Difyr brought Pinja a fresh bowl of hot broth. "I have something I can give you for pain now, but you shouldn't take it on an empty stomach. So I'll give it to you
after you drink the broth."
Difyr looked at Millie, then sat in an out of the way corner and pulled out the letter from Portside. She unfolded it to small but tidy handwriting.
Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Dear Difyr,
First I want to express my shock and condolence for what has happened to your village! It sounded like such a peaceful place I had hoped to visit someday. If and when the village is rebuilt I will try harder to find time to pay it a visit, though as a healer you know my job does not allow me any free time for travel either.
After I read your letter I immediately tracked down the knight who bore it knowing that you needed much more than what you asked me for in your letter. Sure enough when I spoke to the knight (He was reluctant to even speak to me, I think he thought I was a prostitute! I always thought I looked like a midwife.) he admitted that there were some items on your list he could not find in the market. I looked at the list and basically drew the young man by his ear to the Dove and made him wait, blushing, in the lobby as I went through my supplies and completed your list and threw in a few extras. Do not even think of paying me, my supplies are plentiful and your survivors need them more than I do.
As for Ila, yes, the girl worked here. Her family's name is Kemeny, a prominent house, you may have heard of them. But she has been disowned and I do not think she wants anything to do with her family anymore. About two years ago her own father brought her to the Crimson Dove and signed her over! She is not the first girl I've met whose own family has thrown into the brothel, but I'll never stop being shocked by it or understand how they can do it.
How Ila came to the Crimson Dove is like most of the girls here. She fell in love and was seduced by a man who promised to marry her. As you can guess he did not keep his promise even after she discovered she was pregnant. After her parents found out she was brought here. She was so scared and so young, I wish there was more I could do for her. She gave birth to a healthy boy and he was sent to the Sisters of the Helping Hand. I do not think Ila knows he was named Dagr. The last I heard he had not been adopted.
I do not believe any of the girls belong here, no one belongs to a life like that, but Ila really did not belong here. It was already hard enough working in a brothel, but the man who disgraced her is a regular patron! His name is Jago Voclain, what a piece of work he is. Of all the girls at the Crimson Dove he always chose Ila. Usually a girl can refuse because most clients can be persuaded to chose a different one, but he insisted on her and was willing to pay twice as much. Poor Ila tried to fight him to the point the bouncers actually came in and helped Jago! It was disgusting, the bouncers are supposed to protect the girls. I tried to stop him myself the first time- and the Madam told me if I didn't stop that I would be fired. I don't care about getting paid but if I lose this job the girls will have no one taking care of them. Before I came to the Crimson Dove no midwives would come near the place, the girls were always getting pregnant, at least one a year died in childbirth, if they were hurt or sick they had no one to treat them. I still wish this terrible place would be shut down, prostitution banned and the girls given good jobs.
There had been a couple men who got rough with Ila, including one who nearly strangled her before she was able to break a glass on her nightstand and get a bouncer's attention, but none of them bothered Ila as much as Jago did.
Jago came several times a week, sometimes he would show up twice a day, he would show up at all hours, including dawn, so it was impossible to know when he was coming. Ila was nervous, hardly eating or sleeping, I know it's because she was in constant fear of Jago showing up. I told the Madam that she would go insane or give up on life altogether if Jago was allowed to continue, but because Jago was paying so much the Madam ignored me. After a while Ila stopped fighting and I could see life leaving her eyes. I began to worry she would try to kill herself and tried to keep a close eye on her. Sure enough one day she heard Jago coming up the stairs and she tried to throw herself over the balcony- a bouncer caught her just in time. Still the Madam let Jago have his way.
A couple weeks later the man you described showed up. He called himself Nelek Gerthrim. You say he's a merman but as far as I could tell he was human, but I've never met a merman before as far as I know. Ila came into my office and told me she had talked to Nelek about buying her contract and living with him and wanted my opinion on it. I still don't know, even after what you told me has happened to her. If she stayed at the Crimson Dove Jago would keep coming for her until she killed herself- I know she would not have survived to the end of her contract. I worried about her going away so I could not see her, what if this Nelek turned out to be cruel? She would be alone. But for the first time in months she had some light in her eyes, she had some hope. So I told her my concerns but that it was up to her. I do not know how much gold he paid the Madam but it must have been a lot for her to transfer Ila's contract. I wished Ila the best and asked her to write to me when she could. When Ila never wrote anything to me I hoped it was because she wanted to cut any ties to her life in the Crimson Dove. Most girls lucky enough to get out, even those that get out legally instead of running away, rarely write to me. I don't blame them.
Speaking of girls that get out of the Crimson Dove, Nelly's contract ended a month ago. As you know she fully recovered thanks to your help, she does not even limp. She has set up a yarn shop in the market and I have taken up knitting so I have an excuse to see how she is doing. Her business is doing well, her time at the Crimson Dove does not seem to have set her back, though I wonder if it will if she ever wants more from life than a yarn shop. Do you know anything about removing brands?
Sincerely,
Vilma Marquardt, midwife
Removing brands. Maybe Aalyssa could come up with something when she woke up. Difyr wanted to get that dove tattoo off Ila if she could. It was good to know that Nelly was doing well. But Vilma's account of Ila was troubling. Would she have to watch Ila to make sure she did not try killing herself? Hopefully Ila realized she was safe now.
Difyr folded the letter and put it back in her pocket.