Like Levi had promised, after a whole day of uninterrupted sleep, she woke Linea up as the sun started her descend. Even though Linea woke up before Levi had even entered her room, Levi apologized for her disturbance. Linea still wasn’t sure why this woman was trying to be nice to her, but she didn’t mind it as much as her daughter’s obvious dislike.

“Something to eat for you,” Levi said and placed a small tablet on the small table in Linea’s room. “I’m not sure what you might like and what not. I heard Elves don’t eat meat, but I wasn’t sure, so…”

“There are druids, who have a deep connection with nature… they don’t like to kill animals just for food, if they have other means to quell their hunger,” Linea explained while she took a piece of bread and sniffed at it to check for anything unusual. “And I guess there are a few Elves, who don’t like meat for the taste, but that’s more an exception. For me, a medium roasted fillet of a stag can be rather enticing.”

“Well, I don’t think I’ll be able to convince my husband to provide you with that… but if there is anything you don’t like, let me know.”

“All right…”

‘I have no idea, what her goal is,’ Sarah admitted catching Linea’s confusion.

‘Me neither,’ Linea said. ‘Let’s keep an eye on her. It’s suspicious.’

“When you’re done, get dressed and meet me at the front gate. We’ll go to your new workplace in half an hour.”

Linea took her time with the breakfast and didn’t bother to make herself all that representable. Who would she need to impress anyway? She put her hair into a bun, washed her face with cold water from the well and then walked to the main gate.

She and Sarah discussed on the way why Levi seemed to be so calm. They had expected her to be more distressed about her brother’s death. After a whole day she must have been told about it already.

They didn’t found a good reason for it, but it wasn’t that important to them as the coming task of Linea’s new work was more urgent. They reached the main gate where Levi awaited her with a group of guards. They all wore a simple leather armor and had spears equipped. Only the captain had a steel helmet with some tuft of blue feathers on top. Linea had to suppress a giggle as she hadn’t seen this kind of ornament on a helmet before.

“Let’s get going then,” Levi said with a smile. “We’ll walk as you most likely won’t get a carriage from Brice in the future. Even though the guards know the way, I would like you to be able to navigate through the city in case of an emergency.”

Linea just nodded and followed them outside.

She noticed that the city looked quite different at day than it did at night. The most hectic time of the day had already passed, but the streets were still filled with servants running errands, merchants going back home and, the further they got, an increasing amount of beggars.

Linea was preoccupied with her own problems at the moment, but she couldn’t ignore how miserable some of them looked. It was a sight, she had never witnessed before.

‘Back at home we would never leave someone to leave on the streets like that,’ she said to Sarah.

‘Really?’ Sarah asked. ‘Or did you not noticed it, because you lived in a castle isolated from the common folk?’

‘I…’ Linea started but after a quick thought, she had to admit that she didn’t know if there were any beggars in Lina’sindranar. ‘I have no idea…’

They reached a market square where some merchants still tried selling their goods. Before Linea could get a better look at what kind of products they traded here, Levi led her into a street on the side of the market. They stopped in front of a relatively impressive building. Paintings of beautiful dancers and scantily dressed women adorned the walls.

“Here we are,” Levi said. She knocked on the door.

Linea noticed two separate slits in the door which were closed. However, why this door had two door-viewers - one at face level and one roughly at the height of Linea’s stomach - confused her.

A few moments later, a rustling sounded behind the door and someone opened the upper slit. A brown, snake-like eye framed by green scales appeared and skimmed them. The slit closed again, and a hiss echoed through the door.

“Yeah, meh coming!” another voice yelled.

The lower slit opened and this time human-like eyes examined them. Then the door opened and Linea saw a red-haired dwarf with his braided beard waving them in.

“Come in, come in, Miss Lady Levi!” he said with a smile. “Oh, and you brought the new lass?”

“Good evening, Ashul,” Levi replied with a kind smile. She gave her guards a sign to wait outside, which made Ashul frown.

“Meh hope you don’t plan on placing them out there all the time,” he said. “Bad for business and Miss Maria doesn’t like that.”

