Rescue Ch. 02

Per, Melinar, and Nyrandurril were heading towards the brothel that Melinar owned in the Capitol. The little group moved by fits and starts through alleys and narrow walkways behind the buildings. It was just before dinnertime, but the sun was still up. Per was nervous about being in the Capitol, especially since he did not know if the contract on him with the Assassin's Guild had been removed or not. Melinar scouted ahead, while Nyrandurril kept an eye out to their rear. With an all-clear sign from Melinar, Per sprinted from one hiding place to another. The sun was just beginning to set when Melinar stopped them at a corner.

"Well, there it is," she said, pointing across the street.

Per looked around the corner. A large three-story brownstone building dominated the block. The stone stairs in the front rose majestically up to the front porch and the ornate double doors.

Melinar did not lead them inside, but took Per and Nyrandurril down the alleys to the building behind the brownstone. The building was a two-story half-timber. Melinar opened the front door and walked in.

A beautiful, buxom redhead girl was sitting behind a wooden desk in the foyer. Closed doors to the left and right led off into the building itself. The foyer was tastefully decorated to make a person feel at ease.

"Customers, Mistress?" asked the redhead in a sweet, melodic voice.

"No, Tawni," answered Melinar. "Per's my acting bouncer tonight until I can hire someone else. Nyran is an...investor. Forget that you saw either of them. Dareen will be around with more instructions later. How are things going?"

"Slow so far, but it's still early."

Melinar nodded and led Per and Nyrandurril through the left door. They walked down a hallway towards the back of the building, where the hallway ended at a door. Melinar opened the door and walked into another hallway. The difference between the two hallways was as different as night and day.

The first building had a homey, relaxed atmosphere. The brownstone was about grandeur. Expensive paintings lined the walls and the furniture was ornate. The three of them walked noiselessly to the grand entrance as rich carpets muffled their footsteps. Two suits of polished armor flanked the double doors in the entrance. A marble staircase spiraled upward to the second floor balcony and then on up to the third floor. A large, round, stained glass skylight provided light down to the foyer from the setting sun. A statuesque blond, dressed in a golden dress, sat behind a cherry-wood desk as another servant went around lighting candles and uncovering light globes.

"Good evening, Melinar" "Good evening, Dareen. This is Per. He is going to be our bouncer tonight. He's a friend and he's wanted, so please let everyone know not to talk about him. This is Nyrandurril and she's an investor."

"No, she's not and we have met before," stated Dareen.

"Met?...When?" stammered Melinar, clearly startled.

"When we first opened up," replied Dareen calmly. "She wanted to check on what you were up to. She's sort of been a silent partner. She's been helping the girls, providing guidance and giving advice."

"Why didn't you tell me?" asked Melinar.

"She asked me not to. I tried to recruit her when we first met. With her face, we could have made a mint. Nyrandurril told me clearly and firmly that she was not interested and had other plans. Her main concern was for you."

Melinar turned misty-eyed towards Nyrandurril. With a cry, she hugged her and began to cry.

Dareen touched Nyrandurril on the shoulder and mouthed 'office', pointing at a door off to the side. Nyrandurril led Melinar off and closed the door behind them. Dareen then turned to face Per.

"Melinar has been trying to hide this from her for so long that I think the strain finally caught up with her," she said. "Well, you look like a bouncer. What happened? The Gods decided to play a joke on your mother or are all of your family naturally big-boned?"

"Only my father," stated Per, removing his helmet to expose his green hair. "Did the Gods sharpen your tongue with a grindstone?"

"I'm sorry," apologized Dareen. She walked over to a bellpull and tugged on it once. "I'm nervous about the men returning again tonight. I'll show you around so you can get a feel for the place. If we can get the charges dropped, would you like to work here permanently?"

"I'm not wanted by the law," said Per. "I managed to get on the wrong side of a very prominent person, who has decided it would be best to have me killed. This person lives here in the city and has sent a couple of assassins after me. They failed, but there will be others. I can't stay here. I'm going this to help out Melinar and Nyrandurril."

They both turned as a girl in a blue gown came down the marble stairs. The girl's steps faltered when she caught sight of Per and his green hair.

"Rhetta, I need you to work the desk for awhile," said Dareen. "I want to show ...uh... Wen around. He is going to be our guard tonight."

