skip to main |
skip to sidebar
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:
August 2, 1185
Contrary to the beliefs of his "generous" brother, it was not Roddie's first time in a brothel. It was, however, his first time in this particular brothel--and he'd already made up his mind that it would be his last.
This was a Tetranshire brothel, one that Jadin had frequented for some years. He'd said a while back that the place had gone downhill since the old madame had died, but he kept coming back out of obligation to his ladies, which was probably the closest Jadin had to a code of honor. Roddie had no such obligation. He was used to brothels that were warm and well-maintained, filled with smiling and well-fed women in reasonable health. This one was drafty and dirty, and the women were gaunt and unenthused, only Jadin able to summon sincere grins.
So, Roddie had thought it best for everyone that he wait at the table in the entrance, though he'd leave a tip when he left. He got the sense that the money was needed.
Word was that this had been a respected establishment once, or at least as respected as brothels could be. The old madame had been much like her counterparts in the Veldora brothels, maternal and egalitarian and a born peacekeeper. Roddie hadn't heard much about the new madame, if she was even around.
Surely, none of the women had appeared to be in charge...
"Lonely there, handsome?"
If the voice had gone for throaty and sexy, it met a roadblock in the form of phlegm.
And when he turned his head to get a better look, that wasn't a surprise. She couldn't have been any older than he was, if she was as old. She was naturally dark, but that didn't hide the black circles beneath her eyes, even in the dim light of the room. Her bone structure betrayed a small and slim frame to begin with, but the lack of much between skin and bone betrayed her size as more than nature. Her red hair was a mass of tangles, curly and thick and no doubt lovely with proper care, but it had matted in many patches and some chunks hung limp as if they'd halfway fallen out. Even her eyes were put out, more like a well-painted doll's than those of a living girl, not a trace of life behind them.
She didn't want him, nor did she want sex in general. He could not in good conscience take her up on that offer. "I'm just waiting for my brother."
"You're Jadin's brother?"
"Yes." Though... "Um... he and you didn't..."
"Oh, no. He said--" A coughing fit broke up her raspy sentence. "--I'm too young for him."
Roddie guessed that would be the only good news he heard here tonight. "How old are you?"
"Fourteen... almost."
Damn. "The madame lets you work here?"
"There's no mad--" Another cough. And another. Roddie half-expected a lung to ooze from her mouth. "I mean--my mother was the old madame. When she died, my father took ownership."
...what. "Your father has you working here?"
"Well... once I had a woman's body, he thought I had to earn my keep." But she didn't have a woman's body! And who expected a thirteen-year-old to have a woman's mind? "And he says that's doubly important now, since I had to take that--" A wheeze--and a tear? "--break."
He thought he knew what that meant. Thin as she was, there was a slight flab to her belly and her breasts were disproportionate to the rest of her. He had enough siblings and nieces and nephews to have seen that before. "You had a baby?"
"I guess you could call it that. It was... pretty deformed..."
Then it was probably dead. He'd spare her the agony of answering that question. "When was this?"
"Three weeks ago?" Shit. "The days just kind of blur--"
She doubled over, choking on her own tongue. A spurt of blood flew from her mouth to the old wooden floor, narrowly missing Roddie's boot.
Like everything else, that could not have been good. "Can I take you to a healer?"
NEXT CHAPTER:
