Shakini and Frida, who was responsible for the everyday managing of the mansion, and will continue to do so for me, cautiously wonder if they can talk to me alone, so we move a bit to the side.
They inform me that Radgeirrson has secrets, and owns a feast hall called 'The red maiden' in the city of Reiekrône, and a mansion just outside Reiekrône called 'Klaahof' on the other side of the sea, south of the Daes Kingdom. It is always a hell of a problem to understand where someone is referring to, party because the geography seems to be the same as in Midgård, so I feel a need to actually place it on my mental world map, instead of just 'a few days that way'. But I have heard of Reiekrône before in Karis geography lessons and if I understand Frida correctly and the geography really is similar to Midgård, Reiekrône should be in the area around either Hamburg or Bremen. A large city on a large river, two to three days in from the sea, on the other side of the Kingdom of Daes.
There are a couple of ownership documents upstairs in on of the bedroom chests that they promise to show me. Both are new acquisitions from this spring, and somehow Radgeirrson has been on his way to getting a noble 'Graef' title from the Queendoms ruler, Queen Damman, and planned to establish a branch of his trading empire. I recognize that name. I think that is 'The Eternal Queen'?
Frida confirms my suspicion and she knows about Radgeirrsons secrets because she has had to translate Frigones for Radgeirrson for several years, while he has slowly learned the trade language. Fridas actual name is Frederique, and she comes from the southwest, beyond Daes and Damman at the Frigonese border, and of course she knows the language and has interpreted for more than one newly arrived slave girl. However, she wants us to keep calling her Frida. For some reason, Radgeirrson has kept everything secret, and Frida doesn't know if Radgeirrsons wife Aldis knows, but when Radgeirrson sometimes said that he traveled south to Forsheim, he actually traveled abroad, and she thinks he said similar to his wife and didn't always go straight to Borgarsandr.
Frida goes on to inform me that last spring an eloquent, beautiful and rich woman followed Radgeirrson back here, Miss Schainke, and has lived here or at the local feast hall 'The blushing maiden' ever since. At first they thought she was a mistress, but they never had sex and she was sent by Queen Damman to teach Radgeirrson the local language with dialect, dance and etiquette there. She left the day after Radgeirrson was convicted, and knew very well what was going on here and was actually pleased with how disciplined the staff were. She did not seem to care about Radgeirrsons sadistic and sexual violence against them, and it was better that Radgeirrson 'enjoyed himself' with slaves than 'real women'. A very strict lady who was quick to discipline with her hand or hit them with her riding crop if they did something wrong or weren't fast enough. Radgeirrson respected her, and made sure that she would get a good impression of him from the start, and on arrival gave her a beautiful horse, which she took with her when she left. It was only later that he learned that Miss Schainke didn't care what he did to his slaves, and she spent much of her time riding around if Radgeirrson was busy or away.
I don't think I will like that Queen Damman.
More locally, I apparently secretly own 'The blushing maiden' too. One of Borgarsandrs feast halls. Radgeirrsons secretly owned the business and the land, and the official owner Madam Ranhlif is only employed and a front woman. Frida and Shakini are the only two who know on Radgeirrsons side, and Radgeirrson has used the income as his 'live life' budget. Female slaves that Radgeirrson was tired of or they became 'too old', or he just didn't consider it worth 'training' after they had been 'tamed', and which he had not been able to sell to his friends, have officially been sold on to 'The blushing maiden'. But in reality, he, and now I, own the feast hall. So he could earn silver on them, and partly used it as an explanation of what happened to the slaves that came here to the mansion if anyone asked. After a year or more with Radgeirrson, quite a few slave girls have been happy to be sold there, as after a couple of years as 'maidens', they have been able to buy their freedom, and life as a 'maiden' is 'easy'. Many continue to work on 'The blushing maiden' for at least another couple of years, because it is an easy life and well paid, at least as long as they are younger, charming and willing. I know it isn't a huge stigma to have been a prostitute in this culture, and sometimes maidens become concubines, and some have married and have families.
Asbjörn hasn't left, and does not seem to do so immediately, so I signal Iselin and Kari to join me, but stop Alith, Ciara and Caecilia by making eye contact and shaking my head. Better to keep this to as few as possible until we make a decision, and both will probably be my future wives. Frida explain it all from the start.
