“Did she ask about me?” Lara wondered hopefully.
Her father shook his head. “She gave you life, child, and for her it was enough. I told her how you possessed her beauty, and she smiled for she always enjoyed a compliment. I told her I would probably not see her again, and she laughed. That is up to me, she said. I might marry, I replied. Do not, she said, ever discuss our love, or our time together with another woman you love but for our daughter. If she asks you one day, you may tell her of me, and our life that year. But no other, or bad fortune shall befall you. And then we parted, Lara. I have not seen her since. I have watched as you grew into her image, and sometimes it hurts me to look at you, for you are so like Ilona.”
“Then it is a good thing I am going,” Lara responded softly. “You have been a good father to me, and I would not hurt you, Da. The world of the Crusader Knights is where you belong, and now you have entered it. Susanna is happy.” Lara giggled. “She told me she cannot wait to brag on your latest accomplishment to her sisters who were always mean to her, and mocked her for marrying a poor man. Perhaps in that way your own brother and his family will learn of it, too, and you will have a small revenge.”
John Swiftsword chuckled. “That is something your mother would have said. She did not easily tolerate a fault she felt was directed at her.”
“Is that all, Da?” Lara looked closely into her father’s face.
“Aye, that is all, daughter. There is no more to tell you. From the time you were six months of age you grew up in the City.”
“The necklace I wear around my neck, Da. My mother gave it to me, grandmother once said.”
“She put it about your neck the day you were born, Lara,” he responded.
“Do you know that the chain has grown in length as I have grown?” she asked.
He nodded his head. “There is magic in the chain and pendant, but of what kind I do not know, Lara. All I can tell you is that your mother said it would always protect and guide you.”
“What if it is taken from me?” Lara fretted.
“Gaius Prospero has promised it will not be,” he reassured her. Then he arose, drawing her up with him. He kissed her on the forehead. “I have told you all I can now, Lara, and I would go to bed. Good night, my daughter, and a final time my thanks for all you have done for me, and for my family. You are to be collected early, and I will not see you again. May the Celestial Actuary guard and guide you.” He kissed her a final time, and then, turning, left her in the garden.
Lara stood quietly in the still night air. Everything was silent. A sliver of the new pale blue moon hung in the dark skies. Hetar had four moons, one for each province, and the only place they could all be viewed at once was in the Outlands. She wondered what the four moons would look like together, but she was unlikely to ever know. In just a few hours Gaius Prospero’s people would come to get her, and her new master had promised that tomorrow would be a very exciting day. Lara hurried back into the house and, going to the guest chamber, took off her clothing and lay down to sleep. But before she fell into her slumber she touched the crystal star about her neck, and the tiny flame within flickered encouragingly.
Chapter 4
THE SLAVE WOMAN, Yera, woke her just before dawn. “A faeriepost has just arrived from the gate, young mistress,” she said. “Your transportation has just arrived, and will be here shortly. Come with me to the kitchen. I have fresh bread and milk for you before you go.”
Lara arose sleepily, and Yera pulled a chamber pot from beneath the bed.
“There is water to wash with, and I will be in the kitchen,” the slave woman said. “Do not dally. They will be here soon and will not want to wait.”
Finishing her ablutions, Lara hurried to dress, then went to the kitchens where Yera gave her a cup of fresh milk and a slab of buttered bread just warm from the ovens. There was also a dish of cut-up fruit. Lara ate it all down.
“You have a good appetite on you for such a slender girl,” Yera noted dryly.
“So my grandmother always said,” Lara replied with a smile.
“The conveyance is here.” Nels had come into the kitchen.
Lara arose. “Thank you for your kindness,” she told Yera and then turning, she followed the male slave.
He led her to the front door of the house, beyond which she could see a beautiful litter, well curtained. Drawing a deep breath Lara walked outside, waiting while Nels drew the draperies aside, and then helped her into her transport. As he closed the curtains with a snap Lara called out, “Thank you, Nels.” The litter was lifted up, and she was finally on her way. She was sorry she had not seen her father, or Susanna or little Mikhail before she left, but she knew they had done her a kindness in saying their goodbyes the previous evening. It really was better this way, and she could be strong for whatever lay ahead. Reaching down, she raised her star pendant to her lips and kissed it. The tiny flame flickered for a brief moment. She was safe. Had her faerie mother not said the necklace would always keep her safe? Her father had told her so, and Lara believed him. The bearers moved quickly, and before she knew it she heard the hail of the guard at the gate to the Golden District. He opened the curtains a moment, winked at her and then closed them. The litter moved off again, finally stopping for good. The curtains were opened gently and fully.
“Welcome, Lara, welcome!” Gaius Prospero’s fat hand helped her from the litter. “We have a busy day ahead of us. Have you eaten yet?”
She nodded. “My father’s slave woman fed me,” she told him.
“Excellent!” He beamed his approval. “Then come with me, my dear. There is much to do, and you must get started. The northern wing of my house is for the special slaves that pass through my hands. Tania is waiting there for you. She will prepare you for this evening. I am giving a dinner for the owners of the finest Pleasure Houses in the City, and the Pleasure Mistresses who manage these houses. Many began as you will, as simple Pleasure Women. You are to be the final course of the meal, the sweet if you will,” he chuckled, well pleased with himself. “I will display you to them so they may inspect you thoroughly. The bids on your person must be brought to me in writing between sunrise and sunset tomorrow. This permits me to weed out the serious buyers from those who do not have the wealth it will require to purchase you. There will then be one more viewing of you at which point those remaining may bid on you in a formal auction. At its conclusion you will be consigned to your new owner, and I shall have you delivered to his premises. Do you understand?”
“Yes, my lord Gaius,” Lara said.
He took her little hand in his plump one, and patted it comfortingly. “It all sounds very complicated, I will admit, but it is actually quite a simple process. And after your first-night rights have been taken, you will be very well trained to service the men who come to take their pleasure of you.”
“What are first-night rights?” Lara asked him.
“You have three virginities,” Gaius Prospero told her. “Each of them will be sold for a fabulous sum to the men who want them the most. Since you have never known intimacy, your reactions to these men, and their knowledge that they are the first to possess you, are valuable. Innocence has great charm, but afterward you will need to be taught the complexities of offering varied pleasures to a man. Ah, here we are! Tania, here is the lovely Lara. She is in your charge until she leaves us. See she is well prepared. Until tonight, my dear,” he purred, and turning was gone.
“Let me see your hands,” Tania said, and then she exclaimed, “What have you been doing, child? A Pleasure Woman must have the softest hands, and yours are all rough, and your nails are broken. And to think I have only until tonight to make you presentable! Come along! Come along!”
Lara followed Tania, and