Lilynn was staring through the small window of the tavern room. Her body felt heavy, almost fixed to the ground where she stood. Her mind, however, was working ferociously.
Was she blind to see the truth before?
It has been more than a week since she was confronted with the worker girls in Iliat. The girls who were treated poorly by the wealthy guild owner, giving them little to no payment for all their work. And worst of all, physical punishment as well.
Lilynn was just a young maid when she learned about abuse. She did not know her parents -- whether they died or left her on her own purposefully was a mystery. All she knew was that she was brought to the orphanage at a very young age. So young that she had no memories of arriving there. Living among many children with the same unfortunate past, Lilynn learned that unwanted people do not get the same treatment as those with a place to call home.
She remembered the day she got old enough for a job. She was around fifteen, let loose in a strange world.
A world where girls like her had no hopes for a great life.
And Trimonis, the city where she lived almost her entire life previously, was full of danger. Yet, Lilynn had to stay. No other place offered as many possibilities as the biggest city of the kingdom. She remembered laying down next to the busiest street, where thousands of people traveled through each day, trading with vendors and doing their business. She saw them trading food and other goods. Her own stomach was burning inside her body, probably consuming itself. Lilynn hadn't had a meal for more than a week at that point.
A young man found her. Lilynn was sure he was around the same age as her, but also much different. He had a rich dark textile suit covering his body, with a snow-white shirt tucked out at the sleeves. He reached his hand towards Lilynn laying in the dust, and said:
"I have a better place for you."
And so, Lilynn followed him without hesitation.
They went through many alleyways. Lilynn could have asked the boy where they were headed to, but the thought of a wealthy person leading her to a better place was a dream she did not want to shatter.
The place was a multiple-storey building. It had many rooms in it, with visitors staying for a few days in each of them. Most of them were rich ladies and lords coming from other places of the kingdom, or even from outside the borders.
There were also many maids. The rich people always seemed to ignore them, as if their presence was only a disturbing factor, but Lilynn immediately recognized how hard they were working the first time she stepped into the building.
They were always in hurry. They were all dressed in the usual black-white maid uniform, performing all the daily tasks on every level. Cleaning the rooms before and after guests was their top priority.
Lilynn learned the job quickly. It was all about being fast, not letting the owner catch you doing nothing. Or else, he cut your salary in half, which was already only a few dirty coins.
Lilynn did not care. The building had its own dining place where the maids and other servants could eat. The food itself was poor and almost always the same -- some sort of oatmeal or other unknown mushy meal.
The first horrors came only a few weeks after Lilynn's first arrival.
She vividly remembered a couple of young men entering the place. Noisy, loud lads with the most expensive fashion on themselves. The owner seemed very close to them, who perhaps was a close relative. The boys were supposed to stay in two rooms for a few days. Lilynn was the one responsible for their rooms.
She prepared it correctly with fresh linen on the bed.
While she was about to leave the room for the visitors, the young men entered it.
"Look! The maiden is here!"
Lilynn wanted to reach the exit quickly, but they all stood in her way.
"Please do not leave just yet!"
One of them held her back by the skirt of the dress. She murmured, "I have to hurry," but the man holding her did not react. She felt a large hand grabbing her arm.
"The girls working here are so nice! I bet Uncle Gorlic wouldn't mind if we had a little fun with them."
By this point, Lilynn was using more force to let go of the man's grip, who continued to hold her.
"Why not spend some time with us?"
She wanted to scream. Another hand fixated on her mouth, and she could not. Lilynn was throwing her body with all her energy, but she could move an inch towards the exit door. The men were holding her head, arms and even... her torso.
She could feel a cold hand touching her chest through the dress. The men were laughing and saying something to each other, but Lilynn could no longer comprehend their words. It all happened so quickly, and the hand was now under her dress.
Then, another.
They were touching her intimate pieces. Lilynn could not move. A single tear came out.
She knew what they were about to do. And that she could not escape without help.
With all her power, she started to stamp her foot on the wooden floor. The gestures felt very weak, and the men's loud laughter was stronger than any other noise. The other maids all knew that the young man group was about to be trouble. They would not dare disturb them in their rooms.
The entrance door suddenly opened. Another maid was standing there, looking absolutely shocked.
"Ah, we were just having a nice moment here!" Lilynn could hear a male voice saying.
They suddenly let Lilynn go, who almost fell. She rushed out the door, leaving the shocked maid and the men behind. Her environment blurred into a mushy nightmare and tears were hurting her eye. Corridor after corridor, she did not stop until she was on the street.
Her dress was all messed up, and the people watching her were probably thinking that she was in trouble. Lilynn was just crying, without looking at anyone. Nobody came up to her.
She left the maid job and the hotel after a few weeks.