Chapter 176

Albedo sat luxuriating in the cart beside her elven servant. Today she wore a blue and white shirt to show the colors of the Holy Roble Kingdom, with a flowing ribbon design around her breasts to accentuate and entice, while her smaller servant was clad in men's travel clothing of black and green pants. Illyana picked at them as she drove the horse cart full of supplies to be sold in the Fortress city at the wall.

"You will be surrounded by humans, Illyana," Albedo cautioned the slender elf, "but you belong to a superior demon, do not forget that." The disguised succubus remarked while looking down beside her 'wagon driver'.

"I will not, Lady Albedo." The elf woman said in a quiet voice. "Humans are the real demons." She said in a quiet whisper.

Albedo didn't bother with that, the Fortress was coming into view. It was far from the 'only' such installation, but it was the largest and the strongest. The road was broad and meant for the marching of an army, the cart they drove was not the only one going to or from the place, but of the ones that did, almost all were marked with the official emblem of the Holy Kingdom, and almost all were driven by armored soldiers.

The Fortress stabbed defiantly at the distant sky with its great towers, like many spears of stone that dared the gods on high to strike down those who lived below. The trees were far more abundant than Illyana expected along the roadway, and the birds that chirped both in and out of view were numerous. For a moment it was like being home again. She could have been a farmer again, taking her goods to market. If it were not for the thick bearded humans, she could have fully immersed herself in the illusion.

They took no real notice of her, though they turned up their noses whenever she caught sight of them looking at her ears. Still, Illyana kept her jaw clenched and hatred quiet as the Fortress and the wall loomed ever larger and they drew ever closer.

Her breathing quickened when the halberd bearing human approached from the gate and addressed the soft faced Albedo, ironically her training in the brothel made her so excellent an actress that she was able to disguise it with a bored expression, tired from a long stretch as if the journey had been far longer than it actually was.

The approaching soldier brought his halberd to a guard position and looked up at the women travelers. "Papers?" He asked, and Albedo reached into her pocket to remove the trade authorization procured from a doppelganger who seduced the merchant guild leader. The guard unrolled the paper, looked it over, and nodded. The papers rustled as he rerolled them and extended his hand back up to Albedo with the long end of the documents out.

She took it and put it into the pouch at her side, "What are you selling?" He asked, his halberd relaxed with the butt on the ground rather than at the ready for use.

"If you're selling that," he pointed at Illyana, "we don't allow non-humans here, too dangerous."

Illyana flinched where she sat, but said nothing and averted her eyes from the human.

"No." Albedo took it in stride and jerked her thumb over her shoulder, "Beer from the Kingdom of Nazarick, as well as jerked meat, rice, wheat, and a handful of imported tools we had left over from our last stop. I have a use for this one." She pinched Illyana's ear, "So she is not for sale."

Illyana whimpered a bit at the sudden pinch, but otherwise kept her peace.

The soldier smacked his lips. "Beer, you say?"

"I do say." Albedo winked down at him, "They're getting quite a reputation for beer quality now that they've started setting up national breweries, since the Allfather is the only one who is licensed to produce or sell it, quality control is key, it's a matter of national pride. Trust me, you'll love it."

"Ah, well… Well, go on then!" He said, his face split into all smiles and the portcullis came up again. "Follow the path till you get to the merchant area, show them your papers, they'll let you set up a booth, tent, or what have you, but no permanent structures. Temporary only."

"Understood, soldier." Albedo replied with a friendly smile that sent a flutter through his heart while she imagined tearing it from his chest.

The chains clinked and the smell of oil and bodies that could have stood to be washed more often, reached their noses. The smell of horses and unwashed dogs, as well as the manure of both, became more common too, and both Albedo and Illyana wrinkled their noses at that.

The hustle and bustle of the Fortress was like any city Illyana had ever seen, except for one difference. Nearly everybody was uniformed, and there were relatively few women. Tabards of the Holy Kingdom, flags, and painted shields were everywhere. Even workers who didn't have armor on were dressed in a practical uniform fashion of forest shades that would be useful if they had to flee into the woods.

Crates of supplies moved and columns of soldiers marched over hard packed earth.

