The Queen's Blade Prequel II - God Touched (9 page)

Blade leant
against the bar counter and watched the whores with a frown,
disliking the place's air of debauchery and desperation. He had
discovered Lilu's absence from her room when he had watched her
door for a time-glass and a fat woman had entered with two
children, soon followed by a man. Clearly they now dwelt there, and
he had come to the whorehouse to see if Lilu still worked here. So
far, he had not seen her, and wondered if something had befallen
her.

The urchin had
not brought him any news, but then, the boy might not be as
reliable as Blade had hoped. A harlot approached him, the fifth to
do so since he had arrived half a time-glass ago, even though there
were plenty of men drinking and carousing with the girls. She was
young, perhaps thirteen, and her family had probably her sold into
the business. Auburn hair framed a thin face with large, rather
protuberant eyes and a pouty mouth stained red with berry juice.
Blade guessed that she was rat or mouse kin.

The girl sat
on the stool beside him, looking shy yet determined, and placed an
empty wine cup on the counter.

“
Will you buy a girl a drink, good sir?”

Blade almost
told her to bugger off, as he had the last four, then paused,
considering. He signalled to the barkeep, who sloshed cheap white
wine into the girl's cup, and she slugged it back with a smile.
Replacing the empty cup on the counter, she drew aside the silk
blouse that hung open to her waist, revealing her wares, such as
they were, and the bruises on them.

Blade looked
away. “I'm looking for a woman named Lilu.”

The girl
wrinkled her snub nose. “She's a back room whore. You don't want
her, there's a queue outside her curtain every night, and she's all
swollen with child.”

Blade raised
his brows. “Why is she so popular?”

“
Anyone would be for three coppers a go. With her face, she's
not allowed out front anymore. She takes what she gets, and makes
do.”

“
And you scorn her. Beware, lest you one day share her
fate.”

“
I would rather die,” she said. “She can't, because of her
children, though. I pity her.”

“
You should. Tell me where she is.”

The harlot
pouted and moved closer, raising a hand towards his face, her eyes
full of invitation. “For three silvers, you can have me, and I'm
beautiful.”

His hand
flashed up to grip her wrist. “Don't touch me, girl. Where's
Lilu?”

She gasped
when his fingers tightened, biting her lip. “In the back. Down the
corridor, last curtain on the left.”

Blade released
her and rose, slapping a silver on the counter before pushing his
way through the crowded room and the curtain at the back of it,
into a dingy corridor. Four curtained doors led off it, and grunts
and gasps came from all of them. Two men hung around in the
passage, evidently waiting for the next available harlot. Blade
went to the last curtain on the left and leant against the wall
outside it, trying not to listen to the sounds coming from within.
The two men eyed him, but looked away when he glanced at them.
Moments later, the noises stopped and a fat, greasy man emerged,
tugging at his clothes.

Blade
hesitated, then thrust aside the curtain and stepped into the
darkness, glancing around. The naked woman who lay on the straw
pallet gasped and dragged a dirty sheet over herself.

“
Blade!”

He turned to
scan the room, his anger rising like a black tide. Spotting a
bundle of ragged frocks in the corner, he grabbed one and threw it
at her.

“
Get dressed.” He averted his gaze. “You stupid bloody
trollop.”

“
Why? Where are you taking me?”

“
What do you care? Do you want to stay here?”

“
No, but...” Her voice became muffled as she pulled the dress
over her head.

He glanced at
her, relieved to find her covered. “I'm going to take you to a dark
alley and slit your throat, how about that?”

She snorted.
“A likely story.”

“
I would consider it a mercy killing.”

She looked a
little uncertain, then shook her head. “I still don't believe you.
You're a liar.”

“
Get up.” He stepped closer, his brow furrowed.

Lilu struggled
to lever herself to her feet, and he gave an impatient growl and
gripped her arm, yanking her upright. She tottered, stumbling after
him when he dragged her into the corridor.

“
Hey, slow down,” she protested.

Blade glanced
at her and slowed, thrust aside one of the waiting men and sent him
stumbling into the wall. As he approached the curtain that led into
the front room, she hung back.

“
I'm not allowed in there.”

“
I don't care.”

“
I'll get into trouble, maybe even be thrown out, and
–”

“
Be quiet.”

Blade hauled
her to the front door, shoving drunken men from his path, and was
relieved to be out in the crisp night air after the whorehouse's
cloying, perfumed atmosphere. Releasing Lilu's arm, he wiped his
hand on his jacket and set off down the street without glancing
back. Her footsteps followed, stumbling a little, and fell behind
until he was forced to stop and wait for her. She panted up to him,
her face flushed in the light of a street lamp.

“
Where are we going?”

He gazed past
her. “To my rooms.”

Her breath
caught in a little gasp, and her eyes glistened with joy.
“Truly?”

“
Temporarily. Don't imagine I want a stinking trollop in my
room, or her bawling brats.”

“
Then... what do you want?”

“
Never you mind. Walk faster, I'm tired.”

Blade set off
again more slowly, fuming with impatience. Lilu tried to cling to
his arm, but he shook her off with a curse.

“
Don't touch me,” he snarled. “You stink, and I don't want
dognits.”

“
I don't have dognits.”

“
Then it must be one of the few disgusting infestations you
don't have, and I don't want any of them.” Lilu stopped, and, after
he had walked a few more paces, he turned to scowl at her. “That's
not walking faster, Lilu, that's not walking at all.”

“
Then stop insulting me, or I won't go with you.”

“
You'd rather go back to your straw pallet and endless supply
of smelly men, I suppose?”

She rubbed her
eyes. “No. Nor do I deserve your anger. What have I done?”

“
You've become pathetic, even more so than you were
before.”

“
And why does that bother you?”