“Don’t worry,” Levi said and walked in followed by Linea. “They will leave together with me. I trust you and Ska to keep things under control here as usual.”

“Meh glad about that,” the dwarf said and gave her a smile again.

Linea took a detailed look around her. On the right a lizard man towered everyone present as he was at least two heads taller than Linea. His green scales shimmered due to the lamps, which were already lit.

‘So cool!’ Sarah commented. ‘He looks like an alligator on two feet.’

‘What’s an alligator?’ Linea asked confused.

‘A reptile back on Earth. His scales are too bright for an alligator though. And his snout is way shorter.’

The lizard man noticed her stare and grumbled at her. Linea quickly avoided his gaze and inspected the place instead. To her surprise the establishment gave a more exquisite feeling than she had expected. The main room was spacious and populated with comfortable looking couches and armchairs. On the side were small booths, separated by velvet curtains.

She even noticed a stage on the other side of the room. The decoration was in light red colors and a lot of the paintings on the walls depicted women and men in different states of undress and various sexual activities. But despite that, they didn’t come across as vulgar. Instead it seemed to aim at enticing the onlooker.

Of course, Linea immediately blushed and tried to avoid looking at the paintings again.

‘You’re so cute,’ Sarah commented. ‘But I believe you should get used to it. You’ll see more of that in the future.’

Linea didn’t answer her but followed Levi into the room towards the bar where a red-haired girl was counting bottles.

“Eliza, darling,” Ashul, the dwarf, interrupted her. “Would you get Miss Maria? Levi and the new lass are here.”

The young woman gave Linea a quick glance and made wide eyes.

“Fancy that,” she said. “Wouldn’t have guessed that he would give us his little princess. Give me a second, I’ll fetch Maria.”

A few minutes later, Eliza returned with another woman. Linea jaw nearly dropped as she saw Maria. Even though Elves were naturally gifted with beauty, Maria outdid even the most beautiful women Linea had seen up to this date. Maria had curled brown hair, which ended just above her rather sizable bust. The rest of her body was slim, but more in a feminine way, not like Linea’s own athletic figure. Her dress was crimson and showed just enough cleavage without looking cheap.

Maria said nothing at first, but instead she circled around Linea for a few times.

“You can tell your husband that I won’t have someone like her working here,” she finally said and crossed her arms.

Linea’s eyebrows furrowed as she tried to understand why this woman was so quick with that kind of judgment. Not that Linea wanted to work here, but being disregarded like that hurt her pride, nonetheless. She knew for a fact that she was regarded as one of the best looking Moon Elves of her age in Luna’sindra. Or at least that’s what everyone had told her.

“I’m not a fan of the idea either,” Levi agreed but shrugged at the same time. “But my dear husband has no other use for her.”

“He does not?” Maria said with a sly smile. “Word got around that he bought her for… what? Two thousand gold? I guessed he would like to have her for himself.”

Linea saw Levi blush ever so slightly.

“He has no need for a sex slave,” she said. “And if you must know, he bought her as a sign of loyalty to the emperor. Are we done with this discussion?”

“Not quite,” Marie replied, and the smile vanished from her face. “I stand by my decision. Such a young girl will not work as an escort here. I have a reputation to uphold.”

“I expected that,” Levi said. “And I discussed this with him. She may work here in any position you would like her to work in. And if it is just as a cook.”

“I can’t cook,” Linea noted from the side.

“That was just an example,” Levi countered and rolled her eyes.

“Then the question would be: what can you do?” Maria asked turning towards Linea.

“I don’t know…” Linea admitted as she didn’t know what jobs were necessary in a brothel.

Maria gazed over Linea once again.

“Are you any good at dancing?” she asked.

“Not really that much,” Linea admitted. “My sister Senia used to dance before… however, I learned etiquette and how to sing. It was something our mother was rather adamant about. Either singing, dancing or playing an instrument.”

“So, you are a good singer?” Maria pressed on and a sparkle appeared in her eyes.

“I guess?” Linea replied unsure. “I was praised a lot about it, but the last time I sang was over two years ago.”

“Well, we’ll see if we can do anything about that,” Maria said. “Basil will love to listen to your voice anyway.”

