The Glory Lane. Not so glorious but no district in Novigrad ever was, it was a busy place, bounded by the city wall to the south, and the canal to the north, near to Silverton and the Bits, and all frequented by the lower-class masses, some were only destitute of wealth, others of morals. It was not the best place for anyone to linger, much less young women, for most these "women" are not as gentle as expected…unless you have the right coin. But that didn't stop little Esther from venturing inside such a dangerous place, her sense of responsibility spoke louder than any drop of self-preservation, she would recall her mother wise words, a piece of advice for whenever she was afraid of something: "Raise your head high, take slow deep breaths and face it with caution."
She wasn't quite sure if her mother would be proud of such keen words when applied to this situation, Esther felt her mother wouldn't agree with her actions, but it was too late now. If something was bound to happen, at least she looked confident.
Esther and her friends would only hear rumors of Cyprian's father, they knew he was dangerous, wealthy, and owned some establishments around town, especially in Glory Lane, the locals varied from drunk and dumb to dubious and sour-looking, as the girl would walk deeper and deeper into the neighborhood the more she felt trapped, almost asphyxiated by the foul air, smoke, rotten, heavy…any shadow was a space of suspicion, she would glance from the corner of her eyes strange men and women looking at her as if she was the strangest creature on earth, she could picture why thought, her dress as implacable in a light hue of pink, she was clean and looked very healthy compared to other figures that passed by her.
The dip of her fingers went white from her anxious grip against her own palm, she would adjust her back as if nothing could get to her for in her mind she knew that the slight sign of worry would cause her much trouble inside the lane. At some point Esther approached another child that sat by the entrance of an alley, his face was dirty, his clothes in such bad shape it looked like rags sawed to each other - "Hello, I'm looking for , do you happen to know him?"
The boy raised his head slowly, his expression almost blank from indifference to her presence - "Wiley? Are you too young to look for that?" Esther was puzzled by the boy's phrase - "Uhm, no. So you do know him, right? Can you tell me where he is?" The child was ready to reply but his gaze went to the girl's right shoulder, looking past it as he paused in clear concern to what was behind her, Esther noticed and quickly looked for the source of his fanfare. Two guards passed by on the other side of the street, shiny armor and carefree posture, Esther rushed inside the dark alley, hiding behind a box that was decently near the boy. She kneeled down while picking from the corner of the wooden box filled with moldy vegetables, the boy looked the other way as, pretending nothing really happened, he turned his head in order to whisper to the strange girl - "Are they looking for you?"
"Hm, no. I just…" She paused, collecting her words before she'd make a grave mistake and tell the boy that actually her father was an official as well, a renowned captain even. - "I'd rather not be seen."
"Not a big fan of guards, eh?" The boy added playfully, it didn't take too long for the officers to leave the perimeter, allowing Esther to stand up and return her attention to her "new friend", although she did check twice if their common enemy were in fact far away. "I hope you understand." Esther let out, the boy shrugged his shoulders - "Oh I can't blame you. Not a fan either…But, you were looking for Wiley, right? He's in Rosemary and Thyme, just go straight right…" He motioned the direction with his hand - "but you better rush because he usually leaves at this hour and only comes back at dawn."
The girl's lips curled into a smile and she nodded her head respectfully - "Thank you." And just like that, the girl was quick to leave, with a more elated posture this time.
It was not often that the boy would witness words of gratitude, especially if they were directed to him, for a short second he even felt a drop of guilt for directing the girl to a man like Wiley, but then again, that wasn't his problem to deal with.
As surprising as it might seem, Esther found herself in more a "friendly" area, the distance between houses and stablishments was more spacious which allowed gentle air currents to pass properly, a strange scent of perfume mixed with salt, alcohol, and something extra musky smell Esther wasn't quite familiar with. With that, the visage before also began to change as she walked to a bigger house nearer the hierarch's gate, all sorts of women could be seen on the corridor that lead to this house, its outer decoration and structure differ from anything in Glory Lane, crowns of flower would rest by its windows and doors, music was played, people danced, no men would escape from the ladies call, astonished by their youth and high leveled skirts, a festival of naked ankles. She looked up and finally found what she was looking for, a sign with "Rosemary and Thyme" inscribed within it. Little Esther was dazed by the sudden change of ambiance, and in spite of the lack of extra cloth on the figures before her, it was the first time in she felt more at ease inside Glory Lane, so the girl would pace forth with care.
It didn't took long for the girl to be the target of glares again, she would dodge and slide around the small crowd of people, making sure to avoid disturbing their conversations, that was until she was faced with two women that suddenly stood in front of the mansion's entrance, a brunette with emerald eyes and beautiful red dress, her skin glowed in the sun almost unnaturally, the other women who accompanied her was a red-haired woman, her ivory skin bared a few marks of violence, but her round cheeks made her look quite charming, yet both women bared the same gaze, annoyance, and cynism.
"Look what the devil brought." The brunette stated - "Bugger off, luv. If you're looking for your papa they ain't here." The redhaired added with a clean sarcasm in her tone.
"Besides, you're scaring away the clients. No kids here." The brunette would give Esther a slight push, then placing her hands on her hips, both women would take a step forward, almost towering the young one before them. The duo was as pretty as they were intimidating - "I'm looking for . It's quite urgent."
"Urgent?!" The women began to laugh vehemently, their cheeks grew pink from their humor, Esther, on the other hand, didn't find their reaction so amusing.
"Aren't you a lil' spunky talking like that? Where do you think you are, luv? is not interested, beat if before someone do that for you…to you. Savy?" The redhaired gave Esther an extra push, aiming at her forehead in a manner that almost made her fall back, the due seemed satisfied by their resolve, but they didn't know how daring the young lady could be. Blood boiled from all the girl's extremities and went straight to her head, making her face redden in anger and indignation, her jaw clenched as did her fists, she allowed her lung to inhale deeply, then exhale as she relaxed her facial muscles and in the right opportune moment Esther glided under the brunette's skirt so skillfully one could mistake her for a snake. The due panicked and their shouts of alarm, cursing in every way and language they knew while struggling to catch the child they scorned, in vain. Esther once again used her size and slim figure to her advantage as she slid between men and women inside the establishment, under tables and over chairs, eventually, she made one man spill his drink, broke a vase or two unintentionally, and turned the fine brothel into a madhouse in less than a minute, just in hopes to escape the two enraged prostitutes.
"Get her! For fuck's sake-…"
Esther could feel the adrenaline rush her as she felt trapped once again, this was not going according to her plan in the slightest and at some point she felt like a mouse desperate for a hole to either hide or flee from the cats in the house. But a group of three men was able to surround her, clients that only obeyed the ladies of the house without question, the positioned around her with their brute hands and grabby motions, her head went from left to right, the girl's eyes widen, she recoiled her arms, her breathing was rapid, she was terrified - "C-CYPRIAN!" She shouted from the top of her lungs, desperate.
They paused. The music stopped. Esther could hear her heartbeat in her ears.
