Ordinary days (Nayh)

Sorcha had slept off her weariness over the course of a few candlemarks. Her patron last night was one who preferred to keep her for most of the night and not to cuddle with afterwards. There was very little afterwards time. He had her entertain him for candlemarks on end till he finally decided he was too exhausted for more. So she had not returned until just before dawn. Sorcha made it a habit to leave before wives or children might awaken. She didn't particularly care for the cavalier way her patrons often treated their wives but then she figured she was saving their wives from having to deal with them in return.

It was well after noon now, as she dressed for the day. When she got in first thing she did was wash because she couldn't stand to sleep feeling sweaty and dirty with the smell of whatever man had her company the evening before. She tugged her hair back into a tight bun and put on a loose fitting sweater that came down past her butt, and a pair of black leggings with warm socks. She walked down to the kitchen for a quick bite, noting one or two of the other girls waking up. The only one of them though that she needed to talk to was probably in the store room.

Well that could wait for at least another moment while she devoured a red fruit with such ferocity it seemed like she may not have eaten in days. After cleaning her face and hands, she took a mug and poured herself some of the steaming klah sitting there on the counter. Cupping her hands around the mug, she walked quietly to the room where Nayh did much of her inventory.

"Nayh, are you in here?" she called much more pleasantly than she had been the evening before. But Nayh would have known why she was in a bad mood. It wasn't that Yeoun had come or what she had to say to him. Facing certain clients could put one on edge. More than once she had come back sore and exhausted from overzealous men. Only to have to get up and do so again the next evening.

Which was why Nayh spaced out certain clients, she was very good at managing everything. Something that Sorcha had no problem with at all. They might be different but Sorcha did have an appreciation for the care and attention Nayh gave to everything. She just wasn't all that good at showing her appreciation.

"I'm here!" Nayh called.

Finishing up writing some numbers down on the ledger in hand, the young woman turned to walk out from behind piles of fabric bolts and other boxes of goods, some lined with drawers filled with smaller items like makeup, brushes, ribbon, amoungst other things. On another side of the large store room were casks of alcohol, a diner collection of Benden Wines, select Telgar beers and some flasks of stronger stuff for mixed drinks. There were bags of rice and flour and barrels of cheese and certain other dry goods, too. Fortunately she'd already taken the time to inventory most of it.

"I was about to finish up. Do you want to help me pick out some fabric for the gowns we'll wear for the New Turn festival? I have us a big performance lined up at a private party." After setting down her notepad and writing quill, Nayh hoisted a large bolt of beautiful blue brocade, with red and gold shining through in little interwoven patterns that speckled it. It was Telgar's colours, and would be perfect for the occasion. Well, at least that's what Nayh thought.

"Which reminds me, how did last night go? Our favourite client didn't give you any trouble did he?" Sorcha might have been the girls' heroine, their protector, but Nayh had her own way of looking after them all. Only, once a girl got settled in with them, she was the more motherly sort. She was also rather strict, regardless of how sweet she might appear.

Where their clientele was concerned though, she was an angel, but rarely unbending, and persuasive in her words. She had a way of maintaining their relationships with each of their customers, balancing the needs of both, her girls and their customers. When it came down to it, though Nayh was more vocally and less physically assertive than Sorcha, she was just as fierce when it came to looking after the girls under their guidance.


Setting the bolt down, where she could unroll a length of the fabric, she added, "What do you think about this one? Or should we go with something that has more red in it?" Giving it a moment's more thought, she mused quietly after, unsure.. ".. or maybe another colour altogether."

Upon hearing Nayh call back to her, Sorcha entered and took no time in sitting down in a chair. If Sorcha was exhausted she wouldn't admit to it now but any respite she could get, she was going to take. "Certainly and what girls are entertaining?" Not everyone went to every party. Although a good percentage of them would be there, no doubt.

Sorcha had a few of her clients which she wished had less of an appetite for her specifically but people had habits and sometimes those habits were quite particular, "No wonder his wife needs him to have a whore..." She said with a groan. "I almost think he gets nothing from her at all and saves it all up for me. I've been up all night." A grimace played across her features. "He pays so well though, what can I do but continue..."

She gasped, "Almost forgot! The marks from last night are in my lock box up stairs. Bring them to you later." Sorcha never kept her marks for herself. If she needed anything extra she went to Nayh about it or used her clients to buy her things she wanted, in a more manipulative way but it achieved the same end.

