and rested the infant in the bundle of blankets without waking her. Lexi waited until she was certain her daughter was asleep before nodding Shana towards the door, not wanting to wake Nymeria or Shana’s children. The other woman followed her out of the tent, arching a brow at the look on Lexi’s face.

“Shana, I need you to watch Nymeria for a few days.”

“I can’t talk you out of this?”

Lexiara shook her head sternly.

“They are having an auction, Shana. I need to try and stop it. I want to make sure everyone knows that the tribes on the Plains are not free for anyone to come and kidnap. Someone has to send a message, and that is going to be me. I am tired of losing people, I am tired of fearing for the life of my daughter and what remains of our village!”

“And what if you don’t come home? What if Nymeria loses her mother?”

“I won’t let that happen.”

Shana’s face was tight, but she understood Lexi’s rage. The girl had been through far too much at her tender age. She gave Lexi a tight hug before ducking back into the hut. She knew she would not be able to change Lexi’s mind, all she could do was make sure Nymeria was protected and safe for when Lexi returned.

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It took a few days of preparation before Lexi was ready to head out. Before she left, she had Shana help use something to darken her hair, the blond locks now a deep brown color. She took along a scarf, intending to use it to cover the distinctive ears on top of her head. She made sure she packed more than enough arrows into her quivers and made sure she had every other supply she might need. The night before she left, she cuddled Nymeria and showered the young girl in love. She hated leaving her daughter alone for this long, but she would not risk exposing Nymeria to this kind of danger, not until she knew she could handle whatever was thrown at her. Before the sun kissed the horizon the next morning, Lexi was off.

The trip was a quick one, since Lexi did not have to care for Nymeria, she did not have to stop nearly as often. She made good time and it did not take long for her to see the makeshift settlement established in the middle of nowhere and she stopped at a creek before entering the village to clean up and cover her distinguishing features. Assured that everything that identified her as Kimeer was covered, she approached the guard at the entrance to the settlement.

Her face was painted into a stern mask as she approached the man, who simply arched a brow at her.

“Who are you and why are you here?”

“My name is Shireen Frost. I find myself in need of a few animals to help guard my house and care for my rug rats. Do you have anything like that?”

The guard smirked at the derogatory term she used and waved her past him into the village.

“You will find accommodations in the tent third down on the right, the sale will begin in two night’s time.”

Lexi gave him a curt nod. At least the auction was not heavily guarded. She had been prepared to bribe the guard if need be, all of the gold she had gotten from Heliohapt and during her travels were more than enough to show these people she was someone who could afford to purchase another human being. She went to the tent he had indicated, where someone gave her instructions for accommodations, a small tent near the edge of the makeshift village. She was also assigned a bidding number and was asked to store a deposit, proof that she would be able to pay for at least one slave. She left a small portion of her gold with the man, who arched a brow at the Heliohapt origin. It added credibility to her claim, as she explained her last attempt at purchasing “guard dogs” had been interrupted by the infamous disaster of the Heliohapt auction. After, she made her way to her assigned tent.

All that was left was to wait for the night of the auction. Over the next two days, she kept to herself for the most part and simply gathered information on others in attendance. Most of those present seemed to be slave traders with larger connections or a need to fill massive orders, though there were several people there, like herself, who were simply looking for two or three slaves. She kept careful note of every name she heard, compiling as much information as she could. The entire time, her skin was crawling with disgust at being surrounded by those who felt it was acceptable to purchase people.

Soon, the night of the auction arrived and Lexi made her way to the arena that had been set up, keeping an eye out for the larger buyers, as well as the man running the auction. She had caught glimpses of Joe a few times, but never in an area that she could take him out. It was time to move on to the next stage of her plan.

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