Chapter 23
Twenty-Three
The smell was worse than she remembered as Lory entered Lu’Shen’s through the front door like she’d done countless times before.
She’d considered making a run for it the moment Khayrivven was out of sight, but they’d found her once; they’d find her again.
Even if she ran to the ends of this world, the Triad wouldn’t let her get away, and when they caught her, there wouldn’t be another trial.
They’d kill her, and then they’d punish Aiden and all her friends because that was how they made sure her loyalties remained with Ashthorn.
So, there she was, on the threshold of Lu’Shen’s brothel, wishing she had a weapon to defend herself or a coin to drown her sorrow in a mug of ale.
No one paid her a look in her inconspicuous black clothes as she walked into the tavern, and no one noticed how she wrinkled her nose at the blend of stale ale, hay pipes, and incense drafting from the lively crowd losing their money at the gambling tables.
One quick glance around the blue and gold tiled space, and she knew the madame had to be in the other room—the one where ale and gamble weren’t the only pleasures this place had to offer.
She’d have sat down and ordered a mug of the spicy draught herself, but Khayrivven hadn’t given her a timeline, and something told her she’d rather have found Lu’Shen by the time he showed up.
Marking the groups of patrons, Lory made her way between the tables, dancing out of the way of the young waitress with the low-cut blouse whose customers seemed more interested in the exposed tops of her breasts than the tray of meat and cheese she was setting down at their table.
A part of her wondered if this was a place Khayrivven had visited as a customer or if he didn’t need to seek distraction like that in a place where he needed to pay for it.
If she was honest, she would be surprised if people weren’t willing to pay to get close to him.
No matter the pretty faces of the male prostitutes visible through the open door connecting the two rooms, they faded in comparison to Khayrivven’s.
Ignoring the thought and the ugly sensation of jealousy rearing its head in her stomach at the thought of Khayrivven with another woman, Lory slid into the entertainment room, scanning the place for potential threats and exits.
The tavern part of the brothel, she knew like the back of her hand, but this part, she’d only ever spied through the door, so in her mind, she built a map of how to best bolt if push came to shove.
A high-up window in the corner, blocked by a heavy, red curtain, seemed to be the best option, the robust standing table in front of it strong enough to hop onto.
On the other side, a door led to a stairwell where a woman in a lacy, red gown was leading a half-drunk man by the hand, on their way to perform the sort of transaction that was spoken about only behind closed doors.
Lory swallowed at the sight of the women in gauzy chiffon and skin-tight lace, their curves put on display like fruits on a market. That was the reason Khayrivven had told her to act like she didn’t know him—he wouldn’t want a female attachment in a place like this.
“There you are, Elory,” a familiar voice made her nearly jump out of her skin.
When she turned around, Lu’Shen’s painted face smiled at her with the warmth of a friend and the scrutiny of a teacher.
“I got word you’d drop by soon.”
Before Lory could ask why, by Eroth, Khayrivven would want her to meet Lu’Shen, the madame grabbed her by the elbow and guided her toward the stairs.
“You look better than the last time I saw you. Not as skinny. Except for the pale patches on your face. What happened?” She shook her head, Lory stumbling along while debating if running was an option Khayrivven would accept.
“You know what? Don’t tell me. You’ll be quite the novelty in my halls with that pretty pattern.
” With a bejeweled finger, she pointed at the outline of pale skin on Lory’s cheek.
“My customers like to see something new every now and then.”
Lory checked over her shoulder to see if said customers were already coming after them or if they remained in the entertainment room, from where their laughs and the prostitutes’ giggles sounded up the wood-paneled stairwell.
“What do you mean?”
Lu’Shen led her to a room at the top of the stairs, the first one along a long hallway with closed doors left and right. “The captain sent you here to learn something, and my establishment is the best place to learn it.”
Dread pooled in Lory’s belly at the sort of things one could learn at Lu’Shen’s.
“Oh, don’t look at me like that.” The madame shoved her into the room and closed the door behind them, already bustling across the space, pulling dressers and armoires open. “You aren’t really surprised the captain and I know each other after my hand in your capture, do you?”
