When Kings Fall

Ten ⋆ Part 1

         Covey had brought us to a brothel, of all places. She said she is the owner, but that didn't make me feel any more at ease in this foreign business. I had never been, or even seen, a brothel before. They aren't particularly common amongst the wolves. Brothels were for the outcasts, the lonely souls whose mate died or rejected them for being impure.

Sometimes, even for the men who seek only pleasure and not their mate bond. I never assumed that was a common occurrence, but after all, I'm a woman, I do not partake in things men do.

Men get away with less than a slap on the wrist. Us women, we are truer to the bond. It seems we have more to lose. We have a higher chance of being rejected if we lost our virtue.

Perhaps that is why she knew we would be safest here until the King's men find us. No one dares enter a brothel. No one would dare think two court ladies would be hiding here. At first, I didn't like that Celeste was here in such a dirty place with her little wondering eyes. However, a day had passed already since the riot, and I believed I was starting to like these women.

One of the women was working on braiding Celeste's hair for the day. Celeste had begged her ever since she saw the woman's unique tying. It wasn't a regular three stranded braid like I wore back at Arvendon. This braid required only two sections of hair. I, myself, watched and tried to learn it, a good pass time as we waited for our escort back to the castle walls.

Covey comes in, a dress, or should I say tiny piece of cloth, for me to wear this morning in her arms. She wanted us to fit in, look the part, for our sake. This meant I had to pretend to be one of the whores, while Celeste would be assumed to be a bastard child of one of us here.

Covey holds the thin salmon fabric out for me to take. I must have made a face as she frowns at me.

"I don't care that you don't like it." She tosses it to me.

I sigh, mustering up the courage to put it on. Standing in the mirror, I curled my nose up a bit at the fact that the dress had two separate pieces for the top, only coming together down at my belly button with a beaded belt. The cleavage neckline was very deep because of this.

She smiled in satisfaction from behind me. Covey was incandescently beautiful, her beauty being the least of her. There was something about her that was distinct. Something about the women that worked for her that was just, different. They weren't just whores; these ladies were strong. Delicate frames, strong minds.

I started to learn that with the short time of being here so far. They talked often of politics, plans, things not even I understood. They were clever minded.

"Are you sure they will be able to find us here?" I turn to face Covey.

"Yes," she assured simply. She was confident they would, I wasn't so sure. She masked our scents, covered our trail. How could the guards find us without that? How would Thaddeus find us without it? It would not be an easy task.

The lady braiding Celeste's hair smiles at me, "Covey knows things," she whispers.

Covey throws a more modest dress for Celeste to put on at the lady.

"Knows things?" I question.

The lady smiles, focusing on finishing Celeste's hair.

Covey sighs, "I'm an Augur."

"An Augur?" Celeste turns her body. The lady doing her hair swats her shoulder for moving, making her sit straight again. "Sorry," Celeste giggles. "You're an Augur?" She continues.

"I'm confused," I admit. "What's an Augur?"

"They're priests or priestesses," Celeste hums. The lady lightly swats her shoulder again before looking to Covey.