The Jade King of Rathai

My heart clenched.

The words that had appeared out of thin air hit me like a freight train. I did have a missing son. I had been searching for him for fifteen years.

However, if there was one thing Rathai never ran short of, it was scams and traps.

I looked away, keeping my expression neutral as I weighed the piece of jade in my hand. I turned to the man running the venue, Sal Keever.

"Good color. Sal, has anything new come in lately?"

My eyes drifted back to the corner as I spoke. The way the boy was curled up, the pattern of wounds across his body, none of it looked staged.

Sal grinned. "Yeah, a fresh batch just arrived. You want to take a look, Cade?"

Another line of text floated past.

[The boss is thinking about it! Did he just remember his own son?]

I pretended to browse the stock, working my way over to the boy until I was close enough to crouch down in front of him.

He was shaking all over, eyes full of desperation and distrust. His knuckles were swollen and raw, with dirt ground deep under his fingernails. Those were the marks of someone who had been restrained for a long time and fought against it.

I kept my voice low. "What's your name? Where are you from?"

His lips were cracked and bleeding. His voice barely carried over into my ears. "Arden... Carlisle. I'm from Harstead."

"Who sent you here?"

Tears rolled down his filthy face. "Brynn... My sister—no! The eldest Carlisle daughter..."

More text appeared.

[The real son, Corbin Carlisle, framed Arden. He pushed him down a staircase and accused him of hiring someone to ruin Corbin’s reputation.]

[Brynn believed it. She shipped him to Rathai to 'learn a lesson', and told him he could come home once he learned to behave.]

The boy's trembling worsened, as though something terrible had clawed its way back to the surface. I did not press him. I just stood up.

I had heard enough. Everything he told me matched what the floating text had said, and that was enough to confirm one thing. This was not a scam. This boy could very well be my son.

I walked back to Sal.

"I'm taking that boy with me."

Sal's expression tightened. "Cade, this one's not that simple.

"The eldest Carlisle daughter paid a fortune for this. There are specific instructions to work him over. The only rule was not to let him die."

I pulled out a rough jade stone. "This should more than cover him."

Sal's eyes locked on the jade. His throat bobbed, but he shook his head.

"Cade, it's not about the money. The Carlisles have serious pull back home. If I let him go and Brynn comes after me, I can't afford that kind of heat."

I held his gaze and did not back down. "Sal, I've been doing business in Rathai for fifteen years. When have I ever shortchanged you?"

He gave me a pained smile. "Cade, don't put me in this spot. The auction's about to start. The Carlisle people are out there waiting.

"Brynn said he has to go on the block. She wants to watch him get humiliated with her own eyes."

I clenched my fists until my nails bit into my palms. Sal turned to leave, but I grabbed his arm.

"What if I insist?"

His expression hardened. "Cade, you know how things work here. Taking someone by force means you've got a problem with us."

I let go and steadied myself.

"Here's what we'll do. You hand him over to me, and I handle Brynn. If she comes after you, that's on me."