"You have become quite nervous since you have seen the port," said Della as she saw the small port getting closer and closer.
"It is just excitement," Lola replied, but she could tell it was a lie, but she did not peruse it and looked at the small city in the wasteland.
It is their destination, her ninth brothel.
She hoped Carla is right; she had decided to believe in that little girl and chose this over her freedom.
The severance they have offered, and her own measly savings would have been enough to live without any worries for years.
Finally, the ship reached the port and began to dock on the pier; all the girls began to come out of their bunks, including Estelle and Mera, who were seasick.
Even they did not know this little fact about themselves, having never been on the ship before this.
"You broads, line up," said the rough voice, the Captain of the ship. A pot-bellied, bearded man with a foul mouth, looking at all the women like meat.
She thought he might force himself on them, given what they were, and he even came close to doing it but stopped every time at the last moment for some unknown reason.
They lined up on the deck, and he began to count them.
"All fifty-two, not a single one of you jumped off the ship secretly," he said and walked out of the ship.
As he did, one of the carriages parked by the pier opened its door, and beautiful women in enchanting blue gowns walked out with the grace that only rich ladies have.
She is immaculate; everything about her is perfect, especially her walk, which feels more like a glide than a walk.
Even the rough Captain stumped on his spot as he saw her coming toward him.
"Is that sister Carla?" asked Selma beside her, shocked, and only then did she focus on the girl she had known since she was born, but despite that, she was unable to recognize her.
It wasn't even a year since she saw her, and she had changed so much.
"There is no way; this could be sister Carla!" said Henna, like her others also having a problem recognizing Carla.
She looked at Lola, who had seen Carla less than two months ago, only to see her hand gripping tightly to the railings with her eyes flashing in deep regret.
What is happening here is a complete mystery to her, but reading the letters of Carla and the other girls, she knew they were happy, ecstatically. She had asked them many times, but they always avoided talking about it, even Carla.
She sometimes even doubted the validity of the letters.
Carla reached the stumped Captain and began talking with him; she could not hear what she was saying, but a minute later, he turned toward the ship.
"Bring them down," shouted the Captain.
"Walk down nice and slow; we don't want you to fall and get injured right before the delivery; it would tarnish the image of the captain," said the shipman, and she felt the feeling covering her as she walked down the ramp.
Soon she was on the ground, walking toward Captain and Carla, and the closer she got, the more shocked she became.
Carla had completely transformed since the last time she had seen her.
"Aunty Della, welcome to Greltheaven," she said in a voice that seemed like a chime of bells and hugged her, and she sensed the perfume, which was better than even her most riches clients had.
Carla let go of the hug and turned to Lola.
"You have given me quite a trouble, you know that," she said with a little hard voice before hugging her friend.
"I am sorry," said Lola as tears dripped from her eyes. "It's okay; just don't make any rash decisions anymore," said Carla, with all the hardness in her voice disappearing, and turned to the girls coming off the ship.
"Girls, step into the carriage with your name on it," instructed Carla.
She turned to the carriages lined up and saw that other than the first carriage, all the carriages had paper sticking to them, with each paper having four names.
The girls had many questions, but they still followed the instruction of Carla, who had become unrecognizable within a short time.
Soon, everyone sat in their respective carriages, and the drivers pocketed the papers and sat in their seats, waiting.
"Thank you for bringing the girls to Greltheaven safely, Captain Hanks," thanked Carla.
"It is my job, miss Carla," he replied, completely enamored by her charm, with eyes filled with lust.
If he did not sense the guards standing by the carriage, he might have acted on his emotions.
Giving him a final nod, she walked toward the carriage, where the driver opened the door for her without saying anything, and she gracefully entered inside.
She and Lola entered inside and sat down, and a second later, the carriage began to move.
"You have changed, Carla, so much that I didn't recognize you at first," she said, and Lola, besides, nodded in affirmation with regret in her eyes becoming deeper.
A chimelike laughter rang out from her throat, and she moved her head gracefully toward the window.
"Yes, I did."
