The winter was supposed to be the worst one in years, or at least that's what her nighttime lovers claimed when they tried to buy her and take her to their homes. She was a fool to remain at the lowly den where she slaved away, a fool for dreaming of becoming more.
Inside the den, really it was more of a dark tavern on the outskirts of Drylliad, the haze of incense and sin had become too stifling. She needed air, clean air. A reminder that she was worth more than what she was paid.
The winter air bit her skin, her ragged red dress did nothing to help her.
Maybe if she closed her eyes, she'd slip away from her horrid life.
Forever.
"Are you cold miss?"
What was that? Was somebody speaking to her? She cracked open an eye to stare at the handsome young rich boy before her. He'd surely offer her a pretty penny for a moment of pleasure.
Receiving any form of sympathy was a foreign concept to her, "I'm sorry, what?"
"Are you cold? That dress of yours doesn't seem very warm," The young nobleman before her was already taking off his fine cloak, far before she could've gotten out a simple 'I'm fine.'
The truth was, she was cold. The charitable young man draped his cloak around her shoulders, "I can't keep this, my lord. I don't take currency in the form of clothing."
The nobleman chuckled, "I'm not paying you for anything. You looked cold, I merely hoped to come across as a decent man. Here."
He held out a hand to her, but it took several moments before she dared take it. The young nobleman pulled her up from her place on the snow-sprinkled cobblestones. The cloak did do more than just keep out the cold. For a moment, she was more than just a street whore. The hazy eyes that studied her weren't trying to imagine her pinned against a mattress, or maybe they were.
Men could be so confusing.
"What's your name?" He asked, tucking her hand into the crook of his arm. It was clear: he was only looking for a form of pleasure. The nobleman steered them away from the den.
"Does that really matter?"
"Considering that I'm short of friends and that I'd very much like to be your friend, knowing your name is very important to me."
She began to laugh, though her bitter humor came to a screeching halt as she began to violently cough, "Friends with a girl like me? I'm sorry sir, but it's unheard of. A man of your status speaking to a girl like me in broad daylight. Have you lost thought of your reputation? Must I really be the one to remind you of your status?"
His ears turned slightly red at their tips, "My reputation? How kind of you to care for that so I don't have to."
The frown on her face was an accident.
"I was teasing you," the nobleman sighed. "Alright, I'll go first. My name's Darius."
More silence.
"Alyce. My name's Alyce."
Darius broke into a beaming smile, the kind that could melt the ice covered pond in the middle of town. Then, he made a face as if he'd made a grievous mistake. "Stupid me, I've forgotten to ask if you'd like to become my friend. But before you answer, I'd like to tell you that I'm very much a charming person."
A friend. Alyce didn't have friends, the girls at the den were always at each other's throats vying for the highest paying client. "Why are you being so kind to me?"
"Why shouldn't I be kind to you?"
"Because of what I am," her tattered red dress dragged in the street's slick muck. "Nobody is kind to girls like me unless they want something. I'll give you whatever you want."
Darius paused as he walked, his eyebrows creased together. Up ahead, several Carthyan guards spoke to a young man. Darius placed his hands on Alyce's shoulders, "I do want something from you."
Her heart sank.
Darius wasn't different from the other men who sought her out.
"Yes?"
"I would like to see you again," Darius smiled, standing up straighter. "I'll come find you tomorrow at midday, will you be at the same place?"
She nodded, and began to slide the cloak off of her shoulders. Darius, however, stopped her. He pressed several garlins into her hand, "Keep the cloak, and the garlins. I have more than what I know what to do with. No. no, I don't want anything more from you than to see you tomorrow Alyce."
Money.
Her own coins free from the grimey stick her coins from the den were.
"Thank you."
"Until tomorrow then?" Darius said, he was taking steps away. The Carthyan guards were pushing through the busy street towards them.
"Until tomorrow."