Chapter 7

The Pig was lonely and forlorn under the mid-afternoon sun that made its way through the soot-stained windows. The common room was empty, a few platters left on tables from lunch. The bar was vacant. Ariel called out.

“Moment!” came a voice from the kitchen. Soon Goody Brown poked her head out.

“Ah, Hulda said you might be round. Come on back.”

“To the kitchen?”

“Aye.”

Ariel followed Goody Brown past the bar and into the kitchen. Hulda was chopping vegetables into a pot. Goody Brown began, or more likely continued, washing potatoes.

“Hulda, you said I could come by after?”

“Yeah. Of course. Mind we keep with the stew making while we talk?”

“No, not at all.”

“How’d it go?”

Ariel smiled. “It was hard. I got a chance though. If I can come up with somewhat over 60 silver in two days, I can become the first immortal whore trainee.” She collected her thoughts. “You were right though; they didn’t want to let me do it.”

Hulda smiled at Ariel. “Good for ya.”

Goody Brown’s smile barely reached the corners of her mouth. “That must’ve been some talking,” she said.

“Yes. The guild master was really upset about the idea of an immortal becoming a whore.” Ariel looked down. “I’m just now beginning to appreciate what all you do. I hope that you won’t see me trying this as disrespecting your hard work and dedication.”

Her words sounded hollow even to her. No matter how much she wanted to avoid belittling the Whores’ sacrifice, nothing made up for it being a game for Ariel and the totality of life for the ephemerals. If Hulda were tarred with shame for what she did, she could not stop playing or roll a new character. If Hulda were vulnerable with a client who proved untrustworthy, she could not simply add the client to a block list to escape the intimacy of the moment.

“Aye, this will be a hard change for some. Ya might especially need give the masters and trainers some time,” Goody Brown said.

“What I’d like to know,” Ariel said, “is what the big deal is? Why was the Whores Guild formed?”

“For protection,” Hulda said. “So we could have a bit of control of our lives. So we could offer our bodies on our terms.”

Ariel’s stomach lurched. “What do you mean?”

“More than three in four women are raped. For men, it’s over half.” Goody Brown squeezed her eyes shut. “Whores Guild’s the only way to be safe from that.”

Hulda nodded. “As Whores, we’re gonna sell ourselves. So we get to choose when, an how, an who. An if someone don’t like that, the guild’s got the power to make it stick.”

Ariel’s insides had turned to ice. What had she done, sticking herself in the middle of this? “Only way to be safe? But can’t the ... yeah can’t the watch do anything? Can’t people be punished enough so they stop?”

“Ariel,” Hulda said, her voice calm and quiet, “sure watch might stop something, they come across it while it’s happening. But how ya gonna stop an immortal from doing something later when the watch’s not there?”

“Besides,” Goody Brown said, “if the watch goes up against immortals, they might win the battle, but their losses are permanent.” Her voice roughened as she continued, “There’s worse than rape.”

Worse than rape? Ariel wasn’t sure about that. She wasn’t sure that Goody Brown really thought that either.

“Look. I’m sorry ... I had no idea, and I don’t want to ... to be a thoughtless immortal. But I’d like to understand. Can I ask a couple of questions?”

“Aye. You’ll need to understand, and we can help ya.” Hulda echoed her mother’s words with an enthusiastic nod.

“Why can’t you—the watch, somebody—do whatever the Whores Guild does to punish or stop or whatever? Why can’t the Whores Guild do it? Why can’t Whores protect everyone?”

“Council of Balance would come down on the Whores Guild if we started thinkin bigger than Whores.”

Council of Balance? What was that? Ariel didn’t want to show her ignorance more than needed on such a sensitive topic. She pulled up the game wiki and searched. Perhaps she wouldn’t need to ask.

The Council of Balance was an ephemeral manifestation of the AI creators designed to make sure that the game remained enjoyable to play. Their primary mission, according to an official page, was to make sure that it remained possible to explore the darker sides of life without the world becoming collateral damage. So mages turning cities into wastelands? Something to be stopped. A bit of theft and assassination? Better make sure the localities didn’t make the punishment too harsh. And rape? Well, apparently that was just a darker side of life. Ariel was going to be sick.

She stumbled out of the kitchen. She didn’t want to throw up where the Browns were making the evening meal. She bent at the waist, her knees struggling to hold her. But nothing would come up. Apparently, the game was not that realistic, or at least not how she had it configured. She fell to the ground. She was cold.

