Dark Stag Ch. 17

"Mother? Mother's gone... She killed herself when we went through processing. She told me she couldn't take this life of exploitation and just... She killed herself." My sister shrugged, it seeming not to bother her.

It devastated me.

"Oh... I...oh." I said back.

"You thought that since, you saw me there'd be a chance that mother was still somewhere. She was too set in her ways to adapt... I was still a child, malleable, breakable... I wasn't always with Felker Distribution. These are not our original captors. However, Felker Distribution is the fairest whorehouse to all its slaves and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else..." Samara said, full of this distinct pride.

It made me smile.

"How long are you going to be here before you get shipped out again?" I asked.

"Since I brought in a shit ton of cash, Devari gave me two months off... I won't know what to do with myself." Samara chuckled.

"Damn, that's a long time. Just gym... I love it. It gives me peace." I smiled.

"No, see I have to maintain a certain body type for my occupation. I have to be extremely slim." Samara said, not sounding too proud.

"That sounds miserable." I said, shaking my head.

"It used to be but you get used to it... ain't that's right Mr. Illisian?" She teased.

"Hey, I grew up miserable so I didn't know what real misery was until I got here." I countered.

"Okay, fair." She smiled, "And I see you're quite the warrior! You fight like a ring wrestler!"

"Oh my god... You have no idea how much training I'd do... Uncle Sammi was evil... But he made sure I was a good swordsman and combatant." I said, reminiscing.

"I always wanted to learn. Right now I'm so dainty I can't even lift an urn of water." Samara said, shaking her head.

"I can teach you but we'll have to both start eating meat..." I sighed.

"You don't eat meat? Such an Illisian..." My sister teased.

"No, I eat meat... just not regularly." I said, knowing I barely ate it.

"I'll try it... I just hope Devari goes easy on you. He's intense..." Samara said, nervous.

"I hope so too. I might have fucked up too much, today... I've been a handful for him and I could tell his patience is wearing thin with me... I just..." I sighed.

"Right now would be the time to pray..." Samara continued to tease.

"No fuck it." I shrugged, chuckling a bit. She laughed as well.

Somehow, we ended up spending the entire night talking with one another. Hours and hours just flew by. Suddenly the sound of steel doors being flung open caught both our attentions. Coming from down the hall was a very happy looking Mardee followed by a very upset looking Devari. A number of other workers followed.

My heart sank to my stomach as Devari closed in. Samara got to her feet, nervous to see Devari approaching. He arrived at the cell standing there as expressionless as he always did.

"So you entered my brothel to find your sister..." He said, Mukir having filled him in, "Lied to me about it, spoke in another tongue in my brothel, killed one of my guards and threatened to kill the rest of them..."

There was nothing I could say. The only thing I could do was swallow this big lump in my throat.

"Yet..." Devari started up again, "From the get go, you offered help and support for this brothel to keep it afloat... why? Was it just until you found your sister so you can take her and ditch?"

"No... I found out some information and told Gou. Gou told me to find out as much information as I could on it and I did. Then you found out because of your shitnosed friend, Mardee and a vast majority of my intentions were thrown on the table. Helping you... not to take away the specialness of it, but I help people. It's what gets me fucked in the end. I help people, they turn their back and backstab me and just throw me to the side, while I steadily get dragged through the filth. If you want to kill me, don't prolong it. I know I'm hassle to you..." I sighed, unable to bare his gaze.

"I'm not going to kill you... I'm impressed. Not many people could be able to go through this much hell for someone else, even a relative! You didn't have any type of concrete evidence your sister was here, only an assumption... And it paid off. You found her... This to me says a lot about the type of person you are. For you to be so very gorgeous, sometimes superficial and sometimes shallow, you are not afraid to go through hell for something you believe in. I don't know anyone else like that. Killing you would be putting this world to a disadvantage... you were meant to do great things." Devari said, coming forth to unlock the cell.

The relief I felt was indescribable. I walked out, the boy opening my robes, seeing I was covered in bruises and burns from my fight with the guards. His indifferent face wadded up tightly as he looked to Mardee.

"I don't understand how you can FUCK UP so much! Do you not understand me when I say don't tarnish him?" He exploded.

"I'm sorry. He was speaking a different tongue. The guards warned him to stop. They were only following protocol..." Mardee said defensively.

