Misa Gets Back Her Family Auction House

[The following occurs while Carter is busy training with Cyra in book 5.]

Misa's life changed when her aunt took over her family's auction house. She'd been young then, blissfully unaware of her parents' death while she frolicked with the other Amazonian children in the pocket world in Valkyrie's Watch.

At first, when she came of age and started working at her family's auction house, she had believed the stories her aunt told. But little bits and pieces added up here and there. Her parents hadn't been without friends, and even now, there were breadcrumbs she could follow.

Eventually, she tracked down one of their old friends who was able to tell her the real story.

"Girl, your mother and aunt never got along. Your aunt was always jealous of her older sister taking the lead position in the family business. In your grandparents' day, your great-aunt left to become an adventurer and eventually started an auction branch in another city, but your aunt didn't want that life, even with support from your grandparents. One night, when you were still a girl, your mother and father ran into the wrong sort of people late at night. The kind of people me and a few noticed her hanging around suspiciously just prior. Alas, nothing came of it. And last year your grandparents passed, leaving the auction house to your aunt."

Misa had her doubts at first. But the more clues she dug up, the more it made sense. And yet, there was nothing she could do. The Samhains were plenty quick to dispense justice when the guilty party was obvious. But when things were confusing or there were competing stories that required extensive verification, they threw up their hands in disgust and either walked away or killed everyone involved, depending on their mood.

And so there was nothing Misa could do but put her nose to the grindstone and keep working. If she couldn't work at the auction house, her only other option was to either become a manual laborer or an adventurer. She was poorly suited to either profession.

Perhaps if she kept saving money, in a few decades she would be able to invest in a business in another city and leave Valkyrie's Watch behind entirely, but with the small percentage her aunt allowed her to keep from her auction sales, that would take years.

But then her favorite client came along and changed everything.

Carter Smith was a man of many talents. She'd been able to guess that much from the moment he'd first shown her his mana bombs. She'd guessed he'd made them himself and was keeping the fact secret, but didn't dare even speak her theory aloud for fear of losing her one lucky break. No doubt the Samhain Clan would scoop him up for themselves if they discovered him.

Which was exactly what she thought had happened when she'd realized he was running around with Myrina Samhain, of all people. Misa had known her since she was a teen and Myrina had arrived pouty and angry at her family over something in the Valkyrie's Watch children's pocket realm. From then on, she began a reign of terror that was firmly imprinted in the minds of every girl who grew up in Valkyrie's Watch in their age group. Misa still heard some of her contemporaries whisper about the red menace when they thought nobody was listening.

But it had all worked out in the end. And somehow she'd ended up becoming the administrator to a trio of towns for the very red menace that still occasionally gave her nightmares. And now she was about to face the object of her fears in person.

"I'm here! Who's attacking my towns! I'll teach them a lesson they won't ever forget," Myrina declared, sword already drawn and swinging.

Misa bowed her head as low as it could go, both as a show of respect and so she didn't get accidentally decapitated by one of those wild sword swings.

"Lady Myrina, there's nothing of the sort. I think in my letter I told you it was something of a personal request?" Misa asked.

"Bridget reads my mail for me. She said you promised me some fighting?" Myrina asked, still waving around her sword.

"There may be some fighting involved. Hopefully not, but--"

"Hopefully yes!" Myrina corrected.

"Well, this was a personal request. I want to buy my family's auction house, but I'm uncertain if my aunt will accept the deal. I would like a representative of the law there."

"Ah... I got it. You need me for my lawyer skills!" Myrina jerked a thumb at herself with a knowing grin on her face.

"Indeed, my lady. If you're willing, that is?"

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go get that auction house of yours!" Myrina said.

"Buy the auction house, you mean. I plan to make my aunt an offer she can't refuse."

"And if she does refuse, I've got a few lawyer tricks I've been meaning to practice..."

***

Between her fairly substantial pay as steward of the towns of Gloomcap Mountain, and her recent investments in Shadefall, things were going very well for Misa. So well that she'd actually been putting off a return to Valkyrie's Watch.

She could still let bygones be bygones and forget about everything, if she was so inclined. Valkyrie's Watch may be the seat of Samhain power, but it was more a castle town than a city. The people there served the Samhain main family either directly or indirectly.

Shadefall was a much more productive economic and industrial center for the region. Now that it was growing again and no longer at war, an enterprising young business woman like herself could do very well there.

And yet the more she thought about it, the more she knew she had to return. That auction house was her family legacy. To abandon it now was unthinkable. Misa knew that if she didn't do something today, it would haunt her for the rest of her life.

And so she found herself in Valkyrie's Watch.

"So how are we doing this?" Myrina asked. "Do we go in rough or gently?"

"Gently, I think. I merely wish to make a purchase," Misa said.

"Great." Myrina slammed a fist into an open palm. "I'll kick down the door and pin her down. You get the pen and ink for the bill of sale."

"Gently. I wanted to go in gently!" Misa said.

"I heard you."

