Chapter 3

"I told you not to recklessly mix with the nobles and royals! You've only just debuted and yet you want to soar above the skies! Is it so hard to heed instructions?!"

"I'm sorry mistress."

I could only bow as she reprimanded me endlessly. I knew there were many behind the door, snickering as I received my punishment. According to Andrella, the other girls had already gotten hooked up with patrons and I was the only one left.

She held a black whip as she talked, rubbing her head to get rid of the headache I caused her somehow. As she was off makeup, age was already taking its toll on her. It was an added reason to not whip me as I was already past the stage of being whipped.

"Go back and reflect. We are attending another party on the morrow!"

"Yes mistress."

They scampered away from the door, their footsteps thundering in the hallway as I reached the door.

"Those idiots," Andrella cursed under her breath and sighed.

"Well, what are you waiting for?"

I immediately made myself scarce. Compared to the other Courtesan houses in the capital, Lady Andrella definitely had the most favorable condition. She raised us in a rather desolate estate gifted to her by one of her patrons, using us as servants rather than hiring any. She would whip those who didn't listen and use different herbs so we didn't scar.

I regretted the first few days I moved. She wasn't so kind as to spare me. Her courtesan house was filled with numerous fallen nobles, bastard children and urchins who were beautiful enough to be noticed. It was a special kind of hell I couldn't wait to escape. It was so sad I had to rely on a man, especially the son of the man that killed my father, to escape.

"No, Elayne, you have to do this." I slapped myself back to my senses.

"Do what?"

"Amelia, I told you to stop doing that!"

"I was just walking by though."

"So you're saying you weren't present when I was being reprimanded."

"You were being reprimanded? That must've been rough. What did she do?"

"She has doomed me to another gathering. Unless I'm requested before then, I'll have to get my first patron there."

The churning feeling in my stomach was back. Amelia smiled wryly before engulfing me in a hug.

"Elayne, you're a courtesan now. This is what you have to do. No matter how much you try, you cannot escape this life easily. You just have to bear with it until someone saves you from this lifestyle or you save enough for yourself."

"I know that."

"Accept it sooner. I've already started looking for a permanent patron."

"Amelia!"

"What? You think I want to keep doing this? I'll pick one of those poor sods, bewitch him, pop out a few bastards for him and live a good life for myself."

"Amelia!"

"I'd rather be like this than little miss delicate like you. Now if you excuse me, I have to use something for this blasted headache."

"... I have medicine in my room. Come on."

"Ah, you're a lifesaver."

"Of course."

Amelia was blunt and rash but she was better compared to the rest of the girls in the house. Even younger they were all such little witches.

Two days passed like that and we were getting ready for the party. Andrella decided to take me in her carriage this time, thinking I would run away. I was considering it but Andrella would have my soul if I did.

The house this time was different. It was intimidating in its own way, ostentatiously large and way too bright for my liking. It was like every guest burst out the most colored clothing in their closets. It would explain the yellow and golden dresses my master dressed us up in.

It wasn't a masquerade party this time, making it much worse than last time. This time, I was fully exposed with a dress more revealing than the last. Besides, this party, if I wasn't wrong, was higher up in the indecency scale.

The alarm bells in my head went off with the first whiff of cannabis I perceived. The entrance was still so far away yet the smell travelled all the way to the entrance. Walking closer, my legs felt like logs, my heartbeat thundering in my ears.

I don't want to go in there.

"Hurry up Elayne."

No. No. No. Please. No.

Andrella pushed the door open and I finally saw it. Bodies writhing in every direction, it was hard to make out who was who. It was like a vat of quicksand, even one toe in would sink you. The obscene sounds of people in ecstasy and pain curdled my brain.

"Okay ladies, it's time to party. Move it, Elayne."

"No..." my voice was barely a whisper. I was suddenly pulled in, a tight cloth secured around my eyes. I couldn't fight off the numerous hands that ripped my dress off me and roamed my body. A warm breath tickled my ears.

"Relax."

Let go of me. No, leave me alone!

"Be careful. That one's delicate." I heard Andrella's say from somewhere far away. I couldn't ask her to save me. I was dragged down the murky pit and things shoved into my mouth. They raked their hands over every part of me, passing me from one group to another.

It didn't matter if I was screaming. It didn't matter if I was crying. It didn't matter how much I begged. They didn't stop, jeering as they penetrated me one by one. The sounds of my screams were drowned out by the other ones generated from pure pleasure.

Eventually, my senses were numbed by the cannabis. I could no longer feel the hands all over me, the need to scream, to do anything. I could just wait till it was all over.

I swear to kill all of you.

Eventually, my body felt heavy, my eyelids heavier. I drifted in and out of fitful sleep, and found out at some point I wasn't being bound by anyone. I finally removed the blindfold and looked at myself.

I was covered in bruises, bite marks; every part of me was purple and blue. I was still attached to a snoring body, still sticky inside. I immediately got to myself, wobbling and falling again. I tried again and again but my body didn't listen to me.

Eventually, I had to crawl naked out of the hall and find something to wear. I felt like corruption was crawling in my skin, crawling into my skin.

It's filthy. It's dirty. Get it off. Get it off. GET IT OFF!

"Urk…..koff….koff….urk..." I dry heaved, trying to get something, anything out of my throat. My eyelids burned, my head filled with stinging pain. I immediately curled into a ball after hearing footsteps behind me.

"Congratulations. You're finally a courtesan."

It was Andrella. She wasn't fully dressed but she didn't look like she cared. Smoke curled from her lips, dispersing into the air. She laughed and it made my skin crawl.

"You look so pathetic right now. That's a good look, Elayne."

Let's say for as long as I lived, I will never forget this day.