White Hall.


    It wasn’t the people coming out of them that drew Severin’s attention, but the carriages’ curious lack of coach horses-or any other animals-pulling them.


    ‘


    The closer they got, the more distinguishable the actual individuals entering the White Hall became. Everyone of which, and with no exception, as far as he could tell, was dressed in fancy clothes that made his own look like rags in comparison.


    everyone arrived in one of those vehicles.


    Walking was obviously not the preferred mode of transportation for high society.


    Why didn’t Mylana warn him? And why didn’t they too use one of those carriages? Surely she owned not just a few of them herself.


    “The Lady will be very pleased and I am sure she will be eager to greet you in person herself, once the auction has concluded. But please, we are about to start.” The servile woman said, as they walked through the portal and into the foyer of the imposing hall.


    Golden light flooded over them and Severin needed some time for his eyes to adjust. When they did, he found his surroundings weren’t nearly as pompous as he had expected. The entrance hall was largely empty, not at all flaunting its wealth with expensive exhibits.


    “Will you participate from the main hall, or do you want me to escort you to your private booth?” inquired their guide.


    “The booth,” Mylana answered with no hesitation, obviously not very keen on mingling with the other guests.


    At the beginning Severin counted how many of those doors they passed, but stopped bothering when he reached twenty. Still, it was clear their guide hadn’t just picked one at random when they eventually stopped in front of one door that looked just like all the others; Mylana''s barely perceptible nod confirmed as much.


    The woman then stepped to the side and excused herself. “Please enjoy your stay.”


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.“Hm. Thanks.”


    her private booth.


    The two stepped inside the dimly lit room and Mylana directly made for one of these seats while instructing Severin to close the door behind them.


    He complied, but didn’t immediately follow to take the remaining seat.


    ‘Still, he made a mental note of his observation.


    Only then did he turn his attention elsewhere: towards the booths on the opposite side of the hall, the ones reached, presumably, via the other staircase in the foyer.


    “Isn’t that bad?” He pointed out after a moment of observation.


    “What is?”


    “That everything is so visible. You can easily tell which of the rooms is occupied. You might even recognize them. Especially if you know who owns the booth. Doesn’t that beat the purpose?”


    “Oh? Tell me which ones,” Mylana challenged while again using her cane to point towards the booths in question.


    “Eh?”


    “Tell me which ones are currently occupied,” she clarified.


    “Given this is just such a small and private auction, you are probably right: there is no one there. But it’s too na?ve to take these things at face-value. This isn’t just some backwater town hall or the like.


    Ever since we entered the White Hall, we are surrounded by all kinds of different enchantments. And that is doubly true in here.


    No one on the outside can tell we are in here. Unless I want them to.


    Somehow Severin was more surprised by Mylana’s rare praise than by her explanation.


    “want to be seen.”


    With this, Mylana directed his attention to the main attraction, the auction hall below them. And the crowd of people socializing.


    ‘Which I guess makes sense, considering this is a private event.’


    But going by the number of children he saw-and most importantly heard- he couldn’t help but have his doubts.


    Within a minute, everyone in the crowd took had taken their seats.


    Another minute and things had quieted down.


    ‘That’s more like it’, Severin thought. Things finally looked proper.


    ‘Mr. Reigh,’ Severin understood, as the man took up his position behind the rostrum.


    “It is my pleasure to, at Lady Sorn''s invitation, welcome you all to this very special occasion. Following recent circumstances, her Ladyship has decided to auction off large parts of her famous and much coveted collection.


    I speak for the entire White Hall when I express our deep gratitude for entrusting us with such an important task. Thank you.” The man deeply bowed towards one particular woman in the audience.


    “And today we are very pleased to present to you all of our findings and some of the finest handcrafted dolls and puppets the continent has ever seen.


    A Model-5 Isabell.”