"What protocol is there to shock my brother to death! He was going to be killed!" Samara said.

"Shut up, whore!" Mardee said through the grit of his teeth.

Just as I was about grab Mardee, Devari wedged himself in between Mardee and I.

"We don't want to do that..." Devari said, wrapping his dense arms around my waist. Samara took note of this, "I will be asking around for accounts of what happened... Then address it properly..."

"Boss, why do you always let this low life scum slide under ever rule this place has! Not once has he been treated judiciously..." Mardee said, obviously upset.

"We'll, when you let someone temporarily leave your establishment and they come back with a bloodbath of a death toll in their wake, you kind of want to let them do what they want... Especially when there are so many inconsistencies about who the fuck they are and why they are present in your establishment... And then when said person helps out in a way not expected, it relieves some of the doubt in the mind about their motives. And all said person does is prove time and time again that they are more of an asset rather than a liability. There will be some sparking inclination towards said person..." Devari explained, full of snide and sarcasm.

"Why is my end doing so important to you?" I asked, Mardee.

"SHHHH." Devari said, placing a finger over my mouth before turning to face Mardee, "Get back to work..."

Mardee gave me the most hatred blatant glare before returning to his desk. Devari took my hand, leading me down the hall to his office.

"Breeze, you're coming too." He said. Samara rushed after us, following as we entered the office. Devari locked the door, Mukir coming out of one of the rear rooms.

"So you two are siblings foreal?" Devari asked.

"Brother, the way Kijus fought... How upset he was, I believe him!" Mukir said.

"So, my two most resourceful prospects are blood relatives... Wow." Devari laughed, finding this funny.

Samara and I looked at each other then back to him unsure what should be said. The woman sighed, scratching her head before building up nerve to speak.

"We're siblings..." Samara said.

"That is a twist to this plot I wasn't expecting." Devari said, steadily laughing, "Anyways... I paid off what I could of the debt to drug debtors without digging myself more into a financial hole. I still had to have money for you guys to get paid. The issue though is that the interest keeps compounding every day I don't have the cash for it. So every week when I have prospects returning with cash, I'm only able to keep the debt down some. However with the large sum you brought in," He looked at Samara, "I've knocked down the amount I need to pay to just a few hundred thousand rubles."

"I'd personally recommend you pay off the entire debt while you can. Compound interest is no joke and it can catch up to you fast. In this business status, money isn't guaranteed to make it in time... Right now, I wouldn't gamble..." Samara advised.

"But that's the thing. I still have slaves and escorts to pay, I still have employees to pay, and I still have utilities and notices to pay! Everything that was in my savings, is gone! I have no access to my father's account and with the turnover in city power, that money is now Socoshian's unless my father makes a miraculous return. If I had access to his funds, I could pay this debt off but since I don't, we're still fucked. The money you gave had to be split between the debt, the bills and employees. There's nothing for me! However, the sharks said I don't have anything to worry about since I'm in less than five percent debt to what we were in initially. The next mass sum of money coming in from escorts arriving in three weeks will pay off this debt finally... Then I can start to rebuild." Devari said, sounding relieved.

"Or I can just spot you the rubles..." I shrugged.

"Like I said before... I don't want your prince money..." Devari refused.

"By prince money, do you mean money from the royal court, or my actual money?" I asked.

"Your actual money... I assumed you were from wealth..." Devari said, uncertain.

"No, I'm not from wealth... I mean... yeah, I'm not from wealth." I chuckled, "The money is the money I was rewarded from King Bourgion for my efforts when I worked for him..."

"You were working for the King and you gave that up for this rat hole?" Samara asked, shocked.

"You know this! We talked about it last night!" I said back.

"Hey! It's not that ratty..." Devari chuckled, slightly offended.

"Sorry, not sorry..." Samara said with an eyeroll.

"Well, still," Devari sighed, "I don't want that either..."

"I have no need for the money and it would save this place... I can't watch this place struggle like this. It's a ton of money, several million rubles! It's more than enough for debt and rainy days to come." I responded.

"I'm confused... I thought you were using me to get what you need? I've been fucking doing the same of you..." Devari said, growing frustrated.

