Lady of the Night

Mornings were always a welcome change for Tanya.

She felt washed away from the previous night’s “work” since she had the opportunity to leave the client before they woke so she could bathe properly, have a meal and then dedicate the rest of the day to other endeavors. Like most of the ladies in the brothel, she worked in similar routines, but a few of them were lazy or decided to stick around their clients out of some strange sense of protection. Others were trying to scam them out of a few more coins, while others were outright stealing from them. They wouldn’t last long, however… people in this business rarely get prizes for dishonesty and lack of integrity.

After all, they were all prostitutes.

Tanya was one such Lady of the Night. She did her job, earned the money and continued with her daily routine as if it were the most simple of things. She’d learned throughout her life that it was best to simply view these acts as a simple business transaction. They did what they wanted to do, she put on an act, faked every reaction and moved on with her life. She couldn’t afford to feel shame or humiliation. She had to help her parents clear out their debts, and if she had to sacrifice her body for them, then she would give it all up without hesitation.

While she was bathing, Tanya took extra care to make sure that her midnight blue hair was perfectly clean and lustrous. She cleaned every inch of her body to perfection to ensure there wasn’t a single mark or stain on her beautiful skin. It was well known that her proportions were considered perfect in the eyes of most gentlemen, and due to the desirable shape and voluptuous appearance, she ensured there wasn’t a single imperfection. Her whole being was the instrument of her profession and she took every precaution to keep it in perfect condition, regardless of how rough her clients might be. She always ensured she had health tonics at the ready in case of injury and took special herbal supplements to ensure she never caught any diseases and avoid bringing bastard children into the world. The innocent didn’t deserve to pay for the sins of those that brought them into the world.

Everyday, she did the same. Every week, she did the same. Every year, she had done the same. And while she was determined to fight on, Tanya could feel her heart sinking deeper into the darkness. If this went on, she’d lose herself and end up falling into utter despair.

After she was clean, brushed her hair, added some mild perfume to herself and dressed up, she would leave her private quarters and head to the brothel’s main room. As the establishment’s highest earning lady and her fame as the finest commodity they could provide, many saw Tanya as the finest Lady of the Night in this city. She would often linger in the social room of the brothel to listen into the gossip and other affairs from the other ladies. Not much of what they said was interesting to her.

The Lord of the land had increased taxes again. In the Kingdom of Alcainez a Baroness had been assassinated due to some shady business deals with an infamous adventurer group. Elven communities had been spotted outside the borders of these lands. A stranger with outlandish clothes had arrived in the city and had brought in a well known criminal to the authorities. And a new gang of ruffians had taken up work as debt collectors and loan sharks in the city. Most of these bits of gossip weren’t useful to her, but Tanya still listened to stay informed of local events.

After her usual morning routine, Tanya decided that day to take a stroll around the city to clear her thoughts and also to promote herself. Ever since she was a young girl she had been regarded as a peerless beauty since her days as a simple village girl. Now, as a city girl, she was looked upon by thousands of people who would more than likely take an interest in her and perhaps choose to “stay the night” in the brothel.

While she walked through the streets of the city, she caught the attention of every man she crossed paths with. It was inevitable. There was a time when she enjoyed this attention. Now, she felt cursed by her looks. She hid her self-deprecating thoughts and feelings as best she could with charming smiles and sultry comments of gratitude. She hated it… she hated having to put on this act…

She longed to be free. To free her parents from this horrible debt. To find some place where she could just disappear from the world and never be seen again.

While she dealt with her inner struggle, she noticed that there was a group of men who were following her as she walked. No doubt they were debt collectors who would demand she pay for her parents’ debt. Feeling threatened, she tried to lose them going through alleys and side-roads in an attempt to evade them. Unfortunately, they were hot on her trail and would not let up. Now feeling afraid, Tanya tried to rush through the streets to find a more public area where she could be helped if she cried out. She looked behind her to see if these men were still giving chase only to suddenly bump against someone and make her trip and fall backwards to the ground.

Feeling a bit of discomfort from the accident, she looked up hoping it wasn’t one of the collectors she had bumped into. To her sudden shock, she might’ve bumped into someone much worse…

She had heard the gossip and rumors of the stranger with odd clothes that had come to the city. Now she was looking up at this man who looked down at her with cold gray eyes. There was something inherently scary about this person. It wasn’t just the cold eyes, the firearms he carried with him out in the open or the strange clothes that showed he wasn’t from around here. She could feel deep down that this man was a trained killer.

