This thing called love I just can't handle it
This thing called love I must get round to it
I ain't ready
Crazy little thing called love
~Crazy Little Thing Called Love-Michael Buble~
Cordana followed the Kaldorei maid up the darkened stairway, the smell of alcohol and tobacco strong in the air, the sounds of raucous male laughter and the squeals of women waxing and waning. Her guide opened a door at the far end of the hallway and Cordana stepped inside.
Stepping in behind her, the other night elf closed and latched the door, then lit a candle and drew the curtains. Cordana drew back the hood on the cloak she was wearing. The other smiled.
"I am called Shyra, but it's your coin...so you may call me anything you wish during our time together."
She was slightly taller than Cordana and stepped close to her, curling a strand of the Warden's hair around her finger. Cordana grasped her by the shoulders and forced her to step back. She threw a coin pouch onto the table.
"I am not here to...to...lie with you," she said, an edge in her voice.
Shyra raised her eyebrows then picked up the pouch, weighing it in her hand. "Then what are you paying me so handsomely for? My best customers do not pay nearly this much, sister."
Cordana started second guessing her reasons for her visit to this den of ill repute. But the money had been laid down, so she might as well get what she came for.
"I'm looking for information," she said.
Shyra looked puzzled. "I assure you I know nothing about the people who frequent this establishment. They do not tell me their names or their business, and when they do, it is usually just a fantasy. I am not sure I can be of much help to you...but..." she approached Cordana again and dragged long fingernails down her cheek. "I am sure I can please you in some way."
Cordana pushed her hand away, then forced Shyra into a chair. "Sit down! Do not move from there until our time is up."
Shyra blinked and crossed her legs. "I am not sure I can sit for that long. You have paid the equivalent of a week's time!"
Cordana waved dismissively. "Gold is meaningless. Information is power."
She cringed. She sounded exactly like Khadgar.
Shyra's eyes widened in surprise. "Gold! You mean to tell me that pouch is filled with gold? I had thought it generously filled with copper and silver! Who are you, sister?"
Cordana sat down on the bed. The small room with its softly glowing hearth was growing hotter, and she undid her cloak and let it fall from her shoulders.
"I am someone who needs the information you possess. To put it bluntly, Shyra, I need you to tell me how to make love to a man."
Shyra's laughter floated from the room, through the open window and out into the street.