The auction hall was a converted warehouse near the north pier, cleared out and fitted with rows of chairs facing a raised platform where the auctioneer, a stout woman with a voice that could strip paint, was organizing her lots.
Katarina sat next to Seris in the third row and counted heads.
Forty-two goddamn bidders. Most of them were small house representatives or independent merchants hoping to grab something useful at a discount. A few she recognized from the trade registries. Most she didn't.
Stellara Brevaine was in the back row, left side, in a chair she'd somehow made look like a throne. She wasn't holding a bidding paddle. But, funny enough, she didn't need one.
Because she had proxies. A lot of 'em.
