The Blade Witch: Songs of Eldrin, Book 0.5

Chapter Fifteen - No Rest For the Wicked

Estra awoke to find herself swaddled in a scarlet sea. She moved closer, wrapping her arms around warm skin to cup a breast. She lay there comforted by the courtesan's body heat, feeling the rhythm of the redheaded woman's heartbeat against her palm. A drowsy morning thought crossed her mind. If something that felt this right was a sin, then she'd never be holy again, and if she were to be punished for her who she was, so be it.

"Finally awake then, are you?" Tess rolled over to give Estra a pleasant view of her freckled nose. "You know your friends came looking for you earlier in the morning? When I told them you were here, the girl said she'd go out to buy you more wine to drink. The Holden kind, says it's your favourite."

"I'm glad you didn't wake me. I deserve all the excess rest I can find," Estra smiled. "Haven't gotten much these past few weeks."

"Oh yes, I'm sure the life of a servant of the Faith is a hard one," Tess said, rolling her eyes. "No way in dark hell that a simple woman like me could possibly know anything about work."

Estra chuckled, reaching over to the bedside table to grab the half-empty bottle from the previous night. "If you'd seen half the things I have in my travels, you might think slightly different," Estra said, passing the green glass over to Tess. "Shit, if you'd only witnessed my life since I've arrived in this city, you'd be on your way out yourself."

Tess's smile disappeared as she nodded in agreement. "Right fucking mess things are. Every day more stories come about monsters rising from the sewers to kill some trader's daughter. This city is going straight to the shitter if you ask me."

"Mhm," Her words were true enough. Estra hefted a long sigh, watching the sway of Tess's hips as the woman moved to part the windows. Birdsong came chirping through on the first warm winds of spring. That along with the ever-present scent of rosebuds and lilac were nearly enough to bring Estra's mood from the pits. She took her own turn with the bottle as the courtesan returned to stretch out her limbs while she lay on the bedsheets. "Tell me a story Tess."

The woman twisted around to face her. "What story do you want to hear?"

"Any," Estra answered. "Tell me about your past. Tell me how a person ends up here, doing this, living the life you do."

"I could tell you the tale of a girl who grew up in a great castle bored with the tireless routine of prancing around in up dresses, sitting at each banquet like a doll, forced to live a life of monotony until she was sold off to whatever lord's son her father chose. I could tell you how she wanted nothing more than to escape, hop on the first boat across the seas to dance on tables for the fabled muscle toned men of Kanden. I could tell you a grand story and it would all be a lie."

Estra gripped a sun-kissed thigh, a thumb stroking an old scar so out of place on a person so beautiful. "Real shame, would have been a nice tale to hear. Still, I'd be fine with the truth of things. I could use a bit of normalcy right now."

Tess seemed to consider her for a moment. Estra could see the lie on the edge of the woman's lips, ready to flow out with ease and flaunt itself around as the only truth the Blade Witch would ever know. Instead, the courtesan's expression hardened, swallowing the falsehood she'd prepared.

"Fine. I was raised in the nicer parts of town. A father that made a good living drawing maps, a mother that stayed home and cared for me and my brother. Then the Northend trade company came in and father was put out of work. He did what most men of Kanden end up doing, joined a company and died in his first skirmish. They sent his reaper's due and we stayed upright for a while. Mom took a sniff of the moon dust to lessen her grieving and she never stopped. Before long, we found ourselves in slums, waiting for mom to come home every few days with some moldy scraps for us to eat. One day she didn't and that was the last I ever saw of her. Stephin, my older brother, managed to get a pair of honest jobs on the docks. He did his best, made sure I never worried for anything, kept me in school, and most importantly, he kept the boys away. Then he caught the red fever. I tried looking for work, but eventually I had to do what every desperate girl does. That was the first time I sold my body. Made enough to buy the medicine my brother needed."

Tess paused for a moment, turning to face the window. "He died the next day. I didn't have any particularly useful skills of my own. No man worth half a shit would have me and if I were being honest, I didn't really respect myself anymore. I've been at the brothel ever since."

"A hard life," Estra said, leaning back to stare at the beams crossing the ceiling. She didn't know what she expected. Maybe she'd thought hearing of another's troubles would lessen the nagging of her own. That had been nothing more than a fool's dream. If there was one thing she'd learned, it was that just because someone else's problems were worse, it didn't mean yours were any less relevant.

Tess flipped her head to the side, stretching out on the bed once again. "Aye, a hard year." Tess said, letting their conversation fall to the tune of morning traders shouting their wares in the streets below. Estra could feel the lazy morning mood die out and as the beginnings of the long day ahead donned on them both.

"How long are you staying today?" Tess asked, rising to wrap her silk robe around her.

"As long as you'll have me. I've got the tokes for it," Estra said. She liked the woman's forthcoming nature, and Tess seemed to bear some favor towards her, but Estra was no fool. The woman was a working one, barely above a whore, and no matter how fond they were of each other, there was no true affection between them. The only sentiments she would receive would be bought and paid for.

"Aye and I'd take your money too, but for once, it's not income I'm concerned with," Tess said, her smile thinning out at the statement. "This is the Madame's establishment, and that's likely the only reason the city guards haven't already run through it looking for anyone with ties to the resistance, but every day more and more of them come through. I see them looking Estra, keeping track of who goes to what room with whom. They find out who I've been laying with, you might find yourself no worse for wear, but I'll be strung up before the day is through."

Estra's eyes roamed over the woman before she nodded in understanding. She paid Tess well, but not nearly enough to risk her life. "I understand," Estra stretched out her limbs as she rose from the thick sheets. She found herself facing a mirror, her eyes searching over both the old scars she'd received as a girl and the fresh ones that mingled between them. "I'll leave at once. Got some business of my own that needs tending to."

The Blade Witch dressed in her full armour, feeling almost comfortable to once again don her usual garb. She gave Tess a curt kiss on the forehead in parting, wishing she could have stayed in that room forever.

She made her way to the door and the moment her hand twisted the knob it sprang open with surprising force. Brennan came tumbling through, falling forwards on his hands and knees, panting as he tried to catch his breath.

"What's wrong?" Estra asked, looking down at the man in confusion. She helped him to his feet, quickly taking in his distraught appearance. Rivers of sweat poured down his face, mixing with the blood that leaked from a scar running the length of his forehead. The wild expression in his eyes told her everything she needed to know.

"It's Lency," the bard panted, tugging on her arm roughly. "We need to hurry."

Estra didn't take another moment to hesitate. She ignored Tess's shouts of questioning and went back to retrieve her blade from its post against the wall before marching down he brothel stairs and into the city streets in the bard's wake. She left the brothel, not caring about the stares of the common folk as she strode the streets with her hand already alight with golden fire.

Someone she cared for was in trouble. She'd been through this more than once in her life. Back then she'd been weak, nothing more than a frightened girl watching while the woman who'd raised her was murdered at the hands of a demon. Too many times had she been helpless when the people she cared for needed her the most. That time was long gone & that Estra was long dead. Paradise would burn before she allowed another to be taken from her.