3AUTHOR NOTE: Alright, this chapter was a nightmare to write and i probably wont be updating until after exams in june so sorry about that. This chapter doesnt really do much but it had to be written and it ties up a few bits i wanted to resolve, so hope you enjoy and i really would like to hear from you! X)
Emily. xx
Talius
The room was heavily perfumed, trails of smoke and fragrance milling through the air like a battlefield. But even the sickly smell of jasmine and lavender couldn't quite cover the stench of sweat and man that surrounded me. There were no windows in this room, only bright lanterns hanging from the walls and ceilings, casting an orange glow over the crowd and the large, open space in the centre of the room obviously meant for performers. Over 100 men had packed themselves into the room. All were sitting on piles of bright cushions embroidered with gold thread; all were dressed in fine clothing and most were fat beyond reason.
They were rich and I hated them for it at once. All I could think while looking at them were the number of starving children in the empire. The drought and ensuing famine that was plaguing the west was killing thousands, turning good men, women and children to walking skeletons. I had seen it with my own eyes and yet these men did nothing to prevent it.
Most of them I could tell from their accents or clothing were from Macaliconian provinces to the west. It was the people they ruled who were dying and here they were, fat, pink and sweating in silk, paying enough gold to pimps and whores to feed a town for a week, and for what? To watch a girl dance?
Though, I thought, at this point I was no better then them. Still, I wanted to kill myself for even sitting in the same room as these people.
The curtains at the end of the room parted and Sanis walked out, greeting guests and motioning for the musicians in the corner to start playing. Then he vanished behind the drapes again and a hush descended on the room. It was eerie, expectant and it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I'd come to associate a silence this deep with encroaching bloodshed, with the calm before the cannon fire and hails of arrows, the sounds of men dying and the world around me burning.
But then all thought of the past was wiped from my mind. In fact I didn't think of anything, my mind struck dumb by the sight of her.
It was the sight of her body that caught my eye first. I felt warmth spreading through my body and my groin instantly stiffened at the sight. She was barely clothed, a few scraps of green-blue silk across her chest and hips held together by gold rings being the only covering she had. Her arms and ankles were decked in bands and bracelets that clinked like an extra instrument as she moved. Her skin shone pale and ghostly through the haze of smoke and the dimness of the lighting. As she moved closer into the open space left for her the light shifted, and I saw the outlines of firm nubs on her breasts beneath the cloth.
Everything was visible to the eye and yet not, separated as by the finest of barriers. Back in the streets I couldn't have possibly said what assets she possessed, but now… I could see them for all they were worth. Her round hips, her full breasts, the curve of her back side, her soft smooth legs that seemed to stretch on forever and the even softer area between them. I saw everything and yet nothing.
It made a man want to rip the dress off just to see what tiny parts were hidden from sight. Indeed a few men did try to, grabbing the girl's legs and buttocks trying to break the rings that held the dress together. But she merely smiled and walked away from those more needy watchers who were quickly pulled back by their comrades.
All it took was the smallest movement from her, a single step or smile or roll of her hips and my insides felt like they were being shredded, my groin becoming painfully hard. I knew it was wrong. She was his sister. But I was a man, celibate from months of travelling, I couldn't help it.
I wasn't the only one either. Every man present seemed to have the same reaction to her.
But it was when she began to dance that I became truly lost.
She twisted her hands and arms, twisting her legs and flexing her spine, seemingly oblivious to the world around her. She started off slowly, moving her body in time to the drums and lutes and woodwinds that sang out songs of the desert. The music spoke of long days of travel and cold, even longer nights. Then the beat quickened and she began to spin, her dress fanning out around her, her hair swaying like a flickering fire. Her hands and legs, muscles flexing, did a hundred poses and movements I had never seen before. It was beautiful, captivating to watch.
Then she lifted her leg, high, high above her head, further then I thought it possible before falling to the floor. For a moment my heart stopped as I thought I heard something crack, but it was only an young man who had broken his glass as she twisted to sit before him, spreading her legs to either side of her until she sat on the floor, chin in her hands, staring at him playfully.
The boy looked ready to faint right then and there. She blew him a kiss, brought her legs together in front of her, leaned back placing her hands on the floor and kicked the ground. Her body soared into the air, a second later she was upright and dancing again, faster and wilder then before.
It was artful and fluid the way she moved, practiced and honed to perfection.
She paused for a moment, spine curling back on itself as she pulled the lengths of fabric she was holding across her V and chest. Then she threw them over her head into the crowd and continued to dance. Men fought like rabid dogs on the floor for the scraps of fabric and it sickened me.
Then her eyes flashed through the dark and met mine, and I felt a shudder worked its way down my back. She was beautiful for sure, her eyes were defiantly the same eyes as his, but they were filled with fear and panic, her smile faltering at the sight of me. She even stopped dancing, pausing mid move to just stare at me. It felt like an eternity passed between us though I knew only it was scarcely a moment.