“What?” Dizziness washed over Lory’s at the memories of that night. How she’d chosen to rob Ycken, how the general had eventually found her in the alley. How Lu’Shen seemed to have known the exact moment to open the door and let her in. “You were working with them? You delivered me to Ycken?”
Lu’Shen stopped, a piece of purple satin in her hands and a wide, practiced smile on her red-painted lips that didn’t touch her slitted eyes. “Of course. How else did you think they found you? Khay likes to activate his network whenever he searches for … criminals.”
“Criminals—” Khayrivven had been the one to set up a trap for her? She’d thought Ycken…
“Captain Falcrest is an old friend of mine, and I like to help out where I can.” Why did her words sound like she meant well?
“You could have hidden me from them.” Anger bubbled up in Lory’s chest like the flurry of ash above a fire. “You could have prevented them from finding me.”
“Not for long, child. It was better for them to find you with Khay nearby than when he was far away on a mission.” The knowing look in her eyes as she dropped the purple satin reminded Lory of that first day, when she’d woken in the brig, Anees ready to question her.
Another plan Khayrivven must have put into motion.
Lu’Shen’s false smile turned into an expression of pity.
“You don’t know him very well if you think he did it to harm you.
” With two steps, she was at the center of the room, gesturing at a small washbasin beside one of the dark, wooden armoires.
“Get out of your uniform and wash up. We’ll need you all clean before we put you into one of these dresses. ”
Like in a daze, Lory walked across the polished wood floor, her mind racing as she pieced together what was happening. “You know General Ycken and his brother, and you know Falcrest. You work with Ashthorn Ward.”
Lu’Shen didn’t deny it.
“Are you a magic wielder?” Lory wanted to suck the words back in, but the madame was already smiling again, her green eyes sparkling like emeralds as she looked Lory over.
“You are not only beautiful but smart, too. Khay was right.”
Why the madame’s words made Lory’s stomach flip was beyond Lory’s grasp, but it sure raised questions.
“What type of magic?”
Lu’Shen shook her head. “That’s none of your business, girl.
All you need to know is that this is the best place to learn what they don’t teach you in Gilded at Ashthorn.
” Digging through an open drawer, Lu’Shen pulled out a set of golden lace underthings that Lory was sure the madame wasn’t picking for herself, and held them up.
“Out of your clothes and on with these,” she ordered, tossing the little nothings at Lory before turning back to the biggest armoire.
“So, this is a Gilded lesson?” Of course, Khayrivven could have warned her, but apparently, he enjoyed leaving her in the dark too much, just as he’d done with his involvement in her actual capture.
He hadn’t merely known Ycken had been hunting her; he’d actually set a trap for her together with the general and the brothel owner, who turned out to be a former Ashthorn student.
With a sigh, Lory started peeling her boots and clothes off, using the open armoire door as a privacy screen, before slipping into the golden lace things that barely covered her breasts, yet somehow managed to push them up and squeeze them into the shape of ripe apples.
Great. If Khayrivven saw that, he’d never let her live it down.
She washed her hands and face in the basin, avoiding looking at herself in the mirror above the little stand it was sitting on.
If she considered running, now was her final chance.
She could throw on her uniform and boots over the ridiculous garments and dart for the window above the dresser next to the basin.
Lu’Shen surely wouldn’t be fast enough to keep her with the tight, pink dress she’d forced her middle-aged body into.
The high-heeled shoes the madame was wearing would slow her down as well, but a part of Lory was too curious to even try.
“Where did you meet Khayrivven?” she asked instead, turning her back to the window as she waited for whatever monstrosity of a gown the madame would pick for her.
Lu’Shen’s chuckle of surprise came from the other side of the armoire door, where she was rummaging through the contents.
“So, you are on a first-name basis with the captain?” Her head appeared around the door, her gaze flying up and down Lory’s almost naked form—“I can’t say I’m surprised. ”—and disappeared again.
Lory wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or an insult, so she said nothing, pondering the merits of simply picking up the purple satin Lu’Shen had been considering earlier so she wouldn’t get assigned anything worse.
“So, where did you meet him?” she repeated her question instead.
Closing the armoire, Lu’Shen offered Lory a bundle of deep-blue silk. “None of your business, Elory. All you need to know is that I occasionally help out with training thornlings and phantoms in Gilded.”