Court of Love

Chapter 3

The heat hung heavy as Loera tossed clean linen over lines on the roof to be dried during the day. The sun was beginning its blazing path towards the apex of the sky and yet, sweat still rolled down the folds and creases of Loera's body. It wasn't even noon yet and Loera could attest that the cruel fire of summer had begun. Thus began the more grueling conditions in the kitchens, when the heat would simmer and join forces with the ovens. 

Loera, though, was able to find escape now that she had her friend joining her. Wisp, who had been harshly ravished by customer, was given leave from her position as an escort for at least a week to come. Together, the two females were able to scrub dirty tankards, vases and cups in a comfortable silence. 

"Loera," Wisp whispered as her fingers dug harshly into the wet cloth she used mercilessly while scrubbing. 

It had not escaped her that Wisp was scrubbing with a newfound hatred, that, had Wisp been any larger, those glasses would potentially shatter in her grasp. But Loera could not imagine the pain that brewed deep within her, and was not one to judge her friend. 

"Yes?" Loera lightly questioned, her eyes trained on the pitcher she was cleaning. 

"Do you ever," Wisp started, faltering for a brief second and causing Loera to pause in her scrubbing.

Loera waited, not wishing to pressure her friend into talking. Wisp, second to Bruno, was the quietest person Loera had ever met in the brothel. A huge contrast to Hallo and Delon, who loved to talk perhaps for the sake of just hearing their voices. Loera wouldn't put it below those two to be in love with the sound of themselves. 

Wisp seemed to find what words she needed and piped up again in an even smaller voice.

"Do you ever think of just ending it? Of just giving up?" 

It took everything in Loera to hide the complete shock that snaked around her. In order to remain composed, in order not to insult her friend's sincerity and vulnerability, Loera took to scrubbing the pitcher intently. She scrubbed and scrubbed as she thought of a proper answer. Not knowing what to say, Loera opted to talk about ring-dancing. 

"You know, sometimes when I'm spinning in that ring, I can't tell what's up and what's down. I'm lost, and I don't know if I'll ever be able to find the horizon again. I don't know if I'll go to put my feet down and find nothing, and fall. I don't know what it's like to stand straight anymore." Loera babbled softly, slowly swishing the cloth in the soapy water and once again dragging it around the pitcher. The pitcher had to have been the cleanest thing in the brothel, but Loera kept her hands going. Kept her mouth talking. 

"But, sometimes I tell myself that there's no reason to be scared. And when I finally embrace the unknown, that's when I taste the freedom and I truly feel like I'm flying. I know when the ring stops spinning, it'll wobble around me like a cage, keeping me inside. But I don't think about it while I'm spinning. I just let myself dance and feel myself almost carried away by the breeze." Loera drew in a deep breath and dumped the water out of the pitcher, putting her cloth down and grabbing the drying towel. "Without my ring, I would have no freedom. Even if at the end of the dance, it's my cage."

She wasn't sure whether what she said made any sense or offered any sense of comfort to Wisp. But the petite demi-fae slowly dried her glasses and lifted her gaze to look out of the window and into the court yard. Although the kitchen was on the right side of the court yard, they still had a beautiful view of the marble dancer slightly skewed by a tree trunk. 

"Thank you Loera," Wisp's voice was but a small whisper, and her words seemed to caress Loera's shoulders. 

"Of course, Wisp." Loera answered, but she felt like she needed to say more, needed to reassure her friend that all would be okay in time.