The Demon Lord Is An Angel
Chapter 76: Interlude: Ferrovia

Chapter 76: Interlude: Ferrovia

"Ferroooo~ I’m bored!"

"We’re almost there, Valera. Just another day."

In the back of a cart, the pair of cat beastfolk waited. They’d been waiting since arriving at Golda Lun and joining the caravan. For Ferrovia and Valera Rubi, the desert sun was pleasant where it caressed their fur past the shade of the wagon’s cover.

Being rust cats, the two young adults were small in comparison to their travel companions, which mostly consisted of elves and some near-humans. They’d run into a little trouble at first trying to join because the caravan’s leader needed some convincing they were both adults. After weeks of nothing but sand, the two siblings were finally close to their destination.

"Tell me again what you want to do when we get to Aaru," Valera said, idly poking Ferro in through one of the spots on his ribs. They both had a similar pattern, six stripes along their heads and backs, and numerous spots, with a few stripes along the neck. Their fur was a mix of brown and orange, but Ferro had a bit of white along his belly and chest fur.

"Well, first we stay with Uncle T’ker. Then I want to take you to see the arena. And then-"

"I don’t want to see the arena," Valera pouted. "Bunch of silly warriors killing each other for fun."

"It’s not just for fun!" Ferro said. "They do it to prove who’s stronger, and honestly there’s not as much killing as you think. Most of the time it’s just until someone can’t fight."

"Just talk about something else," Valera said.

Ferro sighed. "Okay. What do you think Uncle T’ker will get us for work?"

"Probably just serving at a bar, same as back home," Valera sighed.

"Think they’ll ask me to dance?" Ferro asked.

Valera looked at Ferro.

A sense of wrongness entered Ferro’s mind and suddenly Valera blinked. Her eyes going from blue-green cat slits to a more common brown with round pupils.

"Wake up," she said.

"I don’t want-"

"WAKE UP!"

Ferro woke up.

Cloudis, the bisonkin girl he shared a room with, was shaking him at the shoulder.

"Is it night already?" he groaned as he forced himself to sit, looking Cloudis in her big brown eyes, which were just visible under the wooly mane that draped down her forehead and back.

Her teats were practically in his face, but Ferro didn’t hold a particular attraction to his roommate. He was, after all, a slave in all but name, and Cloudia - nice girl that she was - was still effectively his keeper at the brothel.

"No, but you have a customer. It’s the leokin man from last night," she warned. "Go get yourself ready."

She left the room, giving him some privacy as he hastily bathed himself with water from the sink, combing it through his fur before using his bedsheet to dry himself. Then he grabbed one of Cloudis’ many combs and started to adjust his short mane.

Ferro struggled to remember last night, but he vaguely recalled drinking himself into a stupor. It had to have been on a customer’s silver, because gods knew he didn’t have any to his name. He struggled to remember much of the two years that followed his arrival in Aaru.

But one thing he remembered clearly was his uncle, selling him and his sister out. He remembered the night they were taken, how the slavers had tossed the grey-furred cat beastkin a bag of coins and thanked him for his business. He could feel his heart pound as he let himself feel fury. Let it churn his pitifully untrained mana into strength-

*CRACK*

A sudden crunch in his hand brought him out of his memories. He’d broken Cloudis’ comb. She was going to be mad at him...

Suddenly Cloudis came back, "Hurry up! Get your things on!"

Ferro held up the comb, apologies in his eyes, "Sorry, I-"

"That old thing? Don’t worry about it. That leokin is talking with the Madame right now. I’ve got a gut feeling he’s about to buy your contract." She went over to her drawers and pulled out a few things. A dark blue, sheer veil. A skirt made of the same material that wouldn’t actually hide anything. Both jingled with brass.

These she draped onto Ferro, making sure the skirt hung on Ferro’s hips in a way that would be easy to remove.

"I told you the piercings were a good idea," she said as she finished dressing him like a doll.

"I’m not getting another one ever again," he said, suddenly quite conscious of the piercing in his tongue.

"Don’t make me hang this on your nipple rings," she jabbed back with a set of bronze accessories in her hands.

"That’s way too much," Ferro said.

"Is it though? You can’t ever have too much shine."

Before she could dress him further, Ferro fled the room.

That had been a close call... If Cloudis had seen him trying to enhance himself with magic, something bad could have happened. While the workers at the brothel were a close bunch, there was a distinct difference between those who had been sold into it, like Ferro, and those who did it willingly, like Cloudis.

The sudden introduction of sunlight to his eyes had Ferro blinking, but he made his way, graceful by the stint of being so short. The skirt he’d been given was one that would constantly get caught under his heel if he didn’t mind his movements.

Following his vague memories, he found the customer seated in one of the private booths, the kind with a high table, suited for dancing. There was no sign of the Madame though, and that had Ferro concerned-

"Ah, there you are," the leokin man licked his lips. "Come here, kitten," he crooked his finger at Ferro.

Now wasn’t the time to look concerned. Ferro needed to be acting for a customer, it was the best way he knew to be safe, but he’d been spotted before being prepared.

