----
She only stared with that quiet god-level stillness that made the air feel smaller. If she was right, then this auction was no longer just business. It was the beginning of a blood story that would attract monsters far worse than Iron House.
Mira saw none of that high-domain meaning. She only saw the twins again, the way they moved, the way they looked beautiful while breaking men. Her jealousy returned in a short spike, then she forced it down again with a hard swallow.
I asked for cultivation access, she thought. I asked for power. She watched Vera and Vela and felt the bitterness twist. They got it first.
The fight's last echoes faded.
Raka's men held the perimeter.
The three disguised "maids" remained positioned, still calm, still disciplined, like they had been waiting for this day for years. Sekhmet's questions about them clawed at the back of his mind, but he forced them to wait. Answers would come from Elena, not from speculation.
