Sir Samuel stood in front of three men that were armed at the entrance of his property, "Why are you here?" He hadn't pulled his blade out, "You are bandits."
"You are the only knight here."
"I know," He pulled off his engraved gauntlet and handed it to the lady next to him, "Please, Fiora, step away slightly," She nodded and then a symbol lit up on his hand and his right eye changed to become red instead of white, "How do you want to die?"
"What the hell is that?! Scram!" The three men turned and ran as he took out three blades from his belt and hurled them into the air. Three bodies hit the floor on the path, he took the gauntlet back from Fiora and smiled.
"Thank you, Fiora, for not telling anyone."
"I don't need to, and no one has asked, but you did see the message I left on your desk, a new lord wants to make a deal with you."
"I did, I need to talk to you about it," The bodies vanished and the three blades returned to his hand in the blink of an eye. He slid them back into his belt, "Who was that lord?"
"New lord, a young knight, who heard about your deals with other knights, but he respects you, the way he wrote it."
"I don't know what deal I need to make with him."
"He wants to be able to buy some of the clothes we make, for his wife and daughter, and in return he will pay us in coins and wheat, he produces wheat."
"Ah, well, why not?"
"They would have to come here."
"Yes, it will have to be organized, can't have him travel with too many male guards, how long will the dresses take?"
"A day, is the normal speed."
"They will arrive in the morning, stay the day, then leave, I don't think we have a place for male guards here."
"No, we don't, well, should I write the letter?" They entered the main building once more, "Hello, Juliet, is that Elena?" She nodded, "Off to get clothes?"
"Yes, Fiora, she needs new clothes."
"Glad to see that she doesn't look terrified."
"This is very new, Sir Samuel."
"You can call me that, if you need to talk to me, just ask your hallway helper."
"1, um, 2, 0."
"Yep, that is Cassidy's room," Fiora smiled, "You are in room 113."
"I think," She looked at Juliet, who nodded, "Yes, room, 1, 1, 3."
"Well, I won't bother you two, Fiora, can you draft the letter and send it through to me, I will be in my chambers."
"Very well, Sam, I'll get to that," Sir Samuel owned a large property in the middle of the Ulotian Empire, he had been a knight and a doctor in the army and had amassed a large fortune from his campaigns. Once he was allowed to retire, he built the property they were in to protect the women that the Ulotian Empire decided to judge by humiliation. Many of the women of his property were accused wrongly, but some were actual criminals, Fiora, one of the women that helped him with his administration, had murdered and rape two other women, she had been raped twice before he saved her, she thought he would reject her or treat her like she had been treated by the men who humiliated her, but after a year, she asked to stay and work with him, so he accepted. Many of the women who stayed in his property would often end up staying and working there, not wanting to leave and have to explore the world once more. He offered them a place to be safe, and most would live here until they died, often times, practicing another crime, same sex marriage and relationships as men brought them trauma and fear. He was nearly the only man they could really talk to. He sat down in his office and pulled out the lord's letter as a knock came to the door.
"Come in," Elena opened the door, "Elena, what can I do for you?"
"Juliet told me to come here, to talk about something you do with all the girls here," She walked in, looking around, "Um, what is it?"
"I do this with every lady who I house, I ask them a little bit about themselves, but if you want a woman to do this, tell me."
"I-I-I think I am fine?" He gestured for her to sick down and she did, still looking around, "Thank you for the room."
"My pleasure, Elena, so, I wanted to start off, this won't change my care for you, what crime were you accused of?"
"Stealing."
"Did you?" She nodded, "Okay, don't worry, now, you said you were, 24?" She nodded, "Okay, that is what I have, tell me about yourself, family?" She shook her head, "Okay, anything you see as special?"
"I don't know, I never thought of myself as special."
"Ah, you are special, everyone is, I am special like you are special."
"Really?"
"Do you read or write?" She looked down and shook her head, "Don't be upset, Elena, you know, Juliet was like you before," She looked up, "Yeah, I taught her myself, I suppose you might want to learn?" She nodded and smiled like a child being given a gift, "Okay, okay, then you will learn, but now that that is out of the way, I have to get to the, um, sensitive part, um, were you abused while on trial?"
