Page 7 of The Princess of Portals

“Are you absolutely certain that they were all telling you the truth?” he asked me.

Dutch’s flavor of logic tasted bitter.

“What reason would they have to lie to me?”

“What reason would they have not to lie to you?” he countered.

He had a point.

“Savannah helps people,” Nevada said. “She solves their problems. People in the Emporium like her.”

Dutch folded his massive arms over his chest and shrugged. It was like watching a mountain breathe.

“People like Savannah,” he said. “Except the people who don’t. There are two sides to every story. The victims she helped. And the villains who didn’t get away with it because she got involved. Plus, people are kind of afraid of Savannah ever since she took control over people last week at the Summit. Losing all free will tends to spook people.”

“You know, I hate to admit it, but Dutch has a point,” Dante said. “If you want to track down Ren, you might need to go through the Magic Emporium, taking control over people’s minds until you find someone who knows something.”

“I can’t do that,” I said. “I shouldn’t have done it before. It was wrong. Stealing people’s free will is bad. It sets me firmly on the path to becoming a bad guy.”

“It’s cute that you think you could ever be a bad guy, Savi. I, on the other hand, would make an outstanding villain.” Dante slid his finger over his upper lip and pretended to twirl his imaginary mustache.

“Ok, you do that. You go plot world domination. Meanwhile, I will head back to the Magic Emporium and convince people to talk to me.” I sighed. “But short of controlling their minds, how will things turn out any differently this time?”

I was mostly thinking aloud, so I was a little surprised when Dutch answered.

“Because this time, you will talk to the right people: the vendors at the Black Market.”

CHAPTER 3

FIFTEEN MAGIC LANTERNS

Iwas pretty shocked that Dutch knew about the Black Market. He’d made his mark by training hard and playing by the rules. The Black Market was anything but ‘by the rules’. It was a treasure trove of banned products and illicitly-obtained goods.

You know what, Dutch was right. If someone was trying to hide, as it seemed Ren was, he wouldn’t shop at a place like Miss Christie’s Magical Curiosities, out in the open for all to see. He would shop at the Black Market.

I should have thought of it sooner. Dutch was so much smarter than people gave him credit for.

The merchants at the Black Market were paranoid. You had to be when you dealt in illegal goods. The market moved every day to keep ahead of the Watchers. I didn’t have a clue where it was happening today.

That’s where Marlow came in. Officially, Marlow was a Scavenger. The Government sent the Scavengers out into the World That Was, the forsaken lands beyond the town walls where the Cursed Ones roamed and the treasures of a forgotten era lay buried in the rubble of our fallen civilization. The Scavengers collected those treasures and brought them back to the Government to be recycled, reused, and repurposed for the new age.

Being a Scavenger was the most dangerous job a human on Gaia could do. The ruins where the treasures lay were unstable and overrun with Cursed Ones, beings who had once been human. You wouldn’t know it by looking at the Cursed Ones now. Once the Curse took them, they became savage, primitive creatures hell-bent on biting and infecting all who crossed their path. There was no humanity left in them.

No one wanted to be a Scavenger, but as with most things in our world, people rarely got a choice in the matter. Marlow had made the best of his fate. He led and protected teams of Scavengers, bringing back truckloads full of treasures for the Government. More treasures than they could possibly count.

And the fact was the Government didn’t count them, or at least not too carefully. That’s how Marlow managed to set aside a few useful items for the people. He traded them with the other merchants at the Black Market—or just gave them away. Like me, he couldn’t help himself. He was compelled to help people. It was simply who he was.

“Thanks, Marlow.”

“No, thank you, Savannah. I owe you for saving me from those commandos.”

Marlow, Marlow’s dog Wolf, and I were walking under the drizzling tree canopy. The rain showers had come on suddenly this afternoon, but they’d since slowed to a gentle trickle. Thankfully for us. The Black Market wasn’t inside today, and we had a long way to walk.

“Marlow, you’d still be helping me, even if I hadn’t saved you.”

Wolf barked in agreement.

Marlow looked at his dog. “Of course you would agree with her. But you know as much as I do that I most certainly would not be helping her if I knew what was good for me. I really don’t want to get on Alara’s bad side.”