Sold to the Brothel Pt. 04

It was not in her nature to care about those who abused others. That wasn't her way, the way she wanted to live her life.

"Oh! I see you have returned, Miss Alyssa."

She stared unblinkingly at the boar, who had appeared at her shoulder, until he squirmed, clearly uncomfortable.

"Um... Were there any other services we could provide to you today?" He tried instead. "Um... There is a fine selection of male slaves suited for delivering pleasure to femfurs, of course..."

"No."

She held her hands primly in front of her, copying how Sandor's mother, the mistress of the household, had held herself so long ago. It had been years since she'd seen her.

"I have come for the wolf," she said, not betraying anything in her tone. "Green fur, white belly... Give me all the information you have on him. I wish to purchase him."

"Wolf, uh..." The boar scratched his head. "Uh... We don't have a wolf here with green fur... Oh! Is it the dog you're referring to, miss? That one would be at least one-hundred-thousand beryls, you know, he's not a cheap slave."

He paused, looking her over.

"Ah... But, of course, that is not the object, no, forgive me for presuming."

He assumed she could afford the wolf. Truthfully, Alyssa could: life had not been fair to her, but she had seized and squeezed all she could from it, saving voraciously and living lean. He was not to know of her history, however, despite the discrimination that was often levied against taurs like her.

It was strange to be spoken to with respect, however marginal it was, but she knew it was only so because the boar thought she had money. If she had been anywhere else, she would have rolled her eyes. But Alyssa had to see everything through.

"Wolf. Green fur." She repeated her words coldly, though doing so didn't come naturally to her, feeling uncomfortable in her chest, like something was tightening there. "Hm... If you do not understand, I will have to see him first... Take me to him."

She squirmed inwardly, hating to give orders. Sure, her life had changed since Sandor had disappeared and she'd had to go off on her own, but she wasn't that bold!

For Sandor, however, she had to become the very best version of herself.

Following the boar through the brothel, she was led to one of the private rooms for servicing clients, which was recognisable from her first visit there.

"This is not the slave quarters."

"Forgive me, miss," the boar grunted, putting a key in the door. "He was with a client, this one, but should be cleaning up in there now. You can see him... I presume you may want to observe the specimen before purchase? A partner for the little fox you bought... This one is far finer, I assure you."

She didn't grace him with an answer. She had a better chance of not saying something silly if she said nothing at all.

Yet when the door swung open, there was no one in there. The big bed was unmade, stained with bodily fluids that Alyssa chose to ignore, the window wide open with the curtain flapping in a gust of wind.

The boar cursed and lunged into the room, searching for the wolf, but it was clear that he was long gone.

On being escorted back to the viewing area, for slaves for sale, Alyssa was able to glean from the staff there that the wolf, once, had been a Swift Master. She was vaguely aware of the different kinds of mages, from back when Sandor had been going through basic training, even if he had not progressed with the career path of being a mage. That meant that he had commanded the wind...

The staff professed their apologies to her that the wolf had gone...but Alyssa knew better than them. If the wolf had commanded the wind the whole time and had not been restricted from the use of his magic, that meant that he could have escaped the whole time.

He'd only ever gone to the brothel because...he wanted to be there. Because he wanted...something different? Alyssa could not grapple with the mindset of someone like that, but it was clear that Swiftwolf's situation had been exceedingly different to Sandor's, who had been taken against his will.

With the wolf gone, she wouldn't get any information from him -- but he didn't need to be liberated either. She disliked leaving empty-handed but hastened back to Sandor on the comfortable transport wagon, listening to the hoofbeats of the horse on the road, swaying lightly back and forth in the padded seating area in the back of the wagon. The driver, a badger with a distinguished black and white muzzle, barely spoke to her from where he sat up front in the elements, though she was comfortable with the quiet.

Finally back with Sandor, she was at least relieved to find the fox still in the bedroom -- although he was not in bed anymore. He cowered by the side of it, still naked, hunkered down with his knees drawn up to his chest, coughing and hiccupping with sobs.

"Ah... Sandor..." She said gently, closing the door softly after her, afraid to make too much noise and scare him. "Sandor... You're okay, I'm here again... I'm so sorry, dear... My darling, I had to go see about Swiftwolf. But Swiftwolf has escaped and will live his own life now."

Sandor blinked up at her, teardrops clinging to his eyelashes.

"Swiftwolf...gone?"

He tried to form a full sentence but the words to join up others and make such a thing happen... The ability to do so simply wasn't there.

That was okay though. He had Alyssa. Ally. Alyssa. Ally.

It was okay, it was okay.

If he repeated it enough, it would make it okay.

"It's okay, sweet Sandor... I'm here for you now."

She took a deep breath, trying not to let him see how her lip quivered. She had to be strong for him.

"I'll always be here for you. You're home now. Everything is well. You are safe. You are well. Everything...is safe..."

She was just repeating the same words over and over again, sometimes in different ways, but she didn't know what the fox needed to hear, could not even fathom everything that Sandor had been through. So, she just had to be there for him in the best way that she could, letting him hurl himself at her, hugging her tightly, his arms going around her deer part instead of her human one.

Alyssa shivered. It had been a long time since someone had held her like that, but...she kind of liked it. It was good to remember the old times, when his hands on her, like that, had not been so strange. Maybe they could get back to that again, piecing together the little bits of his soul that had been shattered with contract upon contracted, warping him with dark, demonic magic.

"There, there, Sandor... My sweet... I've got you now, you're safe..."

"Arrfff... Nngfff..."

He howled into her deer half, shuddering against her, sobs wracking his body. He didn't know why he was crying, too many disconnected emotions churning and roiling within him, so much that he couldn't put a name to any of it. All he could do was cling to her, the only lifeline he had left, and sob against her, his whole body juddering with every sob that ripped itself from him.

Alyssa brushed his head softly with her fingertips, sliding them from the point between his ears to his forehead, letting her hand rest there. And it was so warm...

He whimpered, gulping down her scent with every breath of air he dragged in through his nostrils. She was so sweet... She smelled of the earth after a rainstorm, a little lily mixed into it too, perhaps... He didn't know why he remembered the name of that one flower -- and he might not even have got it correct. He just knew that it was a flower and that the deer-taur who had taken him smelled like a flower of some kind.

That had to be enough for him, the horrors of his abuse washing over him as Alyssa soothed him.

"Don't be afraid, Sandor... I'm here for you now. I'm here for you. Stay here, stay with me. I'll look after you."

After being sold to the brothel, it was the softest landing the fox could have hoped for.

Yet it would be some time before they saw the true cost of his time there, how he had changed in the real world... Until then, he would cling to Alyssa and let her guide him.

It was all the fox could do.