May as well.

The truth of matter was I had no idea how long I had been awake for previous to “waking up” in the forest. And all of the walking I had done previous to arriving at Artor’s cart meant that I was quite weary. I would only realize this after the fact, as my body had evidently decided for me, and seemingly at the mention of the word “nap” I was already fast asleep.

I dreamt strangely. Images and sounds would flash into my sleeping mind that seemed altogether alien and unknown, but familiar at the same time. I saw a ceremony surrounded by robed figures, a flash of light, and the book. That strange, red-bound book with the seven-pointed star, was in my hands. It was a part of me. The word “familiar” was spoken by one of the figures, and I knew not what it meant, though a look of dread and suspicion was upon their face.

Then I was in the forest again, but the trees were burning. Not the golden-amber flames one would expect, but pale green flames that licked the bark and branches, curling the leaves to ash. The flames were strangely comforting, and a naked figure stood before me. Her features were strangely hard to focus on, but I felt a longing in my chest as I looked upon her, and I could tell she was smiling a pained but warm smile. She spoke to me in the same voice that had spoken the name Silus in my memories.

“Your blood knows what must be done.” She said. “Trust your instincts and your blood will lead you to me again.” The green flames were blazing even more fiercely, and I could feel their warmth licking my own naked flesh, “Please, I miss you so dearly, you who have not only tamed and bound my soul, but my heart as well. We will see each other again, though you may not recognize me. Someone has found me, and as long as you trust your blood she will lead me to you.”

And then I awoke, back in the cart, slumped against the coach with a linen cloth draped over me.

“Here we are.” Artor said.

I blinked away my grogginess and peered around. I was in a town, a bustling and busy town full of people who looked similar to Artor. Nearly human, but with pointed ears and black sclera that betrayed their demonic origin. Mixed among them were some blood-red-skinned people that I remembered to be called “ifran”, and a few other people who had similar skin tones but looked much different. They were shorter, only about three feet in height on average, but they had long, whip-like tails, smaller horns, long noses, and broad wings. A few of them walked but most of these creatures flew through the air to their various destinations with surprising ease. Still, the “omen” vastly outnumbered these other two varieties.

The cart had stopped outside a building that looked like a tavern. It was multi-storied and large with windows of red and purple stained glass in a simple diamond pattern. The sign above it was in the same language as the script in the book, and I read it just as easily.

The Scarlet Tail

“You awake back there, Silus?” Artor asked. I noticed that Korivia was absent, but Veshra was seated across from me as normal.

“Aye.” I confirmed.

“Good, this is our stop. Come with me, would you? Veshra, watch the cart while I go and speak with Ivy.”

Artor hopped off the coach of the cart and I followed him diligently. He walked into the alley between the tavern and the adjacent building, occasionally looking back to make sure I was following.

“Where did Korivia go?” I asked.

“Hopped off some way back, had some other business to attend to I suspect.” As if the mention of Korivia reminded him, he continued. “Oh! pardon my manners, I didn’t even think to offer you somethin’ to cover yourself.”

It had actually only just occurred to me that I was naked, or at least what the implications were. Strangely, I didn’t mind and felt no shame or embarrassment like I knew I probably ought to, or at least like was instinctual for most people.

“Don’t worry yourself.” I replied. “I honestly hadn’t even thought of it.”

Artor shrugged as he approached a door on the side of the building. He gave it a few short knocks and it opened up.

The woman who answered the door was clearly an ifran like Veshra and the ones I had seen on the street, but with one very striking difference. Her skin was a deep purple color rather than red.

“Artor, hello.” She greeted warmly, smiling at the man. “Come on in.”

“Thank you kindly, Ivy.” Artor replied and stepped through the doorway, gesturing for me to follow. I did so wordlessly, stepping into a small hallway. “I won’t stay long, as a matter of fact I need to move on to other merchants pretty soon. But first…” Artor peered over at me, and the violet ifran’s pupil-less gaze followed.

“Who is this? And why is she disguised as a human?”

Artor gave my arm a nudge. “Go on then, introduce yourself.”

