With an exhilaration that Telma had never seen before, the girls of the house burst into a frenzy of activity. First, they fled to their rooms to search for the finest (and most revealing) silk clothes that they owned – and checked them carefully for any tears or blemishes. Agnes and her sister quickly stripped the front desk of all records, ledgers, and rupees – leaving an unused booklet for Ivy to maintain appearances. "Perform everything just the same with this!" barked the owner, "And double all prices!" added Audra as she ran up the staircase behind her with armfuls of papers. "Yes, mistress." Answered Telma, who was still bewildered and lost as to what was happening. "And for the goddess' sake, clean the entryway!" shrieked the matron from upstairs.
Retrieving her broom, Ivy quickly set herself to sweeping the foyer clean of all dust and dirt, while the other girls cried and shrieked to one another upstairs. "Where is my lipstick?!" screamed one, "Safflina! I know you took it!", "No I didn't! And even if I did, you took my shawl!" "BOTH OF YOU BE SILENT!" bellowed Rose over them, "Where are my bracers?! I cannot see voe without them!" - For nearly an hour, Agnes' flock bickered, screamed, and wailed to one another like this: desperately trying to find lost treasures and 'essential elements' of their working attire. Finally, silence came when Agnes returned from her room and commanded all of them to bathe.
"Use the good oils! BUT DON'T WASTE THEM!" she shouted, "Whoever these 'guests' are… we have to give them our very best!" "Oh, don't worry about that!" answered Safflina, sarcastically with a giggle. "THIS IS NOT A JOKE!" screamed the owner – so suddenly that Telma started, even though she was downstairs – "These are guests of the lord! They will kill us all if anything is less than perfect!" After she said this, the sounds of activity upstairs quieted and the girls seemed to slowly grasp the weight of their situation. Audra, however, seemed undaunted, and descended the stairs again snickering to herself, "That's it dear… terrify them before they have to mount a man… that will make his evening just…. Magical." When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she turned and looked up at Ivy. The young woman had frozen – broom still in hand – and seemed to be staring at her fearfully.
"What's bitten your ass?" grunted the old hag. "M-m-mount?!" babbled Telma fearfully. "Yeah." Answered Audra, unsure of what Ivy's confusion was about, "Just what did you think 'comfort for men' meant?" The sudden revelation brought Telma back to the icy terror that she had felt two years before. Everything that she had understood about these women changed in a flash. These were not desert innkeepers… these were… those kind of women. "Hylia save me!" her mind screamed, "What if they expect me to do it too?!"
In a matter of seconds, Agnes' clerk turned frightfully pale, dropped her broom, and staggard backward to lean against the wall. "What's the matter with you?! You look like you've eaten a toad!" snapped Audra, making no movement to help her. "I…I…I…" she struggled, desperately fighting the urge to vomit, "I… can't!" The room was spinning now. The floor became blurred and Ivy was quickly losing all sense of herself. At any moment, she would collapse onto the floor. "Well of course you can't!" mocked her manager, "You think a man is going to take you with your head covered up like that?"
Telma had slid down the wall and now sat upon the floor hugging her own knees. Very slowly, a glimmer of hope at Audra's words managed to get through to her quivering mind. "W-what?" she hoarsely gasped. "You're not gonna be jumping on any men dearie, if anyone saw those ears, we'd all be dead!" shouted the old woman, "So get up and get back to cleaning! It's the only thing you're good for around here!" Like a cool bucket of water thrown upon a fire, Telma's fear suddenly gave way and she began to sob in relief. Still, the other girls had misled her – never revealing the true nature of their work for over two years – but at least now… she would not be expected to sully herself.
