August 3, 1185
"How is she?"Nora didn't have much hope, but on the off-chance that there was good news to be heard, she had to ask.
"Not well. I gave her something to help her sleep; I can't do much more for her at this point." She had expected as much. On the bench by the wall, Aerina slouched. "You know, she's the third I've seen from that brothel this year? The third I couldn't help, I mean."
"Third?"
Her sister-in-law nodded. "There were others too, who were treatable. Maybe that was an earlier stage of the same disease. Am I an idiot for not considering that earlier?"
"No." Though, Nora made a point to later tell her to report after the second serious case in the future. "How long do you think she's been sick?""Given how she said her baby looked, I'd guess she first got ill when she wasn't far along."
"And have you seen cases from any other brothels?"
"Only treatable cases, assuming the sickness is the same. Plus a few men, and some of their wives. And some of the madams sent their women in for checkups, just in case."
"And only the women from this brothel became this ill." This brothel didn't have a madam. "Ilvina said her father owns the place?"
"Yes. He's a butcher in the same village. The brothel fell on hard times and he was doing well, so her mother married him to keep them all comfortable. When she died, he claimed ownership. The women couldn't afford to buy him out, so they just went along with it."But then he started demanding more and more of the profit. They keep barely any of their earnings, unless they're tipped well. And he doesn't maintain the building or help with their medical care." Aerina sighed; sharing in that sentiment, Nora took a seat next to her. "A pity that none of them mentioned it before."
"Or that none of their boneheaded customers noticed anything amiss." Or worse, had noticed and had done nothing. Her stepson may have been a man grown, but she'd still see to it that he was punished accordingly--if Severin hadn't already beaten her to it. "I'll send word to Octavius to shut down that brothel until we get to the bottom of this, and to unleash Florian on that butcher. I should hope he'll be punished either way, but if he cooperates at all, that will ease parts of the fallout." Not that she was particularly optimistic about this man's willingness to admit to much."I hope the men don't go easy on him, robbing his employees blind and laying the groundwork for a public health crisis."
"The sentence ought to be according."
"Of course." Aerina rustled, the back locks of her hair bunching in loops as she slumped further. "But so often, it isn't."NEXT CHAPTER:
9 comments:
Pretty lousy outline timing, but Happy Mothers' Day to any mothers reading this anyway.
I really feel bad for this poor girl, she was never really given a chance. Frankly I'm a little disappointed in Jadin, like Nora, SOMEONE should have said something before things at this brothel got so bad. And I agree I hope the butcher gets a beating, or worse, considering the state he's left so many women to live in.
Is this meant to be black rather than back? "the back locks of her hair bunching" or maybe I read it wrong :S
How are you? I'm really sorry I haven't been posting or commenting lately, I guess I went into hibernation - and not the good kind. I was wondering if you were interested, we could maybe email or IM or something, I'd like someone to talk to you know? Anyway, I'm hoping to start posting back at Marlowe sometime this week.
Ilvina didn't get much of a shot at a good life, the poor kid (sadly, one of the motivating factors of this arc was her early random death date). Jadin definitely ought to have made better use of his influence, or maybe tried thinking with his head while he was in there at least once; I don't doubt that the other adults in the household will be shaking their heads at him for quiiiite some time after this. :S
The butcher will get what's coming to him. Promise.
Yeah, I wasn't really sure about that line. You know how when someone's up against the back of their seat and then they slouch, and the hair kind of rises, caught between their hair and the seat/wall? That's what I was going for, but had no idea how to describe it.
I'm okay. Sort of in a stasis, which isn't the best, but at least things aren't getting worse. Sorry to hear about your not-good hibernation. I'm absolutely willing to talk some time if you like. My Sims-related email address is coconutsandsaltydovans@gmail.com. I also have Skype, but I'd prefer to give my Skype name via email rather than post it here.
Looking forward to seeing Marlowe resume, and I hope things pick up for you soon.
Oooh, I look forward to seeing the butcher being brought to justice! It must have been so hard back in those days especially for the less fortunate ones.
I do next to no research for Naroni, so I couldn't tell you for certain, but I would imagine that peasant life wasn't pleasant. :S
The butcher will be brought to justice, possibly more than once. Might be too little too late for Ilvina, though. :(
Shouldn't it be "stepson" instead of "son-in-law"? As far as I know, Jadin didn't marry any of Nora's daughters...
I had a hunch about who that butcher was and after searching through Alsina's Posts, my suspicions were confirmed. ~.~
But that disease sounds a lot like Syphilis, so Jadin should probably get a check-up... and should stay away from his wife 'till it's confirmed that he's healthy.
D'oh! :S Thanks for catching that.
The disease probably is something akin to syphilis (though I don't want to say for sure either way, since the symptoms are more what the story demands than anything else). Either way, Jadin getting himself checked out wouldn't be the worst decision he's ever made.
It seems to me that Jadin and most of the visitors of the brothel weren't thinking, or at least not with the head on their shoulders.
Roddie was, and while it seems like its too late to make any difference for Ilvina, it looks like he did make a difference for other people living in the shire. (Everyone who's visited the brothel should get tested and treated if needed to make sure there isn't a public health crisis. )
It would seem that the other head rules supreme in there. :S
That is true. While Roddie couldn't have done much for Ilvina, his bringing her to everyone's attention could save quite a number of people. And bring at least one to justice.
Once everything is settled, I'm sure a PSA to get tested will be in order.
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