Colin went down the stairs, passing by the dwarf who seemed fused to the counter, watching with piercing eyes. He walked to a bench on the sidewalk, where the sound of the city's conversations mixed with the constant droning of his own worries.
Thoughts of recent fights disturbed him. He remembered the adrenaline rushing in his veins, the savage pleasure that came with intense action.
His distant gaze revealed a restless mind, lost in thoughts he dared not share with his companions.
Restless, he stood up and resumed walking. As his eyes wandered over the bustling city, Colin spotted the brothel he had noticed earlier.
Temptation pulled him like a magnet into a dark and unknown territory. He knew this wasn't the best way to deal with his conflicting emotions, but, drawn by the promise of a momentary distraction, he decided to enter.
Upon crossing the threshold, an atmosphere charged with sensuality enveloped him. Background music, a hypnotic melody, penetrated the senses. Low light created an aura of mystery, hiding the sordid details.
Elegant and desirable women circulated through the room, their seductive glances promising an escape from reality. Colin found a discreet spot, away from the traffic, and ordered a drink to mask his tumultuous feelings. He sat and watched the clientele, unable to escape the sensation of sinking into an abyss of lust.
The dark thoughts tormenting him were like shadows dancing in his mind. He couldn't help imagining Brighid in an intensely possessive way, something that frightened and attracted him at the same time.
What the hell is happening to me? He downed his glass of wine.
A stunning and enigmatic woman approached, her presence sounding like a song of seduction. Her silky black hair fell in perfect waves, and her eyes were deeply mesmerizing, with shades of green and gray that seemed to hide undecipherable secrets.
She stared at him with a suggestive look, a lopsided smile playing on her scarlet lips. Her slender and provocative figure wore clothes that revealed her sculpted silhouette.
"I know you..." she whispered, sitting next to him, pressed against him. "You're the Elf everyone's talking about, right? A famous man here..."
"I'm not famous."
"The enigmatic type? I get it... our job sometimes is to pretend we didn't see anything. Want to go upstairs? I can take that sadness out of your eyes," she whispered, her hot breath caressing his face. "You smell good, have a good body, and are actually kind of cute. I'll let you do whatever you want."
Colin looked at her sideways and looked away. "You're beautiful, but today... I want to corrupt something pure."
She suppressed a laugh. "You want a virgin in a brothel? Is that it?" She pulled away. "Wow... you men get weirder every day, you know?"
"Is there someone like that here?"
The woman fell silent for a moment.
"There is a girl, she's new. There's a rule here: you can eat and sleep, but you have to have at least one client in thirty days, or you're out. For you guys it's easy: you come here, pick the girls, empty your sack, and leave, but we're the ones left with all the shit." She lit a cigarette. "The younger girls don't stand up for themselves, sometimes they suffer for it. I'll bring her, but you better have money. Newbies are expensive, and if you hurt her, I swear I'll kill you."
Colin remained silent and the woman walked away, bringing another back with her.
"This is Victorina. Vic, this is..."
"Colin."
"Right, Colin. You better have at least one gold coin, or you'd better—"
Colin tossed three gold coins on the table and stood up. "Keep the change."
The woman calmed down, taking the coins and staring at Vic, who was scared. "Don't worry, he smells good, has a good body, and is famous. Better him than those old men reeking of booze."
Vic nodded, following Colin.
Victorina wore a tight dress, favoring her provocative silhouette. Dark hair, long and wavy; light brown eyes and perfectly shaped lips. She walked pulling her skirt down, her arm covering her cleavage.
As soon as they reached the room, Colin sat on the bed and took off his shirt, showing some scars from when he was beaten by the soldiers of Ultan during his imprisonment. Shy, the girl sat next to him.
"You..." Her voice was low, almost inaudible. "Are you really famous?"
"Some think so. Apparently, it's not common to bring a Bakurak's head into the city."
"Th-That was you?! Wow..."
"Surprised?"
She nodded.
"A little..."
"How did you end up here, Victorina?"
Vic looked away, as if visiting painful memories. "The soldiers... took my father's farm a few weeks ago... He is an old man, and if I had money, I could get us out of here... out of Ultan..."
"And why did you choose a brothel? You're beautiful, you could have found anything else."
Her gaze saddened.
"It's not as easy as it seems... I tried, I swear I tried for weeks, but people don't usually open their doors to someone who dresses like a beggar or smells bad... so here... was the only place I found..."
"I'm sorry you have to go through this."
"Your scars..." she said, changing the subject. "Where did you get them?"
"Ultan soldiers. They tortured me, but I managed to escape. I found some other soldiers after killing the Bakurak; they were enslaving some people. Luckily, my companion and I defeated them, all of them. The people of that village said they were heading North. The war doesn't seem to affect that place."
She nodded, in awe. Colin sounded different from a brothel patron. His words were seductive, making Vic think he was some kind of savior, a diamond in the mud.
"Can I... touch?"
Colin shrugged and she went behind him, smoothing the scar on his back. Her touch was soft, gentle, while his skin was rough.
"I can't even imagine what you went through..." she said, almost whispering. "And here I am, talking like it's the end of the world..."
"It's okay... Vic... I think I'm going home."
"What? Why?" She sounded desperate. "Did I do something wrong?"
"No."
She looked away. "Are you... married?"
"No."
Colin stood up and she held his hand. "Wait, please..." She let him go. "If I lose this job, I don't know what I'll do... some men have talked to me, but... most expected me to be naked in thirty seconds, and you... well... you're famous, right? You helped a village, you smell good, and you're handsome too..." She looked away. "If I do it with you, I don't need to do it again for the next thirty days... so..."
"Are you sure?" She nodded, swallowing hard.
"Yes!"
"How old... are you?"
"Nineteen..."
