The Tale of Two ... Courtesans? [Elegia, PM to join]

[Crimson]

Continued from here ...

Weary from her travels, the Courtesan of Portshire arrived through the gates of Jaedaxia with little pause. The guards, seeing the crest of the Duke on the carriage, immediately let the driver and the lady inside with a curt, "Bonjour" and "Au Revoir" in succession. And within moments, the beaten parth leading to the city on the Penninsula soon transitioned into cobblestones which made for a bumpy ride at best.

From her window, Elegia could see the frost-kissed city and its many daring and beautiful buildings. The structures' architecture was unique from the Empire -- so she was told -- and Jaedaxians were proud of it. Over the shingled roofs of the minor apartments and multi-story shoppes were larger, more formidable shapes: buildings whose majesty were rivaled only by the heavens. Massive, powerful spikes, spires, and sometimes sculptures rose over these obelisks ... and to the south was the largest of them all: a castle, it seemed, monstrous and menacing; and a clock tower -- its face made more full, brighter than the Moons beneath the darkening skies.

"Vee arrive soon", the driver coughed from his bench in front of the carriage. He spoke through a slit which was still enough to let the frigid air inside to briefly conjure several shivers down Elegia's back, "You get ready now, oui?"

[Elegia Godiva]

Elegia did what she could to her appearance. She was sure that if she just had had the crowns a nicer new dress might have been better for the occasion. She hoped the duke and especially his son would like the woman inside the dress no matter the dress was like.

Usually they did...

She shifted in her seat and wrapped her cloak around her. It was colder than she had anticipated but the city looked awesome.

"I'm well ready..." she mumbled to the driver under her breath. She was interested to see what was waiting for her, what the duke had planned for his son.

[Crimson]

The Duke's estate consisted of a grand villa, a full two stories high made from redwood, maple, brick, and marble. The windows of each room glimmered softly even as a thin layer of frost lingered over them, creating an opaque hue. Red tiles formally formed the roof of the mansion which appeared fiery beneath the full rays of the twin Suns. The carriage made a graceful arc, circling around the pathway formed by limestone which carved its way toward the front double doors of the home. From there, Elegia heard the driver hop off his bench, mutter a few more nasty things beneath his breath, before abruptly opening the door on her right. "We're here", he wheezed impatiently.

From behind the snowy-haired corpse of a driver soon came two figures -- prominent in all sense of the word, including a hooked nose, uninterested smile, and rich garb. The Duke, as informally introduced by the driver's suddenly change in demeanor, was a proud man who walked as if each stride was a bother, a debt which he allowed to go uncollected, to whomever he was approaching. His wife, the Duchess Lady Norbeau, was very much like her husband save for the very fact that she was a woman, and a very nose-high one at that.

Duke Norbeau had a round face and a crown of balding auburn hair. His dark eyes and pale complexion made him seem a lot less alert than he really was. He greeted Elegia first with a crisp nod of his high and mighty head. "Bonjour", he said in fluent Jaedaxienne. "Welcome to our home. This is my beautiful wife, Lady Norbeau" he turned and motioned for his wife who also inclined her head in that forced fashion.

"Bienvenue", she said, "I pray that your travels were quite fair?"

When pleasantries were exchanged, the pair of nobles asked their driver (who was also their head butler) to escort the 'gentlewoman' to her apartment on the second floor. "We shall let you rest for now, dear", the bird like woman said with a thin smile, "but we expect you to join us for pracenda", she giggled sharply, "until then, non?"

Elegia's apartment was everything she expected (and indicated in her letter) and more. The room, though moderate in size, was enormous compared to what Elegia was used to. The modest bed was large enough to fit an entire family and their pets comfortably and included an overhanging frame with silk curtains to enclose her while she slept. Along each possible furniture type was a small oil lamp, complete with a set of matches in case she needed them. The window, which was on the southern part of her room, had the full view of the estate's small vineyard and fountain.

[Elegia Godiva]

Elegia looked at the villa when they approached it. She had no idea what she was going to see and this exceeded her expectations if she had any to begin with.

The Duke seemed...well, a duke. The lady of the house seemed more complex and Elegia wasn't quite sure how she should take her remarks and knowing smile. Usually it was the father who organized this kind of a thing for his offspring and the mother was usually absent, visiting relatives or something, when Elegia arrived. It would remain to be seen how this visit went.

Elegia nodded politely to each of them, answering the questions and trying to get a hang of who these people were inside their masks. She made some comments of the house to be polite and admired the things she noticed the Lady was waiting for her to comment on.

She agreed to see them at pracenda and was then escorted to her quarters. The letter she had sent to them asking for the basic necessities of her trade was something she did send out to every client of hers. And this one was more than she had expected. More than she had seen in Eras to be honest.

Elegia looked out of the window and checked the position of the suns. She liked them more than any clocks, at least the suns wouldn't lie. The view was spectacular as well. She liked to be upstairs, looking down on the view and she did love the fact that the owners of the house had left her in peace for now.

She went towards the bathroom that was next to the room with a doorway conveniently near to the closet where she hanged the little clothing she had with her. She then removed her dress and put her bracelet on the side table next to the door.