She found the area he meant, it had a few dozen tents in various shades, most put up signs to indicate what they were selling. They were simple things, an anvil for someone with metal goods, and for additional guidance, they had a small rack with various tools in place and even a sharpening wheel. Albedo watched a soldier hand the merchant a copper coin and a sword, immediately the broad shouldered metal merchant got to work sharpening it for him. A few tents over, a sign that was nothing but a wooden board with a pair of crudely painted breasts on the front said all it needed to. But if it hadn't, a pair of women dressed in Holy Kingdom Tabards, sandals, and nothing else, beckoned with come hither looks, sultry smiles in order to entice customers to their wares.

Illyana made a point of not letting her eyes linger on that scene as a soldier undid his belt before he was in the tent and followed an auburn haired woman into the tent.

At another tent there were various sweets on display, a matronly older woman held them up and shouted that they were ready, behind her, a graybeard was busy stirring a stew pot and shouting, "Stew in a minute, try the wife's goods while I get ready."

In front of them all stood a spindly looking fellow who stood so stiff and rigid that Albedo had to wonder, 'Is he capable of unclenching his ass enough to take a shit?'

He held an official looking clipboard and flicked a thin mustache at a wayward fly as if he had a cat's whiskers on his callow face. Albedo dismounted from the cart when she came close to where he stood with a bored face that bordered on frowning and discontentment.

She approached, her feet kicking up a little dust that didn't rise above the ankles of her knee high boots, she yanked the document from her pouch and stuck it out to him in a no nonsense fashion. "My papers." She didn't smile at this one, and he didn't look at her, he only took the document, unrolled it, put it on his clipboard, stamped it, and handed it back to her.

"Set up next to the whores, and remember there's a tax on leaving here with unsold goods, so don't do it." He said while pointing toward the prostitutes. One of them began to play a lyre, and the other began to dance, her garments were of peasant origin, but had clearly been cut and modified for a different kind of practical application.

A crowd began to gather to watch the performance.

"I don't think that will be a problem, but… what is the tax if we did?" Albedo asked with a cockeyed look.

"The unsold goods." He said bluntly and then went back to looking past her as if she weren't there.

'I didn't realize my corruption efforts had been that successful, there's no way that is a real tax.' She half laughed but pretended to frown at what he said and got back into her cart. "Drive." She said to Illyana who cracked the reins and the cart wheeled over to the nearest place staked off by the whores.

"Get the bar ready." Albedo gave the perfunctory order and got in the back of the cart to relax while Illyana dragged the barrels over with steady grunts until they were at the edge of the back with their spigots facing out.

The whore finished dancing with the dying music and watched the pair work. "Hey, you're not whores are you? Because it's not fair if you got to sell beer too!"

Albedo glared at the green eyed woman, "No." She said with an icy stare, "There's only one man I desire, anything less than he is unworthy. Mind your business insect."

The auburn haired woman was nonplussed. "I was just being friendly… you sell beer, we sell… other refreshments, the two go together really well, nothing better than what you've got before they have what we've got!" The woman laughed with glee as if she'd said something very funny, but it had Albedo's attention in a far more serious fashion.

Something Illyana had said about wine to set the mood. She glanced at the former elven prostitute and asked, "Is that whore there," she pointed at the bold dancer woman who picked up a painted wooden sword and began to twirl with it like she was the whirlwind, casting her hair and arms about when the music picked up again, "correct?"

"Sort of, My Lady, but she put it a little crudely, I can explain it better when we have more time, if it pleases you." Illyana said as she began to unload crates to create a ring between the beer supply and where her customers would order.

"Hey!" The auburn haired girl tossed the phony sword into the air, tilted her head up, and caught the edge in her teeth without slowing her spin. She stopped only slowly, allowing the sword to fall from her teeth and into her waiting hand as her leg swept out behind her. "My name, lady, isn't 'That Whore'. My name is Skana, and I only do this for fun when I've run out of the rest of my produce to sell."

Albedo snorted. "Whore, Skana, it's all the same to me."

The auburn haired girl shrugged. "Prudes, go figure." She mumbled and gave a sultry smile at a passing soldier, forgetting the offensive merchant and going back to the business of pleasure.