Ch. 2 To Rise or Fall

They were separated almost immediately; each woman put in her own room. Merin filed through the huge doorway solemnly. Her eyes snapped, and her hands trembled with unvoiced anger. Some sister Bana was.

She had taken care of her, practically raised her, found her a home when she, Merin, had married, found her a husband when Bana came of age, and this was how she repaid her.

With shame.

Merin sat in the stone chair carved from the center of the floor, looking around.

The chair was the only furnishing. The walls and ceiling were of the same grey stone as the floor with no windows. The door gaped open though, letting in flickering torchlight from the hall. The shadow of the door was a swath of black in a world of grey.

A door closed in the hall. She could hear the sound echo off the smooth stone. Her hands fisted; nails bit into palms.

The ways of the goddess were a mystery to all but her servants, and it was rumored that few who wished to know the goddess’ secrets were actually allowed to see them. No one could say what happened to those who weren’t approved of.

More doors slammed. Merin jumped each time, and soon she could hear the murmurs of the sisters talking to the initiates though she couldn’t make out what they said. Her heart was pulsing in her throat by the time when one appeared in fron t of her door. She had heard no footsteps.

"Please remove your clothes." Her tone was polished, distant. Her shadow was taller than the door’s.

Merin blinked. She'd though she'd never hear those words again. "I'm sorry?" she choked out, trying not to be offended.

"Clothes can hide the truth just as well as the most tightly woven lies, and the goddess doesn't tolerate esn't tolerate lies."

Merin slowly stripped off her dress, hesitating as she shivered in her unmentionables.

"Sit."

She obeyed, hiding herself as best she could by pulling her knees up to her chest, and jerked the sister pulles shears out of her sleeve. "What-"

"New slate. This is the first step." She moved behind her and held a lock of golden hair.

Merin looked straight ahead.

.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

The two women quieted as soon as they were out of earshot, and that's when Bana got a bad feeling. The older, the one that had spoken the most, scrutinized her new charges. She waved at the girl. "You're going to be great. Men like youth."

She turned a shade of red that withheld belief.

Bana squeezed her arm in comfort, glaring at the fallen for trying to scare her. She blinked when the glare was returned with equal venom and had to fight the urge to look away.

"I don't know about you." She shrugged. "Crooked teeth. Little chubby. Small tits. I don't know a man that goes for that."

The younger whore gave a tight smile. "Ignore Ghym. She's never good with new girls."

"Then... Why is she here?" Bana asked.

Ghym tossed her hair. "Because I'm the best. Doesn't matter if I'm seducing men or future sluts."

Bana felt the heat of a blush creeping up her neck.

"Like I said, ignore her. My name's Len. It used to be short for something, but I don't think about that anymore. She turned her open gaze- so much easier to tolerate than Ghym's caustic stare- on the girl. "What's yours?"

The poor thing's mouth worked for several moments before she managed a breathless squeak, "Elmanya."

Len tipped her head back to give life to a full throated, smokey laugh.

Bana suddenly felt very much out of her league.

"You're so cute! We'll have to think of a fantastic nickname for you."

Ghym seemed to smell Bana's discomfort as a leer spread across her face. "We'll teach you all the tricks. Soon you'll be just like us. One of you will even be my student."

Len sighed and gave Bana a sympathetic smile. "And your name is...?"

"Bana." She couldn't quite rip her eyes away from Ghym's. "Used to be Yibana."

"What a nice name!" Her words rang with mock excitement. Bana thought she was trying too hard to make up for Ghym, so she was a little surprised when Len’s face turned serious. “Nicknames can erase and memories.”

Bana let the wistful statement go into silence. Elmanya was still clinging to her arm, but she didn’t mind. She needed the camaraderie too. “We’ll stick together,” she murmured to her.

Ghym didn’t react, but Len glanced back and nodded. She dropped back to walk beside them as if she didn’t want Ghym to hear her. “That’s a good idea. Friends are important in this business.”

The buildings were all bright as they had been near the temple, but they were looking shabbier as they continued down the street. When the grey building came into view, Bana went cold. There was only one kind of building that was forbidden to have color. It was supposed to be a warning.

Now it was home.

Elmanya squeezed her arm even tighter than before, causing Bana to grit her teeth, but she didn’t try to stop her. The girl was scared, and Bana understood fear. Its cold fingers were squeezing her stomach at that moment. She was just more experienced at hiding what bubbled within.

She took a deep breath as their guides opened the doors soundlessly.

If the outside was grey the world inside was anythin but. Rugs laid beside each other so the floor beneath couldn’t be seen, stretched throughout the house, adding dark blues, purples, and crimsons to an already varied palate. A huge, lighted chandelier swung gently, illuminating first one green wall then another. A grand stair climbed up before her, each stair a different color.

It was brighter than Bana had imagined. Perhaps it was a good judge of whores in general. Forced into shame on the outside, unapologetic in.

It made her excited, the idea of women exulting in what couldn’t be mentioned in other company.

Her attention was drawn to a doorway. A sleepy-eyed woman was closing a door. She winked at them as a man’s voice floated through the doorway before she disappeared.

“Do we have new babies, Ghym?” Soft and light, the words floated from a door way covered with a tapestry of a sunburst.

“Yes, mistress.”

“Bring them please.”

Ghym pushed them toward a room. There were no candles to light the room as Len pulled the tapestry aside.

“Len?”

She turned at her name.

A young man smiled. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

She glanced at Ghym who waved her on. “Oh,” she said coolly, very different from the excitable saleswoman from outside, “I hope not very long.”

He shook his head. “No. Not long.” He twisted his cap in his hands.

She gave him a smile. Even though Bana and Elmanya watched on, entranced, it seemed intimate, his alone. “Follow me.”

Ghym shook her head. “Stupid sap. He should know better than to love one of the fallen.” Her face didn’t look very sympathetic. “Come. Better not to let the mistress wait.”

When she closed the door behind them, it was almost completely dark.