"So, much has changed in these past two months; even I sometimes don't recognize myself in the mirror," she replied. Her smile became smaller but genuine as she looked at the passing scenery of the port.
"It seemed to be a good change; you seem happy," she said; she had never seen this girl happy as she is as right now.
"I am," she replied and turned to her.
The ride passed pleasantly as she talked with Carla; they talked about past and present, those who came and those who didn't.
Carla talked about many things, but she was always deflective when she asked about their new brothel, only saying she would know soon enough.
"We have arrived," said Carla with a smile as the carriage turned toward the beautiful mansion, which was clouded in silvery-pink mist, giving quite a mysterious feeling to the building.
She also noticed quite a lot of people coming and going through the mist.
"We are expanding," explained Carla when she turned to ask the questions.
Soon, the carriage stopped, and they came out and waited for other girls to come out of the carriages that were coming from behind.
Soon, the girls came out of the carriage and gathered in front of the fountain, with Carla in front of them.
"It will take some time for Master Silver to come back and sign your contracts, so I will be giving you all the tour of the establishment," said Carla with a smile before her expression became serious.
"Follow me silently as you can, and if you have a question, don't ask them too loudly," added Carla, and she felt a feeling covering her.
"Why?" asked Revina. To that, Carla smiled again. "You will know soon," she said mysteriously as she walked toward the mansions, while the girls followed behind silently as they could as they have asked too.
Soon, they reached the door and walked inside, and a couple of things happened; first, a different kind of faint music reached their ears, and then they saw a huge hall.
In it, an old woman seemed to be instructing twelve familiar girls on walking; it seemed strange to her until she noticed them wearing strange shoes.
Those shoes had metallic balls attached to them, and to her shock, these girls were walking gracefully, wearing these shoes without falling, but that did not seem to satisfy the old woman.
"Straight back, Andrea," said the old woman, and the next second, a thin cane in her bony hand, hit the girl's bottom, making a sharp sound.
She thought Andrea would definitely fall, some girls beside her even gasped and closed their eyes, but to their shock, Andrea bore the cane, with only a slight change in her expression, before she straightened her back as an old woman asked and continued to walk.
The girls practicing spotted them but barely glanced at them as they focused on what the old woman was teaching.
"This is mistress Elme; she teaches etiquette, and if you girls sign a contract, be sure to remember never to talk back to her and do as she said with maximum effort," warned Carla as she resumed walking.
Teaching?
These words shook her, and she wanted to ash more, but she decided to let Carla show what she wanted before asking any questions.
"In the velvet garden, you will be taught lessons on etiquette, speech, language, mathematics, musical arts, litr…" Carla began naming things as they reached upstairs, where she saw girls taking lessons in different things Carla noted.
She saw Lenore painting and, in the next room, saw Ina reading beautifully; in a few rooms after that, Margaux was holding a big string instrument, a cell, as she listened to the instructions.
In every room she passed, she would see the girls doing something she would never in her wildest dreams thought they would ever be able to do in their lives.
It had shocked her and everyone who watched; tears even started to drip through eyes of Lola before she wiped them out.
"C…can we also learn these things?" asked Lydia, the question every girl was thinking, including her
"Yes, it is a prerequisite; without learning them, you will not be allowed to do the business," replied Carla, using the world she had only seen her learned client use.
"Who would want to do business after learning these amazing things," said Henna; this young girl has a habit of opening her mouth when she shouldn't.
She also seemed to understand she had spoken her wrong words under the glare of all the girls when Carla turned, and there was no anger on her face as she had expected but a bright smile.
"You will want to do the business so much that you will beg for it," said a familiar voice, sounding far more cultured than it was a few months ago.
She turned and saw Danielle walking toward them; she had seen her a few minutes ago, learning something she wasn't properly able to guess.
"Why?" asked Henna; this time, it was not only her; every girl is really curious, and so is she.
"Money darling, you will earn so much that you have never dreamed in your life," she said, with a voice sweet like honey.
