“What happened?” Madame Celestine’s voice rang through the brothel.
“Nightpetal got a wee bit carried away wi’ the diplomat the other night, m’lady,” Bogus said, panting slightly as he tried to keep up with the owner of “The Nest.”
“Is he dead?” she asked.
“Naw, m’lady. Poor lad’s still up in her room, sleepin’ off the drink. She was in a rough state when we found her. Pale as snow and mumblin’ nonsense. But the doctor’s been giving her somethin’ to settle her nerves. She’s near back tae herself now, thank the Fates.”
I quickly closed the door and made my way back to my desk. If there was one thing Madame Celestine hated, it was eavesdropping.
A few seconds later, the door to my room opened.
Madame Celestine let her gaze roam around the room, an eyebrow cocked up.
“How are you feeling, Maelis?” Her question might have been polite, but her tone was anything but.
“I am all right, thank you. I am sorry for causing such chaos, I… I took it too far last night.” I said.
She nodded. “Bogus, remove the gentleman from this room and tell the cleaners to do a deep clean.”
Bogus instantly got to work and Madame Celestine came to a stop in front of my window. The view was rather boring, a long alley filled with garbage crates and washing lines. But every morning, when the sun lifted its tired head to rise once more, the street was bathed in golden sunlight for a few minutes. It was my favorite moment of every day and often the only thing getting me out of bed.
I had missed the sunrise today.
“You know I value you and your heka, Maelis.” Celestine said.
All right, so this is where the lecture began.
I stayed quiet.
“When I found you that day in the pub, drunk on wine and your own heka, laughing like a fool with no idea what kind of a talent you were wasting, I saw something of value in you. You weren’t like the others. You didn’t need your body to earn a living. Only a whisper, a brush of your voice, and men would hand you their names, their secrets, their souls.
“I gave you a room. A purpose. A clean slate. You never had to spread your legs like the others, and yet you’ve managed to spiral faster than any girl I’ve ever brought in. Do you know how absurd that is? How ungrateful it looks? You were an investment, Maelis. One I expected to see returns on. Notsome reckless little wretch burning herself out because she likes the way her heka makes her feel when she’s three glasses in and full of delusion.
“You think this life is ugly? You think I tricked you? No, darling. You walked in. You wanted it easy, and I made it easy. But if you keep wasting what you’ve been given, you’ll end up exactly like the ones downstairs. Used up. Forgotten. Now get yourself clean. Or the next time you wake up hungover, it won’t be in silk sheets.”
Shame washed over me. She was right.
I was free to choose my lovers, free to decide who got to touch me and where. While all the girls at “The Nest” had their own magical gifts, most of them had more practical powers at their disposal and were forced to bed the men to reveal their secrets.
Madame Celestine cleared her throat. “Did you gain any useful insight at least?”
I looked down to the floor, the very same one I had been lying on not even an hour ago.
“I don’t remember.” My voice sounded small and defeated.
“A whole night with the diplomat, for what, Maelis? I hope fucking him was worth it, because we need the intel. I will have to get Larna to do it,” she said.
“Wait!” I called out to Madame Celestine. “I understand you are disappointed, but give me one more chance. I can get him to talk. Please. He is far too violent for Larna.”
Celestine considered my request, walking up and down the room a few times.
“Fine. You’ll get one more chance. But if he doesn’t talk, Larna will go in with him. I hope sparing your friend is a good enough motivation not to lose your shit again.”
And with that, she was gone.
Chapter 23
The next morning I couldn’t leave my bed. I had been sick the night before, the feeling of betrayal and panic mixing in my stomach until all I could do was puke my heart out. When I didn’t leave my room that day, Caelan stopped by to see if I was doing all right. I claimed to have caught a stomach bug and stayed indoors all day. When Lythandra stopped by in the evening, I pretended to be asleep, and she quietly left again.
