Europe / British Empire / London / Wapping (The Velvet Bell): June 7th, 1817.
It was a beautiful night for the world. The birds had long stopped chirping their songs as mankind went about their nightly routines with smiles on their faces at the beauty of the city, but also sad looks on their faces at the horror of it whether it be financially, emotionally or physically, yet if you were to look closely in london. To be more specific, inside of a newly renovated three story building sitting several streets away from the river. You would see enough perfume, candlelight, exposed skin, nervous workers and expensive lies to make a priest reconsider his profession.
The atmosphere was filthy with opportunity.
(Margaret's POV)
"Lift your tits up." Said margaret calmly while exhaling a cloud of smoke from her nose.
The room was absolutely silent.
A red haired woman standing near the staircase looked down at her chest and then back at margaret with widened eyes.
"My lady." Asked the woman awkwardly.
Margaret clicked her tongue and said with annoyance "Not literally you fool. Stand straight. You're supposed to look expensive enough for men to forget they are being robbed by their own loneliness."
The red haired woman immediately straightened her back.
"Hm. Better." Said margaret calmly as she leaned back into a red velvet chair with a pipe between two fingers.
The main room of the first house was already full.
Women moved between couches and polished tables. Two men stood near the entrance dressed like respectable doormen instead of men who could knock teeth loose on command. A piano player in the corner was currently murdering some peaceful song with enough confidence that margaret had considered killing him twice.
Vladimir stood near the bar with his arms folded and said with a sigh "You know, normal employers usually say encouraging things on opening night."
Margaret glanced toward him and said with disgust "Normal employers die poor. I'm still young with enough time to spare, notice the difference."
The room was silent.
"Fair." Said vladimir with a shrug while staring at her for a moment.
Margaret looked back at the red haired woman and asked calmly "What was your name again."
"Rosalie kent." Said rosalie softly with her head down.
"Good. Rosalie. You're near the front tonight. Smile enough to invite. Not enough to look stupid. If a man talks, listen. If he boasts, listen harder. If he whispers, remember it. If he asks about grave smoke, you tell him the house may have something private for respectable customers and then you come get me." Said margaret calmly while pointing the pipe at her.
Rosalie nodded nervously and suddenly asked quietly "And if he hits me."
Margaret stared at her for a moment and said "Then scream once."
Rosalie blinked.
Margaret pointed at both vladimir and the men by the door and said "They'll come."
Vladimir grinned.
Rosalie looked toward him.
Vladimir cracked his neck slowly.
*Crack*
"Please let somebody be stupid tonight." Said vladimir with hope in his voice.
Rosalie swallowed.
Margaret laughed.
The front door opened.
*Boom*
The first customers entered.
Three men.
One looked like a merchant.
One looked like a clerk.
One looked married enough to have already lied to somebody about where he was going.
Excellent.
Margaret's eyes narrowed as she said with a wave of her hand "Places."
The room changed instantly.
Smiles appeared.
Shoulders relaxed.
Music softened.
Rosalie moved forward.
Another slim woman named cecily took the merchant.
The married man looked around as if god himself might be hiding behind a curtain.
Margaret inhaled from her pipe and thought with a grin "Men are so easy when they think their secrets are unique."
(Vladimir's POV)
The first hour was boring.
Which was good.
Mordred had said boring openings were efficient openings because that meant opportunities were hiding in plain sight.
Vladimir personally thought that was depressing but unfortunately the blind bastard was usually right.
More men arrived.
Dock workers with money.
Two young gentlemen pretending not to know each other.
A older merchant with a wedding ring and the face of a man who had definitely told his wife he was attending church.
One naval officer.
Two clerks.
A man that smelled so strongly of fish that even vladimir had taken one step back when he entered.
Money moved.
Wine moved.
Women moved.
Nobody died.
Excellent.
Vladimir stood near a side hallway when one of the doormen approached.
It was the middle aged man margaret had hired several days earlier.
His name was edgar pike.
Edgar leaned closer and said with a mutter "The man upstairs in room four is getting rough."
Vladimir's eyes brightened.
"Finally." Said vladimir immediately.
