|
The girl's face went beetroot red at Amelia's comment, she was obviously not as streetwise or as used to this as she would like to be. Being with a man was one thing, but the idea of being with another woman seemed to scare her more than anything else, or at least deeply embarrass her. Her stare was well fixed on her boots but she dared look up as Amelia continued to explain her errand.
"So it's like Crow's then?" she asked quietly, well, it wasn't much of a question, more of a statement, though the analogy was somewhat mistaken perhaps. She brightened up at Amelia statement though, starting to see what Amelia had in store for her. Or rather, what Amelia would like her to think was in store for her. She still seemed fairly worried though, she had been in Nexus long enough to hear stories of horrible murderers and rapists and the like who took girls who went off on their own. Her eyes glittered as they fastened on the banknote though. That was more than she made in cycles! She snagged it quickly enough and secreted it on her body, wary that Amelia might change her name.
"Acrasia," she breathed the name, "three candlemarks before sundown, tomorrow, Eastern gates. I won't let you down, Mistress Acrasia," she piped in almost eagerly. Any wariness blown away by the potential for earning money. If this was what was paid up front, what could be paid her when she got there? Anyone willing to throw around that kind of money couldn't be merely some rapist off the streets or anything like that. "My name is Olga," said the petite girl, looking nothing like an Olga at all, "but Mistress Tekhoven says I should go by Kitty now."
Once the business was dealt with though she disappeared quickly enough into a back alley, eager to spend her new money, not yet old enough to learn that what looked like easy money very rarely was.
Three candlemarks before sundown, the next evening found Kitty nee Olga, waiting for Mistress Arcasia at the gates, looking nervously back and forth. Her black hair had been put up stylishly and she had obviously invested in make up, though her beauty was somewhat marred by wearing the same, rather revealing dress she had worn earlier and her constant nervous chewing of one of her fingernails. She looked as if she had spent the money Amelia had given her well though, she smelled faintly of basil and musk, while the kohl she was wearing was obviously of good quality, the pale, Ariumite skin seeming to have been treated with expensive oils so it almost glowed in the pale, stretched light of the sun.
Grey eyes darted back and forth, her painted lips forming a slight pout around the fingernail she was chewing on nervously. She definitely seemed nervous about this, but there was a lot of money involved and who was not willing to go through a bit of trouble for some money. She seemed much like a deer where she stood, ready to bolt at the first sign of trouble.
|