Rhetta curtsied apprehensively to Per and moved cautiously around him to the desk. Dareen wiggled her fingers to indicate for Per to follow her. They headed back down the hallway towards the back of the brownstone.

"We'll call you Wen," said Dareen in a low voice. "That is incase someone slips and mentions you. Have you met Tawni?" Per nodded and Dareen stopped. "Good. The two buildings were built back to back. A walled courtyard is to our left with the stables in the rear. Tell Tawni I need to see everyone and then look around. I really need to talk to the staff about you before they meet any of the clients. Is that okay?"

"No problem," said Per.

Per passed on the message to Tawni and then roamed around the two buildings. He found the backstairs, the libraries, and even a pool in the basement of the brownstone. He located the kitchen and pantry, but the rooms were empty of people. He was wondering where they were when he heard voices coming from the grand entrance. He looked through a doorway to see what was going on there.

Dareen was standing at the desk talking to a group which included Tawni, about thirty women, six grooms and twelve servants. Melinar and Nyrandurril were sitting off to one side.

"Wen, please come here," commanded Dareen, when she caught sight of him. She turned to the others. "This is Wen. He will be our guard tonight like I said. Remember, if anyone asks, I hired him off the street because Thal was injured."

"I wonder how large he really is," whispered one girl to another.

Dareen's eyes grew flinty. "He's here to protect you, not romp under the covers. If I catch anyone distracting him..." She left the threat hanging in the air. "Now, get back to work. The clients will be arriving shortly."

The group broke up with the cooks rushing back to the kitchen and the grooms heading outside. A few of the women stopped and curtsied to Per before heading upstairs. Per saw that most of them were between twenty and thirty years old. All were well-dressed and ranged between pretty and beautiful.

"The kitchen has dinner ready for you, Wen," stated Dareen. "After dinner, just walk around the first floor. Don't go upstairs unless you are summoned. Keep a check with Tawni and myself. We'll let you know how things are going. Don't talk to the customers, except in response to their questions. In fact, it would be best if you just referred them to Tawni or me, depending upon which building you are in. Do you have any questions?"

"Nope," replied Per.

"That's no," corrected Dareen. "Off to the kitchen then."

"Nyran and I will be in the office going over the records," said Melinar. "We'll be there if you need us."

Per headed down to the kitchen. The head cook set a heaping plate of food on the side counter for him.

"Ale or wine?" asked the cook. "We only serve one mug or glass at dinner for employees. It's the house rule."

"Water," replied Per and he almost laughed when the cook let out the breath he had been holding in. Per thought, "Probably thought I was going to bite his head off for limiting my drink."

Per finished his dinner and went to check with Tawni. She told him that only the regulars had come in so far and she did not anticipate any trouble. Per checked around the first floor before going to see Dareen. As he walked into the grand entrance, Melinar, Nyrandurril and Dareen came out of the office.

"P...uh...Wen," stammered Melinar, remembering his alias at the last second. "Dareen just told us that three men came in a few minutes ago. Two of them are the same men that were here last night. The third one is one she hasn't seen before."

"Where are they now?" asked Per.

"They hired three girls...rooms nineteen, twenty and twenty-two and they reserved room twenty-one. They paid for two hours each," said Dareen.

"Did they do the same thing yesterday?" asked Nyrandurril.

"Yes," replied Dareen, thinking back. "I remember thinking that it was strange because they were finished in about a half hour and made the girls leave the room. They had paid for the time and the girls were free to service other customers, so I didn't mind at the time."

"Same rooms as tonight?" asked Per.

"No, but grouped the same way."

"I bet that the girls will be down in half an hour," said Nyrandurril. "The men get...serviced. They then get dressed and wait for their master to arrive. This is planned too well. They have either done this before or they were hired to ruin this place."

"It must be that whore, Hattie!" said Melinar hotly.

"We do not know that," said Nyrandurril. She turned to look at Per. "Hattie runs a rival establishment."

"The question\is, what do we do now?" interjected Dareen.

"We need to eliminate the guards before their master arrives," said Per. "Dareen, you will have to stay here incase he arrives before we are done. I'm going up to take out the other three."

Per turned and ran up the steps. He stopped halfway up when he heard footsteps coming up behind him. He turned just in time to see Melinar and Nyrandurril race up the steps past him.

