Chapter 3

When we entered the dining salon, all conversation stopped. I had changed from my travel clothes earlier, but was still in black. Esther was in a peach colored evening gown. As I said before, she was ravishing. Martha and Hatty walked behind us in their evening gowns. It was plain that everyone wondered who this girl was with the Royal Executioner and the Guild Master for companions. Certainly most of the apprentices and the other Guild members had not met, or been introduced to Esther. None of the clients had ever seen her before either.

After we reached the elevated head table and were seated, the Guild Master stood and struck a small chime to call for attention. What little conservation had resumed after our entrance immediately stopped.

“I would like to introduce our most recent addition. She arrived today with the Royal Executioner. Her name is Esther. Esther, please stand so that everyone can see you,” the Guild Master asked. Esther stood and bowed slightly. There was a large round of applause from all the clients present, and many of the girls joined in also. After a short time, Esther resumed her seat. In no time, the talk was again going at all of the tables, and most of it centered around guesses as to who Esther was, and why she was sitting at the head table.

Following a delicious multiple course dinner, a number of customers came up wanting to dance with Esther. Again the Guild Master made an announcement.

“Unfortunately due to injuries, Esther will not be able to participate in any activities, until cleared by the Guild Physician.” The customers were greatly disappointed, but the girls were a lot happier. A few customers still came by to talk to me, and to get a closer look at Esther. I was able to quietly inform her who they were before they got here, and she was able to greet them by name and position. Eventually, we were able to get away and retire for the night.

When we reached our room, Esther was still very excited.

“My Master, it’s just as you promised. It’s very nice here, but it’s not home. Can we have a home of our own some day?” she whispered, as she wrapped herself around me.

“Esther, my sweet, some day there will be a home for us. For now though, you must do your best to learn the things you will be taught here. The sooner that you do, the sooner that home will come to be.” We spent a wonderful night together, and enjoyed each other immensely.

In the morning, Esther was off for more processing and classes, and I was off to give my report to the Prime Minister and the King. The next three weeks were busy with legal business and some executions. Each night was spent with Esther. She was making remarkable progress.

After three weeks, I had to leave for one of the other major cities in the kingdom on legal business. I would be gone for from six to eight weeks. Both Esther and I were sad about being apart, but business is business.

The eight weeks apart were torture for both of us. When I returned, the changes in Esther were remarkable. She could read, and her writing was improving rapidly. Her reading although a little slow, was aided by her remarkable memory. She could also do her own nails and make up now.

The cooks loved her as she remembered everything they told her, and she could help with the recipes. The gardener was in despair, as everything she touched burst into bloom. She was a natural gardener. The music instructor was also in despair, as she showed little talent in that area. The dance coach felt she had great promise. The painting coach was in love, as she showed great promises as an artist. The seamstress was happy, as she showed some talent in that area.

Her sex education was handled mainly by Martha and Hatty. They had to admit that there wasn’t a lot that she didn’t already know. Their job was essentially teaching her refinements. Esther still had a long ways to go, but she was well on her way. She had already had her first three clients, and had charmed them thoroughly.

On my return though, all clients were put off, and we spent two days just enjoying each other. We talked and bathed. We danced and dined. We made love like minks trying to make up for eight weeks apart.

After two days though, it was back to work for both of us. Esther returned to her classes, and I reported to the PM and the King about what had occurred on my travels. During my two month absence, cases had backed up at the court here, and it seemed every day was spent in court, hearing cases that I had no more interest in than I did in cutting grass. I couldn’t wait to get back to Esther. Unfortunately part of her time had to be spent with clients. Business was business after all.

More trips followed this with more separation, and only seeing her sporadically. The loneliness was eating me up. Finally, I returned from a trip and realized that it had been one year since our arrival in the capital. I went to see Esther, but she was out on an extended assignment. Martha offered me any girl in the House including herself. We had done that a good bit in the past, but I turned them all down, had a drink or six, and went to bed alone. It was one of the lowest points of my life, not the lowest but low.

