Let's see how Eldwyn and Audrey are doing

"...And so I took my bag and left," Eldwyn finished.

A moment of silence followed as Audrey absorbed the story. "I... um, I don't know what to say. You don't think it's weird to spank your own sister?"

"What? No, I didn't spank her, Lucas did!"

"Yes, but you asked him to."

"Well, yes," Eldwyn admitted. She'd practically ordered him to, actually. "She deserved it, though. She ruined my life! And Lucas picked her side over mine!"

Audrey frowned. "By stopping, you mean?"

"Yes!"

"What did you want to happen after he continued?"

She'd been so upset that day, she'd never been so angry in her entire life. "I just... I wanted her to be punished, for once in her life."

"And then what?"

"What do you mean?"

Audrey sighed and stopped walking, taking her hand. "Look, don't take this the wrong way, but it sounds to me like she got her punishment, and then some."

"But—"

"You said she was crying by the time Lucas stopped, right?"

"Well, yes."

"I'm not surprised. He's a big man."

Eldwyn thought back to her own punishment, the week before. She'd never been spanked before, and it had certainly been very painful. Now that she looked back on it, though, she suspected Lucas hadn't spanked her quite as hard as he had Kythril. Or as long, for that matter.

"I know people like her, always sticking their noses into other people's business and stirring up trouble. A good spanking would do them good, each and every one of them," Audrey continued. She shrugged. "I don't know your sister, so I can't tell tell you what to do about her, you'll have to figure that out yourself. I do know Lucas, though, and I think you were too hard on him."

Eldwyn didn't know what to say to that.

"Do you like him?" Audrey asked.

"What? Um..." She felt her cheeks warm. Why could she tell the story of Lucas spanking Kythril without a hint of embarrassment, yet be unable to answer a simple question like this without stammering like a lost child? She drew away from the question. For now, anyway. Still, the answer to Audrey's question was obvious. She steadied her voice. "Yes."

"It's obvious he cares about you too."

"He... he does?"

"You have a lot to learn about men," Audrey said with a teasing grin. "It's obvious to anyone who looks. But like I said, I know Lucas, and if you want to repair your relationship with him, you're going to have to take the first step."

"But how?"

Audrey's grin was vaguely worrying. "Don't you worry your pretty little head about that, I've got plenty of ideas. Come on, follow me."

Eldwyn trailed behind Audrey as she was led deeper into the red district. The streets got narrower and somehow darker as well, despite it being barely past noon. She began to realize she'd only ever scratched its surface with Lucas. She felt out of place, as if everyone was staring at the two of them, but Audrey seemed to pay it no mind at all.

Finally, Audrey stopped in front of a small building. At first glance, it looked abandoned, but then Eldwyn noticed there was light coming from inside. The heavy wooden door opened without a sound, and the two of them stepped inside.

A large man sat by the entrance, whittling a piece of wood. He looked up at them as they entered, nodding at Audrey and eyeing Eldwyn curiously.

"She's with me," Audrey said.

He shrugged, his attention already back to the piece of wood.

They continued further into the building, then down a stairwell.

The chamber they found in the basement was a storeroom, surprisingly well lit for being underground. Other than the two of them, there seemed to be no customers, though. Eldwyn wondered how they stayed in business. Curious, she checked out the nearest shelf, which turned out to hold a variety of potions. She picked up one at random and read the label. When she eventually deciphered the flowery language, her eyes widened. It was an aphrodisiac!

"Um, Audrey, didn't the Humans ban these?" she asked.

"Shh, keep your voice down! You're going to get us kicked out!" She hissed back. She took the potion from her hand and put it back on the shelf. "Those laws is more like a... suggestion here. That's not what we're here for, anyway."

There was a cough behind them. "Need anything?" a gruff voice spoke.

Audrey turned around with a grin. "Hello, Cedhron."

Eldwyn looked him over. He was a middle-aged Elf, with long brown hair, indicating he was probably from somewhere up north. He scowled at them both, but his expression brightened when he saw Audrey.

"Oh, hey, darling! Didn't recognize you from behind."

He indicated Eldwyn with his chin. "Who's this then?"

"Friend of mine. Mind if we browse a bit?"

"Sure, go ahead."

Audrey took her arm and all but dragged her deeper into the store, ignoring her feeble protests. Eldwyn glanced over her shoulder and blushed as she realized Cedhron blatantly staring at their asses, obviously not caring that she'd noticed.

They left the potions behind, to her relief, but as she eyed the various shelves, she felt her cheeks begin to redden all over again: lingerie, so skimpy that she couldn't believe anyone outside of a brothel would ever wear them; life-like metal phalluses; belts and ropes and cuffs that were obviously meant to restrain someone; it just went on and on, each object seemingly more perverse than the last.

She bent towards Audrey. "I don't know about this..."

"You don't have to worry about him, he's a pervert, but he won't hurt you. Cedhron and me go way back."

"That's not... I mean, about all these... perverted things..."

Eldwyn replied, dropping her voice.

Audrey grinned. "Wonderful, isn't it? Here, what do you think about this?"