Iselin is fascinated by 'The Eternal Queen' that she has heard stories about, and would absolutely not mind to visit that Queendom. The Queendom is called 'The Eternal Queendom' precisely because it is a matriarchal rule, and in the Queendom daughters inherit from mothers while sons from fathers, and the mothers lineage is more important and prioritised. It is always clear who is the mother of the child. There has been a queen on the throne of that Queendom for centuries, and it is forbidden for a man to rule, or call himself a queen. Beside the funny reverse gay issue, I guess the queens been wise enough to close that loophole. Some kingdoms in Midgård Europe failed to see that, and ended up with a woman calling herself King. Anyway, when there have been conflicts and major wars, the Queendom has always survived, only a little poorer. Iselins belief that Gods and Fate protect the Queendom is entertaining, but I think Kari is right that it is because of politics, and that there is some important event in their religion that says that if a male takes the Queendom he has condemned his lineage to suffer. That, along with the Queendoms reputation for having lots of strong knights, and the fact that the Queen have succeeded in marrying one of her daughters or sons to the rulers of both warring factions even before the conflict, or promised it to the winner, has probably also helped.
The properties etc in the Reiekrône is a problem, but for now a distant problem, so we focus on the feast hall.
'The Blushing Maiden' or just the Maiden as it is also known, has a reputation for being the best feast hall in the kingdom, and the feast hall includes adjacent buildings that function as an inn with bedrooms and a bathhouse in several price ranges except the lowest. The feast hall is overall nicely decorated, and the large feast hall is divided into two parts where one is really nice and the other more normal, but still above average. The same goes for the inn. A bar on each side serves mainly drinks, and each side has a small stage for musicians on one long side and a large fire pit in the middle for heat and light. Each part has a second floor that runs along the outer sides, and the finer part has several smaller side rooms and nooks along both floors. Several stairs that divide the place makes it a slightly deliberate mess, where some private areas have thick draperies or even doors. Ideal for groups of different sizes and with different needs for discretion, and in the finer part it is not uncommon to see guests and smaller groups arrive with a cloak with a hood and simple mask, and there are masks to borrow.
The feast hall has good mead, wine and food if you pay for it. The musicians are good and there are also various games. Guards will not hesitate to take care of noisy bothersome guests, and the woman in charge of order and the guards seems to be a sadist. Most of the guests are there just to stay for the night, drink with friends or have fun, and female guests are very common. The feast hall is considered a neutral meeting place, and the masks are partly to be able to have meetings and conversations without starting rumors. Wearing a mask makes it harder to follow someone in there, and a cloak that can be turned in and out for a different color is also practical. It happens, of course, that married men and women use the feast hall as a discreet meeting point, because who knows who come and go where? The design of the feast hall with extra buildings means that there are four small courtyards, one at each end of the feast hall, and also a couple of discreet side exits.
The staff wears red clothes with blue arms and decorations. But most of the visible 'maidens' are women with 'negotiable affection' - aka prostitues - and many of them are free women. A color other than blue on the collar of the dress indicates their price range, where yellow is the most expensive, gray is the middle class, and green is the cheapest. What parts of the collar is a color other than blue indicates how 'willing' the woman are. It can be only two small sections over the shoulders which means hands, to over the breasts which means breasts, and middle front means mouth, to the back collar which is self explaining. In addition to bedrooms and bathrooms in the inn, there are also many smaller rooms. Going 'behind the curtain' is a euphemism for visiting the pure brothel, or using a space for sex, and of course this can also happen behind a curtain or door in the feast halls alcoves and rooms, or the inns bathrooms and bedrooms. As an overnight guest, various arrangements can be made. It is possible to rent a 'troupe' to attend a feast elsewhere, but the maidens are generally too expensive, and they were not the ones who were on my island three weeks ago.
Madam Ranhilf, who manages the feast hall, has a reputation for taking good care of guests and the staff under her, and she has a Fjölkunnig named Vif who works there for guests and staff. If a maiden happens to become pregnant, it is fixed, and the maiden is kept away until she has recovered. A maiden out among the guests is never sick, pregnant, has bruises or is in a bad mood. It is rare, but a maiden never dies - she has always left, as some do. Some maidens only work 'behind the curtain', and these are the ones with the lowest status and are the cheapest. A maiden no one wants to pay for and is not appreciated by the guests, is moved to work behind the curtain or behind the scenes with food, cleaning and other things, until they are finally fired or leave.