I pulled down my hood unconsciously and she seemed to snap out of her stupor at the move. A smile crept into the corner of her mouth, but it didn't clear the emotion in her eyes. A moment later she was dancing again.
She feared me, I realised. But why? She hadn't even met me yet, unless you counted out brief encounter in the street. But why would those few seconds between us give her cause to fear me like The Black God?
She turned her back on me as the music suddenly stopped. For the space of a heartbeat no one moved, no one breathed. Everyone seemed to come out of a trance as she walked to the curtains. Finally the whole room exploded with applause and voices. Men from all directions were getting to their feet, making their way towards her. She paused, one hand on the curtain as she let her audience's hands work their way across her body, while others stayed back watching her hungrily. A few men yelled girls' names and whores entered at their call through the door to the bar at my right. I watched as the men dragged the girls out of the room and up the stairs, their arousals obvious thought their clothes.
"I believe you were expecting me." said a sweet intoxicating voice. I turned back around to see her standing before me, all smiles and sinful flesh.
I felt more then one murderous stare on me and pulled my hood a little lower over my eyes. I couldn't afford to be recognised, I didn't even want to be in this city. I didn't like the attention I was getting and began to get nervous, so much so that I hardly registered the girl's voice as she spoke to me.
"Yes." I said plainly, getting to my feet. Without a word she took my hand and led me out into the bar and up the stairs to the left. I didn't object.
Kara
I was in trouble and I knew it. He was the same man, the one I'd run into earlier. My heart was racing, my pulse far too quick.
What had he seen and why was he here so soon after I'd run into him? Had he realised what I'd been carrying and followed me back here? I thought I'd made sure I wasn't followed, had taken shortcuts and paths that I was sure no one could have trailed me on, especially on horseback.
I was starting to panic. If he knew what I had been carrying I was dead.
Epholium was a drug banned throughout the continent. To be caught taking it meant enslavement or imprisonment for the poor, and a fine for the rich. But to be caught trading it, or transporting it meant execution. I'd seen before what they did to Epholium traders, seen the bodies left to rot in cages as a warning to others. I gulped and walked a little faster up the stairs to the room. I didn't want to die, not like that and not because of Sanis.
The man's hand suddenly felt very real in my own, heavy and calloused and strong. What would he do if he did know? Would he give me over to the Militia or... something else?
I shuddered as terrorble visions flashed through my head.
Maybe it was just a coincidence, I hoped. Maybe he just happened to come by here, maybe him being here had nothing to do with out earlier encounter.
But then what were the chances he would have chosen me over everyone else? Thena had said he'd asked for me by name. Why would he have done that unless he had been sent or told about me? But he was new to the city, his clothes and mannerisms defiantly gave that away. So if he hadn't been sent how did he know who I was and where to find me? Why had he bribed Sanis, why was it so important for him to see me?
Who was this man I was leading and what did he want with me?
We reached the third floor and I headed to a room half way down the corridor, opening the carved, darkwood door and entering. The room had been set up as was normal for one of my guests. There were incense sticks burning by the closed window opposite to stimulate and invigorate, and oil lamps burned in holders on the wall. There was a wooden folding screen across one wall, painted with erotic scenes and paintings and tribal masks from across the dragon sea on the wall. There was even a china tea set on a table for later. The four poster bed stood prominent in the grand room. It was beautifully made up with many cushions and sheets, all in the same dark red colour the walls were papered in.
I gulped and released the stranger's hand as I went to close the door. I closed my eyes and gathered myself mentally as I turned the key in the lock.
Even if he had bumped into me, and even if he had seen the Epholium, he may not even know it was me. Here, dressed like this I looked completely different to what I did in public. I was another person now. I couldn't panic; I had a job to do. So I fixed a smile and turned around,
He was just standing there, looking at me. At least I think he was looking at me. His eyes were all darkness shadow beneath his cowl. It was odd. Most men would have been stripping off by now or ordering me to do things, not wanting to waste a second of paid time. But he was just… standing there.
Somehow that was a hundred times worse. I didn't know what to expect, I didn't know what to do.
"I was told you asked for me by name." I said, not really sure where this was going to go but just needing to fill the silence.
"Yes." Said the stranger simply.
The silence returned and I wanted to run. I wanted him to strip or rip my clothes off, to force my lips to his and roam my mouth with is tongue, to push me onto the bed and thrust himself mercilessly into me. Even hitting me, which I was no stranger to, would be an improvement over this.
I had had clients in the past -scarcely more then boys- who had simply stood there, too horny or nervous to act. With those boys I had known how to please them, but this man wasn't like that. He was no inexperienced virgin. He was powerful, masculine and radiated strength and control.