For two days, Agnes and her vai waited anxiously for the 'guests' that the chieftain's guards had warned were coming, but no sign of them had come. Once the 'inn' had been thoroughly cleaned and ordered by Telma, Agnes shoved a large purse of rupees into her hands and ordered her to go to the trading caravan that had entered town and to buy an even measure of the traders' food, liquor, candles, bathing oils, incense, and any 'Karusa Flower' that they might have – until the purse was exhausted. The young woman was amazed to be holding such a large amount of money in her hands – but what truly shocked her was that Agnes had not offered any threats of punishment or reprisal, if she wasted or attempted to steal any of the money. The aged innkeeper was so terrified of Lord Ganondorf's wrath, she had completely forgotten.
Expecting that she would be bringing home more than she could carry herself, Ivy asked Safflina and Lavender to come with her. For a moment, the girls did not want to leave, for fear of missing the men. But Agnes quickly shooed them out, insisting that they would be back quickly and not 'miss anything.' The three set out, just as the sun was beginning to set. Safflina bounced and twirled with excitement, babbling to her sisters about 'the fun' that they would soon be enjoying, while Lavender walked quietly beside Telma. "You're not excited, like she is." She whispered to her sister. "No," answered the once-wealthy Gerudo, "I doubt anyone could be as excited as Saf about anything." But the longer Ivy studied her, the more she could see that her friend was actually dreading the coming visit.
"Are… you frightened?" she tried, but Lavender just wrinkled her nose. "No! Just… I had hoped that 'that stuff' was over now. It's been two years." She answered. "Oh… you don't like it?" Telma pressed. "No one enjoys being a whore Ivy…except maybe Safflina, but I think even she would prefer to earn her living in some… 'more honorable' way." She murmured. "Come on you two!" cried their energetic sister ahead, "The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get back to Agnes'!" Telma raised a hand and smiled to her, but she did not quicken her pace. "Can't you just… leave?" she whispered to her sister. With an exhasperated sigh, and a long, thoughtful pause, Lavender answered, "Outlast Village used to be called 'The Village of Outcasts' or 'Outcast Village' – its where all of the thieves, murderers, whores, and dishonored Gerudo were sent, if they were not put to death. In time, we worked to change the name to 'Outlast'… ha ha… I guess they wanted to 'show' the women in the fortress that they were somehow better… by 'Outlasting' them here. Anyway, no one ever leaves Outlast to become anything more. That's just how it is."
Telma didn't press her with any more questions after that. The disgust that she had felt from the days before was starting to break. Yes, these women were doing something that she was taught to believe was 'vile', but they had nowhere else to go. They were outcasts from the Fortress or from Karusa and from what she had learned from the desert traders – they wouldn't accept the girls amongst their caravans – for fear of offending both settlements. The only other options available to a disgraced Gerudo were to either go to the mines near Karusa as a slave or to wander into the mountains to the North or East and live as a wild-woman – and no one ever lived very long that way. Here they had comfortable shelter, food, water, the means to bathe, soft clothes, and a little money to spend as they wished. They were already seen as dishonored by their people, what harm did it cause then to work in a dishonorable profession?
Fortunately for the girls, the trading caravan leaders were so impressed by the amount of rupees that Telma was willing to spend, that they offered to drive their carts right to Agnes' door and carry the provisions inside themselves. As they supervised the storage and paid each merchant for their respective wares, Lavender leaned over to her sister and asked, "So… have you determined your prices yet?" Telma hesitated for the briefest moment, before answering, "Oh, I'm not doing that kind of work. I'll just cook, or serve drinks, but Audra said I won't have to." The Gerudo suddenly burst into a fit of terrible laughter. "Oh, that's what she told you huh? Well, hmm, tell me – who was it that promised Lord Ganondorf 'All of the women here are at your disposal. We will refuse no pleasure from our guests.'? Audra? Or Agnes?" she asked.
The icy claw of fear reached up once more, and grabbed at Telma's heart. "W-what are you saying?" she whimpered. Rudely, Lavender cupped her hands under Ivy's breasts and gave them a slight bounce. "If some guest of the Lord fancies a big girl, do you think Audra is going to stand in the way of the royal guards?"