Chapter Ten: Yes

Luckily when Leto found his way down the staircase into the basement, he saw that the party was in full swing. He knew that there was supposed to be this important dinner upstairs between the magisters in Tevinter. Even though they had nothing to do with the event, the Couslands were invited to join. Master Carso was hosting this event. Or it was more like Mistress Lily was. She was pulling the strings and insisting upon him taking more responsibilities. Either way, the dinner called for dozens upon dozens of wine cases. A few of the slaves were able to sneak away with a few cases and called for a party after their services were no longer needed.

The moment Leto opened the door he found that the party was in full swing. Each man had a girl in his lap and a glass in his hand. Everyone was able to forget about his or her cares for a moment.

"Leto," Varania called out. Leto turned to see that his little sister was in the lap of one of the already half drunk male slaves. She waved at him before getting off his lap and going to him.

The older brother sent a death glare to the man that once held his sister before he went to smile at her, "Are you having fun Varania?" He knew that she had recently started to attend these parties. However, he had not had the chance to ask her.

"Oh yes," she smiled as she took Leto's hands, "It's my favorite part of the week, brother." The once girlish voice morphed into a deep and sultry style despite the fact that she was only fifteen years.

"Dance with me?" Varania asked as she looked up at her brother with wide eyes as she grinned up at him.

"Of course," Leto told her, returning the smile. He spun his sister around and brought her into her arms. She gave a deep laugh before she led him in the dance, telling him stories of her day and dealings.

"Kanden has brought me flowers. Isn't that nice?" Varania asked, almost giddy in her story-telling, "Kanden tells me that being with me is like a breath of fresh air."

There was a tight grimace forming on his face, "That is nice…but are you not getting ahead of yourself?"

"Oh, don't be stupid, Leto. I just want to be a naughty girl and Kanden is as good as any other elf here," Varania told him.

He gave a heavy sigh. Another thing he didn't like was that Varania was growing up into the person her voice portrayed her to be. He also hated how Varania gushed her stories about the other slaves that she was attracted to. She even told him about if she could, she would pursue Fergus Cousland even though he did have a wife with child back in Fereldan.

But Kanden was another story. Kanden was Mistress Lily's consort. Hers and hers alone.

"Leto, you need to take more risks," Varania told him, "You will get such a thrill out of it. Maybe it will loosen you up a bit."

"I do not want to be loosened up," he responded dryly. He spun her around again and gave her a glare that said 'I don't want to talk about this, now shut up and dance'

Varania rolled her eyes as she smiled at her brother and danced with him.

It wasn't until half an hour of dancing passed that Leto turned to the doorway. And as his laughing face looked at the doorway, he saw her.

Rosie was standing there with wide, interested eyes. She was wearing a violet blue dress that was very form fitting, even more so than the others. Her hair was braided into two separate braids that coiled with each other on each side of her head. She looked at the party going on with the utmost curiosity and…was that wanting in her eyes? What did she want?

And they locked eyes for that one moment before Varania had pulled him back into the dance. Leto felt his smile leave his face as he thought of Rosie once more. He sighed before he looked at Varania, "Go, why don't you have another glass?"

"Alright," Varania smiled, "I should go talk to Kanden anyway." She put on her flirty smile before she turned to get back to the party.

Leto sighed before he instantly went over to Rosie, "Hello."

Rosie looked up to him and blushed before she looked down, "Hello Leto…" Her face turned redder as she explained, "I…I got bored and I was able to slip away and I found…I…what is this?"

He turned and looked to the party before he looked to her, "Every now and then, some of the slaves throw little…gatherings." He paused for a moment before asking, "Would you like to join us?"

Her pretty eyes blinked for a few times before she looked at the party. She bit her lower lip in nervousness before she nodded, "I would love to."

That sound made Leto's heart jump and the smile grow large on his face. He took her hand and pulled her into the middle of the room. And with every ounce of his courage, he immediately started to dance with her, not waiting for an offer or an acceptance.

At first, Rosie's body was tense, but then it started to relax under Leto's touch. However, the apprehension returned as the dance continued. It took a few minutes for Leto to see why. Other slaves had taken notice of the human girl who had penetrated the inner sanctum that was their social gathering. They did not say anything at first, but Leto could see the thoughts going through their eyes.

With Leto's mind on the others, his mind was not on his dancing. It was the sound of a sharp rip that brought him into reality.

"Oh Maker," Rosie whispered as she looked down.

As Leto looked down he saw what he had done. He had been off in his mind long enough that he had stepped down at the wrong time. He hit right on the train of Rosie's dress as soon as she moved in the opposite direction. This caused a tear in the fabric.

At first he was silent as he realized what he had done. Cursing, he started to apologize, "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean-"

Rosie looked up and interrupted him, "You've done what I've wanted to do the entire evening." And with a straight action, she grabbed the loose fabric and ripped the rest of it off. It was now considerably shorter than what it was before. Realizing that he was staring right at her soft and pretty thighs, Leto shot his head up. Rosie sighed in relief, "It was so hot in that dress." And with that, she threw the fabric to the floor without a second thought. Seeing the expensive material on the floor, three slaves eyed each other before they lunged for the fabric, knowing that even a sliver would fetch a decent price to the right bidder.

"You…are amazing," Leto told her. He had never seen anyone do something so spontaneous.

Varania could be on to something. Risks and thrills…

"If you are still hot," Leto told Rosie, "We should go to that lake." If they were caught, Leto could be severely punished. If they were caught, the neighboring magister could use him as a guinea pig for Maker knows what. If they were caught, terrible things could happen to Antiva and Varania.

But those chances were so slim…Everyone was preoccupied with the party upstairs. No one would notice them. No one would know.

"I would love to," Rosie smiled.

And with that, Leto squeezed her hand before he led her out of the room.

And there was his first gamble…