Two former maidens have become Ranhlifs right and left hand who help manage the business, and they also know that Radgeirrson is the real owner. Oda helps to take care of the general operation. Nidbjorg is by far the youngest of them and seems to be a sadistic bastard who according to Frida has killed at least four since she left the mansion. Frida knows that she has killed two men and three women, and she has injured and hurt many more. Nidbjorg has not been convicted of any of it, and it has mostly been hushed. Nidbjorg comes from here and was sadistic enough at the end of the training - when she helped in the training room - that Radgeirrson didn't dare to have her near him, and immediately sent her to The Blushing Maiden.
After the second time Nidbjorg went too far with a client who was too rough with her, she was promoted to keep order, which she has excelled at. 'Went too far' is a nice euphemism when Nidbjorg had fun suffocating the man until he fainted, tied him up and put a gag on him, before she beat and raped him with a wooden stick, and then slowly strangled him while she rode him. And apparently let him regain conciousness so she could get several orgasms before she finally strangled him to death. Sure, he threatened her with a knife, but still. The other man was not much better as she cut some sejdish symbol into his skin, and then castrated him, grilled his penis and ate it in front of him. He had beaten Nidbjorg because she didn't want to take him deep enough and swallow, so she fulfilled his wish. At least she let him live. And that is what Frida knows is true, because Radgeirrson told it when he was drunk and happy that he got rid of Nidbjorg in time, and told her about Nidbjorgs last session in the training room.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Nidbjorg was slowly strangling the girl he raped, but afterwards he discovered that Nidbjorg had strangled the girl to death, while she looked into the girls eyes with a smile, and Nidbjorg had had an orgasm when Radgeirrson came from the girls death spasms he did not know it was. He had recovered, while he saw Nidbjorg deeply kiss the dead girl, and ride on her face to get another orgasm. He had had high hopes for beautiful young Nidbjorg as she liked to train others, but he should have seen the danger that she had become too enthusiastic to use violence and inflict pain. Her pleased smile and happy dreamy look had frightened Radgeirrson when he realised that the girl was already dead. Nidbjorg had laid on top of the dead body and wiggled her ass to signal that she was ready for him, while she gave the dead girl another kiss, and played with the corpses breasts. Nidbjorg was disappointed when Radgeirrson said that the session was over, and tried to convince him to use the opportunity to try his manhood in the dead girls mouth. After she thanked him for a wonderful session, and happily promised to clean up and prepare the training room for the next young slave girl, Radgeirrson didn't even dare to punish Nidbjorg.
Damn. Radgeirrson probably should have just killed the psycho he created, but no, he just had to release her into the world and try to make money of her. No wonder her reputation is enough to scare rowdy drunk warriors to behave or leave.
Frida says that most of the staff are not from the mansion, and 'The Maiden' buys beautiful young slave women if the price is right. Sometimes free women or young women go there as they do not have much choice in life and 'The Maiden' have a good reputation. Especially free young women who are virgins can sell their first time 'expensively' to honored guests. Some of the rooms both in the feast hall and in the inn are very luxurious, and those young women can borrow finer clothes and jewellery and wait for their guest in such a room, so the guest feels that he gets more value for his silver, and the young woman usually wears a beautiful special mask that cover her eyes, to protect her future, and it may be without eyes on the mask, so that she doesn't see her guest. That explain the feast halls name. Frida inform us that those young women often sell their first time a couple of times more, to less honored guests, or she sells her other first times. Radgeirrson has paid for quite a few of the first times of these young ladies, or invited his friends to it.
The Blushing Maiden also has some men and boys who sell their company more or less willingly, officially only to female guests, but discreet questions just needs to be asked, and it will be arranged.
Frida continue to say that married women sometimes 'rent a dress' and earn extra silver as a Maiden 'behind the curtain'. Some seem to do it to get pregnant with a suitable man, others for the silver, and others for the sex or the sinfulness. As long as the woman doesn't cause a scene and behave, Ranhlif only cares about the silver they pay to rent. Some men and women are attracted to the mystique of the masked woman or the occasion, and some of the maidens have masks to protect their future or just seem more attractive to men, so that men think the woman is another mans wife or concubine.
