A THEFT

Selene took to sorcery very easily, much to Sophia's frustration. Selene was good at acting intuitively, so she was able to pull the magic out from her in as if it was nothing, but that also meant her sorcery was very closely linked to her emotions and state of mind. If she was excited sometimes she accidentally shot sparks out of her fingers, and if she was angry whoever was within three feet of her would feel a strange zap of electricity.

Sophia was always use her head more than her heart girl, so her sorcery was harder to coax out. She kept overthinking it, or over complicating it, so usually it took her a few tries before she could get her sorcery to do what she wanted. In the end though, her results were always more precise and more focussed than Selene. Sophia focused on recreating the dark sorcery Elena wrote about in her journals, while Selene experimented herself with her sorcery, making odd shapes and leaving different effects each time.

By the time Sophia felt comfortable enough in her magical ability, there was only a week left until Julius' seventeenth birthday, which meant she had to get James quick.

Henry and Lillian didn't take part in slave auctions, and were on the side of nobilities who thought it was rather barbaric and had been trying to get slave auctions banned for years. But despite their work, despite the fact that owning and selling slaves were illegal, slave auctions continued anyway, usually underground. The biggest problem was that a lot of nobility still believed in slave work, and loved to take part in slave auctions, so no matter how much people outwardly disdained the thought of slaves, they were still very much popular amongst people who were rich enough to afford them.

Sometimes Sophia felt aggrieved knowing how her parents in this world were genuinely good people. Things would be much easier if they were just evil.

"Have fun in town, girls!" Henry waved Selene and Sophia away as their carriage rode off.

When they arrived in town, they quickly got out of the carriage. They had no idea where the slave auctions were actually held, but the book had described the area where Julius had bought James as somewhere in the seedier part of town, so that's where they headed first.

They turned a lot of heads as they walked into the darker parts of town. As two very pretty and very obvious noblewomen, they were bound to attract some attention. But neither of them were worried, and in fact strolled down the street as if they belonged, which confused the people watching them enough that none of them approached the two.

Just as Selene was about to huff angrily and complain, again, about how they were lost, Sophia noticed out of the corner of her eye a little girl being lead away in chains. She shushed Selene and then they both followed after that little girl through the back alley, emerging on the other side at a strange looking store.

There Sophia saw that there was a line of noblemen and women waiting, all wearing masks and hooded robes. It must be where the slave auction was being held.

Quickly, she used her sorcery to fashion her and Selene similar looking masks, and they all joined the end of the line, blending in with the other nobility.

While it was obvious that they were on the younger side, no one said a thing. Buying slaves was already suspicious enough, there was no need to suspect each other.

Elliot was there too, but was ordered to wait outside the building, and he was told to only come in if they hadn't left after an hour. He felt wary, but also slightly relieved that he wouldn't have to be involved in whatever sketchy business they were going to do.

The line soon began moving, and Selene and Sophia stepped into the store. At first it looked just like a regular antiques store, with little trinkets here and there, but then they were lead through a door at the back of the store, and down some stairs, and found themselves in a strange large room. It resembled an auditorium, with a tall stage and many seats below.

Sophia took one of the numbered paddles an attendant was offering and they both took their seats.

They watched as the auctioneer cycled through slave after slave. People were placing bets all over as Selene yawned, struggling to keep herself awake. Then there was a hushed silence as a red haired boy was brought in. Sophia knew it was James.

The moment he was put under the spotlight he started snarling and screaming, kicking and punching like crazy. No wonder he was never bought until Julius. Nobody wanted a slave that would fight back like this.

Sophia raised her paddle, called out a random amount money.

He was sold to her quickly.

An attendant then asked for Sophia to follow him, where he would lead her to a different room to trade the money for the slave. Sophia and Selene stood to follow him, and soon enough they were in a small room with a slimy looking man, James, and two big guards holding James' shackled arms down.

The slimy man opened his mouth to get the transaction over, and that's when Sophia opened her palms, black smoke shooting out of it and engulfing every man in the room except for James. They all dropped dead around him, and he was so surprised he didn't say a word.

Selene went and broke his shackles. That was when James finally leapt to action and tried to choke Selene, but she was too quick for him and hit his head hard enough to knock him out.

Selene went to check to see if there were people around the door to see them, and when she saw no one, she signalled to Elliot from where he was squatting on the roof to come down.

He did, and then Selene handed him an unconscious boy. He asked no questions as they all made their way back to the carriage. It was a good thing Sophia made sure to have the carriage parked in an area that was hidden from sight.

The anonymity of the slave auction, as well as the fact that it was illegal to begin with, would probably ensure that nobody would look into the three dead bodies they left behind. While they'd probably be miffed that they stole a slave without paying, what exactly could they do about it?

Sophia smiled at the successful heist as they rode home.