Jia sat by the window watching the moon high in the sky.
It was late at night and the others in the room were mostly asleep except Iris and Zarah.
They had just returned from dishwashing duty.
It had been two days since Jia had joined their batch.
Zarah laid down on her bed yawning.
Iris threw a wet cloth on Zarah's face, "At least wipe your face before you sleep," she said with exasperation.
Zarah whined, sitting up and pulling the cloth off her face, "It felt like you're chasing my sleep away, Iris," Zarah grumbled.
Jia finally looked at them, "Are you always like this?"
"We are twins," Iris declared proudly, as Zarah chuckled.
Jia on the other hand looked baffled, "Really? You two are twins?" she asked as if that possibility wouldn't be all that absurd.
At that Zarah grinned widely, "Not by blood, but rather by soul," she declared proudly.
Jia looked at them dryly before huffing and looking away, "I thought you two were serious for a moment."
At that the other two girls laughed out loud.
Jia felt a small smile tugging at her lips at the scene.
This place was shit-it made her work, something she had never done before in her life-but the people here weren't all bad.
At least she had made friends-something she didn't have before.
As the laughter faded, the quiet of the night spilled over and the girls were slowly consumed by sleep.
The next morning the weather was hotter than the other days, the girls had just finished swordsmanship training and were currently resting.
Ava drank water, the liquid flowing down her throat quenching her thirst while her breathing evened out.
"Drink slowly, Aves, or you will choke." just as Iris finished speaking, Ava choked, coughing violently.
Zarah came forward gently rubbing Ava's back as Iris took the bottle from Ava and sighed.
"Called it," Iris said dryly as Ava's coughing calmed down and she held the bottle in front of her as Ava drank the water in slow sips now.
"Yes, yes, you see all, we know, Iris," Zarah teased.
Iris pulled the bottle back from Ava as she was finally steady and handed Ava the bottle back.
Iris tossed her hair over her shoulder dramatically, "Worship me, peasants," she said jokingly.
Ava and Zarah laughed at the act.
Celine was sitting under a tree resting as Clara fanned herself while drinking water.
Jia was a bit surprised at the intensity of the training.
Being her father's only child Jia was the heir to the Sterling Duchy and had been trained to take over when the time came.
She had been taught swordsmanship, archery, physical combat and many military-level techniques since childhood. She had expected the brothel's training to be light, but she was shocked when the training had exhausted even her.
It was then she realized why flower maidens were valued in the Imperial court.
They weren't just glorified prostitutes but they were also shields sent to the Empress and the imperial family members.
"Water?" Zarah asked, handing Jia a water bottle with a raised brow.
"Thanks," Jia said, taking the bottle with a slight nod of her head.
"So what are you thinking about?" Zarah asked curiously with a tilt of her head.
Jia gave her a glance, "Oh, I don't know, maybe just wondering if the great Iris would find it in herself to help me out of this place." she quipped with a hint of teasing lilt in her voice.
Zarah laughed as Iris smiled and practically jumped over to Jia.
"See, now you get the ideology of jokes" Iris said with a wink.
Zarah just shook her head.
Jia shrugged, "You wish," she said, trying to sound nonchalant but the slight upward twitch of her lips betrayed her.
Ava had already gone inside to take a shower.
Zarah looked at Iris for a while thinking before finally asking, "I heard Miss Jennifer won't be in the brothel tonight?"
Iris gave a faint nod, "Olivia said Count Volvo has requested a few prostitutes for the night and that he's holding some sort of party? So Jennifer will be taking them and going to the Volvo County" Iris said recalling her conversation with Olivia.
"Oh," Zarah said, processing the information as her mind buzzed with plans.
She felt the blood rush in her veins with excitement.
This was the hole she was looking for, she could enter Jennifer's room tonight and steal the blueprint map.
She glanced up at Jia who was just listening to them talk.
Then she looked at Celine still sitting near the tree.
Clara had already left.
Zarah walked towards Celine and took her sword out from the hilt on her waist.
Jia and Iris shared curious glances.