"Hmmm. The color should be fine. I prefer blues and purples myself but a red-orange won't be bad. Should look good on everyone. What style were you thinking of?" It must be strange for people to see her act so normally and to know she had killed several people in cold blood and enjoyed every moment of it. She was so normal seeming with people in this house. No one would ever guess she was anything but a young girl, working at the only trade she knew.

"We'll need at least five or six of us. I haven't heard how many we'll be entertaining yet, but we'll be taking most of our instruments and will be performing the new dance we've started learning. It will probably end up requiring all of our top girls considering the important company." And that was most of them, so Sorcha was right in her assumption.

Bemusement coloured her expression then, when Sorcha went about expressing her utmost pleasure in regards to last night's client. "Well, I already told him that he's not allowed to monopolize any more of your time, no matter how much he pays, unless he's willing to shell out what it would cost to be your sole patron. But I know how much you adore him, so don't worry, I'm making sure that there's no way he'll be able to buy you all for himself."

For a moment her mouth turned into a lop-sided smirk, "If not for your sake, then for his, because I fear what might happen to him after." Nayh had to laugh at that, though it was laughter quickly stifled, because she knew she shouldn't joke about their patrons so readily. Not as the acting Mistress of the Mask in lieu of Inamourata's absence, anyway.


She gasped, "Almost forgot! The marks from last night are in my lock box up stairs. Bring them to you later."


Nayh looked a little wide-eyed at Sorcha's sudden start, but then shook her head. "No worries. Just get them to me when we're done here." That way neither of them would forget.

Shoulders sagging then, as she made a face, Nayh commented, "Yeah, I'm really not sure about that part -style, that is. Not decided, but I was thinking something more traditional for the New Turn, maybe? It's going to be held in one of oldest parts of the hold" Chewing her lower lip, the young woman looked down where she held an arm's length of the fabric out to display. Holding it up to her then, across her body, she continued to take the whole occasion into consideration.

Sorcha knew that meant she would be involved. She did not necessarily mind parties. Not really. The only issue was the lack of real privacy. “How many rehearsals have I missed?” She asked feeling a little apologetic but there was some difficulty at times balancing the time between her work with the rebels and her time with the Mask. “I guess I’ll be practicing more today…” She tried to be enthusiastic but her energy was depleted.

As common place as discussions of this nature were, she found herself a little uncomfortable about the subject matter. She wouldn’t kill him for monopolizing her necessarily but she supposed a certain percentage of her patrons did end up less than alive. “I don’t kill all of my difficult patrons.” She said with a little bit of a pout. “How much would he pay I wonder…” Sorcha had no intention of becoming one man’s property but it would be interesting to know how much someone would pay to keep her to themselves. This thought fascinated her as much as it disgusted her.

She was grateful that Nayh kept a close eye on things. “Have any of the other patrons been giving the girls any trouble?” She asked, not because she intended on going on a killing spree but because she wouldn’t mind keeping an eye on such individuals herself. If things got out of hand, she might be able to send some of them a very clear message. Nothing could scare those men into behaving properly than fear. If fear wouldn’t motivate them to behave, then nothing would and she might have to do something quite final.

As long as Nayh was alright with waiting till later for her money, then Sorcha was. As for the style, “Hmmm. I wonder if it would do some good to discuss the style with a weaver. We do want to get this just right. I’d be willing to spend the extra marks to consult with someone who might have a great deal of knowledge on traditional styled dressed.” They could do most of the hard labor on the dresses here but they might need someone for the finishing touches anyway.

"You'll pick up on the new routines quickly. A couple of the dances will be ones you already know, and the music should be familiar. If you'd rather just play... " Nayh let her voice trail off. "Though they always prefer watching you dance."


“I don’t kill all of my difficult patrons.” She said with a little bit of a pout. “How much would he pay I wonder…”

Nayh had been teasing her more than anything, so still she giggled. "I'm not sure the curiosity is worth tempting fate over. It'd be a pain to have to deal with him if he got his mind set on something like that. Honestly, since you're a senior sister and the most sought after, it would be a loss for the Mask if I let any one man monopolize you. Maybe a loss for you, too, considering the gifts you tend to receive from every new infatuated lover." She winked.

