The Child of Ash

PART ONE: CHAPTER FOUR

It did not take them long to find her. Back then, she was only a babe. Her level of innocence had peaked. The Empire had changed that dramatically. Val was no longer in the state of innocence her childhood self had possessed. Today would be her fifteenth name day and it already felt horrible. A noble had come into the brothel and paid money to have sexual intercourse with her yet complained about breaking his oath. Worst of all, the bastard had blamed it on her. Being fifteen made her fit to marry: she could tell the leader of the brothel was planning a betrothal of some sort. Valentin Morosa seemed to think otherwise ever since her mother's death. It had impacted her so much that the thought alone made her feel uneasy. My life could be better, yes, yet a man would not change anything. In her eyes, having a husband would still make her the depressed ignorant girl she was.

Now, the girl stood outside of the whorehouse and prepared her body for another excruciating day of work. Thanks to her mother, prostitution was one of the select jobs she had available to her. It was the way forward.

"What are you waiting around for? Get in there!" The owner of the brothel(her boss), shoved her into the building. Horror was all she felt when her footing slipped. The sinew in her nose became soft when her nose collided with the pavement. "Clumsy girl. You are fortunate you get to work for me."

"Fortunate? I would be fortunate to be put in the morgue. At least then would I be spared from this cruelty. It is my name-day not that it matters to you. I am just another prostitute to you, another way of you making money-"

"SILENCE! You may be fifteen but you are like a child! You will continue to work under my supervision until I say you can leave!" The owner snarled.

"Being treated like a slave was not something you mentioned in the contract. If I had known you would be like this, I would have never signed up to this house of debauchery!" Val walked away from the owner of the brothel and found a room for herself. Once the door was shut, the girl slumped to the floor and sobbed quietly. He had been right: she would never leave this place. Even when she was old, he would still find a way to make money using her body. All of this could be traced straight back to the Empire. When I get my hands on the Emperor I will throttle him. Estella Arkov would. Estella Arkov was Val's inspiration for everything. If only I could be standing beside her instead of being trapped here.

The door swung open to reveal a face Valentin Morosa did not want to see. Her boss had returned to scold her yet again; this time she would not have it.

"Get out of this room! Indigo is always in this room, you know that!" Both of them wanted to kill each other but the punishment for it would be so severe they did not bother. The Empire did not enforce the law nicely. Some were executed in the town square if the Emperor felt like it.

"I do not care what Indigo wants. I do not care what anyone wants! I am done with this place. You can try to keep me here as long as you want but you will never own me. Even on a day I should celebrate you treat me like a slave. Do I need to spell it out for you? I quit. I am done with this place."

The owner of the brothel stood in front of the door in an attempt to keep her working for him. It would not work for once Valentin Morosa's mind was set on something it did not change very easily.

"Valentin, please!"

"My name is Val, not Valentin. I am the daughter of the Mother of Magic. You will quake at my mother's name. Now get out of my way before I show you why the Empire viewed me as dangerous. We will meet again someday, it is inevitable. Though perhaps you will be in the Underworld before that can happen." The man stepped off to the side so she could leave. It was done. Valentin Morosa was free. The shackles that had always kept her imprisoned had been removed. She was a bird removed from its cage and now it was time for her to spread her wings. She took the coins the noble had given her the previous day. It had been 100 Kyrt( 150 originally- her boss took half of her wages). The world had been black and white yet now it was starting to feel like the colours of the rainbow.