"Abused?"
"Raped, humiliated as many say," She shook her head, "Good, okay, that makes it easier, are you afraid of men?"
"Not the ones that are nice to me, so like you."
"Ah, but like anyone, you are scared of those who are bad," She nodded, "Okay, did they measure you for the clothes?" She smiled and nodded, "Good, good, I hope you will like the clothes, the ladies that make them are talented."
"Did you teach them?"
"No, a girl I took care of was a tailor, accused of stealing like you, but never had, so I saved her and she asked me if she could work here and well, she ended up teaching others how to sew and make clothes, and they are amazing."
"I saw that, I think it was Julia, her clothes are so nice."
"Julia is a nice lady, she is near your room, it was 113?"
"1, 1, 3," She nodded.
"You have Cassidy as your hallway helper?"
"Yes," As she finished her sentence a bell rang, "What is that?"
"Supper, do you remember where it is?"
"Um, I am not sure."
"Then come with me, I'll have someone bring you there or I'll do it myself."
"Thank you, Sir Samuel."
"Of course, it isn't a problem."
"Will I have debt towards you?"
"Debt? No, of course not, I am just trying to help the women that need it," She hugged him and he smiled, "There, there, don't make the others jealous," She let go of him and he saw a hallway helper knocking on their doors, "Ah, Gina, can you help Elena to the dinner room?" She looked at him and nodded, "Just go with Gina, she'll help you."
"Are you not coming?"
"I will, but a little, later, I have to record what you told me and put it in my archives."
"Oh, okay, thank you, Sir Samuel."
"Of course," He smiled at her as she walked away, "Now, I need to get to my archives," He walked back into his office and then took the paper he was writing on and then began rolling it up and then grabbed a piece of cut string from his table and tied it around the scroll of paper. He opened a glass pane door of one of the three wardrobes that were labelled with letters for the names of the women he housed, "Elena, so right there, perfect," He returned to his desk and closed the bottle of ink and then placed it to the side with his writing feather. He sat down at his desk and pulled out the letter that Fiora had been talking about earlier, "He wants us to make clothes for his wife and daughter, in exchange for supplies, I will gladly take that, hmm, yes, I have nothing to complain or have to add," He got up and removed his blade from his belt and placed it on the rack that was made for it. He kept the small blades that were tucked into small sheaths on his belt. He walked out of his office and calmly walked down the stone steps to head down to the dinner hall.
He smiled as he noticed Elena talking with other girls around her, not being closed in a bubble. He walked through the middle of the room with many of them greeting him. He sat down at the table where Fiora was sitting after taking a plate for himself, "So, Fiora, did you get to the letter?"
"I did, Sam, here, um, I don't know if it is good, but I can re-write it if needed," He quickly read over it, "What do you think?"
"I think that it is good, do we have a carrier with them?"
"Yes, the first one was brought by carrier."
"Perfect, send it out tonight," He said before beginning to eat, "No trials anywhere recently?" She shook her head, "At least that gives me a break."
"Elena, the new girl, signed up for lessons, language."
"Ah, she had wanted to learn, do you know where Cassidy is?"
"Um, I didn't pay attention but I can talk to her after."
"Ask her to ask Elena if she is interested in learning a skill, since she told me she had nothing special to her, I don't think that it is good for her to think that."
"Okay, I'll do that, unless you see her first."
"Exactly, and make sure the girls are reminded to bath if they haven't," He said, in between bites, "And especially to the newer girls, most are not used to that type of privilege," Fiora nodded and wrote everything down, "What do you think?"
"About?"
"The state of my property now."
"Since you saved me?" He nodded, "Well, I like it, I enjoy working here, and well, it is nice to help those who are in the position I was in a couple of years back."
"Glad to hear that you like it here."
"The gardeners are very good at what they do."
"They chose the job, and Helena, was, let's say, very talented and taught them well," He chuckled, "I remember when I had given her that idea, to teach, she was so nervous when she practiced with me, and the change is amazing."