Edgar stared at him.
Vladimir adjusted his throat and said as he started making his way upstairs "I mean…unfortunate."
The hallway was quieter.
A muffled voice came from behind one of the doors.
"Get your hands off me."
Vladimir opened the door.
*Boom*
A fat man with flushed cheeks had one hand around a woman's wrist.
The woman looked toward vladimir.
The fat man looked toward vladimir.
The room was silent.
Vladimir smiled and said "Hello."
The fat man's face hardened.
"Who the hell are you." Asked the man angrily.
Vladimir walked inside and closed the door behind him.
*Boom*
"I work here." Said vladimir calmly with his arms spreading.
The man scoffed and said "Then work somewhere else."
Vladimir stared at him for several seconds and said "Hm."
The woman pulled her wrist free and moved toward the door with silk sheets covering her figure.
Vladimir stepped aside for her.
She left.
*Boom*
The room was silent.
The fat man narrowed his eyes and said "Do you know who I am."
"No." Said vladimir.
The man looked offended.
Vladimir smiled wider as he wiped out a gun from inside his suit and slammed it towards the man's head while saying loudly "AND THAT MEANS THST I WONT FEEL GUILTY."
*THUK*
The room became loud for approximately eleven seconds.
Then quiet again.
(Margaret's POV)
Margaret looked up when vladimir returned downstairs adjusting his cuffs.
His knuckles were slightly red.
"Problem." Asked margaret.
"Resolved." Said vladimir proudly.
Margaret nodded and said while taking the pipe out of her mouth and saying as smoke exhaled from it "Good boy."
Vladimir was silent for a moment.
"Don't call me that." Said vladimir with a ugly look on his face
Margaret ignored him.
Rosalie appeared from the side of the room with a look on her face margaret recognized immediately.
Information.
Margaret lifted one finger.
Rosalie came closer.
"What." Asked margaret with narrowed eyes.
Rosalie lowered her voice and said with trembling hands "The gentleman in the blue waistcoat upstairs. Tobias crane."
Margaret's eyebrows raised while saying "And."
"He works customs near the docks. Deputy examiner, I think. He has been drinking." Said rosalie with a soft tone and shakey hands.
Margaret stared.
Rosalie took a deep breath and said "He said half the inspectors are idiots and the other half can be bought. He was bragging that certain shipments disappear from inspection if the right man signs the paper."
Vladimir slowly turned his head.
Margaret's eyes sharpened.
"Anything else." Asked margaret with sharp eyes.
Rosalie nodded and said with a shakey voice "He owes money. A lot. Cards, I think. He said some men were threatening to tell his wife and his superior."
"How much." Asked margaret immediately.
"He said eight thousand three hundred." Said rosalie with a shaky tone.
The room was silent around the three of them despite the music continuing.
Margaret smiled.
Slowly.
"Rosalie." Said margaret.
"Yes." Said rosalie.
Margaret pointed the pipe at her and said with a smile "You just earned yourself an extra ten dollars tonight."
Rosalie's eyes widened and said "Really…"
"Yes. Now go back upstairs and let that idiot keep talking until he runs out of secrets or consciousness." Said margaret while picking up a wine glass and taking a sip from it.
Rosalie smiled and hurried away.
Vladimir rubbed his chin and said "Customs."
Margaret's grin widened and said while putting the pipe back into her mouth an inhaling from it "Customs."
The front door opened again.
*Boom*
A cane touched the floor.
*Tak*
Margaret's smile grew even wider as she said "Speak of the little devil."
(Mordred's POV)
The building smelled like perfume, alcohol, tobacco, sex, polished wood and desperation.
Excellent.
I entered with my cane in my right hand and stopped several feet inside.
The room constructed itself inside my mind.
Thirty four living silhouettes.
Two near the door.
Seven seated.
Several moving upstairs.
Heartbeats changing depending on proximity to whoever they were lying to.
Music in the corner.
A piano player with an inefficient sense of rhythm.
"Hm…" I said muttering.
Margaret approached slowly and said with a scoff "You missed the first hour."
"I was working." I said calmly as the echolocation map in my head zoomed in and out on margaret's silhouetted facial movement.