Elegia walked in to the bathroom and was surprised to find the large tub filled with hot water. They really did take a good care for their quests, she thought with a smile as she was removing the rest of her clothing.

The bathroom was more like a miniature spa. Every thing she would've found in a spa for the nobility was there. She let herself warm up in the tub, realising that it was good that there was a decent size fireplace in the bedroom to keep it warm. It sure had been cold enough while travelling.

She sank in to her thoughts for a while and then began to wash her hair with some kind of a shampoo that had a minty scent in it. Elegia treated herself, this was rare to her to say least.

At one point in her life she had had this and even more regularly, even often. But she had decided to leave that life and even though she didn't regret her decisions it was obvious that a little luxury wouldn't do a girl harm...

[Crimson]

While Elegia bathed, the Duke and Lady of the House Norbeau met downstairs in secret. Their son would be home soon from universitas. They each knew the consequences of their action; but every parent must, sometimes, teach hard lessons. And this was going to be one of them. The Heir to the Norbeau Estate arrived after being fetched by another white carriage drawn by a team of white horses. The gray-haired driver regarded his dark-haired counterpart with a crooked grin. They both knew what would happen next.

Even from upstairs, Elegia could hear the muffled shouts and horrible attempts at being civil.

"YOU DID WHAT??", came a voice, still high pitched but tinged with puberty. "I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS! I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU WOULD DO THIS TO ME!"

The Duke came next, his voice sure but somewhat shaken, "Your mother and I just thought --"

"NO! NO! I WILL NOT TOUCH WHOEVER YOU BROUGHT HERE TO MAKE ME INTO A MAN!"

"Do not yell at your father!", a shrill voice came next. It was the Lady of the House, her blood pressure rising past her already-flushed cheeks.

"It is for yourparty!", the Duke offered in distress, "we did this for you!"

"I WILL NOT HAVE IT!" There were a series of stomps followed by a dashing sound and Elegia realized that the young man was going up the staircase, weaving his way toward the hallway, toward her room.

[Elegia Godiva]

She was enjoying her bath as long as she heard the racket from downstairs. She got out from the tub, not liking where things were seemingly headed, and grabbed a robe from the beautifully made porcelain rack that was on the wall for towels and robes.

Her robe was deep green, made of silk she presumed. For a second she admired the robe before rushing to the door, making sure that the robe's belt was tight enough not to make the robe cover her naked body. The poor boy seemed terrified, not new to Elegia, that had happened to her before too...

She sneaked her door open, looking from it, trying to hear the last few words of screaming which were even more obvious and loud now that the door was open.
Suddenly she heard the boy stomp up the stairs.

When the boy, sobbing, it seemed, was in front of her door she opened it, grabbed his arm and pulled towards her with force.
The boy hadn't expected that so he would probably lose his balance and end up on the floor on her room.

She didn't have time to take a look at him when he was coming towards her, so now she was looking at him, trying to picture the reasons why these particular parents would organize something like this. Sometimes the boy was scrawny, sometimes he was muscular and tall, scaring the girls away from him, every now and then the boy was just lucky enough to have rich parents who would take care of things like this and then there were the ugly ones who would probably have to wait for their set up marriages before they would have any intimacy with a woman after Elegia. She examined this boy carefully, trying to see what he looked like, what his character was, which category did he fall in.

[Crimson]

There was a yelp followed by a thud as the young man crashed into Elegia, the two of them falling carelessly toward the wooden floor of her bedroom. "What the -- ?" but he never finished his demand. For a moment, both courtesan and heir regarded each other with a sort of surprised embarassment. The boy had cornbread colored hair, bright green eyes, and a sharp jaw that rivaled his father's double-cin. His hair was pressed down rudely over his head, unkempt, and presumably unwashed. He had a rough frown about him, but he was also blushing now that Elegia's womanly parts were pressed against him.

She was wearing but a towel afterall.

That, and she landed on top.

"Er, I'm so sorry", he mumbled before attempting to somehow relieve himself form the awkward position of being pinned below an almost-naked woman. "Err, are you, um, all right? I mean, you pulled and I just, uh, fell, and you um ..."

He was wearing a brown vest over a simple white shirt with matching trousers. He may have come from the local collegio. He definately had the look of a school boy ... maybe sixteen, no older than nineteen ordinations. He was young. But Elegia noticed that there was something else in his greey eyes. Something that told of fear, maybe even anger, something else that made him feel older.

[Elegia Godiva]

She was on top of the boy, staring in to his eyes that now shifted, looking for a way out. She couldn't quite tell what it was he was trying to hide, but clearly there was something.

Elegia stood up and fixed the towel around her a bit.
"Well..." she started and thought for a while as the boy got up from the floor.
"Either you are scared out of your mind, you have some girl somewhere you are in love with or there is a boy you are in love with..." she said, smiling to him gently, trying to show that she was honestly concerned and not mocking him in any way.
"Or there is something else you're hiding. And it might be best if you would tell me now before I find it out myself." she said, gesturing to the boy to follow her to the bathroom.

