The Underworld
Chapter 1 ~ Bryony
Author's Note: This is rated R because the main character is a prostitute in a Tortallan brothel. This story details her escape from sex slavery and how she goes on a crusade to save abused young women and discover her true identity. I'm sorry if you find it offensive, but I felt I had to write this. Please R/R.
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Bryony woke up in the grimy corner of the room that had become familiar to her over the past few years. Cigar smoke hung throughout the dirty building, infiltrating the air. Plaster crumbled out of the whitewashed walls turned yellow from decades of abuse. The floorboards creaked when you walked on them and they were worn down from the scraping of many stools and the footsteps of many rich men who came to this place for some forbidden entertainment. Above, you could hear the sounds of the girls rendering their services to their wealthy clients.
Bryony hated this building with every scrap of her being. Tekla had brought her here three years ago when she was 12. She was a street urchin. She stole loaves of bread and picked pockets for a living. Tekla came to all the homeless kids and spun a tale of a warm household with thick woolen blankets and three satiating meals a day. Once you were there you never had to leave and all you had to do to earn these luxuries was to do a few 'odd jobs'. They had all followed her here but once they discovered Tekla's tale was a falsehood it was too late ot leave. They were the unseen prisoners of Tortall.
The reality of living here was much worse than what Bryony could ever have imagined before. They had ragged worn clothes, thin blankets and little more food than they would have eaten on the streets of Corus. And the odd jobs were the most hideous and disgusting, shameful, humiliations Bryony had ever been put through. Ten times worse than the icy stares of rich snobs who paraded by on the streets, flaunting their wealth and turning up their noses at the unpleasant sights of the homeless.
Tekla lay down the law as soon as they were settled into their new home. If you were caught trying to escape, you were beaten. If you told anyone about what happened during the nights in the basement of the building you would be beaten. If you were caught stealing you would be beaten. You could be beaten for almost anything and Tekla beat anyone if she felt like it for no good reason. You were always to be polite to your customers and you must fulfill all their requests, however obscene and disgusting they may be.
Bryony was a slave. She did whatever Tekla did for fear of what her punishment might be. She had already tried disobeying and had learned a harsh and painful lesson about what you got for insubordination. And Bryony knew in the back of her heart that her life should be better and so should the other girls' lives! They deserved more. They desperately needed the freedom everyone in Tortall was supposed to have. All the girls said secret hopeful prayers to the Great Mother Goddess when Tekla wasn't watching, praying for salvation from this terrible slavery.
But so far it hadn't come. So that day after giving a pleasurable experience to a young gentleman with a pot belly and a salt and pepper mustache who paid her a gold noble and sneered at her, Bryony decided tomorrow would be different. She would escape and get help for herself and all the other young girls exploited by secret Tortallan brothels. The kingdom had wronged all its citizens by letting this shocking crime happen and they would all pay!
Chapter 1 ~ Bryony
Author's Note: This is rated R because the main character is a prostitute in a Tortallan brothel. This story details her escape from sex slavery and how she goes on a crusade to save abused young women and discover her true identity. I'm sorry if you find it offensive, but I felt I had to write this. Please R/R.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bryony woke up in the grimy corner of the room that had become familiar to her over the past few years. Cigar smoke hung throughout the dirty building, infiltrating the air. Plaster crumbled out of the whitewashed walls turned yellow from decades of abuse. The floorboards creaked when you walked on them and they were worn down from the scraping of many stools and the footsteps of many rich men who came to this place for some forbidden entertainment. Above, you could hear the sounds of the girls rendering their services to their wealthy clients.
Bryony hated this building with every scrap of her being. Tekla had brought her here three years ago when she was 12. She was a street urchin. She stole loaves of bread and picked pockets for a living. Tekla came to all the homeless kids and spun a tale of a warm household with thick woolen blankets and three satiating meals a day. Once you were there you never had to leave and all you had to do to earn these luxuries was to do a few 'odd jobs'. They had all followed her here but once they discovered Tekla's tale was a falsehood it was too late ot leave. They were the unseen prisoners of Tortall.
The reality of living here was much worse than what Bryony could ever have imagined before. They had ragged worn clothes, thin blankets and little more food than they would have eaten on the streets of Corus. And the odd jobs were the most hideous and disgusting, shameful, humiliations Bryony had ever been put through. Ten times worse than the icy stares of rich snobs who paraded by on the streets, flaunting their wealth and turning up their noses at the unpleasant sights of the homeless.
Tekla lay down the law as soon as they were settled into their new home. If you were caught trying to escape, you were beaten. If you told anyone about what happened during the nights in the basement of the building you would be beaten. If you were caught stealing you would be beaten. You could be beaten for almost anything and Tekla beat anyone if she felt like it for no good reason. You were always to be polite to your customers and you must fulfill all their requests, however obscene and disgusting they may be.
Bryony was a slave. She did whatever Tekla did for fear of what her punishment might be. She had already tried disobeying and had learned a harsh and painful lesson about what you got for insubordination. And Bryony knew in the back of her heart that her life should be better and so should the other girls' lives! They deserved more. They desperately needed the freedom everyone in Tortall was supposed to have. All the girls said secret hopeful prayers to the Great Mother Goddess when Tekla wasn't watching, praying for salvation from this terrible slavery.
But so far it hadn't come. So that day after giving a pleasurable experience to a young gentleman with a pot belly and a salt and pepper mustache who paid her a gold noble and sneered at her, Bryony decided tomorrow would be different. She would escape and get help for herself and all the other young girls exploited by secret Tortallan brothels. The kingdom had wronged all its citizens by letting this shocking crime happen and they would all pay!