"You've never been with another man before?"
She shook her head no, a bit embarrassed. "Not yet... I hope that's not a proble—"
Colin moved in with a kiss, holding the girl's nape, and pulled away after a few seconds, staring at her flushed face, her eyes shining.
"I'm going to ask one last time, do you really want to do this? I'm not in the mood to be gentle, Vic, not a bit." She swallowed hard and nodded. "It's okay..."
Colin's lips met Victorina's with a mixture of sweetness and urgency, in a kiss that seemed to transcend time. The touch was soft, almost reverent, but charged with an intensity that made the air vibrate.
He laid her slowly on the bed, their bodies adjusting like puzzle pieces finally fitting together. His hands slid over the thin fabric of the dress, feeling the delicate texture under his fingers before, with a decisive and almost possessive gesture, tearing the cloth.
The sound of the fabric yielding echoed in the room, revealing Victorina's soft and luminous skin; she was breathing fast, her breasts rising and falling at an accelerated pace.
Colin wasted no time. His lips found her neck, kissing and nibbling the sensitive area, while the heat of Victorina's skin seemed to radiate directly to him, wrapping them in an intimate and stifling atmosphere.
She sighed softly, a sound that was almost a muffled moan. Her hands, hesitant at first, began to explore his back.
Her fingers traced invisible lines over Colin's tense muscles, as if trying to memorize every curve, every contour. Victorina did not reject him. On the contrary, she accepted him in an almost desperate way, as if she had waited for that moment all her life.
When he took off his pants, she didn't protest, just watched him with eyes that mixed desire and slight apprehension.
He penetrated her slowly, allowing her to feel every inch, as their bodies merged into one.
Victorina closed her eyes for a moment, eyelids trembling as she adjusted to the new, but not unpleasant, sensation.
There was a strange combination of pain and pleasure, a mixture that made her feel alive in a way she had never experienced before. When she opened her eyes again, there was a new determination in her gaze.
Victorina was no longer passive; she hugged him tighter, fingers intertwining in his hair, pulling him closer, as if fearing he might disappear at any moment.
Colin moved his hips in a rhythmic cadence. Slow, but intense, as if every second were precious and needed to be savored.
He stared at her, his eyes scanning every detail of her face, noticing the tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes. They weren't tears of pain, but of something much deeper and more complex. Perhaps of relief, of surprise, or even of a happiness she didn't know she could feel.
Victorina leaned in for another kiss, this time with more confidence, as if she had finally found her own rhythm in that silent dance the two shared. Her lips moved against his with an almost desperate passion, trying to communicate everything she felt through that single gesture.
◊❱───────⸂◍⸃───────❰◊
Colin put on his shirt with slow, deliberate movements. A thick silence enveloped the room, broken only by the soft sound of Victorina's breathing, still lying on the bed, wrapped in the rumpled sheets.
Her face showed the traces of an intense night: rosy cheeks, slightly swollen lips, and a discreet flush that extended down her thighs and breasts, marks of an intimacy that had left physical and emotional traces.
"Sir..." Victorina's voice came as a hoarse whisper, but charged with a vulnerability that made Colin hesitate for an instant. "Are you coming back?" She sat up in bed, pulling the sheet to cover her breasts, revealing only a small part of the damp mattress. "In thirty days, I..."
Colin didn't answer immediately. Instead, he rummaged through his pants pockets, pulling out ten gold coins that clinked softly as they were placed on the bedside table.
He knew he had crossed a line that couldn't be undone, but maybe, just maybe, those coins could offer Victorina a chance to escape the darkness that surrounded her.
"That should be enough to guarantee your safety for a while," he said, his voice firm, but with a tone of concern he couldn't disguise. "Use this to start over, Vic. Don't stay trapped here."
Victorina looked at the coins, her eyes shining with a mix of surprise and gratitude. Colin could see the internal battle within her: hope fighting against fear, confusion mixed with gratitude. It was as if she were trying to process the idea that someone, finally, had done something for her.
"I don't know how to thank you..." she murmured, lowering her gaze. "No one has ever done something like this for me before..."
He gave a slight smile, an almost imperceptible gesture. "Use those coins to find a way out, to build a new life for you and your old man. Take a carriage to the north, you can start over there."
With tears in her eyes, she nodded. "I'll try," she whispered, clutching the sheet between her fingers. "Thank you, sir, really..."
Colin nodded, turning to leave. Before crossing the door, he stopped, casting a last look at her. "Take care, Vic. You're stronger than you think."
And then he left, leaving behind a Victorina who, for the first time in a long while, allowed herself to dream of a different future.
The coins on the table shone in the dim light of the room, like little beacons of hope. Maybe, just maybe, that encounter had been the turning point she so needed.
Colin walked down the hallway, footsteps echoing in the silence of dawn.
He could have given the money from the start, without even touching her, but he chose not to.
Victorina had been his release valve, a way to relieve the tension that had weighed on his shoulders for weeks. And now, that tension seemed to have disappeared, at least for a moment.
He didn't want it to be Brighid; she was too valuable to become a one-night conquest. Brighid was different, and he knew he needed to keep certain distances to preserve whatever it was that existed between them.
Finally, the big day of the Tournament had arrived. The air was charged with expectation, and Colin felt a chill down his spine thinking about what was to come. But, for now, he allowed himself to take a deep breath, feeling the weight of his choices and the slight relief of having done something that, perhaps, could change someone's life.
Victorina now had a chance, and he hoped she would take it. Meanwhile, in the room, Victorina remained seated on the bed, the gold coins still shining in front of her.
She picked them up one by one, feeling the cold weight of the metal in her hands. For the first time in years, she allowed herself to believe that maybe there was a way out, that maybe there was something beyond the darkness that consumed her.