"No, I haven't. I'm actually a really emotional soulmate seeker who falls for any and everything with a heartbeat... But if you want to use me for what you need, instead of fucking me when you get frustrated, why not take damn money..." I responded, full of snide. Devari closed his eyes, clenching his head.

"I didn't mean it that way. God... I'm sorry, Kijus. I didn't... My tongue is not my friend at the moment." Devari responded, backtracking.

"I think he meant, he doesn't get why you're so concerned for this places wellbeing..." Mukir said, speaking on his brother's behalf.

"I've kinda grown attached, I guess... I don't know." I shrugged.

Devari looked at me for a long time, so much warmth in his eyes. It was starting to really bother me but I tried my best to hide it.

"I personally say it's the best course of action..." Mukir said. Devari's warm gaze turned into fiery wrath as he slowly turned to his brother.

"NO!" Devari said back.

"I signed those papers that forked over the same rights to me as you! If you won't take the money, I will!" Mukir snarled.

Devari rolled his eyes, breathing slowly. He seemed deeply upset.

"Okay..." He said, giving in. I tapped the transmit button on my range talker.

"Gou..." I said, hearing not even static. Something wasn't right, "Gou!" I pulled off the range talker, realizing the wire connecting the earpiece to the base had been seared off. As my finger grazed the area, sharp pain shot through the area behind my ear, "Fuck the, communicator is fried... and it burned me behind my ear."

"Shit, let me see." Devari said, getting to his feet to inspect the side of my head. He seemed so concerned, "It's... It's kind of bad."

"How bad?" I asked.

"Like third degree burn bad..." Devari sighed.

"You're fucking with me?" I asked, knowing he was a jokester.

"I wish..." He said, "I'm so sorry they did this to you."

"It was all a big messy misunderstanding... No need to be sorry." I said, knowing that deep down this tarnish on my skin left me feeling permanently defaced.

"I'll be sure the doctor sees this later today." Devari said, steadily looking at it.

"Is it that bad?" I asked, growing more and more concerned. Samara got up, looking at it.

"It's the whole back side of your ear and the area behind it." She noted.

"Damn, I don't feel it." I sighed, not even knowing, "And this means I'll have to write him to tell him to send the money..."

"That's fine..." Devari said, still looking at it.

"I'm going to go and pen the letter. The listening on the range talker is always active so I'm certain Gou already knows something happened..." I shrugged.

"Wait, so what does this mean. You found what you're looking for... are you leaving?" Devari asked.

"Not without her..." I responded, pointing to my sister.

"And I'm not leaving..." Samara said, stubbornly with a shrug.

"So we're both just gonna sit here and look cute for you." I teased.

"In all honesty, I might make you leave. Time is whittling down. The brothel's position is safe for the time being, but that's it... for the time being. You've been living within these walls, Kijus. You don't know how Sir Socoshian has been implementing his rule... That man is tyrannical. For your safety, I might just end up getting both you and your sister out of the city." Devari sighed.

"What about you?" I asked.

"What about me?" Devari responded, "I'll be fine. As long as you can fight another day, that's all that matters... You're resourceful. I think that in some way, you might be able to stop this... I'll give you all the resources I can afford."

It shocked me.

"Thank you..." I said, getting up and heading to my room. I then began pinning the letter:

Gou,

I have found my sister. There are quite a few problems though. For one, my communicator is broken so I can't have instant communication with you. Secondly, my sister is refusing to leave here, and I can't leave without her. If you can send me another communicator that would be nice. Sorry, but it happened when I found my sister... I was shocked several times and the power broke the communicator. I'll be more careful in the future.

Secondly. I need all my assets that I have earned from King Bourgion sent here. As long as I'm here, this place needs to be debt free and fully functional. I will do my damnest to keep this place afloat for the time being. Thanks in advance...

Kijus

I folded the letter, sealing it and heading out the room to the roof. As I did, Devari, Mukir and Samara joined me.

"You already wrote the letter?" Devari asked, shocked by me expediency.

"Yeah, I want to get this done..." I sighed, rushing down the hall.

We made it to the rear of the warehouse where the stairwell was. We walked up the winding stairs to the roof where I began whistling. There was no response. Minutes later, I continued to whistle.

"Is any one of them coming?" Devari asked.

"We'll just wait and see." I said, growing uncertain.