What the hell am I going to do about this? The business is completely legal, and popular. Apparently this is where my guards have been feasting, and in the nicer part. Shakini and Frida told me because I am a good man who freed them and have given them paying jobs, so it was the right thing to do. Also, if they hadn't told me, Ranhlif probably wouldn't have said anything about 'The Blushing Maiden', and they don't like Ranhlif, Oda or Nidbjorg. Frida and Shakini could have kept quite about it and acted as an intermediary and taken the income themselves, at least for a while, or been payed off by Ranhlif, so it is honorable of them to tell me. They have more than earned their salary, and I will probably give them a bonus.
Closing the feast hall will not accomplish anything in the long run, except to be an empty gesture, and at least the free women will start working elsewhere. Given the contacts and information that Ranhlif certainly has, she could probably persuade someone to sell land and establish the feast halls successors. Selling the feast hall to her would work, but it is also a relatively empty gesture that gives me silver, and feels like just pushing it away and going 'not my problem'.
The 'best' solution for now, is to make it clear to Ranhlif and the others that I know, but also to make it less secret and get a third party who knows, so that they cannot deny it, and I think I choose Asbjörn. He has invested a lot in me already, and is hopefully difficult for Ranhlif to influence. As the owner I can force Ranhlif to stop selling sex with slaves, and force her to release the slaves. Some will probably continue to work there. I don't really care how she explain the change to her workers or guests, but if Asbjörn manages to get those laws through, it will still happen, so in retrospect it might be taken as she received tips from her powerful guests. The free women and men who work there are free to continue as they did.
Damn, I'm going to own a brothel. That it is the best in the kingdom doesn't make it better. Double Damn, I might own two. The Blushing Maiden here, and The Red Maiden in Reiekrône, and the one in Reiekrône really is a separate brothel in name and purpose. If Freja really exists, she has a sick humor.
Asbjörn is very surprised as he didn't know that Radgeirrson owned The Maiden, even though he knew that Radgeirrson was a frequent guest. Asbjörn has feasted there several times a year, or had discreet meetings with enemies and allies. Asbjörn doesn't really understands that I don't like to own the business, but he offers to get someone he knows to buy it, because he cannot own the feast hall. It would not look good and might ruin its neutrality. For me, it is probably less of a problem, and most people will probably see it as fitting that I own the feast hall, especially from a neutrality point of view. That I forced through the slave changes will also help if it becomes known that I am the owner, which I expect will happen sooner or later. When more than one person knows a secret, it is logical to plan for more people to find out at an increasing rate, and far more people know than when Radgeirrson owned it. Ranhlif problem is that I am powerful in ways Radgeirrson wasn't, and probably scarier, and I have Freja on my side. I probably should scare her with some magic.
There are certainly a lot of people at 'The Blushing Maiden' right now, but the maiden are used to dealing with discreet guests, and no one will see anything wrong with me visiting. Damn, why couldn't discreet carriages be more common? Right. There isn't any carriages, and we have a new carriage to check on tomorrow. And I still havn't tried to mount the drum brakes on the summer carriage. Or the odometer.
A simple wagon is loaded with the maids few possessions and when the maids are about to leave, there are quick goodbye hugs and a few tears between the maids who leave and those who stay. The other young girl we found in the training room cages looks back at Soma and us, and then runs up to me, goes down on a knee and with a very difficult accent, she asks if she too can stay, even though she cannot read or write. Birna is shy and a little difficult to understand, but why not. The others can teach her. I guess Birna and Soma talked while they were locked in the cages, just sitting there in the dark. They hug each other and seem relieved to be together as they quietly talk and hold hands.
Its a hell of a thing to be so young and end up as a slave, and they were about to become tortured sex slaves too. Hardly the same thing, but they could also have been married and have a farm and an infant to take care of. The elves grow up fast. Then again, so do a lot of humans too.