I was scared of him and was fine with admitting it. I didn't know who he was or what he wanted, I didn't know what he was thinking or what he speculated or knew, and that terrified me.
I forced myself to take a step forward, then another and another until I had to crane my neck to look into the stranger's face. From here I could see thought the shadows a little better. I could see the shapes of his brows and nose and eyes but not their colour.
It calmed me. This was just a man, i told myself over and over again, who has only come to a Redband for pleasure. He was just a little different then most.
I smiled, trying to make the situation less tense.
"You saw me dancing downstairs. Did you like what you saw?" I smiled. The man didn't answer so I continued. "In here you can see whatever you want. I'm all yours you know. If you like I can…" I trailed off, reaching up to the back of my neck to unlink the rings that held the top part of my dress together. But before I could reveal myself his hands were suddenly vicelike on my wrists.
"Don't." the stranger rasped. "I didn't come here for your body."
Talius
I could see that I'd scared her, saw her eyes go wide as I released her wrists. She backed away instantly and regained her composure.
"If you didn't come here for sex then why are you here?" she asked harshly, though I could hear the quaver in her voice she tried to hide.
I felt ashamed that I'd frozen like that. For so long I'd been planning what I would say to her when I'd get the chance. I'd played out this moment a thousand times inside my head but I'd never been prepared for this, for having her undress in front of me. She was a woman and I was a man and there was only so much I could endure before I would give into my urges. Her undressing in front of me was too much.
So I'd stopped her from doing what she must have done a hundred times before. I'd grabbed her and told her I didn't want her. I must have been the only man who'd ever paid for her and not wanted to fuck her. I sighed and walked to the bed.
"If you saw it…" She trailed off as though frightened of what I'd say.
"What?" I said, looking over at her intently. I had no idea what she was talking about.
"If you saw what was in the box… I…" but her voice shuddered to a halt again, her eyes staring at the ground.
"You mean that bundle, the one wrapped in cloth?" I questioned, remembering the cloth wrapped bundle she'd dropped in the street. Suddenly the girl looked up at me, relief painted on her face which instantly turned to suspicion.
"What do you want?" she asked slowly, taking a step closer to where I sat.
"Nothing." I replied. I didn't want anything from her. I had come to her because of him, because of a promise I'd made seven years ago and I refused to take advantage of his sister even if she was a whore.
For a moment we just stood there looking at each other. Then her eyes went cold and narrowed.
"Nothing? No one wants nothing. If you paid for me then you obviously want something. No one pays what Sanis charges for me just to stand and look at me. So what do you want? Here and now I can do whatever you want me to do, so what will it be?"
She was trying to seduce me, to tempt me. She was doing her job, making her customers feel good in any way she could. But I wasn't here for that, I'd come here for a reason, one which I needed her to listen to.
"I want… I want you to listen."
Kara
To listen? He wanted to talk? It was such a strange thing to ask of me. Sure, some of the others like Elin or Gallia sometimes had the odd patron who would just sit and talk about themselves. They were odd ones who just wanted someone to sit and play with their hair and act as though someone cared about what they had to say. I too had had men who would talk, but mostly briefly and always after they'd bedded me.
This man wasn't like any of them and it scared me.
"Look," I said, taking a step towards the door. "I have five other clients tonight and if you're not here to sleep with me then I'd prefer it if I could go and get some sleep beforehand. I'll tell Sanis to give you back whatever you paid for me but I'm going to leave now."
I was safe, he hadn't seen what was in the package. That was a relief, but the man in front of me made me uneasy. He was mysterious and unknown and I didn't want to stay in this room alone with him any longer. I knew Sanis would make me regret refusing such a rich customer but I didn't care. I could take whatever punishment Sanis would inflict on me, I just wanted to go back to my room with the others where I felt safer and sleep until my next client.
I walked as calmly as I could to the door and started turned the key in the lock. I had the door half open when a large hand slammed against the wood above my head and forced it shut. I flinched as though someone had cracked a whip at me, and looked up into the face of the stranger who towered over me like some monster from a children's story.
Then my mind brought back the tales I'd heard of Redbands who had been bought by men, only to be found dead in their rooms the next morning.
Was he one of those men?
"Please let me out." I begged, my voice shaking with fear and dread.
"No." he said simply.
My resolve broke and terrified I ran towards the nearest window and pulled it open, knocking the smoldering incense to the floor. Sand instantly filled the air, swirling and streaming into the room and my mouth and eyes but I didn't care. I could just make out the second floor roof, covered in curved red tiles and a good ten feet below me but I was sure I'd manage the jump.
"Wait!" called the stranger. He knew what I was going to do and I could hear him coughing, hurrying across the room towards me.
I took a deep breath and jumped.
OOHHHH. So what do you think? Next chapter will be the explainy bit and such so please R&R and subscribe, trust me if you do i want to write more stuff and post it faster!