Chapter 10

Ariel wanted to talk to Hulda. It had all been so much. The time in the mines and then the introductory class. She had hoped to talk before making her decision, but then Uri and Hulda got together. Goody Brown was helpful, but Ariel was closer to Hulda.

She was nervous though. The image of Hulda clinging to Uri filled her mind. She didn’t know how she would feel when she saw Hulda. She hoped they could talk and she could get the younger Brown’s advice.

The evening rush had not yet started by the time she got to the Roasted Pig. Hulda was available. Her smile filled Ariel with warmth. Yes, she had things she needed to talk about, but this was the same vivacious Whore who started her on her path. Soon her purse was lighter and she found herself in the same room where she first had Hulda.

Hulda moved to undress Ariel. “Not yet. There’s something ... no, really a lot of somethings that I want to talk to you about.”

Hulda laughed. “Yeah. Ya had your first class today?”

“I’ll get to that. I was uncomfortable watching you with Uri yesterday.”

“Uri? Oh, your adventurer friend?”

“I guess he’s a friend. Yeah, that’s the one though.”

Hulda rolled to cuddle against Ariel. “Why ya uncomfortable?”

“Some of it is cause I know you. But I know you’re a whore and I’m gonna need to deal with that. But mostly it’s that he was drooling over you like you were a slab of meat.”

“Respect and whoring’s right tricky. Did you talk about that in class today?”

“No.”

“Master Craggs teaching?”

“Yes.”

“Ya ain’t gonna forget his comments on respect. An it ain’t easy even with his help.

“But general like, lots of clients want a quick fuck or to get off another way. Ya got to draw your own lines. I don’t mind clients drooling an seeing me as something to fuck. Leastwise so long as they see the skill I bring. So long’s they see whoring as a profession.”

“Did Uri see you as a professional?”

“Said I’m good in bed. Ain’t always easy drawing those lines, an immortals’re extra tricky. He thanked me right proper for giving him a good time.”

“I don’t know if that would be good enough for me.”

“What did you do with him, if a girl can ask?”

“He watched while I was fucking Theo.”

“An how ya feel about that?”

“He was so focused on getting off, I’m not sure he had time for me as a person. But in the moment after I was with Theo, I did think about sucking Uri off. I don’t know how I would have felt about myself if I did.”

“You’re an immortal. You’re like to know how they think better than ephemerals. Demand respect. But enjoy being lusted too. Enjoy bringing them to drooling; be wetter and wilder than they can imagine. An make sure they know ya work hard to give them that.”

“This isn’t going to be easy. What happens when I get it wrong?”

“Sometimes ya feel worthless. Ya get people you trust to remind ya how precious ya are, an ya make different choices next time ‘round.”

“Wow. There’s so much involved.”

“Yeah. An ya think you’d learn blacksmithing or running an army in a day?”

But this was just fucking. How hard could that be? Hulda’s point was that it could be very hard. When you added all the emotional stuff, helping shy clients, showing people how to treat you right, it was a lot.

“Thanks for talking it through,” Ariel said. “I just want to make sure people know how wonderful you are.”

Hulda hugged Ariel. “I’m glad ya care. An ya know I’ll watch out. No one’s gonna disrespect me for long.”

“Or they’ll be having none?”

“Yeah! Like that.” Hulda’s smile broke through Ariel’s unease.

“Anything else before ya’s naked in my arms?”

“I have more questions, but they can be after,” Ariel said.

“Good. It’s early, but I did manage to get a little dirty for ya.” Hulda patted her crotch. “Wouldn’t want to waste that.”

“I thought you’d smile,” Hulda said.

“It’s just all so much bigger than when it was us playing a game. I’m going to have clients, some of them dirty. And my job will be to make them happy. Not many of them will offer it up as a treasure like you do. Some will be embarrassed. Some won’t care.”

Hulda nodded. As they undressed each other, she asked a question. “Ya want to make sure ya ain’t pregnant by the time we’re done?”

Ariel jerked in panic. “Am I pregnant?” How could she be? She had just turned that on before class, but she hadn’t done anything sexual since then. She did fuck Theo last night—no, that had been two nights ago hadn’t it. But that was before she turned on pregnancy.

“Don’t know. Can check if ya like, but we always ask a girl that.”

“You didn’t ask me before.”

“Ya had pregnancy off in your settings.”

“Well, I certainly don’t want to be pregnant. What are you going to do?”

“If anything needs doing, a little magic an it’ll all be taken care of. Ya won’t even notice.”

“Yes, please.”

“You’re the client here. What ya wantin today?”

“I know I’m technically the client. But I need practice for what it’s like when I’m in your shoes.”

“If that’s how it’s gonna be, you ain’t getting me off all philosophical about respect. Get ya face in my cunt an show me ya like it.”

She did. Hulda gave her pointers. “Yeah like that. Keep licking, but I want your fingers in there too.”

“Uh huh! Lick me like a whore who knows her business. Fuck yeah!”

Soon, Hulda’s legs clamped against Ariel’s head. She was coming.

After, they cuddled again. This time, it was skin to skin. They had connected both emotionally and physically.

“So, ya holding up okay under everything? Your class, the stuff we talked about before?”

“I think so. I’m feeling better. Even though I was working as the whore, that was good for me. I feel more relaxed. You made me feel like my skill mattered.”

“Yeah, a good client can do that.” Hulda rubbed Ariel’s back. “Ya can even train some of them to do that for ya. Leastwise, when ya work with them regular like.”

Ariel stretched out under Hulda’s hands. “It is a lot though.” There were the things they had discussed: respect, feeling good about yourself, and all that. And then there were things like midwifing.

How was she going to do that? She felt like a fraud playing a woman.

