August 15, 1185
"My lord?" Thaya recognized the baron mainly by the family colors of his well-kept tunic. She'd never seen him before, not in the brothel, not in the market... not once. Lord Severin had shown up too frequently for her taste between his two marriages, back when Rissa had still been alive, but if the baron had ever called, it would have been before his marriage to Princess Holladrin--and before Thaya had ever worked here.Florian had said he'd call once the healers had reported to the baron. He would ask how those who'd been infected were, keep calling until they were all better and the brothel could be reopened, bringing along their reimbursement all the while. Maesflein's former business partner, mortified by the new-found knowledge of the cruelty and mismanagement, had pledged to continually pour what would have been Maesflein's share of the butcher shop's profits into a health fund for the women of the brothel. It would likely be a few weeks yet before they could reopen, but even if they couldn't work, they were better off financially than when Maesflein had been pulling the strings.
The baron must have known that, at least through hearsay. He must have called just to see for himself. "How may I help you?"
"Mistress Madrun, correct?"
Thaya nodded--though not once in her life had anyone called her 'mistress'. "Yes, my lord."
"I thought you and your colleagues ought to know the results of Grayer Maesflein's trial." That had been yesterday. If her still-recovering friends hadn't needed her, she would have sought the results herself. "Stop me if I'm wrong, of course.""You're not wrong, my lord." Thaya looped her finger through the cord bracelet on her left wrist. One of Rissa's bracelet. She'd left the nicer one to Ilvina--the poor girl would be buried with it tomorrow--but she'd given this one to Thaya just before she'd died. Wherever Rissa was, Thaya hoped she didn't know just how much had died with her. "I won't sleep unless I know he got what he deserved."
"Then rest well, as he did. Maesflein will hang on the first of next month."
And Thaya would watch him. Such relief was an alien feeling after all the grim years of Maesflein. She ought not to have missed relief--relief only occurred where dread and anxiety had been--but she found she had. "Good."
"You are the most senior woman here, correct?"
"I am, my lord." But she found no joy in it, as all those before her were dead."Then when this brothel reopens, you shall be its madame. Such enterprises ought to be run by those who know the business--not men who wish to bleed the world dry."
"I... suppose not." But what did a madame even do? It had been so long since Rissa! And for all Rissa's face still hovered in her mind, she recalled little of her shrewdness, her leadership, her generous heart--not enough to know how they worked. She would have to go to Veldora, once a few more of the others had recovered. She would talk to one of the madames there, ask how she ran her brothel. She wouldn't be Rissa, but she could be helpful.And at least, Thaya knew for certain, she couldn't possibly do a worse job of running the place than Maesflein. "Thank you, my lord."
NEXT CHAPTER:
7 comments:
Kind of an exposition post, but I figured people would want to know about the future of the brothel post-Maesflein.
Thaya, played by popular Townie Meadow Thayer, appeared previously during Severin's post-Alina pre-Nora bang-a-thon. She also has an on-paper son with Jadin, who lives at the orphanage run by the nuns, though she visits him from time to time and Jadin has no idea that he exists. What prostitutes do about their pregnancies/children in Naroni is more or less up to the individual, though there may be some pressure from management or clients one way or another. Some choose to raise their children themselves, some give them up to the orphanage or to other parties, and some buy abortifacients from Aerina.
Well, it's good that the prostitutes will be their own masters from now on. I'm sure Thaya will do fine.
Funny thing is: The very same townie is a nun/priestess in my neighborhood, so the complete opposite of here. xD
She's running one of the two hospices/orphanages in the main neighborhood (for all that I have no orphans yet).
I'm sure she'll do fine too. She clearly cares about the other women at the brothel, and her worry about doing the job right? Just proves that she cares.
Oh, the roles Townies play! XD I also used Meadow in a Medieval Dualegacy I'm playing. The bisexual Prettacy heiress fell in love with her as a teen and I figured that I wouldn't find a better-looking Townie guy for her, so I made the heiress a witch and decided that witches and warlocks could reproduce with the same sex.
Well, townies are convenient if one needs a certain role filled, but doesn't want to create a new sim.
In my case, I needed somewhere to put all those sims who rolled a death date in their teenage years because I had no use for them and of course these sims would Need a care-taker or more specifically a sim to put their graves in the community graveyard. xD
Very true. Maesflein was also an NPC originally. I think he was a cashier.
The business partner sounds like a pretty decent person. He's almost becoming a character in his own right to the degree that I want to see him. Who is this guy??
Alas, I don't have a Sim (or name) for him, so he won't be showing up this arc (which wraps up in the next post). But if I ever need a good-hearted butcher in Tetran, he's my guy.
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