“Perfect,” Levi said with a smile. “After we have established that, I’ll be on my way. Linea, the guards will bring you home when Maria is closing tonight. You’re free to relax inside the manor at your leisure. We’ll speak in the morning.”

“As you wish,” Linea said and was courteous enough to bow ever so slightly before her.

Levi gave her a smile and left the building.

“All right,” Maria said and clapped her hands. “Let’s get you started then. First point on the list: you need something different to wear. I can’t have you walking around like a maid or something. You need to look like a princess!”

“I am a princess,” Linea stated.

“Yes, I know,” Maria replied and looked a bit put off. “But you don’t give the impression at the moment.”

She led Linea into a room to the back.

“Listen,” Maria said. “I understand that you don’t like me or this place very much, but I want to make one thing very clear: Everyone working here is like family to me. Be nice to them and they’ll be nice to you. All of my girls work for me on a voluntary basis. Another reason I don’t want you as a slave working directly with our customers.”

“So, you just want me to sing for you?” Linea asked. “I don’t trust my ‘master’ and even though Levi seems to be nice, I don’t like you humans. I find it hard to believe you.”

“Fair enough,” Maria said and nodded. “I won’t force you to anything you don’t want to do. When push comes to shove, I’ll put you into the basement where you’ll be cleaning and such things. I have little use for you beside the singing, but since I don’t need to pay you, I don’t really care. It could be rather boring for you down there.”

Linea entertained the idea of staying in the basement for the future, but Maria spoke the truth. It would be boring.

“Well, I could argue with you, but as singing doesn’t sound too bad of a chore, I’ll accept it for now.”

“Perfect,” Maria said and smiled. “You’ll see in time, working for me will give you some advantages despite your enslavement.”

“If you say so,” Linea said even though she doubted her.

Maria chuckled a bit. “With that out of the way, let me introduce you to the staff.”

The group of people already gathered wasn’t that big. Beside Linea and Maria, only the two bouncers, three escort girls, as Maria called them, and a guy that seemed to be highly interested in Linea. The biggest surprise for Linea was one girl, who was a Sun Elf. Linea asked herself how the girl had ended up working in a human brothel.

“All right, the rest of the girls won’t be here for the next hour, so this introduction will be a bit shorter,” Maria said while everyone took a place around the bar. Except the lizard man, who just stood there watching over them.

“This is Linea,” Maria continued. “As you can see, she wears a slave collar.”

It was obvious from her voice and the look on everyone’s face that they disliked the collar as much as Linea did. Even the lizard man let out a grunt which Linea interpreted as a sign of dislike.

“She won’t work as an escort girl however,” Maria explained further. “Instead she will help Basil with the stage entertainment.”

“Yes!” the creepy guy exclaimed and pumped his fists into the air.

“This is Basil,” Maria said to Linea with a sigh. “He’s responsible for all the paintings and our musical accompaniment. He will provide you with the songs you can sing.”

“A singer?” Basil said and his eyes sparkled even more. “Is today my birthday? Or am I in heaven?”

“Oh, stop dramatizing so much,” the girl from the bar said and slapped his shoulder.

“This is Eliza, my right hand,” Maria introduced her. “Whenever you need something and I’m not here, you can ask her.”

Eliza gave Linea a small nod.

“The other two girls are Kevira and Nisbeth,” Maria continued. “As you can see, Kevira is a Sun Elf. I’m not firm with Elven customs, but if she can help you with something, you can ask her.”

Maria was right, it was rather obvious that the girl was a Sun Elf. No other race on Kavaris had this dark brown skin tone. The only odd thing about the girl were her ice-blue eyes. Kevira gave her a deep bow and Linea returned the gesture.

“Nisbeth is from Shor Bryns,” Maria added, probably only to give a few words about her as well. “And you already met Ashul our trusted doorman.”

She motioned towards the dwarf.

“More like door-dwarf, eh?” Ashul said and laughed. None of the girls reacted to the joke, and Eliza even rolled her eyes. Only the lizard man uttered a grunt which Linea interpreted as a laugh.

Maria ignored the dwarf and pointed at the lizard man.