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The others leave for the ship to sleep there, but I, Alith, Gunhild, Asbjörn, Jensi and some of Asbjörns guards depart from them and ride to 'The Blushing Maiden'. Most of Asbjörns guards will stay outside in the shadows a short distance away. We make a quick stop and put on the discreet cloaks and masks from Radgeirrsons wardrobes - because, of course he has them. Alith and Gunhild know where we are heading, and why, and I've told them that Iselin and Kari knows, but they should keep quiet about this.
The two guards at the Maidens gate doesn't react much to our entrance, but it probably happens several times a week that discreet people with guards arrive here. We hear music, song and roaring laughter through the walls, which increases when Jensi gives a coin to the guard, who opens and Jensi enters through the door. The price for admission is half a coin, which is a lot for an ordinary person, but it keeps the poorest away, and makes the feast hall feel more exclusive. How expensive the visit will be, then depends on what is bought.
We have only waited a few minutes when the door opens again and Jensi comes out followed by three women in nice clothes, one of whom carries a shorter sword and a club in her belt, in addition to the usual knife. I guess that is Nidbjorg, and the one I'm worried about. If Nidbjorg does something stupid, I will shoot her and probably not loose sleep over it, and I'm glad my guards recognize her. Both Gunhild and Hillevi made sure to point out Nidbjorg for Alith and Bodil when they feasted here. The doorman of course knows who his bosses are and quickly disappears inside when he is told, and the guards at the gate disappear outside after a gesture from the woman in the middle. I let my Boomstick rest on the saddle and I have already readied the camera. Under the large cloak, it is easy to discreetly point the camera towards them and start recording. Jensi just points and they walk up to us, and they nod and curtsey to Asbjörn who stay in the background and acts as a witness, before they get down on their knees in front of me. Two stay a bit in the background and on the sides, so I guess the woman in the middle is Ranhlif. Frida was right. Nidbjorg is far too young, beautiful and innocent looking to be such a monster, and according to Frida she is only 18-19 years old. Given the background noise, what I say will not travel far, and not be heard by the guards outside the gate, but they will certainly know who I am when I leave.
"You have heard of Radgeirrsons sentence."
They nod and say; "Yes my Lord."
"You know who I am."
They nod and say; "Yes my Lord."
"I know who you are. The Gods know who you are. Keep managing this place as before, and leave silver as before. But all slaves here will be freed. Those who want to leave can do so. No one will be forced or coerced to have sex. I do not want to hear anything bad about this feast hall, even if it means less profit. If I feel ashamed about owning this feast hall, I will not hesitate to burn it to the ground. You see lightning before you hear thunder. Understood?"
They nod and say; "Yes my Lord."
I stop recording, make sure the cameras flash is charged and focus locked. The torch light from the gates allows the camera to focus. "Look at me." They look up, and showily I raise my other hand and snap my fingers just before I press the shutter button.
That is a hell of a reaction. The horses just jerk back, but Oda screams and throws herself on the ground and starts to crawl away. Ranhlif shouts about her eyes. Nidbjorg protects her face with an arm as she backs away with her sword drawn, and Jensi grabs his sword in the background. Nidbjorg has only held the sword for a couple of seconds when she drops the sword on the ground and falls to her knees, and then down to stands on all fours with her hands pressed flat against the ground. I put away the camera while I watch them, then I turn the horse and calmly ride out of the courtyard. Alith and Gunhild are quite quick to regain their composure and follow suit. Asbjörn and his entourage are wide-eyed, but I just nod and say a kindly "Until next time." and leave.
That went as well as it could, and I suspect that Ranhlif will follow my directives. I almost shot Nidbjorg, and would've if she had moved forward. I'm a little worried what Nidbjorg might do, because she proved how fast she is in both action and thought when she drew her sword and then disarmed herself. She actually quickly took a very submissive position, with her hands and legs clearly visible. No chance to discreetly draw a weapon, and showed she was no threat. I assume she understood how close to hearing thunder she was.
I think that was the first 'sejd' I did in front of Gunhild, Asbjörn and Jensi. No, wait, Gunhild saw that spoon thing in Skiringsalr. Hillevi might be disappointed. Alith and Gunhild quietly follow me.
It doesn't take long to reach the ship. Once there, I ask Gunhild to let the trading empire accommodate the horses during the night, because we will hopefully pick up a new carriage tomorrow. Aliths face is hard to read. Pride, fear or desire?