A Seeker Betrayed

34. Captures

Tellurin was a rare instance of a sia born in Osroes. At the age of two, he had been hand-picked by Sia Aya to come and study in the Jitae. It was exceedingly rare for a boy from off-continent to be chosen as a sia. Aya had introduced the two when Gamman moved into the city, and, finding they had a lot in common, they had been close ever since.

Since Gamman was taking a break from Open Quarters, Tellurin invited him over to talk. Gamman didn't hold back; he was concerned about his brother and he needed to air his concerns. When he said that Shamahan had arranged to have five boys picked up in Osroes, and worse, had brought two of them over off the record, Tellurin admitted he wasn't surprised. "Well then, I wonder who he has been talking to. Lord Sullay, maybe?"

Tellurin had a small place to himself outside. It was richly decorated with rugs and furnishings from Osroes, and he kept a supply of wines from the south of his home continent. He poured glasses for himself and Gamman, and, handing one over he said, "I think what happened is, while Shamahan was trying to find out more about Sur'ten's family, Lord Tiernan or Lord Sullay must have reached out to him." He flicked his pipe open and replaced the tiny packet.

"Shamma has been asking around about Sur'ten? Why?"

"Dunno. I took it as him being concerned. About the way he was raised, right?"

Gamman nodded, knowing full well what he was talking about. If Shamahan had been asking around about Sur'ten, then it made sense that he might have been contacted by Lord Sullay. Sullay was Sur'ten's original sponsor.

"I didn't think it was important enough to mention it to you at the time. He was asking around because he'd just found out that when Sur'ten was brought here, he was abused. He wanted to find out exactly what happened, as in, how he was brought over, so I put him directly in touch with my ma's people at S.O. Port – they keep records of the legitimate transfers. But everyone also makes notes when they hear or see 'captures.' You know what I mean by that, right?"

"I haven't heard the term before, but on context alone it sounds like they're being hunted, so it must mean boys that are kidnapped," Gamman replied.

"Mmm. I don't think kidnapped is quite the right word though. If you'd ever been through the port or anywhere on the coast, you'd know – there are a lot – and I mean a lot – of strays hanging around. My cousins told me there are always families legitimately interested in seeing if their boys are a good match for our purposes. But there are also beach communities full of prostitutes and children. They look out for their own, I guess, but...," his thoughts wandered and his face took on a soft expression.

"But?" Gamman asked.

Tellurin looked up at him and pressed his lips together in a sad smile, then lit his pipe and took a draw. Exhaling, he said, "You know. You have to be careful. Men take advantage where they can. A pack of twelve-year olds roaming around together isn't a good target... but a man who is wanting to hunt will find someone to hunt. A stray boy or two in the wrong place at the wrong time is going to be targeted. And as you guessed, they call those 'captures.' Whether they still have mothers that would miss them, who knows? If not, on Osroes, that's not kidnapping."

Gamman raised an eyebrow. "Really?" He had downed his first glass and reached for the bottle to refill it.

"Well, that's not entirely true either. If they turn up dead, then it was kidnapping. But if they are brought here and successfully make the transition to ken, then it is considered a betterment. Doesn't matter that it's frowned upon here or that there's abuse in the meantime. Not to Osroeans." Tellurin raised both eyebrows and grinned. "Would you do it?"

Gamman raised his eyebrows and then scowled. "Seriously? Don't ask me that. No, I wouldn't." A question occurred to him. "The Jaralese capture girls then, don't they?"

"Tasteless, isn't it?" Tellurin had no interest in women, and Gamman took his friend's response to mean that kidnapping women was a waste of effort. But everyone knew that because of the close proximity of Jaral to Osroes, there was extensive pirate activity. Shipments of osori were always at risk, as apparently were the young women in the beach communities.

Gamman asked, "So when the Jaralese take women, is that kidnapping?"

"Hell if I know," Tellurin said. He tapped Gamman on the arm. "Well, Sur'ten was most definitely a capture, and I told Shamma to talk to my cousin, but if he didn't find anything himself, he probably would have turned the question back on someone here – and that's likely Lords Tiernan and Sullay. That could be how he got hooked up with the job." He paused, then asked, "Did Shamma say what kind of conversations he had been having with them?"

"I didn't ask." Gamman sighed.

"Huh," his friend replied, exhaling a fine mist into the air.

"If he was so concerned about Sur'ten, why didn't he talk to me about it?" Gamman asked himself out loud, and the question hung there for a few minutes as his thoughts turned to Sia Aya.

He was about to tap at Aya once more when Tellurin asked, "So now, what's this about taking a break from Open Quarters?"

Gamman looked up to see his friend smirking at him.

Tellurin blew a kiss and said, "You've been 'captured,' have you? I heard your little ken-friend came looking and you ended up wrapped up with him all night last night. What's the deal?"

"I'm beginning to think Sur'ten is right," he replied. "The longer I was away, the more worried I got. And the idea that he might go and share Shamahan's bed drives me insane."

"Haha, he is a cutie, that's for sure," Tellurin said. "Smart, too. I can't believe Shamahan didn't protect him better from you in the first place. But I was surprised to hear you say you won't be at Kiyiya any time soon. Why is that?"

Gamman knew to read between the lines. The question was a subtle criticism of his decision to accede to A'Gahtay's request for faithfulness. He licked his lips.

"Well?" Tellurin prodded, his eyebrow raised. "He's that important to you, eh?"

Gamman nodded. "He is. And it's going to get harder from here, until Shamahan finishes up in the underground. I've got to be down there if I want to meet up with him, but I have a feeling, the way things are going with my pa..." he paused, rolling the word 'Pa' around in his mind. "The way Sia Geldan is, it is looking as though I'm not going to have much free time most nights anyway."

"So, what, you're going to be doing meetings and then heading down to sleep in his narrow little bed with him at three in the morning every night?"

"Something like that," Gamman said, wetting his lips again.