"Moreover, it would be more difficult for you to get your work done for the rebels. There are other unsuspecting customers who'll need to spill their secrets in the future."


Shaking her head then, Nayh let her arms relax their hold on the fabric she'd been holding out. "Oh trust me, you'd hear about it if there were any real trouble makers. But no, there hasn't been anything out of the norm.

"As for the dresses, you're probably right. We should probably just go to the Weavers about it." Even as she spoke the words, she was rolling the fabric back around its bolt, setting it back atop the stack she'd taken it from.

Sorcha did not deny what Nayh said but she figured there were several women here who were equally as desirable. Its not that Sorcha couldn't take a compliment but she didn't really feel that being desired by men was something worth being complimented for. She hated them and they couldn't see it in her eyes. Being an actress was easy. "I'll dance then." She didn't mind dancing. "If that will make the performance more enjoyable for the patrons." In other words, if that would get them more money. It was a business after all.

She nodded, "I don't think we should tempt him either." Sorcha knew him well enough to know not to get him fixated on something. He didn't like to be with other girls here because he was fixated on her. It was almost dangerous for her to be with him as it was.

"I was thinking about the rebels. I think it would be good to get some of the guard in here. Not Yeoun's friends but people elsewhere. It would get us some information. I don't know if there are any events coming up that we might use to advertise our business..."

At the mention that there were no trouble makers, she felt a small amount of relief. As long as the other girls were protected, she thought. Then Sorcha watched as Nayh put the fabric up. Sorcha had a rare moment of concern, "And how are you Nayh? Do you need anything?"

As Sorcha addressed the rebel's needs for more information from the Telgar Guard as they were becoming more active in their search for Chorong informants and clues that would lead to finding them, it would be a good idea to keep better tabs on them. 

"I need to write to your father and find out what other measures he would like for us to take, now, if any. I will ask Swift, also, when he returns, what new information he has." If he wasn't running errands outside of the hold for Galedon, taking messages back and forth between informants and the headquarters, then the man had his eyes on the streets and what went on about them. 

A moment later, Nayh smile, not yet having gotten back to scrawling the last numbers onto her ledger. "I'm fairly certain there should be some guardsmen assigned to the private party being hosted over the New Turn Eve. If so, you'll have to be sure to flirt with them when you get a chance. I'll make sure the other girls do so, as well." Nayh however, would likely be busy with their host, and keeping her eyes open for anything that could go wrong with performances, reading the general atmosphere, etc to make sure things were festive enough. If anything went wrong, or patrons did not leave happy, the fault would be hers. 


Sorcha's next words were a rare expression of that sort of kindness from her. "Honestly, I'm doing alright. My only real concern at the moment is for Yeoun. But,... I know that he is figuring things out on his own. After last night with him, he would like to meet with you again." She said no more on the subject, because really that's all she knew. Though she still held the letters he'd written to be sent to Swift for delivery. Only she knew who they were going to, because they were no names written upon them, so to keep the secrecy in case they were confiscated somehow by the Guard. 


"Ah!" Exclaiming, she pointed, "Here, help me finish counting these, would you? How many sacks of flour are over there? I'll count the alcohol casks."

Sorcha nodded. Her communications with her father were never of a personal nature so she never seemed to care if anyone else felt the need to communicate with him. It had been a long time since she had deluded herself into believing he might love her. He only loved his cause and it was a cause he was willing to have her die for. Swift however, she knew he had some honor, even if it was more of a thief's honor. She would trust him with any message.

"Indeed. I may have need to speak with Swift about this party, later when he returns with the information you need." She did not say why she needed to speak to Swift and Nayh knew better than to read into things with Sorcha. She would tell people when they needed to know and not before, in some ways she was more like her father than she might realize.

Yeoun. She wasn't sure she wanted to talk to him right now. He didn't want her help or advice, the more honest she was with him, the more he seemed to doubt her sincerity. No, she didn't really want to deal with him but she didn't really have a choice in the end. She would have to talk to him. "Make certain Kaeyah is available too. I think Yeoun finds her presence comforting." Sorcha was prepared for a very unhappy look from Nayh. It was quite clear that both girls liked Yeoun. He had his qualities, she supposed.

Not dwelling on it further she went to help Nayh. "Alright." Within moments she was counting sacks of flour.

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