I cleared my throat nervously. The woman had an impressive commanding presence. She had a large bust that was concealed within a leather corset wrapped around her torso. She was by no means fat, but she had a wide and pleasantly thick frame, and wore an outfit that hugged her naturally voluptuous curves nicely. Under the corset was a pair of black leather trousers that were tight against her legs which ended in heel-clad feet. Around her neck was a strange belted choker with a metal plate in the front and the curious phrase “top half free use” inscribed on it. Her hair was done extravagantly but elegantly in different twisting patterns lined with black feathers in an updo. Her purple spaded tail was wrapped around her right leg. She was quite gorgeous.

“Uh,” I began, stammering slightly, “my name is Silus, and this isn’t a disguise. I am human.” I said this last part quietly in case anyone else might hear it.

The look on Ivy’s face became perplexed immediately. “Excuse me?”

“Korivia confirmed it.” Artor replied. “Picked her up in the forest just south of the city. She has no memory whatsoever, came wandering out of the woods just as naked as she is now. Just that book with her.”

Ivy looked at the book, curiously.

“I woke up with it, but it’s no help. It’s all blank.” I added. “I don’t know how I got here or anything about myself aside from my name.”

“Why did you bring her here?” Ivy asked the man.

“Well,” Artor shrugged, “I figured you’d… ya know…”

“Take her in? Offer her work like I did with the last one?”

Artor looked slightly ashamed and a blush was on his rugged cheeks. “Yeah. I know I shoulda asked first, but I didn’t know where else to take her.”

Ivy crossed her arms under her bust, her cleavage bouncing pleasantly as she did. “You know that this is inherently risky given that she’s a human. She’s not just some lost omen girl.”

Artor sighed. “I can see if someone else needs an extra pair of hands.” He said in a defeated tone.

“Wait.” Ivy commanded and Artor paused. She was sizing me up, I could tell by the way her blank eyes twitched, though I obviously couldn’t tell quite where she was looking. I still felt no shame in knowing I was exposed and made no moves to cover myself. “I’ll take care of it. If I can’t find a position for her here, I know some people. I’d suggest you not do this again, though. It’s quite rude.”

Artor nodded. “Loud and clear, ma’am. Thank you. I’ll go get Mentis and help him unload.” He then turned to me. “Behave yourself, kiddo. Good luck.” He nodded and stepped through one of the doors in the hall.

Ivy turned her attention back to me and stroked her chin. “Come up to my room and we’ll talk in depth.”

She led me through the hallway and eventually up a flight of stairs. The flight was next to an archway opening into the common room, and I tried to get a glance of what it looked like but didn’t get much from my brief look. It did seem comfortable though. It was a classy place.

When we arrived at her room, I marveled at how lovely it looked. Lots of purples and blacks in form of decoration and a large, comfortable-looking bed in the center of the room. Much of her decoration was in the form of jet-black feathers like that of a crow. She closed the door behind her and then looked at me, staring daggers.

“I won’t lie, taking in a human without any memories is quite the undertaking.” She said. “Not only in the inherent risk of the King’s Guard finding out, but because I need to be something of a mentor for you in addition to an employer. So, I have a very important question to ask you before anything else. What kind of work are you comfortable doing?”

I thought carefully about this question. Obviously, I had no idea what kind of work I had done previously, but I tried to imagine myself doing things like manual labor, cleaning, cooking, the kind of things I might have to do at an inn or tavern, and didn’t see myself minding much of anything.

“I can’t really think of anything I wouldn’t be comfortable with.” I said.

“Even prostitution?”

I blinked. “Like, a whore?”

Ivy nodded.

I hadn’t considered that, but it was a weird thing to ask for a place like this, an obvious tavern. And then it hit me like a ton of bricks, I had been a fool. “So, this is a brothel?” I asked.

“Was that not clear?”

“I sort of just figured it was a simple tavern.”

“It is that as well. But the sort of things you need for a tavern, a cook, a bartender, a barmaid, I have all of those things already. And their occupants of those positions are all healthy, relatively happy, and good at what they do. More importantly they have no intention of abandoning those positions anytime soon.”

“Oh.” I replied. A simple question now hung in the air.