“That worthless pig of a man,” Beleg snarled as the two walked towards their assigned room. “Slurring the Ylveryan people is one thing, and a terrible thing it is, but to keep slaves? That’s a sin worthy of the lowest plane of hell.”
“Is it really that pervasive? We never heard much about slavery up in our region except as a historical thing.”
Beleg shook his head, “It’s really not. In most modern Tehynshin society, what slavery exists is hidden in the shadows, where it goes by different terms for the most part. However,” he added, hand on the handle of the door marked with a number five, “outside of proper society, slavery is very much a thing. Entire outskirt communities exist for the sole purpose of generating slaves for the underground trade. In fact, a lot of what Yahaestra does advances the trade. It’s one reason we tend to avoid it despite the other benefits.”
“And Ylveryan slaves? Are they highly prized?”
Beleg nodded, but before he could answer, the door opened and a tall Ylveryan woman bowed before them. “Greetings young masters,” she said solemnly before lowering her voice to a whisper and adding, “best not to speak of such things out here.”
The two of them followed their host inside and she shut the door firmly behind them. Beleg turned to introduce himself properly, but the Ylveryan held up a hand warning him off for now. The warrior shrugged and set himself to some light stretches while their host puttered about a bit, filling two glasses with ice cold water and then setting out a tiny metal bowl on the short table in front of Kre.
“Snacks?” Kre asked, gesturing at the empty bowl.
The Ylveryan didn’t answer. She merely smiled, knelt down next to the table, and started to run a small metal stick along the rim of the bowl.
In a matter of seconds, a soft hum started to echo through the room. She continued this for another few seconds before removing the metal stick and setting it down next to the bowl.
The humming continued as if she hadn’t stopped, and it felt to Kre as an oddly peaceful sound.
“A vigil bowl,” Beleg said in surprise. “I’ve never seen one in person. I bet Dain would be so upset that he’s missing out on this.” He gave their Ylveryan host a sideways glance and narrowed his eyes, “How is it you’ve come by this?”
“I am Virryn,” she stated softly after taking in a deep, calming breath. She looked at the door of the room and pursed her lips before continuing. “They call me Nan. I heard you outside and I am taking a chance here, based on what was said. I wonder if you are ones that can help us.”
Beleg sighed and set himself down on a chair. “Oh dear,” he muttered. “I feel like this is going to get a lot more complicated.” He picked up a glass of water from the table and took a long swallow. The humming of the bowl was the only sound breaking the awkward silence that had settled on the room.