Then he spoke…

“Hey, are you alright there, Pretty Legs?”

Surprised by the sudden choice of words, Tanya blinked with confusion as if she had seen some weird illusion happen before her eyes. The scary feeling she felt from this man had suddenly vanished with that simple comment. His eyes had lost their coldness, his demeanor was more relaxed and the way he spoke was so casual as if she had bumped into an acquaintance.

Before she could answer the stranger, the debt collectors had caught up to her and grinned menacingly. Unsure of what to do, Tanya looked between the stranger and the collectors without saying a word.

“Finally caught you, girl. Our boss wants to see you. Says you need to pay the debts you and your family owe!” The six men that were starting to surround Tanya were laughing and eyeing her with indecent intentions. “So do us a favor, and come quietly. We promise it won’t be too uncomfortable…”

Tanya was about to answer when the stranger stood between her and the collectors.

“You boys certainly lack proper manners. Approaching a lady like this and demanding she pays her debts like that? What ever happened to asking nicely or talking in a proper environment? Also, six of you fellas had to come here to collect one pretty looking girl? A bit much, if you ask me.” The stranger took out a cigarette, lit it and took a small pull while smirking at them.

“Hey! This ain’t none of your business, stranger. You’d best move along or we’ll take you out first. Then we collect the goods from her.” The leader of the collectors called out menacingly.

“Sir! Please don’t get involved in this! I don’t want anyone getting hurt because of me…” Tanya called out to the stranger who glanced back at her with a playful smirk and winked at her.

To her astonishment, she noticed she had blushed! That was impossible! She had long since forgotten what it felt like to blush. She was the one that made people blush. But a single wink from this stranger had done this to her?

“Come and get some.” Urging the collectors on, the stranger challenged them with an arrogant stance.

The leader of the collectors ordered the other five to kill the stranger. They rushed at him with their swords and knives. Tanya was afraid that they would hurt or even kill the stranger. But to her continued surprise, the stranger faced these five men, expertly dodging their attacks and hitting them with his fists. He caught the arm of a collector trying to stab him with a knife only to catch the man’s arm and breaking it with a painful wail from the thug. Another one was punched so hard in the stomach that he got the breath knocked out of him, making him drop to the ground. The next one thought he could strike from behind but this only made the stranger grab him by the wrist and his belt, pick him up and then slam him face first into the ground. After seeing three of their buddies hurt badly on the ground, the others hesitated. When the leader took out a flintlock pistol, the stranger’s hands moved with such blinding speed as they grabbed his own two firearms and shot the weapons they all held with deadeye precision shattering them to pieces. The leader’s pistol had been split in half and with its powder exposed to sparks it exploded and knocked him back, injuring his hand. Those that were still standing looked at the stranger as he pointed his weapons at them.

“Pick up their sorry asses and get outta my sight. Unless you want me to shoot you in the head and leave you to the rats.” He pulled the hammer from his revolvers which made the thugs yelp with fear, dragged their friends off the ground and ran away in fear.

Tanya had seen this and was amazed by the stranger’s fast movements and precision. He could’ve killed them all if he wanted to. Instead, he hurt them so bad that they wouldn’t be able to forget about it any time soon. When he turned around, he spun his revolvers and holstered them in one fluid motion then turned his attention towards her. He reached out his hand to her as he kept a smirk on his lips.

“Sorry you had to see that, Pretty Legs. But I can’t stand still when a pack of thugs are harassing a lady. Are you alright?”

“I-I’m alright. Thank you, Mister.”

She was a bit surprised by the way this stranger talked and acted. There had been many men in the past who tried to show off and win over her affection through acts of “kindness” only to realize they had been staged. Others would attempt to gain her favor by offering to protect her from the debt collectors, but none of them came through. There was one man who claimed he would be able to pay off her debt in full, but when it became clear he hadn’t even a fraction of the debt, he’d scamper off like a whipped dog.

Then this stranger and her bumped into each other (well… actually SHE had bumped into him), said a few words, winked at her making her blush, thrashed the debt collectors without killing them and looked like he had done this sort of thing every day, every week and every year of his life. To protect a prostitute like her and call her “a lady”.