"Argue with us later," said Melinar as she continued upwards.

Per turned back and ran up the stairs behind them. The four rooms were at the end of the hallway. Per listened at each door and heard sounds of passion coming from each room. Per pulled out his sandbag and grasped the doorknob to Room Twenty-two. Nyrandurril put her hand over his to stop him from opening the door.

"Wait," she whispered.

Nyrandurril undid her braid and fluffed out her cascading hair. She took Per's dagger and slit her dress on both sides from the hip down to the hem. She then split the front of her dress from her bellybutton up to her neck and spread the flaps apart. She bit her lips to redden them and pinched her cheeks for color. The transformation only took a couple of seconds, but the result was startling. Where Nyrandurril was absolutely beautiful before, she was now breathtakingly gorgeous. Motioning Per to step to one side, Nyrandurril opened the door.

Per peered between the crack of the door and the jamb. A man with a short beard was kneeling behind a girl, who was down on all fours on the bed. The man was facing the now opened door and staring at Nyrandurril. Per realized that he would have never gotten past the door before the man yelled for help.

"Who be ye?" growled the man to Nyrandurril.

"Dareen thought you might like to have another girl," said Nyrandurril sweetly as she smiled at him.

Per watched as the man lost his angry scowl and it was replaced by a look of wonderment as he became mesmerized by Nyrandurril's face. Per had seen this happen numerous times. Her face was so lovely that Per swore the sun stopped in its track just to shine down on her.

Nyrandurril motioned with her head for the man to come over to her without breaking eye contact with him. The man with his gaze locked onto her face, got up, pulling his hard dick out of the other girl, and walked towards Nyrandurril. The girl on the bed look confused, but did not say anything. Nyrandurril grasped him by the shoulders and turned him around so his back was to the door. She began to walk backwards towards the bed as she reached up and hooked her thumbs under her shoulder straps.

Per stepped in quietly behind the man and rapped him sharply behind the ear with his sandbag. There was a muffled thump and Per barely caught the unconscious man before he could crash to the floor. The girl on the bed took in a large breath as if to scream, but let it out slowly when Nyrandurril spun around with her finger to her lips. Per lowered the man to the floor to tie and gag him. Melinar quickly came into the room and closed the door.

"What's going on, Melinar?" asked the girl on the bed, seemingly unconcerned about her nudity.

"This man and two others in Rooms Nineteen and Twenty were the ones that injured Thal," said Melinar. "We think they are the guards for someone who'll show up in a little while for Room Twenty-one. All we have to do now is get the other two. I guess we can use Nyrandurril again."

"A little dicey," commented the girl. "I almost screamed. Leave it to me."

The girl leaned over to the nightstand and opened the drawer. She pulled out a black five-inch long cylinder and climbed out of the bed.

"What are you going to do?" asked Per, blocking her way.

"Watch and learn, Wen," said the girl with a smile.

The girl went next door to Room Twenty with Per following behind her. The girl quietly opened the door and sneaked up to the bed. Per looked through the crack of the door again and saw another girl on her back as a man plowed his cock into her pussy. The first girl came up behind him and pressed something on the cylinder. A blade shot out of the black handle and the girl snapped it forward to press the sharpened steel against the man's balls. He instantly froze.

"One move...one sound and it come off!" hissed the girl with the knife. "Let her up and then lie flat."

The other girl squirmed out from underneath and the man, sweating profusely from his brow, laid down flat on the bed. Per came into the room and quickly tied and gagged the man.

"Watch him, Cheryl," said the first girl to the second. "One to go."

The first girl and Per moved back out into the hallway, closing the door behind them. Melinar and Nyrandurril were there and standing off to one side. The girl retracted the blade and then opened the door to Room Nineteen.

A man with gray temples was sitting in a chair pulling on his boots. He was only wearing his pants with his shirt and gear draped over the back of the chair. The bed was rumpled and a blond woman was standing beside it, pulling on a robe. All three froze at the sight of one another. The man recovered first and looked questioningly at the girl in the doorway as he stood up.

"We have a special tonight, if you would like to try two girls at the same time, sir," said the girl in the door as she walked towards him. "You've paid for two hours. Why not try us both?"

