Risciter carefully pulled the covers back from Ariana’s sleeping form. Would it have been enough to marry her? Would it have satisfied him? She was wearing an obviously borrowed shift from one of the whores. It was lacy and see-through. If it hadn’t been so dark, Risciter might have been able to better see round curve of her breasts. As it was, he could only make out a hint of her nipples. He was struck by the urge of turning on a light to see her better.
But he needed to be patient. He’d see all of her soon enough. He’d have her soon enough. And when he sliced his knife through her soft, white skin and felt the hot rush of her blood on his hands... Risciter shivered in anticipation.
He took a handkerchief out of his pocket and a small bottle that contained the drug he’d slipped in her champagne before. It was a versatile substance. It worked when ingested or inhaled, if it were inhaled in great enough quantities. He began to douse the handkerchief with the drug.
A scream rent the air.
Ariana stirred.
Risciter froze.
Another scream.
Ariana’s eyes fluttered.
Risciter backed away from the bed, melting into the shadows. He wanted it to be perfect. He didn’t want to fight her again. He wanted to make sure that he got it right.
Ariana sat up in bed, looking around, fear in her eyes.
Had she seen him? She couldn’t have.
“Hello?” she whispered.
Risciter didn’t move.
Ariana got out of the bed. She pulled a cloak that was hanging in the wardrobe over her skimpy shift and hurried out of the cottage.
Risciter waited until he was sure she wouldn’t see him, and then he followed.
* * *
Keirth was sleeping in the narrow bunk bed he’d slept in as a child when he heard the scream. Because his mother had often used her quarters to entertain men, he hadn’t stayed there with her often, only in the case of her not having a client, when they’d snuggle together on her large bed. And as he grew older, he didn’t even do that anymore, but always slept in this small room off the kitchen of the main house. It was lined with bunks, and there was still a battered toy box in one corner. There was even one small little girl who’d been asleep in one of the other bunks when Kieran came in. Lilla had clucked at him for sleeping there and made more offensive inuendos about him and Ariana. Keirth ignored her.
By the time there was another scream, Keirth was out of the bed and rushing up to the next level of the main house, where the scream had come from. He fingered his blaster as he ran, turning it on for easy access.
The sound of the scream had alerted everyone. Doors opened on the main hall as he came through, and women’s heads poked out, some accompanied by men, some not.
There was only one closed door. Keirth opened it. None of the doors in the main hall locked. It wasn’t considered safe. The women should always have a way out, that was what Lilla claimed.
Inside the room, Keirth took in the scene. The woman was naked, curled up in the corner with her hands in front of her face for protection. The man stood over her. He was dressed, at least partly. He was wearing his trousers.
“Back away from the girl,” said Keirth.
The man turned to look at him. He had a grizzled beard and crooked teeth. “Who the hell are you?”
Lilla appeared behind Keirth in the doorway, holding her rifle. It was one of the old-fashioned kinds, the kinds that used bullets. People on colony planets often found them more useful than blasters for hunting, since the blasters tended to cook the meat when they killed. Lilla had always had one for protection. Keirth had never considered asking her if she wanted him to get her a blaster. “I warned you, Rilf,” she said. “I had complaints about you the last time you were here. You can’t play nice with my girls, then you can’t come back here.”
Rilf sneered. “Uppity whores is a thing I really can’t stand.” He started for Lilla, his hand on his holster, going for a blaster.
Keirth was quicker. He had his out and pointed before Rilf could draw. “I wouldn’t if I were you.”
Rilf slowly took his hand off his blaster, giving Keirth a look of pure hate.
Lilla had her rifle aimed at Rilf now. “You get out of here now.”
Rilf glared at her. But he shrugged into his shirt and left the room.
“I’ll make sure he gets on his ship and leaves,” Keirth told Lilla, following Rilf with his blaster drawn.
Rilf didn’t cause him any more trouble besides spitting out a bunch of curses and nasty names for the women in the brothel. He boarded his ship and took off, still swearing.
Keirth went back to the main house, where Lilla was sitting outside on the porch in a rocking chair, still holding her rifle.
“Thanks,” said Lilla.