The Veil - Chapter 12 Part 2

A/N: So, because I've approached world building on a when-I-come-up-with-it basis, I've described a detail that contradicts a few details in previous chapters. I'm aware of this, and will be editing when I get to the editing process.

Holding his breath as he balanced two cards on top of the peaks of four others, he moved slowly. He was on his knees now, wishing he had another deck of cards. He felt rather accomplished. He’d never thought he would be so talented. Stifling a yawn, he reached two more cards in the quickly dwindling deck. He wondered what Qui could be doing at such an hour. Most nobles weren’t up until nine or ten. Usually, they didn’t leave their houses until after the sun had reached its peak. Life in the desert took place later in the evenings when the temperature wasn’t as stifling. If questionable activities were to take place, they were best carried out in the early morning before the sun had risen or in the middle of the day when the sun was too much to bear.

Because the hotel’s prices kept any commoners from even dreaming of stepping into a room to do anything other than make a bed, Lekan hadn’t seen too many people in the hallway as of yet. With only a few exceptions, most of the people passing by him had seemed glad enough to pretend they hadn’t seen him. He assumed it had to do with the errand they were going on. He would bet that what they were about to do was worse than sit outside a whore’s door.

Sticking his tongue out just a bit, he added two more cards to his masterpiece. He turned to separate two cards from the six remaining and returned to a collapsed house. Looking up at Qui’s livid face, he frowned. “Was that really necessary? I don’t know if I’ll be able to repeat that. Don’t you think that was impressive?”

Glancing down the hallway to see if anyone was watching, Qui unlocked her door and glared at Lekan who was gathering his cards. She heard her breath catch in the quiet hall when she saw the back of the cards and wondered for one mortified moment if he had noticed. She didn’t worry for long. He stood, still straightening the cards, an easy smile fixed on his face. She motioned him into her room with a jerk of her wrist and hissed as he passed her. “What are you doing here?”

The room was only illuminated by the light from the hall. The windows must’ve been covered with heavy curtains because there was no hint of sunlight though Lekan was sure the sun had risen high enough to peer over the buildings surrounding the hotel. He cautiously made his way into the room, only able to make out the fuzzy suggestion of objects around the room. “You told me to meet you today.” He staggered to a stop when she closed the door, plunging the room into complete dark.

“I told you that I would find you.”

Lekan heard the snap of anger in her voice and the quick, efficient sounds of a drawer opening and closing. Hesitantly, he turned as she struck a match and studied her face in the undulating glow of the small flame. Somehow, he had made a mistake somewhere.

He was quickly becoming tired of the bewildered feeling that came with running into unexpected consequences. He wondered if that meant he was maturing somehow, not feeling as horrified at the thought as he had imagined he would. Maybe the consequences had just become more severe.

Qui was still. He could only assume she was staring at him. She had lit a candle as he was pondering his new mindset. Shaking her head with a derisive snort, she took a turn around the room, lighting candles along the way until the room blazed with light. A subtle scent that reminded him of desert mornings alone on the roof permeated the room.

“I know you said you’d find me, but I was bored.” He gave her a provocative smile. “You can’t be the only one to make a move.”

Regardless to say, her laugh was not what he had hoped to be the outcome of that statement. “I think your boredom has gotten you into enough trouble if you ask me, Lekan.” She slipped behind a gauze curtain that stretched across the room, blurring one third of the room.

He heard her light another match and saw shadows flicker upon the gauze as she stood in front of the flame. Unsure of what she expected him to do, he took two slow steps forward, stopping when he recognized the familiar soft scratch of a needle being placed on a record. A mellow trumpet whispered under the curtain. Did this mean she’d forgiven him for dropping in on her?

He was taking large strides toward the curtain when her voice stopped him, “Just sit on the couch over there, darling.” Her shadow pointed to the left.

Clenching his teeth against a sigh, he meekly made his way to the couch covered in dark leather that seemed strangely masculine for a woman’s room. He frowned as he quickly glanced around the room, taking in the rich rosewood drawers, wardrobes, and chests. The walls were a dusky red that seemed to suck the harshness of candlelight away. Paintings and tapestries came alive under the flicker of the flames. Lekan couldn’t tell much more than the fact that they seemed old and valuable. The floor seemed to be some kind of gleaming wood with a nice rug stretching out in the middle of the room. While the room was very classy, the style was decidedly masculine. He was comfortable here unlike some of the sitting rooms he’d perched in when he had attempted to court.

“Do you live here?” he asked, wondering if that question was as stupid as he felt it was.

She nodded.

He found his eyes glued to the curtain as she took off her veil and tried to remember if her hair had been down before she’d gone behind the gauze as she shook it. Eyes widening, he watched as she shimmed out of her dress. He licked his dry lips with a dry tongue.

“I’ll let you in on a few trade secrets because I like you.” Her voice swam through the air, soft and husky in the candlelight. She peeled a stocking off. “Always make your customer feel comfortable.” The other stocking fluttered to the floor, its shadow a butterfly on the curtain. “I cater mostly towards men, so I want men to be comfortable in my place of business.” She was holding a perfume bottle. Another scent joined that of morning. It was dark and warm.

Lekan felt like he was curling up in it.

“I also let them see what they want to see.”

Breath caught in his throat, Lekan stared as she gracefully pulled her shift over her head. He couldn’t take much more of this.

“Then I distract them.” She bent over and blew out a candle behind the curtain. Each flame went out, starting with a candle at Lekan’s arm and going around the room until the candle across the room went out.

He heard his own breathing, embarrassingly close to panting. His heartbeat thundered in his ears. He jumped when she whispered by his ear, lighting a match.

“And then I do what I want.”

In the glance he got before she shook the match out, he saw that she was completely clothed, veil and all.

She sat beside him in the dark, patting his hand almost maternally. “I hope you see that this could be used for more than prostitution, Lekan. I want you to try to use what I’ve told you.”