Lucan Teryn's face brightened the way spoiled fruit brightens when finally noticed.
"There he is."
He pointed at Sun as if unveiling plague.
The three older cousins beside him turned together.
All wore expensive silk coats cut to allow sword movement—wealth adapting to violence. Rings on every hand. Groomed hair. Smiles trained in mirrors.
Sun stepped down from Samira's carriage and looked them over carefully.
Then sighed.
"What?"
Samira adjusted her gloves.
"I expected better villains."
Brin snorted loud enough to earn a glare.
Lucan descended the last step dramatically.
"This is Cousin Marrek, Cousin Dalen, and Cousin Seris of House Teryn."
The cousins waited for recognition.
Sun looked at Varen.
"Do these names come with rewards?"
"No."
"Then I'll forget them efficiently."
Lucan nearly vibrated with outrage.
Marrek, the eldest, broad-shouldered and thick-necked, stepped forward first.
"You humiliated our blood."
Sun glanced at Lucan.
"I thought onions did that."
Brin coughed violently into her fist.
Dalen, thin and sharp-eyed, smiled without warmth.
"You struck city officials."
"He attacked me."
"You embarrassed House Teryn publicly."
"That one I did on purpose."
Seris, youngest and prettiest, toyed with a dagger and looked bored.
"I vote we skip speeches."
Sun liked him least immediately.
Around them, auction-goers slowed.
Carriages paused.
Servants pretended not to stare while staring professionally.
Nothing gathers Blackstone citizens faster than expensive conflict.
Samira said mildly, "Gentlemen, this is the entrance to a licensed establishment."
Marrek spread his arms.
"Then let witnesses see justice."
Sun nodded.
"Excellent. I enjoy education."
The marble steps of the Auction House rose wide and polished beneath morning sun. Bronze lion statues flanked the doors. Guards in dark uniforms watched with expressions of men forbidden from enjoying what was about to happen.
Marrek cracked his knuckles.
"Bow to Lucan. Apologize. Pay compensation. Crawl away."
Sun looked thoughtful.
"How much compensation?"
Lucan smirked.
"All your coin."
Sun turned to Samira.
"How much coin do I have?"
"Technically mine."
Sun nodded.
"Then no."
Laughter rippled through the crowd.
Lucan flushed.
Marrek lunged.
Big men often mistake size for surprise.
Sun used Wolf Step.
One blur sideways.
Marrek grabbed empty air and stumbled past.
Sun gently guided him by the shoulder.
Marrek crashed face-first into the bronze lion statue.
The lion remained dignified.
The crowd burst into laughter.
Lucan shouted, "Idiot!"
Marrek rose bleeding from the nose and angrier than thought.
Dalen moved next—faster, smarter.
He drew a narrow sword and thrust for Sun's ribs.
Sun barely turned in time.
Steel scraped cloth, nicked skin.
Warm blood.
The old rage inside him stirred.
He smiled instead.
"Better."
Dalen attacked again.
Quick wrist cuts. Testing strikes. Educated violence.
Sun retreated three steps.
Then two.
Then suddenly stepped inside the pattern.
He trapped Dalen's sword wrist, elbowed his throat, and swept the man's ankle.
Dalen hit the marble hard enough to lose philosophy.
His sword slid down the steps.
A child in the crowd picked it up and ran.
Seris finally looked interested.
"Now we're talking."
He flicked two daggers in one smooth motion.
Sun twisted.
One blade clipped his sleeve.
The second would have buried in his shoulder—
—but Varen caught it from twenty feet away without moving from his place.
Two fingers.
No expression.
He dropped the dagger casually.
Seris stared.
"Who is that?"
Sun grinned.
"My emotional burden."
Seris drew a longer knife and rushed.
Unlike his brothers, he was graceful.
Unlike Lucan, he was not stupid.
Unlike Marrek, he could adapt.
Sun had to work.
Steel flashed fast between them.
Seris cut low, then high, then reversed grip mid-motion.
Sun parried with the wrapped sword still sheathed—wood and scabbard thudding against steel.
"Why don't you draw?" Seris taunted.
"Trying not to embarrass your family historically."
Seris snarled and overcommitted.
Sun stepped inside, headbutted him square in the nose, then kicked his legs out.
Seris rolled down six marble steps cursing artistically.
The crowd roared approval.
Lucan stepped back.
"No. No, no, no."
Sun walked toward him.
Lucan pointed wildly at the guards.
"Stop him!"
The guards looked at Samira.
Samira looked at her nails.
The guards found architecture fascinating.
Lucan turned to run.
Sun caught the back of his collar.
Lifted him slightly.
The noble squealed.
Sun addressed the crowd.
"This man owes the city an apology."
Lucan kicked helplessly.
"I owe nothing!"
Sun set him down facing the crowd and patted dust from his shoulders.
"Then we improvise."
He spun Lucan toward the bronze lion statue.
"Bow."
Lucan stiffened.
"No!"
Sun tapped behind his knee.
Lucan dropped into a perfect kneel before the lion.
The crowd exploded.
Coins changed hands instantly.
Someone shouted, "Long live the lion!"
Brin laughed so hard she had to sit down on a carriage wheel.
Samira covered a smile with her glove.
Even one Auction House guard muttered, "Clean technique."
Lucan rose shrieking.
"You're dead! House Teryn will destroy you!"
Sun leaned close enough that only Lucan heard:
"Then send stronger relatives. I'm collecting sets."
Lucan paled.
At last the chief doorman of the Auction House descended the steps.
Tall, severe, silver-trimmed robes.
Voice like polished stone.
"This establishment welcomes wealth, not noise."
He looked over the groaning cousins, the kneeling Lucan, the laughing crowd, then at Sun.
"You caused this?"
Sun considered.
"I improved it."
The doorman's mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.
"Lady Dax, your party may enter."
He glanced at House Teryn.
"You may enter when dignity returns."
Fresh laughter.
Lucan nearly choked.
Sun followed Samira up the steps.
As they passed, the doorman said quietly to him:
"Third floor tonight. Underground arena. Good odds on newcomers."
Sun blinked.
"Was that an invitation?"
"It was market advice."
Inside the grand bronze doors, cool perfumed air met them.
Crystal lamps glowed overhead.
Velvet carpets muffled footsteps.
Rows of display cases lined vast halls.
And somewhere deeper within, fortunes were about to change hands.
Sun smiled slowly.
"I think I'm going to like this city."
From a balcony above, hidden behind carved screens, Rhea lounged upside down eating sugared nuts.
"You already do," she whispered.
To be continued...