News soon spread that following prince consort Xabur's blunder, several powerful clans found themselves exterminated overnight, with the males beheaded and the females enslaved…all, at the exception of Xabur himself.
In a flash, the so-called number one prince consort accrued tremendous scorn and hatred, going from one of the most distinguished personalities of Tel'Hatra to the "son of a bitch" on everyone's tongues.
Helbin's proceeding coming of age ceremony and impending consummation night did very little to change that fact.
Meanwhile, after some clever bribes, Zamira stood at the royal palace's gates, awaiting the right of entry. Behind her, a "slave convoy" carrying an abundance of gifts trailed. The twelve Hidden Moon Pavilion members and her tribeswomen stood within the convoy alongside a massive more than one-hundred slaves she purchased for the occasion.