What had she done? She hadn’t known. But she could have asked. There was no way she could go forward as a whore now. They had set up a place of safety, and there she was, entitled and cosseted as the guild master had said. Yes, there she was, marching in, demanding to be part of it, sure that being a Whore couldn’t involve deep emotional issues like those that had scarred David in the ogre campaign. The ephemerals were selling themselves to control when they were forced to offer their bodies—to escape a life of immortals like her overpowering them and exploring “the darker side of life.” And she thought she could play at that.

Hulda’s hand burned against her shoulder. She flinched away. What did Hulda think of her? “I’m sorry,” she said into her chest.

“I didn’t know ... didn’t mean to force ... to take advantage of you.”

“Ya ain’t done that.”

“You join the guild because it’s the only way you can stay safe. And there I am ... and I didn’t even know that’s what you had to do.”

“Ariel, look at me,” Hulda said. Her hand under Ariel’s chin was warm. “Won’t lie: I like knowing that the guild’s got my back. But I ... we’re proud of what we do. I’m proud of what ya did with me.”

Ariel shook her head.

Hulda again met Ariel’s eyes. “I joined because it’s a job. A job I’m good at. Are ya gonna try an tell me I don’t get to do that?”

“No, but—”

“But nothing. Ya said you respected me. Want to be like me.”

“Yes, but I didn’t know.”

“Didn’t know that life’s hard? Didn’t know that ephemerals ain’t gonna be around forever? Didn’t know that sometimes it ain’t easy for us?”

“But...”

“Ma! Can ya come here an help me pound it into Ariel that she ain’t responsible for the hard things in the world?”

“Aye, Hulda.”

Hulda was sitting next to her. Goody Brown stood above.

“Ariel, the Pig’s a lot of work,” Goody Brown said.

“Of course.”

“We must do it. If we don’t we’d be turned out.”

“Uh huh.”

“If we’re turned out of Berg’s Keep, we’d be dead right quick. Bandits or food for the animals. Hulda’s about right for a pack of wolves to have a meal.”

Ariel winced.

Hulda continued where her mother left off. “An ya don’t say your taking advantage of us, putting away our cider an stew.”

“No! Your fare is good. Are you saying you’re under charging?”

“Nay. We offer good value, but Goodman and I charge our worth.”

Goody Brown continued, “Life’s full of hard choices where ya gotta pick.

“Guild Master Kessler’d have no truck with Whores forced to join. You’ll see.

“Guild’s a choice. Sometimes hard. Sometimes easy like it was for Hulda.” She patted her daughter on the head. “That one couldn’t wait to be a woman. So proud her mama made people happy. That’s what she was gonna do when she got big.”

Hulda laughed. “An I still feel like that. Sure sometimes it’s just a guy giving me a poke or a girl needing my tongue in her twat. Ain’t bad; nice once we get used to each other. But then there are the firsts, the ones who need a shoulder, the ones who need something special in their life, an even the ones who just need a little love.”

“Okay. That helps. But there’s no way it would be right for me to be a Whore. After the immortals ... after we just go around like ... go around raping and killing. It wouldn’t be right.”

“So ya’re just gonna give up on trying to be the first immortal Whore? On following your path?” Hulda asked.

“I can find some other way to follow the path.”

“Really?” Probably not. David’s desire—the one that lead to Ariel—had been to be like Hulda. She shrugged. “I can find another path. Or I can go back to another character.”

“What’s any of that crap gonna do other than having ya give up on something ya wanted?”

“Avoid undermining what it means to be a Whore.”

“Were you gonna just play at being a Whore or were you gonna give it your best shot?”

“That’s just it. For immortals this is all play. For you this is real life, but for me, I can walk away. I can become someone new. I can go back to the immortal world.”

“Some immortals treat it like a game, sure. Ain’t just whoring where that matters though. Ya sayin that merc companies shouldn’t work with immortals cause it’s not a big deal if ya die an get a chance to come back?”

“Hulda, mercs aren’t so hot on immortals ya know,” Goody Brown said.

“As officers not often. Ya ain’t gonna show me a merc company that’ll turn down immortal privates though. But Captain Archer’s telling me how they’re happy with a new immortal lieutenant.

“He’s respectful like. Not gonna waste their lives.” Hulda tapped her chin. “Dead’s worse than raped. Yet why’s a merc company okay and the Whores Guild not?”

Ariel worried that if she thought hard about it, she’d conclude that even commanding NPCs in battle was an affront to the risks they faced. She wasn’t going to let her mind wander that far now. “The guild master said I’d never understand what it’s like for ephemerals. I’d turn it into a joke hurting her members who actually had to risk themselves.”