It immediately attracted the attention of every girl; they turned everything toward Danielle, looking at her carefully.
At first, she looked like she was wearing a normal dress, but as she looked carefully, she saw her dress was finely cut, fitting her perfectly.
Her hair is bound in a perfect bun, her nails are expertly clipped and polished, and her skin is visibly glowing.
She is smiling, with a genuine smile on her face, which is quite rare in their business.
"How much you earn?" asked Lola; Danielle smiled and turned to Carla, who nodded gently permission.
"I will not say how much I earn, but I will tell you that every girl here earns at least a thousand," she said, and once again, visible gasps rang out from the girls; even she was shocked.
The amount is truly huge.
"A thousand crowns a month, it is such a huge amount of money," said Payton, and for a second, Danielle's expression became weird before an even bigger smile appeared on her face.
"No, darling, it is thousands of crowns a day," she said, and a couple of girls literally fainted, she even felt like her head was spinning hearing those words, but she calmed herself and turned to Carla, who nodded before her expression turned serious.
"Yes, the girls are earning a lot of a lot of money, but they are working extremely hard for it," said Carla to the girls before resuming the tour.
Soon, they climbed another floor, and she heard a sound that made her pause; she saw a middle-aged man playing the flute in front of a group of girls.
Memories are so old that she buried them deep in her heart, pulled out by the beautiful sound played by the man. An image of her father playing the flute and teaching her couldn't surface in her mind.
Unlike most girls here, she does not prostitute type base class; her main class is a flutist, the most cherished legacy she had received from her dearest father.
Carla seemed to have noticed a change in her as she turned toward her and smiled; she wiped away the tears that welled up in her eyes unconsciously and smiled back.
If there is a chance, she would very much like to learn the flute.
They reached the top floor before finally coming down and stopping at a room that widened the eyes of all the girls.
"This make-up, such beautiful dresses," shouted a couple of girls, making a large room crowded instantly.
The dresses were really too beautiful; even she was feeling an intense urge to get off the rack and wear it.
"Are these dresses you all use for the business?" asked Henna. "These dresses, those shoes, and everything," replied Carla.
"If you are shocked by these, then you will faint if you see the new custom dresses; they are amazing."
"It is quite a regret; we would not be able to wear them before the expansion is finished," she said, and the girls went mad.
For nearly ten minutes, they have not left Danielle and Carla alone, making Carla glare at the petite girl.
It took some quite an effort for those two to bring the girls out of the make-up room, and they once again came back to the hall, where the old woman was still teaching, walking on strange ball shoes.
Carla then took us to their living quarters in the basement, and they were far more nicer than what she had expected.
Though it did not surprise her after what she had seen in the past hour.
"Sister Carla, when will Mister Silver return? I want to sign the contract," said Lydia, and once again eyes of all the girls got focused on Carla.
"In a few hours, but before that, I want you to fill these papers." She said as she distributed the papers and pens to the girls.
"It is not necessary to answer all the questions in the papers, but it is better if you do and be truthful, as many things you will and things the teachers will teach you will depend on your answers," she advised.
Carla handed her the papers, and she looked at the question; the first few were normal, like name and where they were originally from, but soon, they have become strange.
Like what type of men they usually serve and what type of sexual positions they like, and what things their clients like to talk about before and after the sex.
Even she, with most experience here, felt her cheeks burning at these questions, but she had answered them all in her honesty.
It took more than an hour to write down all the answers, and she was talking to the girls when an unfamiliar young woman entered the basement.
"Madam Carla, the lunch has been set," she informed, "Thank you, Lucia," she said to the young women before she turned to the girls.
"Girls, it is time for lunch, I am sure; you must all be feeling very hungry," said Carla and got up.
She is right; they are feeling hungry; they had a light breakfast in the morning, but that had been digested long ago.
They went for lunch at tables set in the hall and had the most delicious meal of her life and, once again, marveled how graceful Carla looked while eating; it is not only her but all the girls working in the establishment, as they referred to it to this brothel.
It turned out they have been taught how to eat too.