Reaching out, she took his hand, felt that rough skin of his but also its warmth and very carefully he helped her to her feet. She dusted herself a bit and ensured her outfit hadn’t been damaged by the fall. Then she turned her eyes up at him and looked at his face. He wasn’t the most handsome man she’d ever seen, but there was something different about him that made her curious. It wasn’t the faint scars on his cheek and eyebrow that added to his manliness that drew her in. It was the way he was looking at her that made something inside of her awaken from a long dead slumber: There was a tired gaze in his eyes. A fatigue that only those who have fallen into the rut of dull repetition can notice. An eventual fall into despair.

To her surprise, she also saw something she never saw before in the eyes of a man: He had no desire in his eyes when he looked at her. Nothing lewd in the way his gray eyes looked at her. No growing lust when he took in her looks. For all effects and purposes, he looked at her as if she were just another woman that crossed his path.

“You saved me from those thugs. How could I repay you, kind stranger?” Tanya turned on the charm for this man, hoping she could clear any debt with him in a proper manner. She fluttered her eyes sweetly and gave him her best, most seductive smile.

“I’m good, Pretty Legs. Don’t mention it.” The stranger said plainly.

Tanya was shocked to hear this! Not only had he refused any kind of reward, but even her finest act and polished methods of charm and seduction had no effects on this man! If anything, it was as if he was bothered by it! How was that possible? Feeling somewhat annoyed by his complete immunity to her charms, she moved in closer to him so that her supple bosom and body would press against his own.

“My dear savior, I cannot simply let this go. Please, tell me how I can reward your kindness? I could… perhaps… entertain you some day?” She hoped that her sultry tone of voice and the warmth of her body could get a rise out of him. She had chosen a mild perfume that day, but if her body grew warm, it would certainly make its scent stronger. When she tried to place her hands over his chest, he surprised her yet again by gently holding her wrists and stopped her from going any further.

“Miss, you don’t have to turn the charm on me to try and convince me. We just bumped into each other, these guys were being assholes towards you and I sorted them out as any real man would’ve. Your thanks are enough for me. So please, don’t try to use your tricks on me. I don’t want to hurt your feelings.”

This was too much! He was completely unaffected by her charming ways, refused her advances and had seen through her act! Although she was grateful for his kindness and bold actions, she felt her pride injured by his refusal. Perhaps he wasn’t interested in women? There were some people who were like that. Preferring those of their own gender.

“Oh! I-I apologize. I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable.” Her apology was met with a simple nod from him as she stepped back to give him some space. “I should’ve known you had no interest in a woman, like me.”

“I have interest in you, Pretty Legs.” He said those words as he began to walk in the same direction those thugs had run away. Then he turned to look at her with a soft gaze and a smile. “I just can’t bring myself to touch a woman whose eyes are full of pain and longing. Like mine…”

Tanya couldn’t bear it anymore…

The stranger had seen right through her. He tipped his bounty hunter’s hat at her in sign of departure, said the words “See you around, Pretty Legs” and left the area. Never in her entire life had someone truly looked at her. He had acknowledged that he had an interest in her, so that meant that he thought she was pretty… or at least she thought he did since he called her “Pretty Legs”. But what made her suddenly feel flustered and bothered was the fact that he noticed her own pain and fatigue. He had looked through her eyes and saw the truth about her.

Behind the sultry tones, beneath the gorgeous body, deep inside the charming smiles and buried within the seductive Lady of the Night, was a crying girl longing to be free.

She stepped back into the busy streets of the city with her mind in a jumble. The brief conversation she had with the stranger had left her confused and bothered. Tanya had seen how this man dressed like one of those Bounty Hunters had dealt with a group of thugs without breaking a sweat, made sure she was safe and sound, said a few words to her and left without requesting a reward.

All of Tanya’s life, most men would try to get her attention and get personal with her. Even when she became a prostitute there were people who fought over who would get to spend the night with her above all other ladies. There was even the Lord of the city who had taken an almost obsessive interest in her that wanted to take her as his own. All of them hungered for her and wanted her for their own.

Except him: The stranger.

Then Tanya came to realize something, she prayed it wasn't true, because this would no doubt cause her more pain in the near future. After so many years of being almost dead inside, she felt something scary overwhelming her.

She had developed a crush on the Stranger.