"Love to, lass, but I've no time. Maybe lat..."

The man's left hand shot downward to block the knife coming up. His right fist slugged the girl on the jaw, knocking her halfway across the room. The knife skittered out of her hand and clattered on the floor. The man looked at the doorway just in time to catch Per's thrown sandbag full in the face. He reeled backwards and tripped over the chair he had been sitting on. The chair broke into splinters as the man crashed heavily onto the floor.

The man shook his head trying to clear it and attempted to get up. He stopped when he felt cold steel touch his throat. Looking up, he saw Per looming over him.

"Roll over slowly," commanded Per.

Melinar and Nyrandurril came in as the man complied. They tied up his hands and legs while Per held his dagger on him.

"If you're going to rob me, you'll be disappointed," said the man. "I was just hired this morning and haven't been paid yet."

"Then how did you plan to pay for this little romp?" asked Melinar sarcastically.

"The lord who hired me told me he would settle the account when he arrived. Inute and Halk said not to worry about it."

"Are they the other two men you came in with?" asked Per.

"Yes," answered the man calmly. "I have to tell you, if you rob or injure the lord, I will come back to hunt each and every one of you down."

The blond had gone over to help the other girl up. Nyrandurril sat down on the bed as Melinar shooed the two women out of the room.

"You seem honorable and since you were hired this morning, you may not know this," said Nyrandurril. "The lord and his two men were here last night. The lord was rough with the girl he had hired. Her bruises should fade in a couple of weeks. Our bouncer went to her aid and was injured by the other two men. We attacked you to prevent a repeat of last night."

The man looked skeptically at all three of them.

"If you want, I can let you talk to the girl and our bouncer," stated Melinar. "They are both recovering here at this house."

The man's face took on a look of uncertainty.

"What were your orders for tonight?' asked Per. "What's your name?"

"My name is Vail," answered the man. "We were supposed to protect the lord and prevent anyone from disturbing him. The three of us came here early to acquire the rooms and have some fun before the lord arrived. Inute and Halk seemed to treat this as a big secret. They were laughing and joking about all the way here. If what you say is true, then you're going to have problems. The lord is Lord Letlow, the magistrate for this district of the city."

"Lord Letlow!" cried out Melinar. "He's the most sadistic bastard around. He hurts women just for the pleasure of it. His enemies usually end up in jail and then on to the gallows."

"When is he due to arrive?" asked Per.

"In about an hour," replied Vail.

The four of them stayed still and stared at each other in silence. They all envisioned a dark chasm opening up before them.

Nyrandurril shook off her despair and said, "We have to stop him. It's either that or run."

"I need to talk to Inute and Halk," said Vail. "If you cut me free, I promise not to interfere with your plans."

Per looked quickly at Nyrandurril and Melinar. They both shrugged, indicating that Vail's freedom could not put them in more danger than they were already in. Per cut Vail's bonds and Vail stood up. He walked out of the room without putting on his shirt or picking up his weapons. Per heard him enter the room across the hallway. He listened for several minutes, but did not hear anything amiss.

"We can't do anything to Lord Letlow here," said Melinar. "That would put us square on the bull's-eye for retribution if something goes wrong. What can we do?"

"We have to wait until he leaves," said Per.

"We can not," replied Nyrandurril. "We have attacked his men. For a man as domineering and controlling as Lord Letlow, he will not allow that insult to pass. He will see it as a weakness if he does not do something to us. We have to get him away from here without his men and without him knowing his men were attacked."

"Just that!!!" said Melinar exasperatedly. "Might as well ask for the moon!"

"I might have a way to do it," said Vail from the doorway. "It'll be dangerous. I talked with Halk and have decided to work with you." Vail chuckled. "You know that girl with Halk has him terrified. She's slowly ripping a sausage apart with a dull knife and she's managed to convince him that his manhood is next. Halk told me of last night and of Letlow's other perversions. According to Halk, Letlow is supposed to have a torture chamber at his villa and uses it to subjugate women to his will."

"How do we get him out of here without alerting him about his men?" asked Melinar.

"Since Letlow's appetite leans towards dominance, if he meets a strong-willed woman, he may just take her home to his villa. Your giant and I can rescue her and deal with Letlow away from here. It will be dangerous for the woman who goes with him."