Blade walked
back to her. “Either come with me or go back. Choose.”

Lilu sighed,
but followed when he swung away and continued down the street. By
the time he reached his rooms, he could tell from her rasping
breaths that she was exhausted. When she gazed at the staircase
with despairing eyes, he gripped her arm and trundled her up it,
shoved her into his room and slammed the door. She sank into the
solitary, overstuffed chair, gasping, while he lighted the
lamps.

Blade drew
aside the curtain that hid his copper tub, still half full of tepid
water from his afternoon bath and only a little soapy.

“
First you'll wash off that stink before it makes me
sick.”

“
It's not my stink; it's –”

“
Spare me the details.”

Lilu levered
herself out of the chair and went behind the curtain, which he
pulled back into place with a vicious hiss of rings on bar.

Lilu tugged
off her frock and climbed into the water, which was not too cold,
although it made her shiver. Choosing a frey flower scented soap
from the selection, she scrubbed herself all over, including her
hair, glad to be rid of the smell of her clients. She listened to
the soft sounds Blade made moving around in the room, wondering
what he wanted. When he had entered the room at the whorehouse, her
heart had almost stopped in delight, wonder and horror that he
should find her there, naked and abused.

It made her
ridiculously happy to see him again, and her heart still hammered.
Was she wrong about him? Did he, in fact, have a use for a woman?
Even if he did, however, he would not choose to lie with an ugly
whore when he could undoubtedly have any woman he wanted, even
rich, beautiful ladies. From the way he had averted his eyes and
his distasteful expression at the time, she doubted it. Did he feel
sorry for her? Was he capable of such feelings? She would find out,
she suspected, when she got out of the bath.

A soft towel
hung on the railing beside her, and she dried herself and donned
the frock again, wishing that she had a clean one. As she emerged
from the alcove, the baby kicked, making her grunt and clasp her
belly. Blade sat in the chair, staring into a roaring fire, a cup
of wine in one hand. A thin mattress lay on the floor beside the
hearth, and she wondered where it had come from. She had not heard
him leave the room, but perhaps he had. She sat down on it, combing
her hair in the fire's heat to dry it.

Blade watched
her with frigid eyes, sipping his wine, and gestured to the bottle
and cup on the table beside his chair. “Have some, if you
want.”

Lilu crawled
to it and poured a cup, settled back to sip it and found that it
was a rich, musky red variety, expensive. She gazed at him, amazed
to be here in his room, so unexpectedly and after not seeing him
for two moons. He looked healthier, his gaunt, pale look gone.

“
You're looking well,” she ventured.

He scowled at
the fire. “And you look worse, if such a thing is possible. Why do
you continue to work there, even now?”

“
It's the whorehouse or the street, and the street's
worse.”

“
You must like being a whore then, or you'd have chosen
something else.”

She shook her
head. “I never had a choice. My father sold me into service when I
was twelve.” She sipped her wine, listening to the snap of the
fire. “Thank you, for what you did to Tromar.”

“
Tromar? Who in Damnation is he?”

“
The drover. I know what you did, so it's no good denying
it.”

He shrugged.
“I have no idea what you're talking about.”

“
You did a good job on his nose. What did you use, a
faggot?”

A slight smile
tugged at his lips. “You're dreaming. I don't go around beating up
bear kin for the sake of whores.”

“
And all his front teeth are missing too. He looks worse than I
do now.”

“
At least he doesn't have to rut with men in a dark broom
cupboard to earn his keep.”

“
You must have put the fear of Tinsharon into him. He never
came back.”

He sipped his
wine. “I tire of your delusions, I really do.”

She sighed,
giving up. “What do you want with me?”

“
I have need of a whore.”

Her heart
pounded. “You do? I... I didn't think you would...”

“
What?”

“
Find me... interesting.”

He chuckled,
shaking his head. “I don't. I could - can have any woman I want, so
I don't need to lie with dirty harlots. Especially ugly
harlots.”

She looked
away to hide her pain. “Then what?”

“
I have a task for you. My Guild has agreed to my blood debt. I
want the men who tried to kill me, but I don't know who they are.
I'll set you up in a whorehouse in Trobalon territory, somewhere
their thugs go, and you'll listen to the gossip and learn their
names. They'll brag about almost killing the Dance Master, even
now.”

“
And if I don't want to spy for you?”

“
Then you can go back to that cesspit where I found
you.”

“
You could pay for the information at those whorehouses. The
women would tell you for a few silvers.”

He inclined
his head. “Sure, and tell the thugs I'm looking for them, too. Then
they'd either try to kill me again, or flee.”

“
So, you trust me.”

His eyes
flicked to her, lingering on the bruises around her neck. “If you
betray me, I'll kill you.”

“
No you won't. You could just as easily threaten the whores at
those brothels, and they'd believe you.”

“
What makes you think I won't kill you?”

Lilu cocked
her head and smiled. “Many reasons. Firstly, I saved your life.
Secondly, you can't kill without a client, and thirdly, you'd never
harm a woman.”

He snorted.
“What makes you think that?”

“
You loved your mother, I can tell. In fact, I'd even say that
you were your mother's favourite son, if you had brothers. Perhaps
you were an only child, but she doted on you, and you on her. You
carried me home when Tromar beat me, and beat him in exactly the
same way because of it. You fed me when I was hungry and protected
me when I was in trouble, and now you've saved me from that
cesspit, as you so nicely put it.”

He scowled at
her. “You're deluded. You were afraid of me after Tromar beat
you.”

She nodded,
hanging her head. “I was hurt, and you were angry. When you didn't,
I realised how wrong I was to think you capable of it. You'll have
a problem if anyone ever hires you to kill a woman. You won't do
it. What's more, you'll probably save her. You hate men. Did your
father beat you?”

“
No.”