Doyle stepped into the room, his expensive shoes clacking on the marble. Decked in white and gold, he was the epitome of wealth, with hair perfectly in place, and a smile that had her stomach dropping. He stopped to talk to a dwarven patron that stood under an ornate, iron sconce with barbed ends.
Orelia imagined ripping the sconce out of the wall with her power and letting it crash to the ground as a distraction so she could make a run for it. But there were enough magic-wielders in the room that someone would surely discover it was her, and she didn’t want to be on the receiving end of their wrath if they did.
Batalins blocked the entrance to every corridor. No windows, no open halls, nowhere to go. The claustrophobic space had her chest rapidly rising and falling. She was trapped.
Doyle addressed the room with a clap of his hands. “Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce my newest filly.” He gestured to Orelia, and all eyes fell on her, sucking the air from her lungs. “A young virgin from Soulbright ready to be ridden hard. A beauty with fieryhair and eyes as green as the waters of the Verden Sea. Her full, pink lips will be sure to make all your wildest dreams come true.”
People snickered around the room, making her heart beat faster as she met eyes of every color, darkened by the desire to covet what was new.
“It’s first come first serve, but she’ll be working all night, so feel free to get in line.”
Men rushed over to Doyle, shoving each other out of the way, flashing their coin.
Her arms began to shake.
“Don’t let them see you falter,” Arielle whispered. She started painting Orelia’s chest, then both breasts, and finally her neck. The other girls finished painting her buttocks and stomach until she gleamed everywhere but her face. It only took seconds for the paint to dry, feeling like a permanent second skin.
Her voice cracked. “I can’t do this.”
“I like to picture a meadow full of spring wildflowers and I’m lying on a blanket eating fresh strawberries with the love of my life.”
She looked at Arielle with pleading eyes, begging to be rescued from the nightmare that was about to ensue.
“Find what brings you peace, Orelia, and picture that. It’ll help.” Arielle gave her a pitying smile and stepped away as the other girls followed suit, leaving her alone.
Orelia fiddled with her necklace, needing to cling to anything familiar as the men continued to haggle with Doyle.
Run,the voice of self-preservation inside her said.If you don’t run, you’ll never leave this place.
She glanced at the five hallways spilling into the main room again, each guarded, each as impossible to escape through as the front entrance.
“I have to get out of here,” she whispered to herself, panic rising too fast to control.
She didn’t care if the idea was stupid, but she couldn’t go through with this.
The room started to spin, faces blurring as she looked around for any other way out.
She was about to make a desperate run for the entrance when a slender hand gently wrapped around her arm.
A tall, lithe woman with umber skin looked down at her. “Come with me,” she said with a practiced smile. Somehow, Orelia’s legs worked, and she let the woman lead her into a garden set in an open-air room. Colorful birds sat in the trees growing inside, and the soothing sound of water dripping down the fountain eased Orelia’s nerves slightly.
“I’m Maren,” the woman walking arm and arm with her said.
Upon closer inspection, Orelia noticed a split in her lip and that her bruises had also been poorly covered with cosmetics.
The urge to reach out and heal her rose to the surface. “I met Arielle and Tara earlier. They said you—”
“Girl.”
They both turned to see Doyle shaking a weighted leather pouch as he approached. “Already have a customer for you. Said he prefers a woman with full tits and even fuller hips, so be sure to make his money worth my while. Give him twomarks. Minimum.”
“Two marks!” Orelia couldn’t hide her shock.
He grinned, showing a few of his teeth decorated in gold caps. “Want to make it three?”
She shook her head.
“Good. Take her to room five.”
