“When did you last see breasts like these? A bit small, perhaps, but perfect in every way, and she is young. They will grow with loving handling,” he chuckled. “And have you ever seen hair like this?” His fat hand ruffled through Lara’s hair and it cascaded about her like a waterfall of golden gilt. “I have never had a finer piece of merchandise to offer you, and I will expect your bids to echo my expectations by this time tomorrow night.”
“Is it true she is faerie?” one of the men asked.
“Her mother was faerie, none will deny it. You know her father, Sir John Swiftsword,” Gaius Prospero said. “A fine lineage.”
The guests now arose from the table, and came forward to get a closer look at Lara.
“Open your mouth,” one woman said.
Lara complied.
“She has all her teeth, and there is no rot. The breath is sweet,” the woman remarked. “Her eyes are beautiful. They are green but the lashes are dark. A most striking contrast.”
Lara felt a hand fondling her bottom. She swallowed as discreetly as she might, but the expression on her face remained impassive.
“The skin is soft, and firm,” the fondler noted. He ran his hand down Lara’s calf. “Very nice, Gaius. She isn’t mushy like many, but rather nicely tight.”
“My lord, this is the best slave I have ever had for sale,” the Master of the Merchants said proudly.
“I would see her more important attributes,” another man said.
“Yes,” agreed a woman. “Draw your nether lips apart so we may inspect your treasures, girl, if they may be called that. We’ll know soon enough.”
Lara reached down, and opened herself to the prying eyes. The woman put out her hand touching a small plump nub of flesh that had been revealed. Almost immediately a tiny pearl of liquid appeared. A man reached out, and wiped the bead of moisture onto his large finger, putting it in his mouth.
“Ahhh,” the guests breathed.
“She is perfect, as I have said,” Gaius Prospero murmured.
“Yes,” the man agreed, “and sweet as honey.” He took a strand of her hair between his fingers rubbing it as did several of the others.
Gaius Prospero then helped Lara down from the little dais. “Go now,” he told her. “You will find Tania outside the door waiting to escort you back to the north wing.”
Lara ran quickly to the door, and was gone.
The guests sat back down again at the table.
“It’s no wonder you have remained the head of the Merchants Guild for so long,” one of the men said to Gaius Prospero. “So that is how John Swiftsword managed to get the wherewithal to finally enter the tournament. Could you not have just lent him the monies, and taken a usurious share of his profits for the next ten years, Gaius?”
“I could have,” the merchant replied, “but I would have had to wait for my profit if I did that, wouldn’t I?”
There was laughter about the table at his remark.
“Believe it or not, I did not seek the girl out. Her stepmother brought her to me and asked if I would have her. A pretty girl not much older than Lara, but obviously ambitious for her husband, and happy to have a beautiful stepdaughter out of the house,” he chuckled. “It was too good a chance to pass up, and when the father agreed I could not turn away from such an opportunity.
“Now you all know the rules. You have between sunrise and sunset to post your bids with me in your own hand. Go now and talk among yourselves, owners and Pleasure Mistresses. The sale must be in gold, and presented the day you take possession of the girl.” He stood up again. “Thank you all for coming. I hope it has been worth your while.” And then Gaius Prospero, the perfect host, ushered his guests from his house to their waiting vehicles. Returning into the house he sought out his wife, Vilia. “Well?” he said. “You were watching, weren’t you?” He sat down next to her on their bed.
“Aye,” Vilia answered. “Your presentation was masterful, my dear Gaius. If you had allowed it they would have taken the girl on your dining table.” She laughed. “The lust was palpable. She will bring you a fortune. I cannot wait for the bids to begin coming in. You must let me open them! Not all will be able to bid, but most will even if they cannot afford it.”
But by sunset of the following evening no bids for possession of the slave, Lara, had been delivered to Gaius Prospero’s door. The Master of the Merchants was sick with anxiety and concern when his majordomo announced a visitor.
“The lady Gillian, my lord,” he said as he ushered in the Head Mistress of the Pleasure Mistresses’ Guild into his master’s library.
“You look pale, Gaius,” she said by way of greeting. She was a tall imposing woman with dark hair and bright blue eyes. Her simple gown of burgundy red silk hung in graceful folds. It had long, wide pleated sleeves, and a square neckline that revealed her fine large bosom. Her hair was piled upon her head, and covered with a sheer veil.
“Why have there been no bids?” Gaius Prospero managed to gasp out.
“Yes, I will sit down and have a goblet of wine,” the lady Gillian answered him pointedly.
The majordomo quickly handed the lady the requested goblet, and then departed the library, but he remained on the other side of that door listening.
The lady Gillian sipped at her wine. “It is always a pleasure to visit you, Gaius,” she said. “You never stint on the vintage.”
“What has happened?” he ground out in a harsh voice. He was becoming calmer, for if Gillian was here he would get the truth.
“There will be no bids for the slave girl, Lara, Gaius,” she began. “She is simply too beautiful, and of course there is the matter of her faerie blood.”
“Faerie blood never bothered you before,” he snapped. “At least three very well-known members of your guild possess it, and so do a number of Pleasure Women. And what the hell do you mean she is too beautiful? What is wrong with beautiful?”
“Not just beautiful, Gaius,” Gillian told him. “Too beautiful. Exquisite. She is perfection, and therein lies the problem. No sooner had you ushered us from your house last night than two owners got into a physical quarrel over the girl. And the Pleasure Mistresses were no better. There was at least one incident of hair-pulling. And when they all returned to their Pleasure Houses most found their women in a disturbed state at the thought of Lara joining them. They fear her great beauty will rob them of their clients, and if they protest, her magic will harm them. No one believes a girl this beautiful does not have faerie power. I know she does not, for if she did she would not be in the position she is now in, but convincing the others is impossible. Ignorance is a dangerous thing, Gaius. By this morning, regular patrons were offering the owners additional coin to help purchase the girl. Others were attempting to book time with her for you displayed her well at the tourney. Several of my guild have been threatened with bodily harm if they are not given the girl’s first-night rights. I have no choice but to forbid this girl’s sale into any of our houses. It is too risky. I am sorry.” She sipped again at her wine goblet. “Nor can I permit an untried girl to be sold as a Pleasure Woman to one of the magnates. Whoever purchased her would find he had bought a most dangerous possession. He would be envied by all, and therefore find himself in peril of his very life. Lara is the kind of girl that men see, and must have at all costs.”
Gaius Prospero was stunned by her words. His investment was suddenly gone. The Head Mistress of the Pleasure Mistresses’ Guild and its satellite, the Guild of the Pleasure Woman, was no fool. And her word was law among the owners, and the houses. “What am I to do with her then?” he asked helplessly. “I cannot give her back to her family, and