“This guy is our second doorman…” Maria said and when Ashul tried to make a comment, she added, “door lizard man.”

The lizard man made the same sound as before. It was difficult to read him, so Linea didn’t know if he was actually amused or not.

“His name is Ska’kushni’narak, but as it is way too long everybody just calls him Ska,” Eliza added.

“Yes,” Maria said with a nod. “And down in the kitchen Careen is already working on the canapes for tonight. You can introduce yourself to her later if you like. For now, you can go with Eliza and pass your time.”

She turned to Basil, who still looked at Linea as if he had gotten a gift for his birthday.

“Basil, you can make plans with her after we are closed. I know you’re burning to to work with her, but the show has top priority. I heard rumors that the cardinal might come tonight, so make sure you play some of his favorite pieces.”

“The cardinal?” Eliza asked with an raised eyebrow. “He told me he would be away for at least two months.”

“Well, he returned earlier it seems,” Maria said with a shrug. “That’s why I expect him to come by tonight.”

“Nice,” Eliza said with a smile. “He’s always so generous when he hasn’t seen me for more than a week.”

“Treat him nice,” Maria said with a smile.

“Don’t I always treat him nice?” Eliza replied which caused everyone to laugh. Linea just frowned as she didn’t understand the joke.

“All right, I’ll be back in a few hours,” Maria said. “I have an urgent meeting.”

And with that she excused herself. Basil went into the back rooms while Ashul and Ska went over to the door to discuss something in the strange language of the lizard men.

“Come on, princess,” Eliza said and put a hand against Linea’s back. She softly pushed her to follow the other two girls.

In one of the rooms in the back, Nisbeth and Eliza placed themselves in front of mirrors and put on some make-up. Kevira however stirred Linea to the side. They sat down on a couch, which looked like one of those in the main room albeit a bit tattered.

“Your Royal Highness, it’s an honor to meet you, but it saddens me to see you in such a situation,” Kevira said and gazed over Linea’s collar.

“I would say the same, but it seems you do this work voluntarily. Or are you forced to work here?” Linea asked genuinely curious.

“Oh no! Nothing of the sort,” Kevira replied. “I like my job and Maria is a great boss for this line of work. We have the unique position of being able to decide which clients we wish to work with. We make enough money of those rich men, who would like to have a different experience once in a while.”

“I see…” Linea said, but she had difficulties to comprehend how one could willingly sleep with strangers.

“If there is anything I can do for you, just ask me,” she said with a smile. “I understand this situation seems bad for you, but as long as you can work here, nothing bad will happen to you. Maria doesn’t force people to work for her as an escort lady and Ashul and Ska will make sure no one touches you.”

“Thank you,” Linea said with a slight smile. “It’s a bit of a relief to see another Elf for once, even though I didn’t expect to find one here. Where are you from? And how did you end up here in Kavaris?”

“I was born in Tali’sindra, but I lived most of my life in Ossina and here in Kavaris. My mother was a Moon Elf and my father a Sun Elf,” Kevira explained.

“Ah, that’s where you got your blue eyes?” Linea asked. “I already wondered about that.”

“Yes, my blue eyes are the only thing I have inherited from my mother. And these,” she added, and with her hands she juggled her breasts a bit. “They are not the biggest around here, but for an Elf they are rather impressive, don’t you think?”

Linea was already blushing when Kevira started playing with her breasts, but the question caused her to stammer.

“Yes- I mean, sure- I…” She tried to say, but she couldn’t gather her thoughts enough to form a coherent sentence.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Kevira said and let go of her breasts. “I forgot that I’m talking to a princess! I… Oh by Tali, this is so embarrassing.”

She burrowed her face in her hands.

“It’s fine,” Linea tried to reassure her after she had taken her eyes of Kevira’s breasts, which required more willpower than she expected. “I’m not used to such… openness yet.”

“Well, after working here for a while, you will get used to it,” Kevira said and smiled at her. “I hope you do at least, because as the evenings progress, it can get rather… steamy here.”

‘I think I will like this place,’ Sarah noted.

‘Why am I not surprised?’ Linea replied with a mental groan.