Coince’s Passage from Sentence to Auction

This main thread follows Coince from a legal bargain and intensive preparation into the public sale of access to her body.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

A Deal Against Imprisonment

A Sentence Exchanged The Bargain Coince is to sell access to her body to elves for a year rather than serve a much longer jail term. The arrangement sets the story’s central stakes. A Transactional Future The choice is presented as preferable to prison, yet it remains a form of compelled labor. Coince’s future is shaped by a legal threat rather than an ordinary career decision.

Therma’s Preparation

Training for Sale A Transformation Therma helps Coince move from an underfed street life toward a polished, marketable presentation. Their work reshapes Coince’s appearance and expectations. Affection or Conditioning Coince believes she has grown closer to Therma. Later, she wonders whether the training has also conditioned her responses to the buyers she is about to meet.

The Auction Display

Prepared for Buyers A Curated Image Coince is dressed, styled, and adorned for the elven audience. Her display is planned to appeal to wealthy buyers. Restraint as Presentation She is bound to the stage, even though she does not expect to escape. The restraint makes the sale’s imbalance visible and turns her body into the focus of public appraisal.

The First Purchase

Buyers Test the Offering A Demonstration A buyer tests Coince before the audience, and approval follows. The public response confirms that her preparation has made her valuable within the auction’s terms. Payment and Repetition Coins change hands, and one buyer chooses another round. Coince’s experience is treated as a purchasable service, with the organizers managing demand rather than her preferences.

The Auction Continues

A Day Without Control Success Becomes Exposure The buyers’ interest grows, and Coince is repeatedly approached. What the auction calls success means sustained exposure and limited ability to shape what happens. The Larger Question Coince begins to question how deeply Therma’s preparation has altered her. The public sale thus becomes both a physical ordeal and a crisis of self-understanding.

Before Coince’s auction day

During the month before the auction

On the morning Coince is presented for sale

During the opening rounds of the auction

As later buyers approach the stage