"This is work." Said margaret with a roll of her eyes.
"No. This is the result of my work." I said calmly.
Margaret scoffed.
Vladimir approached from my left.
"We had one problem." Said vladimir with a sigh that sounded too relieved for it to be considered a problem.
"Dead." I asked calmly.
"No." Said vladimir Immediately with a wave of his left hand.
"Then it was not a serious problem." I said calmly as I zoomed in upstairs with the echolocation map and saw a fat silhouetted on the foor barely breathing.
Vladimir stared at me.
Margaret laughed.
I moved farther into the room.
A woman passed close enough that perfume struck my nose too strongly.
I slightly turned my head.
"Too much." I said calmly.
She froze.
"What." Asked the woman nervously.
I sighed and pointed the cane at her and said "The perfume. Reduce it tomorrow. If I can smell you before your footsteps reach me, a man with functional eyes will assume you're attempting to hide a smell between your legs."
The woman blinked and nodded immediately and said with a stutter "Y…yes master ainsworth."
She hurried away.
Margaret stared at me.
"What." I asked calmly.
"You really can't enter anywhere without reorganizing it." Said margaret with a sigh as she exhaled smoke from her nose.
I was silent. Not everything required words.
We moved into a private back room.
*Boom*
The music became muffled.
A table sat in the middle.
Several papers rested across it.
I touched the nearest one.
Raised lines.
Receipts.
Numbers.
I ran my fingers across the page while asking calmly "How much."
Margaret sat down and said while rubbing her legs "Money so far. One hundred eighty seven and still moving."
I said nothing.
Vladimir leaned against the wall.
Margaret's grin slowly appeared as she said "But that's not what you're going to ask."
"No." I said Immediately.
The room was silent.
I placed the paper down and asked "What did the house learn."
Margaret laughed and said while pointing the pipe at me "There he is."
She told me about tobias crane.
Customs.
Debt.
Inspection.
A marriage he apparently valued enough to hide his habits from.
I listened without interruption.
When she finished, I tapped one finger against the table.
*Tak*
*Tak*
*Tak*
"Eight thousand three hundred." I said calmly while rubbing my chin.
"That's what he claims." Said margaret with a shrug.
"Men exaggerate wealth. They rarely exaggerate debt when drunk." I said calmly as my eyes closed and continued to rub my chin.
Vladimir crossed his arms and said with a serious look on his face "So we blackmail him."
"No." I said Immediately.
Vladimir looked confused.
Margaret's eyebrows raised.
"No." Asked margaret.
"Blackmail creates panic. Panic creates unpredictable movement. I do not need him frightened yet and retaliate on a special day like this." I said calmly while gesturing at the whore house.
I leaned back slightly against the desk and said calmly "I need him dependent."
The room went silent.
Vladimir stared at me.
Margaret's smile slowly returned.
"Pay the debt." Said margaret while inhaling from the pipe and exhaling a ring of smoke from her mouth.
I was silent for a moment and said with a very accurate correction "Part of it."
Vladimir's eyebrows creased and asked "Why not all."
"Because a man rescued completely can convince himself he is free. A man rescued partially keeps looking toward the hand holding the rest. I would have had him hooked onto the pussy of a whore but that wouldn't last long if you consider he lusts for wealth more than sex, his debt and marriage is proof of that." I said calmly with a dry tone.
The room was silent.
Margaret slapped her knee and laughed while saying "Boy you are a nasty little bastard."
I tapped the table again and said "Find who holds his debt. Do not approach crane yet. Learn his supervisor. Learn which docks he works. Learn which nights he drinks. Learn which woman upstairs he prefers. No one tells him we know anything."
Margaret nodded and said while dumping the tobacco in the pipe a ashtray "Done."
I turned toward vladimir's silhouette and asked "How many guards."
"Six between this property and the second." Said vladimir with a serious look on his face.
"Increase it to eight but do not place them all visibly. Men behave differently when they believe no one is watching." I said calmly with a tone that sounded like experience.
Vladimir nodded.
I reached into my coat and placed a small wrapped package onto the table.
Margaret's breathing changed slightly.
