Serpent's Tooth

All Phyllis got to see upon entering was a large room containing a doubel bed ofmatching size on the wall to the right, two large cupboards to the left, and a window front leading to the balcony overseeing the street in front of the mansion. Closer inspection would reveal that indeed her dresses were stowed away safely here.

~*~

Verialyn meanwhile was followed by Verkul as she inspected the other room, nearly identical to the one the gorgon now was residing in. The main difference being that her balcone oversaw the mansion's inner court yard and the roofs of the old city.

For now she was content to kick off her sandals and flop down backwards on the bed, mustering Verkul.

Phyliss started browsing through the clothes right away. She was happy to find her soft limegreen boots among other of her favourites. She stripped down to her new black lingerie and sat down on a rug, where she put her boots on and reworked her makeup, adding a limegreen eyeshadow. She got up, standing just in her black underwear and her limegreen boots, checking her appearance in a large mirror.

Verkul was standing around, feeling a bit arkward.
"I feared you might loathe me and Quomor, as we could do nothing after you have been abducted by that monsters. I hope you haven't suffered to much - but both of you seem in good health and well recovered. At least you seem to appreciate what we did meanwhile, although I am not sure about your beautiful friend, as I never got into her set of mind after all that time. But we do provide the best."

The woman in the mirror looked right back at Phyliss, imitating her poses in an astonishingly accurate way.


"Don't worry, you did fine." Verialyn replied with a smile "Had you charged after us you likely would have gotten robbed or killed, neither of which would hav helped us much, either. This way ..." She spread her arms, gesturing towards the walls surrounding them "... our gold is at least well invested."

"That man downstairs ... Sorrak, was it? ... he hinted the house also serves female customers? Have you done so personally?"

"Well, well... As the owner..or rather manager, I can't act like a servant. This might not go with my dignity and authority." said Verkul. He could have said he was fat, neither young or handsome like Sorrak, and not to well endowed, too. Not that he did not have wanted to serve, but the ladies weren't that keen to be served by him.

Phyliss kept studying herself a while in the mirror, somehow amused that people really believed she could turnherself to stone like that. Her looks had recovered well from the brutal treatment she had suffered. Still in her undies and boots, she turned away from the mirror and started to browse through her dresses in the wardrobe, undecided what to put on today. She would have wondered about Verialyn who cared so less about clothes if she hadn't been all busy, her mind set only on clothes, forgetting everything else around her.

Even in her near full absorption in the vastness of garments once again available to her after such a long draught Phyliss could her the faint knocking sound on her door.


"I see..." Verialyn grinned back "... so you had to take one for the house and turn down some requests?"

"I am not that unpolite, of course. If a beautiful lady insists on my service, I could not turn her down." said Verkul, trying to do a charming smile.

The gorgon, still browsing through her dresses, needed some seconds to give an answer.
"Oh, who is it?"

The door opened slowly, and in stuck a ark skinned female head. Phyliss instantly recognized her as Ashirra, the gilr she had met earlier behind the bar on the ground floor.

"Oh, it is you Lady Ovida..." she began, clearly unsure with her self. "I was looking for Master Verkul ... we have a problem ... But maybe you would want to help?" she inquired, adding politely "It is your establishment after all."


"And what if the lady was not as beautiful?" Verialyn quipped back, sitting up on the bed she was lying on. "As I understand it a big part of a brothel's customers are persons who lack the physical attractiveness to attract scores of gorgeously built members of the preferred sex."

"Ummm, as I said, we have skilled staff for that. I think in my position, I can allow me to turn or accept such a request." said Verkul, a bit taken back by the unexpected answer.

"Ah, yes it is." said Phyliss. She wasn't exactly happy for the disturbance and openly acting as owner of a brothel, but she decided it wouldn't be wise to give things out of the hand and loose authority that way. She grabbed the classic black dress, that was very elegant and sexy, but a bit more strict and formal then the others. It was tight, but closed, giving her a more respectable look. She hoped that it would be a contrast among scantily dressed prostitutes.
She pulled it over and left the room. "So, what is it?" Someting came in her mind, and she asked a second question before Ashirra answered. "What made you think Verkul was in my room?"

"I was not sure" Ashirra replied, staying at the dorr, hands obediently folded in front of her. "but I saw Master Verkul escort Lady Kallidis and you to the upper floor, and so I started checking the rooms.

We ... have a bit of a problem. Count Bernok is downstairs. He has scheduled an appointment in fifteen minutes, but it seems master Verkul has miscalculated, since at that time all the girls will be occupied."


"But what if the lady insists?" Verialyn would not give up that easily. "If she is enamored by the soft roundness of your form and would not have anyone else serve her?"