1st Draft Fridays - A Fistful of ... (#6)

Pardys Isles

In her culture, people can only be property if they sell themselves, and she's never regretted her choice.

Wight pauses in the hall outside the suite, removing her slipper to retrieve the pebble before it can scrape her much. She steps into the light of one of the wide windows, open to the ocean, to study it. The rock is rough like pumice, but it's dark, coarse. If not for how she received it, she would've thought it scoria.

A volcanic rock is an interesting choice for a woman with an affinity for water magic, not that she admits she uses it. Admission would lead to testing, and testing might end up with her becoming (or possibly proving herself to be) a water elemental herself, which would de-legitimize her position as Barun's property and endanger her family.

She's happy where she is, and Creator help anyone who tries to take that from her.

Wight grips the not-scoria in her fist and heads to track down the man responsible for this.

The island is freshly liberated from its former owners, slavers who traded in property that didn't consent to be owned. Those slaves have been gathered and taken elsewhere—and the leader of the rescuers offered to take her, too, and was reluctant to believe her refusal was genuine, coming a hair's breadth from trying to kidnap her before confronting Barun.

Her lord waited out the man's rant, maintaining the constant placidity that keeps her from ever asking him what his life was like among his own people. (Considering his sister challenged for the right to rule her own clan earlier than was culturally appropriate and helped Barun himself flee, at risk to herself and her own family, it was probably at least as bad as anything Wight guesses.)

The man heated the air both figuratively and literally, apparently being a fire elemental. Barun then politely and patiently explained that one of them had to own the other, for the marriage to be legal in undine terms, which was how they were able to keep their children instead of having the stronger ones claimed by his people.

Barun's owning a wife is admittedly an unconventional approach, illegal in undine territory, but it's the optimal solution to bridge the laws and customs that apply both where they live and to what he is.

And if Wight ever changes her mind? She has the funds to buy back her freedom. Barun even insists on providing her an account that's kept up with enough to live on for a few years, with the children, even though he's ensured she has her own businesses and income, distinct from him. He's been at risk of murder by extremists from either of their peoples since before they met.

Sallesan law never actually defines slaves as non-persons, so Wight's property is perfectly legal, too, and doesn't belong to her owner. (Some unscrupulous types take advantage of that loophole to dodge taxes, since slaves are charged less and an owner's legal authority means they can order a slave to give them property, but there are a number of gangs that target those owners specifically, for theft and such. The savvy unethical folks can do the sums. The others are usually foolish enough to break other laws that keep them from being able to maintain their lifestyles for long.)

The leader of the slave-rescuers was dubious, said he'd investigate, and looked even more nonplussed when Barun advised him on how to do so safely. Undine can be reasonable about only expecting their laws to apply to water elementals (though they don't always differentiate between born and Bridged ones), but entering their territory is particularly dangerous for males.

Ultimately, those involved in the liberating are the only people on the island, right now, with Wight and the children being the only exceptions that she's aware of. Even the blind albino has magic that renders him—if it is a him; she's unconvinced—useful in a fight.