She quickly walked to the bathroom, slid in to the water and if the boy was following her she would ask her to either sit down to the chair that was in the room or get in to the tub with her. After all, he wasn't the cleanest young man in the Empire.

[Crimson]

He staggered for a moment, obviously torn between dashing out of the bedroom and snatching Elegia's invitation like the red blooded youth that he was. "Boy??" he nearly cried "I mean, no ... I am , um , interested in ... well, girls." There was a hint of embarassment in that statement; well, he was flushed now actually but despite that he managed to conjure enough courage to follow the coutesan into the bathroom.

The baige tiles and beautifully made porcelin matched the theme of the bathroom. Though it was only guest room, the Duke did not appear to have spared any expenses to make Elegia comfortable. When she began to undress to get into the tub, the young man spun so quickly on his heel that a guest of air wafted from his direction. "Excuse me" he shrieked, his voice cracking " ... I'll, um , get a chair ... miss." He struggled then to find a stool outside before wandering back, a free hand slapped across his face to keep himself from staring at Elegia, naked, in the soapy tub.

[Elegia Godiva]

Elegia slipped in to the tub and when the boy was getting his chair she made sure that bubbles and foam were covering her enough so that she could talk to him. When he came back, she smiled a bit.

"You know, it is all right to watch." she said to him, trying not to make eye contact so he wouldn't get more scared.

"So, tell me, what's the matter?" she almost added "dear boy" but then again boys this age didn't like to be called boys. This one was terrified and she wanted to know why. There was something going on and she wanted to know what it was before she was in the middle of the thing.

Elegia leaned back, closed her eyes and waited for the boy to speak. She had time. Unfortunately when she leaned back most of her breasts lost their foam cover. She thought to let that slip, he was going to have to get used to this or else this might turn out VERY hard work.

[Crimson]

The boy, fidgeting and completely flushed now as all the blood seemed to rush to his head, fiddled with his hands while completely avoiding eye contact. He stuttered for a moment when Elegia opened up the subject again. Where could he begin? His parents thought he was queer; his father thinks his hobbies are girly while his mother thought him a perfect little boy. He nearly swore in frustration, the boiling sensation rising from his stomach again. He could run away? But not anymore. Not with this woman laying, naked, in a tub in front of him.

Maybe he'll stay after all.

He looked up, but only briefly, before his eyes darted back toward the tiled floor as if there was something more stimulating to watch there. "My parents want me to become a man" he finally said, stiffly. "And I think, pardon me if I'm wrong, that they've hired you to do ...that." He wanted to say 'sex' but it didn't seem appropriate. Was she even that type of woman. He glanced up again, just in time to watch the last trickles of foam uncover Elegia's breasts.

He coughed, nearly choking, as he was suddenly caught between swallowing to keep his mouth from watering and breathing in abruptly.

[Elegia Godiva]

Elegia kept her eyes shut, hearing the boy gulping a few times. Inside her mind she was smiling widely, she had seen this oh so many times.

"They want you to become a man...so they don't think you're manly enough yet?" she asked, stretching her legs a bit and asking the boy to pass the sponge that was next to him in a basket full of things. She opened her eyes and looked at the boy carefully, as if not to scare him.

"You know this isn't exactly new to me, even if it is to you." she said with kindness filling her voice.

"This is what I do for a living and you could benefit from this as well you know. Want to know how?" she asked casually, in a conversational tone and took the sponge from the boy.

She then wet the sponge, put some of the nice soap in it and squeezed it a few times so it foamed. And then she stretched her leg and washed it slowly. Then the other leg, then and arm... All this time she was talking to the boy like there was nothing strange in this situation.

[Crimson]

As the young man opened his mouth to reply, there was a commotion downstairs that caused the pair to look toward the door. It sounded like someone stomping -- followed by several footsteps, all of them heading towards their location. There could have been some time to slip out of the tub and possibly grab a towel but the young man was already on his feet, his face a mask of horror.

He marched outside the bathroom and Elegia head the door open, slamming into the wall adjacent to it, and her room was suddenly filled with all sorts of feminine voices.

"Oooh such a handsome homme!" came a high pitched, nasal noise.

"Oh la la, you are such a cute little man!" another came.

There was a flurry of laughter, all of them cheap, and rang like coins.

"Bonjour, Erik" another voice cut in, this one more heavily set in Jaedaxienne than the rest, "you are more 'ansome zen your fa-zer sez, non?"

"Uh -- w-who are you ...?" the youth returned, obviously dumbstruck by the sudden manifestation of women in his house "w - what is going on here?!"

[Elegia Godiva]

Elegia was startled, having been so concentrated on the boy. When he stormed out she listened carefully, frowned at the sounds of the new voices and got up from the tub.

She re-wrapped herself in the towel and stepped out of the bathroom to see the other women. Somehow she had known something strange was in this request...it would have been too easy to just do her job and go home... The boy's parents were a bit peculiar and now Elegia knew that there might be even more in store for her.

She stood there, with only her towel on and looked to see the new courtesans. At least she hoped they were courtesans and not some common prostitutes. That would be a problem...

[Crimson]

The cheap laughter was a poor indication of the number of women actually in the young man's room. And when Elegia stepped out of the bath, she found no