Ought to Fix That (Slavery Problem in Bellum)

No matter what kind of love it was… love was sweet.  In this case, it was family love, parental love: that kind of unconditional love where two adults would give anything for the benefit, happiness, and safety of a child.  Love, love, love.  Leah would have done this job for free, if only because of how much love she saw in the couple standing in front of her, begging her to take on this mission for them.  It was admittedly a rather dangerous job, since according to the clients themselves the mages who would be guarding the children were far more powerful than the blonde and would obliterate her in less than a second if any instance of resistance was encountered while dealing with her.  Luckily however, the mage had no intention of flitting around and untying children, causing havoc, or attempting to abolish the slave trade in Bellum permanently.  Large scale projects were tedious and took up time, but furthermore, they required firepower that the girl simply couldn’t provide.  But she could do this small thing for this family.

Smiling with genuine heart at the couple, the blonde nodded with as much feeling as she could manage.  Any price, the father had said, and the mother had agreed immediately.  He is worth more than anything we could ever give, she added, and Leah had immediately waved her hands away and simply stated that she would give them the bill to foot and that they could expect their son to be safely back home the next morning before ten o’clock a.m.  Although she was definitely a con artist at times, she meant every word that she said and intended to follow through on freeing the boy through conventional means.  The slave trade was a bustling business here in Bellum, since the way which the laws worked favored magical citizens miles above non-magical residents.  Without feeling the wrath of the justice system or the righteous fury of any parents (in the form of direct action against the kidnappers and traders, that is) any magical person had the ability to steal away a non-magical child or adult to be sold or used for whatever he or she pleased.

Thankfully, the parents of this particular child did care, and Leah kept that fact in mind as she pulled open the doors of the traders’ station where the boy had supposedly been transferred to until either a buyer came or he was sent off to mine or aid in the accomplishment of some other hard, government funded project as a labor worker.  A gentle smile accompanied her request as the female threaded her fingers together and held them at her waist in a demure expression.  Having assumed her old appearance, with blonde hair and sapphire eyes that shone lightly and innocently, the girl was hard to ignore in the dusty room.  Immediately, a young man with a scruffy beard came to her and politely inquired what she was doing here.  Acting as though she knew precisely what she was talking about, Leah replied cheerfully, "A slave, of course!" and then elaborated, saying, "I need a boy to model for my paintings, and then later we are planning to use his body as a base for my little sister's summoning magic, which requires the bones of an adolescent.    Her eyes sparkled with delight as she explained in further detail what would be done with the boy, and went on to describe the appearance that she wanted for her paintings.  Thoroughly convinced that not only was this a proper magical citizen but a rich one at that, the man swiftly as soon as she was finished speaking and gestured for her to follow him into another hallway.

After they had entered one of the rooms, the girl immediately pointed to a boy who was not the requested one.  "He's cute," she said with a tiny giggle, and the guard humored her with a slight knowing smile.  The man went on to say that the child didn't fit the blonde's description from before, and Leah pouted convincingly.  Eventually, she found the *right* one, which was of course the clients' son, and the two set about haggling.  Fairly soon into the bargaining process, the mage completely gave up on account of the fact that 'she was bored' and wanted to get home and start painting already.  After they stepped out of the traders' house, the girl touched the necklace that the parents' had given her and was immediately transported back to their home.  The mother and father had already prepared all the bags and thanked her immensely, giving her an envelope full of the two million jewels she had paid in her name for the boy, as well as a little bit extra for a job well done.  And then all four of them fled.  Three to Seven, and one back to Fiore.

815 Words.