In Which Isidro Loses Sight of the Point

February 16, 1175

What the hell is taking that girl so long?

Isidro was the only one left in on the brothel's lower level; even the whores had turned in for the night. God, he must have fucked every last one of them while waiting for Riona. Bernardo had probably fucked them all twice before he'd finally decided to head back to the inn for whatever sleep he could get. It hadn't been long before Isidro had regretted not going with him. Fuck... he wasn't even sure why he felt the need to keep waiting anymore.

He hadn't expected her to be long. He'd hoped she would turn on her heel and run as soon as she'd figured out just where they were--she hadn't. He'd then figured she'd make some excuse--she hadn't. Then, surely, she would follow the prostitute to the private rooms upstairs, turn her down privately and maybe wait a few minutes before returning if only to avoiding rousing suspicion.

But she hadn't.

Ridiculous. What could she have possibly been doing? Riona liked men, or so Isidro had deduced from the hundreds of times he'd caught her staring at Casimiro's ass, so it wasn't as if she'd actually gone through with it. Then again, some people weren't all that particular about the sex of their partners, so maybe she had--not like he cared. But even so, he hadn't given her nearly enough money for all the sex that could have filled those hours, and even Riona couldn't have been dumb enough to throw away the savings needed for her required private inn suites.

Or was she? For some reason, it was a painful thought. Damned if he could figure out why.

Finally, the top stair creaked. About fucking time.

Isidro watched through narrowed eyes as Riona's slender form galloped down the steps, often two at once. He half-expected her to trip and fall, but she never did. Good; the last thing he wanted was an unconscious form to lug all the way back. "So?" Trying not to sound too annoyed--this was a 'young boy on his first brothel visit', after all--Isidro pushed himself upright and winked. "How was it?"

Riona shrugged. "I don't know. We never actually got down to it."

Eh? Isidro blinked. He was confused and perplexed and annoyed--and a little relieved. But if she hadn't actually...? "What took you so long, then?"

"We talked."

Talked? There was only one thing he could say to that. "...what?"

"You heard." Oh for fuck's sake--had he just paid a whole sack of coins for girl talk? "We both had some stuff to get off our chests. Poor Ninon was in tears by the end."

She pulled off a decent male voice, but the effect was defeated by the words. Why was she even admitting to this? If she had any sense--if she cared at all about her charade--she would have lied. "You talked."

Riona nodded. "That's what I just said, yes."

This was getting painful. She was dodging all of his traps and he doubted she was even aware of them. He wasn't even motivated to think up another one. What was the point? She'd just dance her way around that one too. And yet...

"Ah, never mind." Stifling a yawn, he forced himself to his feet and nodded toward the door. "Let's just go, shall we?"

Riona grinned. She might as well have lifted the bench and bashed him over the head with it. "Lead the way, Izzy."

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