Chapter 66: The Height of the Night (Patreon)

Fin rounded the corner of the street, and found himself staring at a sea of colorful skirts and heavily powdered women. There were several drunk gentlemen draped around the ladies, not to mention a good number of Knights.

Ducking his head in case any of the military men were from the castle, Fin managed to step in over the threshold into the establishment without notice.

When he was certain that he was well hidden in the establishment, the redhead raised his chin, and blinked several times to adjust to the brightly lit room. The moment his sight returned to him, he sneezed. The new assault on his senses came in the form of the overwhelming scent of perfume and incense that was so thick he nearly gagged.

Once he had recovered enough to stop making a disgusted expression, Fin scanned his surroundings. The room was far larger than he would’ve guessed given the size of the front of the house, with an oak bar taking up a third of the space against the left wall. Wrapped around the entire perimeter above them were banisters leading to the rooms the clients could retire to with their chosen companions. There were bright pinks and reds in the curtains and carpets everywhere, while the furniture was polished to a gleam. It somehow seemed like the room was aching with the bright colors and rosy cheeked patrons.

Stepping further into the building, Fin surveyed four burly men that watched the room from each corner. Clearly they were there for the protection of the women, but the redhead also worried that they could prove problematic if he needed to do a bit of sneaking around…

“Hi there, gorgeous, you looking to get ahead in life?”

Unable to stop the bemused smile on his face, Fin looked down to stare at a young woman, who barely looked over fifteen years of age scantily clad in a sheer chemise, and a black silk robe tied around her waist that made her look like a mourner. His amusement disappeared immediately, and instead he stared at the young girl with wild curly blonde hair and big brown eyes with a frown that made her take a step back.

“Ah, sorry if I upset you, sir! The girls did tell me not everyone would like my humor-”

“How old are you?” he demanded.

The girl straightened and jutted her chin out indignantly. “Sixteen! Why does that-”

“Gods. What’s your name?” He covered his eyes and tried to not dwell on this new dilemma.

“Chastity.”

Fin stared at her for a beat before speaking again. “Your real name?”

“Chloe. Ah! Shoot, I’m not supposed to-” The girl clamped a hand over her mouth when all of a sudden a tall slender brunette with a beauty mark painted on her left cheek appeared between the two.

“Would perhaps a more worldly companion suit your tastes, fine sir?” She batted her eyelashes, while simultaneously herding Chloe behind her protectively. Fin immediately respected the new woman. She wore significantly less makeup than her coworkers, and from the look of it wasn’t the slightest bit inebriated.

“Sorry, I did not mean to cause a stir.” He sighed. He knew young prostitutes were not uncommon, but it was more likely that poor young women would seek a husband for a few years before the whore houses. For a girl like Chloe to be there meant she had been truly desperate, or someone had sent her to work there…

“Quite alright, we are still training Chastity, but I’m more than willing to repay your patience.” The woman lifted her hand and was moving it towards FIn’s chest when he moved back with a shake of his head.

“No, thank you. I’m here with a business query for Madame Matilda, where might I find her?”

The woman stiffened, and as if on cue, the nearest guard approached them.  

“Everything alright here?” His bald head gleamed in the bright light of the room.

“This man says he has… a proposition for Madame Matilda.” The brunette shrank further away from the redhead as though she had just learned he had leprosy.

“Err, yes.” Fin noticed that the man in front of him was making eye contact with at least two other guards in the room.

“I’m new to town, and uh...” Fin looked around and was pleased to see that there wasn’t an abundance of attention aside from the guards directed his way. “Have I done something?”

The brunette cleared her throat awkwardly behind the guard as she backed away until she had merged once again with the crowd.

“I can count the people who’ve met Madame Matilda on one hand. She don’t take kindly to strangers stickin’ their noses in her business.”

“I’m just looking to find out why she would intervene in my business,” Fin countered vaguely.

The man’s wiry gray eyebrows shot up. “Madame Matilda interfered in your business?”

“She did.”

The guard frowned and eyed him up and down cautiously.

“Go have a drink. I’ll be right back,” he ordered gruffly before giving the redhead a shove towards the direction of the bar.

Without having any more coin, Fin acquiesced to taking a seat on one of the tall stools, but waved off the bartender when the man sidled up for his order.

In hindsight, Fin knew he should’ve been more skeptical when he was suddenly given a free drink, but was too busy scanning the crowd looking for any Troivackians to give it much thought. Besides, he’d been pacing himself well throughout the day, a single drink wasn’t going to interfere with his ability to think…

His first mouthful of the strangely bitter yet sweet concoction however snapped his attention to the barkeep, who was already sidling away from Fin’s side of the bar.