"Grave smoke." Said margaret with sharp eyes..
"Twenty packs." I said with squinted eyes as I let god of the wrapped package.
Vladimir looked toward it and asked with both of his eyes squinting "Tonight."
"Only to selected customers, we need to get this moving. Get a few people hooked to the goods and spread word." I said calmly as I glanced at his silhouette.
Margaret frowned and said "I thought you wanted it moving."
"I want demand before supply, this is the test phase to see reactions for a response. Give samples to men who already smoke tobacco or opium. No public name outside trusted rooms yet. Let them ask for it. Desire grows better when people believe they discovered something themselves." I said calmly with knowing.
The room was silent.
Margaret rubbed her chin and said with a mutter "Hm."
Vladimir shook his head and said with a sigh "Sometimes I forget you're seventeen."
"I forget you are eighteen every time you speak. You look like a middle aged man." I said calmly.
Vladimir's face turned ugly.
Margaret laughed loudly.
*Knock* *Knock*
"Madame." Said rosalie while opening the door.
Her cheeks were flushed as she stepped inside.
Margaret gestured her in.
Rosalie came in and looked toward me and immediately stiffened.
I could hear her heartbeat accelerate.
"Relax." I said calmly.
It accelerated more.
I sighed.
"What happened." Asked margaret calmly.
Rosalie looked toward margaret and said "The customs man. Crane. He said something else."
The room became quiet.
"He said a gentleman paid one of his coworkers yesterday to ask whether any ships from kronstadt arrived under baron fletcher's name." Said rosalie with a serious look on her face, adapting well into her role so far.
My left eye closed.
Interesting.
Margaret's smile disappeared.
Vladimir straightened and asked "Who was the person."
Rosalie shook her head.
"He did not know, he only said the gentleman's servant carried a pembroke crest." Said rosalie with a shrug as she looked at vladimir.
The room was absolutely silent.
Excellent.
Very excellent.
I leaned back slightly against the desk and thought "Julian is already touching the docks"
Margaret sighed and said with a mutter "That little shit moves fast."
"No. He moved emotionally." I said calmly.
Everyone looked toward me.
I picked up the grave smoke package and pushed it toward margaret and said "Which makes his direction easy to observe."
Vladimir frowned and asked "What do we do."
"Nothing to him." I said calmly while glancing at rosalie's silhouette.
The room was silent.
Margaret raised an eyebrow.
"Yet." I said, adding calmly.
Her smile returned.
I stood.
The desk creaked lightly.
"Continue opening and make sure you do physical examinations from now on. I could smell fish from one of the girls I walked past." I said calmly while holding the cane.
Margaret nodded and said "That all."
"No." I said Immediately.
I turned my head toward the muffled sound of laughter beyond the door and said "We made one hundred eighty seven dollars."
Margaret stared at me "Yes, and..."
"That is inefficient. These girls can do better. If the men want to be rough, find older horny milfs that like it rough. It's that simple, they all don't have to be delicate." I said calmly while making my way towards the door and my right finger pointing up at the roof that had a water leak.
Vladimir looked confused.
I touched the door handle and said calmly "We learned a customs officer can be purchased through debt. We learned pembroke has reached the docks. We learned the first house can collect information within hours."
I opened the door.
Music and perfume entered again.
"The money is not the business. The ears are." I said calmly as I stepped into the hall.
The room was silent behind me.
I stepped into the hall.
(Margaret's POV)
Margaret stared after him.
Vladimir stared too.
Rosalie stood awkwardly near the table.
The music continued.
Somewhere upstairs a man laughed too loudly.
Margaret slowly picked up her pipe.
Then grinned.
"Well shit." Said margaret with surprise.
Vladimir glanced at her and asked "What."
Margaret inhaled deeply and exhaled nothing from her nose because she forgot that she already dumped the goods out of the pipe and said "We didn't open a brothel. We opened a damn intelligence office with titties."
Her eyes moved toward the doorway mordred had disappeared through.
The room was silent.
Rosalie covered her mouth.
Vladimir burst out laughing.
Why.
Because it was only just the beginning.
…
THE END…