Jareth wanted to know Anosia’s.
“I am unfamiliar with The Feast,” he said, using the colloquial term for the business. “I was not even aware of it until quite recently. I was under the impression that this was a brothel, but some people have told me otherwise.Isit a brothel?”
Anosia chuckled. “That is like asking if the church houses priests,” she said. “Of course it does. But it is so much more than that.”
“Will you tell me how this benefits you?”
Anosia nodded, moving to sit on a rock that was a few feet away from him. She was very ladylike in her movements, something that spoke of her education and breeding.
“I do not know where I would be without The Feast,” she said. “I am not a unique story here. We all have our reasons. But my reason began when I was born the youngest of many children and, not being a boy, was sent away to foster at four years of age. That is quite young to foster, but my father had his sons, and my mother died soon after my birth, so the decision was made to send me away.”
“Where did you go?”
“Prudhoe Castle,” she said. “The lady of Prudhoe was kind to me and raised me with her other daughters. My education is the finest, my lord. My family, my real family, are quite important in Norfolk. Through their connections, I met my husband.”
“You did not meet him while you were fostering?”
“Nay,” she said, shaking her head. “Only when I returned home after. We were married for several years before I gavebirth to my first daughter. A few years later, I bore a second daughter. When she was quite young, my husband went to war for Henry against de Montfort. I would tell you that my husband was a knight in a prestigious household, but I will not tell you which one. When he was killed in battle, I was left with two very young children and no means of income.”
“But what of your family?” Jareth asked. “Surely you could return to them.”
Anosia smiled weakly. “You would think so,” she said. “But that was not the case. An older brother is now head of the family and does not wish to be responsible for me, a widow.”
“What of your mother’s family?”
“Unfortunately not,” she said. “I wrote to them, several times, but never received a reply. Either they did not want me or there is no one left.”
Jareth understood. “I see,” he said. “But what of the Lords of Prudhoe? Could you not return to them?”
She waggled her eyebrows. “The Lady of Prudhoe and her husband have long since passed away,” she said. “Their son is the lord now, and although he knows me, he does not want to be burdened with a woman who was once a ward. I do not blame him, of course. I am not his responsibility.”
“So you had nowhere to go,” Jareth finished quietly.
Anosia shook her head. “Nay,” she said. “I had two young daughters and no future. It was terrifying.”
“But how did you come to Aphrodite’s Feast?” he wanted to know. “Why not become a beguine? You would be taken care of and your daughters would have been educated.”
Anosia sighed faintly, considering his question. “I suppose because I do want to marry again,” she said. “Once I became a beguine, I would essentially be a nun. I want to live my life, my lord. I want to find joy in it and I want my daughters to find joy in it. I do not want to see them starving in a nunnery, usedlike animals for labor. That is what would happen to them, you know.”
He couldn’t disagree with her. He’d heard tales about that, too. “So you came to a brothel?” he said.
Her smile was back. “I never took money and allowed men to bed me, if that is what you are asking,” she said. “My husband would not have approved, and, truthfully, I knew I could do something more, something better. A friend of my husband’s told me about this place because he had been here before, so he brought me here and I spoke with Lord Chester. I told him my problem and I told him of my background, and he told me that I could be useful here if I did not mind the company of men. So I became Anosia, the weaver of tales, the singer of songs. I make more money in a month than my husband made in an entire year as a knight. I made enough money to have a small home built on the edge of town, where my daughters live with an older woman, the widow of a merchant, who is educating them. They have ponies and dogs and good food to eat. And none of this would be possible without The Feast, my lord. It has saved my life.”
It was an eye-opening speech. Jareth believed her. Even with her secrecy about who she was and who she had married, she spoke eloquently and with conviction. It ran so contrary to what he believed about a place like Aphrodite’s Feast that it was difficult for him to comprehend it. In fact, he was looking at her rather dubiously as he rubbed his chin.
“And you are not enslaved in any way?” he said. “You are not abused and forced into this life?”
Her smile grew. “Not at all, my lord,” she said. “Generations of de Longs have ensured we are free to come and go, free to earn what money we can, and protected from the rabble that sometimes likes to come to these places. That is why we have The Guardians at the door. If any of us get into trouble, they will help us right away.”
“And… and youlikethis life?”
Her smile faded. “I loved my husband,” she said. “It is difficult to enjoy life without him, but at least his children are not starving. At least I am not starving.”
“What about your intention to marry again?”
“When the right man comes along, I will,” she said. “But The Feast has made it so I can be discerning. I can choose out of love or affection, not desperation.”
Jareth couldn’t think of any other questions for her. She had been honest and forthcoming about her experience at Aphrodite’s Feast and he was genuinely astonished. It wasn’t like any brothel he’d ever heard of. Maybe everyone had been right.
