Caught In Quicksilver

One

"Did you see that? That woman?" She was beautiful... Or rather what I had seen of her before she had turned around to tend to her other tables was... Beautiful... that is...

What had caught my eye was the striking shade of raven that constitutes the long hair braided and laid so carefully over her shoulder... Her silver eyes holding my attention so long when I was finally able to look at something other than her hair that I did not have the chance to even wonder what the rest or her actual face looks like... She seems so lovely, even from here... And to be working in a place like this... What on earth could possibly plague her soul so? I know that some do this kind of work for liberation so that they are free to live without a husband, the brothel protecting them and that some do it simply because they are born into it or they fall on hard times... And I even know that some of them actually enjoy it... But I cannot fathom what category she fits in to, her eyes and hair so striking, though for some reason I feel as if her expression was a sad one when I had seen it...

We've been stationed here for nearly three months now and I've not seen a single decent face worth sketching... Not a single person here has made my fingers itch the way they used to whenever I found myself around a blank piece of paper and some spare charcoal or unattended inkwell... I've also never seen or heard of any human with such unique coloring... I had nearly thought her a doll or a ghost her skin was so flawless, her complexion washed pale by the heavy smoke hanging in the air of the pleasure parlor and the color of her modest choice of a pair of mens trousers and a tunic that almost hides the hinted lushness of her curves as the candlelight sets her body aglow... I think her clothing is what had drawn my eyes the most... Not a single inch of cleavage showing, not even a shoulder exposed to possibly incite the mere idea of wanting her in a manner that may be less than appropriate anywhere other than here and a married couple's bedrooms...She would look so stunning even transcribed onto paper...And if I can just get one more good look at her face then I shall be maybe the first one ever with the privilege of recreating a true masterpiece.

"Which one, Sebastian? Look around, lovely ladies, all scantily clad and bedroom bound if you're brave enough to try your hand." Bernard says it like it's a good thing... As if he is so very proud of himself for promising me a night of drinking and then bringing me to a place like this... What is basically a brothel of all things... 

As if I should want to be here taking advantage of these women's misfortune. Sure, he's managed to finagle me into a few such establishments at home in the city surrounding the palace, but he had known that each woman I had bought time from had spent none of the time on her back... Instead, I made sure they had a moment to eat and time to rest and helped them with things like adjusting corsets so they can breathe better and pounding a nail back into a spent heel all while paying them for their time... He has absolutely nothing to gain... But I had no idea that he would even be able to find a place like this in such a sleepy village... It's not even that big of a village... The need for it to have a brothel gives me so little hope for the way the world seems to be moving on with itself... Wars... The selling of bodies made into a trade...

I miss the old days where the supernatural beings who rule us all were happy to leave the rest of us out of the fray... And now, look, the pair of us not only pledge to and serving the King and Queen as a pair of royal babysitters drawn away from a life of peace in the castle to watch over the youngest Prince now that he's decided that he can no longer live in King Edmund's shadow instead of returning home where he belongs with the other Aristocrats as the war starts to grow closer to our shores... As though us knights have any illusion of Prince Malachai being helpless or in need of the small army of defenders he had been sent... 

As if the royals actually need us at all without actually being interested in participating in the mounting war outside of our borders or any future war... There was no need to dispatch so many of us from the capitol where most of us had settled in so nicely too so that we might watch over the Prince who thinks himself of little importance or real value while he slums his way through every single town and village that boasts pretty girls and ale, that while not completely decent, is drinkable and does its job.

There is no reason for us to be here... And absolutely no reason for me to be here of all places... I can barely breathe in the direction of a woman without worrying that I've tarnished their honor in some way... And now I'm sitting in a parlor where more than one woman is barely half-dressed with so many sets of eyes on their bodies... 

They do not deserve to be ogled by me or any of the other men here, no matter how much money they've come to offer... All because the King's youngest brother has decided that he cannot stand the sight of his older siblings, Edmund now on the throne officially instead of just a figurehead as of last month, Princess Carilynn finally engaged properly to that strange Doctor she's always being seen with, and the twin Princes Mikale and Salem having been put in charge of trade, the two of them flourishing in the shared position... Though it is not as though they purposefully left Prince Malachai to drift in a shallow pool of uselessness... They encouraged the cheeky scoundrel to become a Prince of the people and told him to help take charge of their charity work, mostly urging him to volunteer his time at the local clinic they run... Which is how I can only assume Prince Malachai heard of this town that we're in now... The main draw for him presumably the parlor that we're sitting in right now, or one of the gambling dens that we passed on the way here.

Even still... "The one with the silver eyes, did you really not see her?" Her eyes had blinded me in such a spectacular way when they had caught the light and I dare say my vision will never actually be the same...

"I've not seen any woman with silver eyes, Sebastian. I think maybe you've had a drink too many... Why not go and find someone to take care of you for a little while. And I mean it as I've said it. Don't shame me by doing nothing but rubbing the whore's feet for the next hour." As always I am at loss as to what to say to the man who was assigned my watch partner all of those years ago... I always tell myself not to spend time with the man and as I excuse myself we both know that I'll not be taking advantage of the services offered here other than food, drink, and conversation, the bodies for sale here not for touches from the likes of me... I will not ever understand how he does not understand that it is cruel for vampires to buy time from humans when they have so very little of it...