Valerie

"Here we are! The scarlett lotus. Where dreams become reality!", the hobgoblin said with a cheerful smile.

I held back a giggle. Clearly he had his experiences here.

To be quite honest, the building didn't look particularly outstanding. From the outside it looked like every other building on the street, just another majestic building carved out of solid stone. The only remarkable feature was a the symbol of a purple lotus above the entrance. Yes purple, not the advertised scarlett.

Slightly dissapointed I followed my new aquaintance inside. In front of my eyes a wooden reception table unveileid itself. Althought it wasn't big it still had a classy feel to it. Inside were a multitude of different people doing different things. Predominately merchants and the like.

Behind the counter was a voulumptous woman who instantly recoginzed my guide. "Johnson! Same as always?"

He let out a shameless laugh. "Hah not today Judy. I'm not here for entertainment but for buisness. I brought you a client!"

"A client? This beautiful young lady here?" Seductively she glanced at me.

Seeing my moment had come I stepped forward. "Indeed! I need a clean room and two meals per day if that is possible."

Hearing me she quickly came around the counter and thoroughly examined my silouette. "Y'know with that body, you can always stay longer than a few days. Around here you won't find any better pay or lodging for that matter."

I had no illusions what she was talking about and answered promptly, "Certainly tempting, but I have a full schedule already. A few days should suffice".

"Your descision sweetie. If you change your mind my doors is always open. Dignity doesn't have a place in New Hantra." While saying this her expression was almost a comical fusion of sadness and curiousity. "But back to buisness. You can get a decent room for five copper a day. The food is paid extra. Depending on your preferences I would plan in an extra one to two copper."

It didn't sound too bad but I decided to try my luck anyways. "Isn't there anything cheaper?" I asked, putting on my sweetest expression.

She laughed. "Sure, but only if you want to sleep with the horses. Or you could consider my earlier proposal?"

Hurriedly I stopped her. "Huh I will take it!" That shrewed old woman clearly was immune to my charms.

That made her smile even brighter. "Ha sorry girl but we ain't no charity. You already got a discount because Johnson brought you here. Be grateful for that." Thinking a moment she continued, "Oh and you have to pay upfront." At these words she took out a sign with a big red "No credit, no bullshit" written on it.

"Oh thats fine with me." I quickly took out a few copper coins and paid for three days in advance. I could have waited, but the lingering threat of being robbed made me not take my chances.

"Alright I'll get going. See you soon, ...uh that reminds me, what should I call you?" Johnson grumbled.

That actually was a good question. I still hadn't fully decided which name I was going to use in this world. Clearly my old one wouldn't suffice. Going through a inner list of nice names one by one I finally made my descison.

"You can call me Valerie."

Cute name no? Truth be told I was quite pleased with it. Naturally that wasn't my only reason for choosing it, but it certainly played a major role.

"Hah, alright Valerie it is."

After he left I followed the madam from beforw into the heart of the brothel. Here, it was quite a bit bigger and also a lot livelier. Scattered around the room were lots of people sitting around small tables, and doing various things. Some of them ate, some of them drank and most of them played some kind of card game. Inmidst this chaos were two half naked woman dancing on a slightly higher plattform.

For a moment I played with the thought of joining a group, but I quickly discarded it and let a waitress lead me to a rather quiet place in the back.

Contrary to my expectations she was every bit as beautiful as the half naked dancers. How strange.

"What can I get you dear?", she asked with a bored expression

"What would you recommend?"

Still not moved in the slightest she began fireing out names of dishes I had never even heard about before. How intriguing.

Completely unknowing what it was I settled for the "arkonian beef stew". It didn't sound too bad and I was in the right mood for beef.

☆☆☆

A few hours later I was woken up by the even sound of raindrops falling on the roof above my head. It was a extremly peaceful and relaxing noise. Almost enough for me to go back to sleep again.

Almost.

Forcing my eyes open I took in my room for the first time. Last night it had just been too dark. I was pleasantly surprised. Although due to the early time the room was still partially shrouded in darkness I could make out a few distinct details.

My bed was basically just a giant haybale with some wool blankets strapped on it. Not quite as good as the things from my previous life, but certainly not uncomfortable either.

The rest of the room was mostly empty. The only other furniture was a small table in front of the sole window. This window however, was rather interesting. It was made out of glass. Clearly an luxury material considering how much I had paid for it. I instantly suspected the involvement of magic.

Slowly I got up and made my way to the chair.

Sitting here and staring out of the window in the dark and hazy morning a inexplicable feeling of danger arose inside me. It wasn't anything substantial but enough to make goose bumps appear on my naked arm. This feeling definitely wasn't new to me. It was something I discovered and learned to trust when I had been living on the streets. According to my training I didn't move an inch and quietly listened in the silence. Nothing.

Careful not to make a sound I stood up and looked around in the small room. Again, nothing out of the ordinary. Despite this I didn't consider the feeling a fantasy. My fantasy was like a well trained dog, it did not play tricks with me.

When I turned back to the window, I instantly knew something had changed. Trying to figure out what it was I carefully etched closer. Suddenly it hit me. Something had appeared on the outer window sill.

Not taking my chances I waited for a couple minutes. Slowly the alarming feeling faded. Who or whatever had been outside was gone.

Feeling a bit more secure, I approached the window and swiftly opened it. On the window sill laid a feather drenched in something red.

Carefully I tried picking it up, but as soon as my hand touched the feather it escaped my grasp. Hovering in the air it started writing piercing red english characters. "15.35.4236 use it"

Done writing the characters quickly faded away and the feather, or rather the quill, became inanimate again.

Having held my breath for the entire time I let out a long hiss. Now that was something. Someone apparently took note of me. Generally speaking that wasn't a good sign. However, I didn't panic. Considering the fact, that someone took the time to peacefully send me this message it was very likely, that he or she didn't know about my origin.

Despite that it means that, this person knows something. That alone, was quite worriesome.

Pushing aside these troubling thoughts I focused on the meaning of the message itself. The first part was quite obvious. I had long studied the local calender, and therefore I instantly recognized the numbers as a date. A date in about a year to be precise. So whatever the sender wanted wasn't too urgent. Good to know.

The second part was trickier. "Use it". Was he refearing to the quill? And more importantly, what exactly did he mean? I had the lingering feeling that just writing with it wouldn't be enough.