Shared Mercy Book 5 of the Guardians Saga

CH. 7.2 Theoretical vs. Practical

The next morning, after Rile and Gabe were at staff practice, Alex sharpened her sword and asked Cale to inspect it.

"I need to know something," she said as he leaned over it.

"Uh-oh," Cale groaned.

"Now why do you say that?"

"Because you're asking me when no one else is around. That's never good," Cale said.

"Am I that transparent or are you very shrewd?" Alex asked.

"There's no right answer to that," Cale complained.

Alex smiled, glad to have teased him, but it faded as she considered her sword. "Before I give up on 'The Drake Incident' as you so aptly named it, I need to know about those prostitutes."

"What do you want to know?" Cale asked, his tone puzzled.

"Can they leave anytime?"

Cale thought about that. He thought about it so much that he sat down next to Alex. He finally countered with his own question. "Why do you want to know?"

Her answer was tilting her sword so it flashed in the sun.

"You can put that away. It's not like prostitution on your world." Cale's tone was somber, even sad. "Theoretically, they can leave anytime. You saw that Drake had only two guards. They're not there to keep the females in line or even that they stay put. They're there to make the customers behave."

"So much for the theory. Go on to the practical," Alex said.

"Practically, they have nowhere to go. They can't return to their clans. They'd be shunned. They can't live alone: too dangerous. No one would marry a prostitute. They're stuck there."

"What about when they get too old?" Alex asked.

"They never live that long. One disease or another claims them."

"What about repentance? Is there no room for repentance?"

"I suppose," Cale said slowly and rubbed his muzzle. "They can claim repentance and apply for mercy status. It's rare, but it can be done. But it's a lowly social status. Almost all the prostitutes prefer their own life to that, even a short one."

With a sigh, Alex sheathed her sword. "I prefer the problems I can solve with this."

"Don't we all," Cale agreed.

"Are there any with mercy status in this clan?" Alex asked.

"I don't know but I could find out. Should I ask what you have in mind?"

"Do you really need to?" Alex raised one eyebrow at him.

His smile was wide and genuine. "No. I'll report back later."

"What do you have Cale doing for you now?" Rile sat down next to Alex as Cale walked off.

"Information gathering."

"Should I ask why?" Rile asked.

"You could. I don't know about should since it's nothing dangerous." Alex loved scoring on the exactness game they played. "I wanted to know if there were any members of this clan with mercy status."

"Maybe, in a clan this big, but it's rare. How do you think you can help them?" Rile asked.

She smiled and said, "Maybe you could tell me."