He tried his best though, adding a sway to his step and raking his dulled claws through his mane as he approached.

Up close, the customer was quite muscular. He had a bit of a gut, and scars crossed his body in a dozen places. The way he held himself told Ferro he was a gladiator. The supreme confidence seemed only natural on the man’s face.

"How can I serve you today, sir?" Ferro bowed, entering the man’s reach.

"It’s Lanoch," the leokin man said. He patted the seat next to him and Ferro climbed up, only to wind up pressed against the man’s chest as he let his arm fall, the weight of it pinning Ferro.

"You’re pretty smart for a brothel cat," he rumbled in a low voice. "What’s your name?"

"It’s Ferro... may I ask who told you that?" Ferro asked, hoping he sounded more sultry than he felt.

"You did; when you were drunk off your tail last night. You were certainly clever with that mouth of yours. I had to save you when you told Bardock his tattoo said ’cuck’," Lanoch laughed.

"I’m sorry if I gave offense," Ferro said, lowering his ears submissively.

A rumble in Lanoch’s throat preceded the leokin reaching down and grabbing Ferro around the tail. He was lifted onto the man’s leg, and turned to the table.

"You didn’t offend me. In fact, I need someone who can read caitian." He gestured. A platter of wine, meat, fruit, and a long scroll of paper was on the table before Ferro.

Ferro reached and picked up the scroll. "Is this all you want?" Ferro asked. The scroll was indeed in caitian, and at a glance he saw it was some kind of contract, complete with a blood seal and magic circle.

"Mhm. Do a good job, and maybe I’ll buy you," the leokin man shifted, wrapping one hand around Ferro’s waist. It was a reminder that there was no way a rust cat like Ferro was going to escape a giant like him.

Ferro knew he didn’t have a choice. But maybe if he was working for one client, he could more easily escape. All he would need to do is steal his contract and run... he could flee into the desert. Try to get to Chainsfree or some place where someone might be strong enough in magic to break a magical contract. Then he could search for Valera, get her out of whatever hell she’d wound up in...

Ferro started to read. He caught himself enjoying the task, since there was little to read in the brothel that wasn’t just some kind of poster or graffiti he could see across the street.

Lanoch was an attentive listener, even if his hand wandered a bit, but Ferro was used to wandering hands and didn’t let it distract him until he was finished. Even when Lanoch twisted one of the piercings in Ferro’s nipple, he kept reading out loud. By the end, he realized what it was: an employment contract, at the palace. This Leokin was going to be making more gold in a week as a bodyguard than Ferro could in months.

"Hmph. I thought they’d try to pull one on me, but I guess the thing’s legit. Good work," Lanoch said, ruffling Ferro between the ears.

At that moment, the Madame arrived. Madame Loveday was a human woman in her prime, even if she was in her fifties. She wore a mature dress that emphasized her curves, and her fingers glittered with rings, eleven of them. Supposedly one for each of her husbands, but no one had ever confirmed that rumor.

"I take it you’re satisfied?" she asked, placing a contract scroll on the table. One look at it made Ferro tense up. He remembered the first night he’d been brought here. His hand being cut, forced into the circle that bound him to this place.

Ferro hated her. She was the sort of woman who would try to convince the indentured workers that she was some sort of savior to them, despite exploiting them. The sort of woman whose hands were clean because she had bruisers to do the dirty work. Bruisers who worked for the Red Sands, the gang that had kidnapped him and his sister in the first place.

"I’ll take him, if that’s what you’re really asking," Lanoch said. Reaching with a hand, he produced an orichalc coin and placed it on the table.

The Madame snatched up the coin the moment Lanoch poked a clawed finger on a sharp tooth and placed his blood on the master circle. It glowed a faint white and that was all it took to trade Ferro from one owner to another. "He’s one of our best, it’ll be a shame to lose him," she sighed with fake fondness. "Will you be wanting Ferro here during your meeting?"

"Hm. Do you have anything you want to bring, Ferro?" Lanoch asked.

"I... don’t own anything," Ferro admitted.

"Then you can stay here," he ordered.

"You can keep the clothes... and the piercings," Loveday said to Ferro, affecting generosity behind her sneer. "Just so you know, since he’s yours now, Ferro can be a bit of a runaway sometimes. The contract should let you track him and punish him if necessary. His command phrase is ’Master says.’"

"Well now... that won’t be necessary, will it?" Lanoch reached up and turned Ferro’s face until their eyes met.

"No..." Ferro said.

"No what?" Lanoch asked.

"No... Master," Ferro said, hoping he had the right tone-

"Hmm I knew I was right to come back here. I like that fire." He looked back to the Madame. "What time is it?"

"Approaching noon. Perhaps in an hour or so," she replied.

"Well then, why don’t you arrange a meal for me while I get to know Ferro," Lanoch said with a dismissive gesture. She left with a smug look on her face.

Once she was gone, he said, "I enjoyed your mouth last night, so why don’t you make yourself useful while we wait..." He plucked Ferro off of his leg and lowered him onto the floor between himself and the table, before pulling aside his loincloth. "Master says."

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