We waited for hours, the sun going down before rising again. This was disheartening. As the morning hours added up, I whistled once more. There was no return.

"She's not coming..." I sighed.

"That's unfortunate..." Devari noted.

"You have nooooooo idea!" I said, growing worried.

"Rest be assured. We'll sort this out." Devari sighed, getting to his feet. He, Samara and Mukir left. For hours and hours, I continued to whistle out, trying to locate Bazahra or Silver.

I ran from rooftop to rooftop, desperate to find the birds. The midday sun arrived and so did fatigue. I had to go rest. Those two birds were the only things on my mind. Without them, I was fighting blind, with no way out of the city, no way to tell Gou about what was going on. The uncertainty was now starting to get to me.

Days elapsed and there were still no signs of the birds. I was extremely, extremely worried about them. Everything I did required tense forehead and leg tapping. Every little thing felt tedious, even the most mundane things such as eating and walking. Sitting with Devari in his conference room waiting for a number of other higher ups from the brothel to show up wasn't easy.

"You need to relax..." Devari suggested.

"I wish." I smiled, sitting on a table in the rear.

"Everything will be fine..." Devari said, coming over to reassure me.

"I just don't know anymore. I feel like I overstayed my welcome... tried my luck too much... I don't want to test it any further." I said.

"Look," Devari said, standing at the table, moving between my legs, "I won't let shit happen to you! You're good!" He caressed my face, looking deep into my eyes, "I promise..."

I needed this. I closed my eyes, gently rubbing his hands as he caressed my face. Before I knew it, I pulled him in for a tight hug. He wasn't expecting this, his embrace coming in slowly after mine. His grip grew tighter and tighter as this moment became more and more intimate. I buried my face into his shoulder, not wanting him to let me go.

"Ah'em..." Someone said, "Boss..."

Devari and our embrace came to an end. Mardee standing there looking disgusted.

"Yes?" Devari asked.

"We have all our upper echelon escorts ready for the meeting. They are standing by." Mardee said, leaving.

"Well damn, won't even give me a chance to respond." Devari gasped, shocked.

"He's not happy... I don't know what's going on with him but yeah, he's not happy." I sighed.

"I can see that. I don't know what to do..." Devari responded, pacing around the room.

"I guess, make him feel appreciated." I shrugged.

"I still haven't talked to him about the information you dug up." Devari said, watching as some of his escorts started coming into the room, "Hi guys..."

"Hey boss..." One said.

The conference room began to fill up, my sister and her girls being the last ones to enter. Samara nodded at me as she sat. I nodded back, still sitting on the rear of the table.

"So..." Devari began, "Most of you have been gone for the past three months so you don't know what has been going on. Well this entire town, has went to utter shit, I'm afraid... When you left, things in the brothel weren't peachy and kosher. Things haven't improved, in fact they've gotten worse... Debtors have been harassing us, the compounding interest is nearly impossible to make ends meet and I'm currently having to distribute pay without pay for myself. However, an asset of mine," Devari pointed to me causing every head to turn, "Has been the most resourceful, hard working person on my roster and with his help, I have managed to turn some things around. I have managed to get the compounding interest down to a manageable size. Since you are back in the walls of the city, we'll have to work hard to keep Felker Distribution afloat. I try my best to treat you right, pamper you, make sure you come before my clients! Have I not?"

"You have!" Samara said in the back, agreeing with every word he said.

Mardee came into the room, leaning on the wall. He stared at me menacingly before I took note, the man's gaze drifting to the floor.

"My slaves have been working hard to do the city's dirty work, sleeping with the knights, the debtors, the Official Guard... They've been bringing in copious amounts of money that's been going out to utilities and bills, to make sure there's food, running water and electricity for you all. You, as my escorts, I know I promised my recent returnees a break, but I can't allot that for now... What I can do is put everyone on a one day a week, four hour street vender schedule to bring in revenue for the brothel. We need more advertisement, more street performers... Anything to bring in cash. I can assure you, when we all pay off this horrid debt, you all will be rewarded for your hard work... I'm so sorry I'm having to do this to you, but I'm left with no choice. It's a lot of you so I can evenly distribute the workload across seven days where you all aren't out there for too long. That's okay, right?" Devari continued.