Celine looked up at Zarah with narrowed eyes, "What are you doi-"
Before Celine could finish Zarah stabbed the ground near the place Celine's foot rested.
Celine was breathing heavily, taken by surprise as her face whitened in fear.
"A bug was hugging you," Zarah said nonchalantly, putting the sword back in its hilt.
Celine looked down and sure enough there was a dead beetle where the sword was previously stabbed in on the ground.
"Why...you!" Celine's face reddened in anger as she got up quickly.
She clenched her fists in anger but was too shaken to say anything more and simply left while cursing Zarah out.
"Good riddance," Zarah said with a hum.
"You did that on purpose," Iris said, coming from behind and giving Zarah the look that said she better explain herself.
Jia actually looked impressed, "That was good sword control," she said in surprise.
Jia had noticed Zarah was good but hadn't realized how good.
Zarah smiled thanking Jia before looking around to make sure no one was there or listening in.
"I will get you out, Jia," Zarah said suddenly, looking at Jia.
Iris's eyes widened.
"What are you saying Zar?!" Iris jumped with caution immediately as she tried to cover Zarah's mouth like she had said something that would get them burned at the stake.
And maybe it would if they weren't careful.
Jia's eyes had widened in shock, the words failing to register in her mind.
"What?" Jia's tone was filled with disbelief.
Zarah moved Iris's hand away and gave her a look that said to hear her out.
Then she turned towards Jia with a firm look.
"I can get you and everyone else out of the brothel," Zarah repeated.
Jia looked like someone had just given her a billion gold coins.
Iris on the other hand was fumbling and gave Zarah a look that said she was gonna have a stroke, "Zarah what on earth are you even saying?! What if someone hears it!"
It was now Zarah who placed her hand on Iris's mouth quieting her.
"Hear me out, I am not speaking without a plan," she said with a convincing look.
Jia stepped closer, "A plan?" she asked curiously
Iris looked at Zarah with furrowed brows pulling her hand down, "Zar, five minutes. Now shoot," she commanded.
Zarah started her hands moving animatedly, "So Miss Jennifer has the blueprint map of the entire brothel property, if we need to know openings and spaces where the guards are fewer, then the map is needed, the first step is to steal the map and today is our opening as Miss Jennifer won't be here tonight"
Zarah stopped taking a breath.
"Then in the openings we spot, we will make sure to train near there more often and find weak points and then during the upcoming summer festival when the security is a little loose we can use that path and escape" Zarah said in one go.
"What after that? There's a forest outside the brothel" Jia said pointing out that the path wasn't as smooth as it seemed, "I saw it when they brought me over"
"And the villagers won't help us, they're also afraid of the Madam and her guards and the fact she can complain to the Imperial court that they stole young girls and hid them before they were of age" Iris said reminding Zarah.
"That's where Lyra and Olivia come in, they want to escape as well and they have been out of the brothel to visit noble houses during parties before" Zarah said thoughtfully.
Iris said thinking, "That is true, they would know the path"
Jia asked doubtfully, "Are you sure they won't tell on us?"
"They would never!" Zarah and Iris said at the same time.
Jia backed away a little, "Okay, okay, got it," she put her hands up in mock surrender.
Zarah sighed, "So you two agree with the plan right?" She asked hesitantly, putting her hand out.
"Better than rotting in this hell, I don't know how you guys survived here so long" Jia said with a scoff putting her hand over Zarah's.
Iris shrugged looking at Jia, "It's a talent."
Then Iris put her hand above Jia's on the pile, "How could I not agree with my twin? But we have to be careful" her tone turned serious.
"We will get out of here, I swear we will," Zarah promised, "The first step is to get the blueprint map from Miss Jennifer's room tonight"
With that the plan was set in motion.
Zarah would get Jia out of here, she would make sure her best friend Iris and the other girls escape.
Though for now it was a secret between just the three of them.
But in case they do get caught, she would need to think of something for that situation....
After all, that time Zarah got punished was because they thought she was trying to escape when in reality she wasn't.
This time, though, she was actually trying to get Jia and the others out...something told her the punishment would be more than just the Madam whipping her if they got caught.