“Hulda, another thing. You can’t tell anyone.”

“Aye. Ya know I won’t.”

“I’m not really a woman.”

Hulda’s eyes rose.

“I mean, this is a woman’s body. But in the immortal world, I’m a man. I’m just playing at being a woman.”

“Ah. That happens.”

“It does?”

“Ya think ya’re the only one?”

“No, I guess not.”

“O, honey, I’m gonna laugh, but not at you,” Hulda said. She started laughing. It kept growing until her laughter filled her body and she could hardly breathe.

Hulda got herself under control enough to talk. “When an immortal does that, they’re like to get right confused. An ya know what they do when they get confused?”

“No, what?”

“You’ll be there with an immortal client. She’ll be some beautiful girl. Like to take your breath away how beautiful she is. Like to have breasts”—Hulda looked at Ariel beside her—”like to have big impossible breasts like yours. It’ll be awkward. In the middle she’ll come out and say she don’t know how to be a woman. There ya are, and it’ll be your job to show her. Cause when people need help with something intimate, they’ll end up with a Whore.”

Now Ariel was laughing. “But I can’t!” Hulda started again and then they both lost it.

“You don’t seem upset.”

“Amused, sure, but not upset. Immortals’ll do anything whether they’ve know how or not. Guess that’s the curse: jump in an learn what ya need to not destroy the next world.

“An I guess plenty could benefit from learning what it is to be woman. We might fix up some things right quick if more men hear had lives as women.”

“All that seems kind of a mess for the ephemerals,” Ariel said.

“Yeah, that’s for sure! Sometimes I think mayhap your gods are too much in your image. Cursing ya until ya learn not to destroy the world’s all well an good. But dumping that on us? Perhaps your gods need a curse of their own.”

Ariel laughed. “Oh, I’d love to see them respond to that.”

She continued, “We’re getting off topic though. They said I’d need to be a midwife. It seems like Whores do a lot more here. In my world they’re just about sex. They aren’t well respected. You’d never turn to a whore for help except help getting off.”

Hulda scrunched up her face. “Ain’t like that at all here. Let’s see. People turn to Whores for stuff with babies—having them, wanting to have one, not wanting to have one, nursing, that sort of thing.”

Ariel blushed. “I feel totally unprepared.”

“An how much better prepared ya think the rest of your trainees are?”

“There’s this princess. She’s trying, but she doesn’t have a lot of comfort with commoners. I’m imagining her trying to deliver a baby. Or even worse, sit down with someone who doesn’t have a lot of money and help figure out whether to keep a child.”

“Yeah, exactly. Ya aren’t alone in being out of your depth. The way it works ain’t great especially for folks without a lot of money. The newer Whores take shifts helping with community service. Someone comes in, they can get who’s next right cheap. Anything else an they’s paying full price.

“Soon enough, you’ll be doing all that. An you’ll feel completely out of your depth, just like I was first time. An you’ll do your best. Sometimes you’ll fuck it up right good. Sometimes you’ll be just what’s needed.”

“That’s horrible.”

“If ya really can’t handle it, ya can call in someone for help. It’ll be hard but ya learn quick.”

“What else do Whores do?”

“Well, there’s the stuff ya expect—the fucking and sucking and what not. There’s helping people learn about bodies and sex.” Hulda grinned. “I’d pay to watch first time some father comes in all embarrassed and ya got to explain to his daughter about her moon blood.”

“Wait! Whores teach kids? That’s all messed up.”

“No! Course not. But adults trying to figure out their bodies, who’d ya have them turn to?”

“When do women get their periods?”

“Where does that word come from anyway? Girl gets her moon blood when she comes adult. So round about 18.”

Ariel was relieved at least slightly. “I don’t know where period comes from, but it’s the word immortals tend to use. Okay, in our world girls might start as young as twelve or so.”

“An ya say our world’s all fucked! What’s a girl gonna do havin babies that young?”

“We try and make sure they wait.”

“No sense in wondering why the immortal world makes sense when we know it’s fallin apart.”

Hulda continued, “Speaking of moon blood. Guess I should show ya how to handle it before ya have to help someone else. I’m guessing ya ain’t done that before.”

“Yuck!” Ariel was not ready for that. “Do I have to do it now?”

Hulda reached for Ariel’s crotch. “What are you doing?” Ariel asked.

“Checking your cycle. Need to play for a bit til I feel ya with magic.” Hulda stroked Ariel. “Ya got a week or two before ya need to worry.”

“Then let’s not do that now.”

“This is all so much.”

“Yeah, whoring ain’t easy. I bet ya make it though.”

“You say Whores get called in to help people.”

“Yeah?”

“Do they ... am I gonna need to help when someone’s been ... when my client’s been raped?”

Hulda hugged Ariel too her. “Yeah, there’s that too.”

Hulda organized her thoughts. “There’s the practical stuff: if they got pregnant an don’t want that, or if there’s a disease. Simple magic if they’ll have it from ya to fix all that up. But then there’s messy stuff: helping put them back together, helping them figure out what they need.

“Sometimes Whores are in that. Sometimes not. Again, ya do your best, sometimes you’re great, sometimes ya fuck it up big.”

“But if I fuck it up big, people get hurt bad.”

“And if you fuck up an escort quest, people get killed. Ya do escort quests, don’t you?”

“Not any big ones as Ariel, but yes I’d do that.”

“But look,” Ariel continued, “I’m completely out of my depth. Sexual violence in our world seems to be an entirely different thing. It’s too common, but much less common than here. There’s a lot of shame—worry people might think you asked for it or did something to cause yourself to be a target, worry about how others will perceive you if they know. A lot of people don’t even report these types of incidents.”