Giving his head a shake, the lights in the room began to shine to the point of haziness, and Fin found his fingers and hands exploding with strange sensations of tingles and lightness. The guard was returning to his side through the crowd, and the moment he was within earshot, Fin began to ask:

“What did you…” but the room was beginning to rock slightly, and so he found himself forgetting his train of thought.

“Come with me. The Madame’s assistant wants a word with you,” the guard uttered quietly while pulling Fin to his feet.

For some reason, the redhead found himself smiling exuberantly. He felt great! Everything was fun, people were having a good time, he was going to talk to Matilda then go back to Annika’s estate and talk with her. He’d be all set in no time at all!

Fighting the urge to hum, Fin allowed himself to be guided up the wood stairs to the second story with zero resistance. Peering out over the excitement below, he found himself grin becoming even broader until his cheeks felt sore. Everything seemed to magically glow and heighten the euphoria.

The guard had just realized that the redhead was not right behind him, and turned back annoyed to grab him by the elbow. Being quite content with his place in the world, Fin had no qualms with being pulled along. His newfound carefree attitude however, meant he was slow to react when he careened into a hooded figure that was exiting one of the rooms.

“Ahh, sorry about that!” He beamed as the fellow he’d bumped into righted themselves.

Once the figure had regained his balance, Fin found himself staring into the very surprised gaze of mage Lee.

“Hi there, Lee! How’re you doing tonight!” the redhead cheered, patting Lee’s shoulder as though they were old friends.

The mage was stunned into speechlessness.

The guard began pulling Fin along, before the elder could recover from his shock.

“Bye, Lee!” Fin waved happily as he resumed being dragged along the balcony.

Mage Lee stared after him perplexed, unable to move as he tried to make sense of what had just happened. It was in that state that his wife found him as she too exited the room.

“Alright we better get back, I just got inspiration for my book and- what is it dear? You look like you’ve seen a ghost?”Candace Lee righted her robes as a three prostitutes filed out of the room with dreamy smiles on their faces and only partially dressed.

“You go ahead of me, I think I saw… I don’t know what I saw…” Giving his head a shake, Lee began reluctantly walking in the direction he had seen Fin be carted off, even though he was unsure of whether or not he wanted to be involved in the cook’s affairs.

‘Gods, please don’t tell me that bloody witch is in trouble. Please just let it be that he is here for a good time…’

*

Sitting alone in an office that was tucked inconspicuously in the furthest corner from the stairwell, Fin looked around while still unable to stop smiling to himself.

Unlike the downstairs, the room had a masucline quality to it. With an expensive green carpet beneath his feet, and a large oak desk in front of him with a fireplace behind it, the room was cozy. What was even more surprising, was how quiet it was given the amount of noise both outside on the street the window looked over, and in the bar area beneath his feet.

Fin’s focus shifted to the painting of a horse hung over the fireplace with a gilded frame, and for some reason, even that put him in a good mood. As he begun considering standing up and perusing the room further, the door opened, and in walked a lissome woman wearing a stylish forest green dress, with chestnut brown hair, almond shaped brown eyes, and a thick red book under her left arm. She appeared to be barely older than Fin, yet carried herself with all the confidence of an army General.

“You’re the gentleman who insisted that Madame Matilda interfered with your business?” She began briskly without sparing him a glance.

“I am.” Fin smiled at her, but received a blank look in return.

“I see. How is it that Madame Matilda came across your path?” Seating herself behind the desk, the woman opened the book, and plucked up a white quill already dipped in ink with a business like efficiency.

“One of the girls here was sent to accost me earlier to distract me.”

The look of annoyance that flashed across the woman’s face was borderline frightening.

“Sir, our girls are meant to drum up business by-”

“I find it hard to believe Sultry Sandy needed to drum up business so aggressively.” Fin smiled innocently, but his words had the desired effect of making the woman in front of him stiffen.

“You’re certain that it was Sandy who was propositioning you?” she asked hesitantly.

Fin turned his cheek where he had no doubt remnants of the woman’s lipstick still existed, despite both his and Annika’s best efforts.

A dark expression fell over the assistant’s face as she stood and marched over to Fin. Grabbing his chin roughly and jerking it over so that his cheek was better exposed to the light, she wiped her thumb against the mark. Rubbing her two fingers together, she examined the texture in silence for a moment before turning back to her desk and seating herself.

“What business were you conducting that Sandy allegedly distracted you from?” The woman folded her hands over the crisp pages of the book and waited for the reply.

“Well that’s what I’d like to talk to Madame Matilda about. I also don’t believe I got your name.” Fin’s sunny disposition showed no signs of dimming, despite the bluntness of his words.

