Invite yourself

You quietly enjoy the refreshment with your allies, taking in the atmosphere. The place feels odd, to be sure, but the seeming complacency with everything dulls that edge. Certain aspects of it do make sense, and wonder if such a utilitarian, regimented society could spread outwards. Perhaps, if it was given more of a friendly appearance. You realize of course, this is not your job. You look out a window as you finish your drink, and are gobsmacked. Two ladies, naked from head to foot, save a deep red armband, walking through the street. They stand at a corner, displaying their bodies in a tantalizing way before a young man approaches them, taking them into a nearby home, a hand proudly on each ass.

"Uhh, Yirost. Can I ask you a quick question"

"Please" she replied "can't know everything, but it is part of my job to know a little bit of everything, so how can I help you?"

"Did I just see?" You pause for a moment, rephrasing the question as you point out the window "Two women were out there naked, and went into that bloke's house. I have to ask, does the Kingdom of the Empty Throne have prostitutes? As part of their military?"

The question got the immediate attention of the Dowton's, with Kraig nearly **** on his drink.

"Well, yes and no."

"That's a pretty straightforward question, I thought" Bruce chimes in. "You either have sex for money, or you don't."

"They don't, well, not directly. The Kingdom puts a roof over their heads, same as everyone else here, and feeds them, and in exchange, they have sex with any citizen who asks."

Bruce nods his head side to side, recognizing the validity of the ambiguous answer.

"But, why?" You ask "Why does the Kingdom and the Army do this?"

"Everyone has to pull their weight around here, in some way. Nobody gets away without having a job. Unfortunately, the fact of the matter is that some people just don't have a lot of aptitude for anything. So, you either become a Comfort Person, or you're out in the fields."

"How does anything get done?" James pipes in "I mean, I don't want to be graphic or nothing, but with most young men, you'd never find them doing anything else."

"Well, there's rules for when and how. Dereliction of duty and all that. Beyond that, we find that most simply move past it. The ones that don't grow up usually don't advance in the heirarchy very far. That, and word gets around fast. It becomes hard to find someone who's willing to engage in courtship with you once they know how often you partake in the unique services here."

You look to the side and see everyone's had their drinks.

"That was a very interesting lesson. Thank you Yirost."

"You're welcome, good luck in the library" She responds as you leave the bar.

"Well, know that we've gotten well more than we needed, what now?" James asks.

"There's probably some innane process involved to be able to get into whatever building this book is located. Like courting a princess, asking another person permission every step of the way."

"Than, let's don't" You respond openly with a shrug

"What do you mean?"

"We're guests here, they can't fault us for not knowing the rules. We find this library, or personal collection, or whatever it might be, and just ask. If they say no because we didn't follow the rules, they can't get mad at us, we didn't know."

"I mean, I suppose it's worth a shot" James adds "This guy sounds like a real curmudgeony creep, but if he says no, than we get in the back of the line and we're in the same place we started."

"You guys are making this sound like it should be simple, and I don't care for it." Bruce said with a slight sigh "But, I'm in. Who knows, maybe we'll get lucky."