If that was what Myrina Samhain considered going in gently, Misa shuddered to think of what kind of lawyer work she considered rough.

"Perhaps you could follow my lead? Only jump in if you feel the need. I'm hoping I can do this on my own."

Myrina shrugged, not bothering to hide her disappointment as she stuck her hands behind her head and sighed.

"Fine. Fine. We'll do things the boring way. But I'll jump in if somebody gives me the opportunity..." Myrina bounced along in a half-skip, making her look like an excited schoolgirl, despite being a murder machine in humanoid form.

Misa had liquidated most of her storefronts in Shadefall in exchange for the biggest bag of gold she'd ever seen in her life. It was bigger than anything she'd ever seen working at the auction house for sure, which was the whole point of the thing.

With it in hand and a rapid flutter in her heart, she opened the door to her family auction house. Her aunt was behind the counter, and the two locked eyes immediately.

"Misa, dear. You're back? And here I thought you had went your own way. What's wrong, couldn't hack it on your own? Well, I might be convinced to give you your old job back... only, your old rates are unavailable. You'll be starting from the bottom again, which is now a ninety-five to five split," Misa's aunt said with a malicious grin that said she was being anything but kind, despite her words.

Misa knew that even the lowest ranking agent of the auction house received double that as their cut of proceeds. Her aunt just sensed an opportunity to humiliate her. Misa could tell by the way her lip bent upward in a contemptuous sneer. Once upon a time, Misa thought she imagined it, but now she knew she saw clearly.

"Save your one-sided contracts. I'm here to buy the auction house. Here. One million in gold. That's more than this place makes in ten years," Misa said.

Misa's aunt's eyes lit up with greed at the sight of so much gold spilling from an open bag. she reached for it, and she looked like she was about to snatch it right off the table and lay claim to it like a common thief. But Misa pulled it back before then.

"It's not yours until I see the deed to this place," Misa said, pulling the bag back in her direction.

Misa's aunt looked around. "Security! Security!"

The door swung open and a helmeted figure poked in around the corner.

Misa's aunt pointed at Misa. "The black sheep of the family is back. She came back to raid the auction house vaults. Arrest and detain her."

Misa stood frozen for a second. She'd expected her aunt to make trouble. But this much trouble? She planned on robbing Misa then disposing of her body like any common criminal! This was more than underhanded, this was downright criminal.

"Uh, yes. Uh... we'd like to arrest her, but there's been a slight problem..." the guard's helmet jingled awkwardly, and the voice coming from it sounded familiar. It also didn't sound like it was coming from the helmet, more like someone behind the door muffling their voice.

"I don't care. Hurry up and get in here!" Misa's aunt snapped.

The door shifted open wider, and the guard's body fell out of it in a pool of blood. Only the head remained at eye level, and only there because it was stuck on the end of a sword. A sword held by a certain lawyer currently representing Misa.

"Shoot. One second." Myrina grabbed the fallen body, hoisted it upright with one hand, and then went back to bobbing the severed head with her sword. She coughed twice to clear her throat, than made a poor attempt at mimicking what must have been the guard's voice.

"Sorry ma'am, but we can't do that. There's been a little problem at the security post. You see... we're actually all dead!"

Misa's aunt started screaming. She jumped free of her desk. Myrina shifted her weight and placed one foot on the corpse she was puppeting, then flung it forward with arms spread wide. The armored body of the guard wrapped around Misa's aunt and tackled her, sending her straight to the ground.

"Surprise! It was actually me, Myrina Samhain, all along! Pretty neat, huh?" Myrina flashed a smile at Misa. The blood covering her face, hair, and chest made the ridiculousness of the girl before her seem more like a stroke of nightmare-induced insane terror than the comical image it would have otherwise cut. The screaming of her aunt under the blood-drenched corpse wasn't helping either.

"M-Myrina?" Misa stuttered.

"That's me! And it looks like I can chalk this up as another case solved. Lawyer Myrina saves the day again. Just one last loose end to tie up..." Myrina flung the severed head from her sword and stalked over to Misa's aunt.

"W-wait! You're a Samhain? Is this about last year's taxes? I'll pay, I swear! I have the money!" Misa's aunt protested. But Myrina thrust a pitiless sword straight through her throat before Misa even thought to speak up for her.

"Well, I'm done here. You'll have to find the deed yourself. Also, I'm taking your aunt and her guards as my pay. Galbatorix always buys fresh bodies. Apparently, necromancer's love these things. I'll check in on your later!" Myrina waved before grabbing Misa's aunt by the hair and dragging her out the door.

Misa looked around. She had her family auction house back. But at what price?

One thing was certain. She still hadn't gotten over her fear of the red menace, and she knew for certain she'd never cross the crazy women of the Samhain Clan as long as she lived.


<Note>
When I started, this was the option in the lead, though since then 'PoV of the luckiest shard' has surpassed it, so I figure I need to do that one next.

Feel free to leave more suggestions if you like, but we are getting to the point where I should probably start dropping chapters to book 6 in another week or so.