“I am Elizabeth Nonata. Assistant and manager when Madame Matilda is elsewhere. You will discuss your business with me, and tell me exactly what happened.” Her authoritative tone made it clear to the redhead that she was not a woman who had an abundance of patience.

“I won’t,” Fin replied breezily, and stood up. “I will come back another day to try and catch her. Good evening.”

Elizabeth snapped her fingers and immediately the guard that had escorted Fin to the room appeared.

“You will stay here until you tell me exactly what it is that is going on. This now concerns official house business,” she explained coolly.

“I’m aware. Which is why I will discuss it with Madame Matilda. You legally cannot hold me here.”

At the mention of the law, the woman’s eyes glinted dangerously. “You think the magistrate of this city will take your word over-”

The guard cleared his throat before tentatively stepping further into the room. Apparently he was more intimidated by the assistant than he was any male patrons…

“Miss Nonata, he seemed to be quite chummy with… Lee, who was with us this evening…”

At that, Elizabeth stood and rounded her desk staring at the redhead wildly. “Is that so?”

Giving a small effortless shrug, Fin tried to choose his words carefully. “Well for obvious reasons, I don’t like talking about knowing a mage of all things, but-”

A sudden knock on the door cut Fin off immediately.

Elizabeth’s gaze jumped to the guard, and after a moment of shared eye contact, she gave him an affirmative nod.

Turning to open the door, the man used his body to block the entrance.

“Private busi- why- uh- Royal Mage Lee! What brings you here to-”

“-Oh good Gods. Ashowan! You in there!” The unmistakable voice of mage Lee made its way into the office without any issue.

“Hi, Lee!” Fin called back jovially.

“Son of a… Miss Nonata you didn’t give the gentleman in there… that special brew the sailors taught you, did you?”

Elizabeth’s eyes widened as she turned to stare at Fin with newfound concern.

“I did, why?”

“Oh Gods… can I please come in?”

In another moment Lee stood in the room staring at Fin with open distress and vexation.

“Ashowan, how’re you feeling right now?”

“Great! Everything is bright, and wonderful! I feel tingly and- hey! Hey, we should try whatever that drink is with the others back at the-”

“You are not allowed going back to the castle in this state. Not ever.”

“Castle?! Mage Lee is this man nobility?!” Elizabeth’s alarm was making her voice rise in volume. Lee shushed her hastily before letting out a long aggravated sigh. Before responding, he shot Fin an annoyed eye roll as the man continued smiling like the village idiot.

“He’s not nobility but he is… a problem. Especially if his judgment is altered,” the mage grumbled bitterly.

“I don’t care much for your tone Lee- that tenth fountain was entirely your own doing you know,” Fin jumped in indignantly.

“Why is he here in my office asking to meet Madame Matilda?” Miss Nonata demanded after shooting the redhead an incredulous look.

“Gods I don’t know he’s…” Lee’s shoulders slumped forward in defeat. “Could I please speak with him privately? I’m sorry for the trouble.”

After a few awkward stares and shuffling, mage Lee and Fin were finally alone.

“Alright you dunce, what are you doing here?” Mage Lee demanded wearily.

“His majesty sent me here.” Fin replied good naturedly. “Why’re you here, Lee?”

Clearing his throat awkwardly, the mage shifted his weight. “Private business, Ashowan. What do you mean the King sent you here? You expect me to believe his majesty sent you to a high end prostitute house?”

“He didn’t send me here here. Just getting done what he asked took me here. Does Mrs. Lee know you’re here here?” Fin waggled his eyebrows making the elder turn crimson before closing his eyes in exasperation.

“She was here with me but- that does not concern you! Do you even know who it is you are set on annoying here tonight?”

“Well no, because everyone is being real cagey on letting me meet her!” Fin sighed as his gaze suddenly moved to the window, his eyes losing focus as he continued staring dazedly outside.

“What is it?” Lee snapped after a moment.

“That window’s glass is very well cleaned, don’t you think?”

Lee looked to the ceiling and begged the Gods for the virtue of patience.

“I don’t think that, no. Fin, you are currently irritating one of the biggest black market business owners of the city. One word from Elizabeth Nonata can have you disappear at any time, and not even your family will dare to say your name once Madame Matilda’s men are through with you.”

There was a moment of silence as Fin slowly turned his face back to mage Lee.

“Lee, don’t be so worried! After all, I annoy the King on a regular basis, and I’ve not been decapitated or imprisoned once!”

The redhead then began to hum to himself as he strolled over to the window and looked down into the street where the festivities were still carrying on. Mage Lee continued trying to think of a way to handle the delicate situation, but after several moments had to silently confess that the greatest challenge of the whole scenario centred around one important fact...

How much of the witch’s thought process was induced by the drug he had taken, and how much was just Finlay Ashowan being his usual pain-in-the-ass self?