Three days later, Esther returned. She came to me with tears in her eyes, sobbing. I took her in my arms and held her close for a long time. Eventually, the tears and sobs stopped, but I still held her. We were there for a long time with her in my arms. Finally she spoke.

“My Master, I have missed you so! I am weary of this life. The men are poor lovers, and I must think of my nights with you to make them think that they have moved me. The classes are endless, and I no longer care what they’re about. I want only you, maybe a baby also, but mostly you.”

“My dear, sweet Esther, I too have missed you so. I cannot bear to be separated from you. I will speak to the King about resigning. Also to my Sister, about buying you out of the House. We’ll go away. I have a nice house in the mountains, but I haven’t been there in two years. My servants will be glad to see me again. We’ll go there and get away from everything,” I told her.

The Prime Minister and the King were upset about my desire to resign. They begged and cajoled, promising me fewer trips and more time off. The King was in poor health, and his son, Prince John, asked me to stay on a while longer. At least until they could find a suitable replacement. I agreed reluctantly.

If I thought the PM and the King were bad, they were as nothing compared to my Sister.

“Are you out to ruin me?” she screeched. “Would you reduce me to a tavern slut? Do you not know that Esther is the most popular girl in my House? She’s booked up weeks in advance, and we have made more on tips from Esther than all the rest of my girls combined. Are you out of your mind? Have you forgotten that business is business?” she demanded in anger.

“No,” I reminded her, “I have not forgotten.” Then I asked her, “Who brought Esther here in the first place?

“You did,” she answered reluctantly.

“I simply wanted her back,” I told her. “We just want to go away by ourselves.” Martha wanted to hear this from Esther. Esther came in and told her the same thing, but Martha still didn’t want to give in.

“Only a few more weeks,” she begged. “I have a lead on a hot deal. We’ll make plenty,” she explained. She promised to reduce Esther’s assignments and ease her out of the house. The plan almost worked. Ester’s schedule was reduced. The house cited exhaustion as the reason. Esther and I were together for several nights before she had to return to the hot client.

With one week to go, Esther went out with the big client, but something went very wrong, and Esther was found in the street that night badly beaten and bloody. Because of her popularity, the city guard all knew who she was by now. She was quickly carried to the House, and the Guild Master awakened. Martha immediately sent for the capital’s leading physicians. Then with foreboding, she sent a runner for me. She need not have bothered. I had already been alerted by the Commander of the City Guard, and I arrived at the house shortly after the physicians.

Martha was as near hysterics, as I had ever seen her. She cringed when I came through the door, as well she should have. I was dressed in black with my sword on, and a pistol in my sash. I had brought two assistants with me. One carried my heading ax, and the other a selection of whips. Girls and on lookers scattered before me. I marched up to Martha and looked her in the eyes before making my demand.

“Where is she?” I had not even raised my voice, but my Sister, Guild Master of the Prostitutes Guild, quaked like a mouse confronted by a cat.

“She is in with the doctors. They’ll let us know something soon,” Martha stammered. I stared into her face, and started to shake in my anger.

“Guild Master,” I spat at her in a low menacing voice, “if she is badly hurt, I will flail the culprits in the city square to with in an inch of their lives. If she dies, I will execute all concerned, sparing no one. Hear my words.” The Guild Master, my Sister – beloved of many years – collapsed on the floor of her own Guild House.

Some time later, the Guild Master of the Physicians Guild came out to speak to those assembled in the hall. His two assistants remained inside working on Esther. He was an old man, gray of hair and skin, and he was in failing health himself.

“Master Judge and Executioner, I had not expected to find you here in person,” was his first remark on seeing me.

“She is a personal friend, Master Physician. How is she?” I asked.

“She is better now,” he replied. “She will need a long period of convalescence. Her injuries are serious. She has three cracked ribs, a broken arm, and her back and thighs are a mass of welts from a beating. There will be scars on her face from the cuts there. We have had to sew them shut. Her breasts are bruised, but not badly injured. Her vagina was sorely abused. I will have to see how it heals, before I will know if she will ever be able to have children. There was an anal tear that we had to sew up also.”