@cssnei found the house of the bees
It was still early in the morning – and that meant that the brothel was very silent and just a shadow of the very lively establishment it became during the evenings. Melissa had been up since before dawn – she had avoided leaving her room to not disturb any of the guests who might have spent the night, but at some point she had given up pacing around her quarters.
She needed air – she needed to think.
It was useless to pretend the symptoms were not there – how difficult it was to keep any food down; the additional exhaustion during certain moments in the day; the splitting headaches that came during some moments. No, she had worked in that place for most of her life and lived among girls selling their bodies for gil. Melissa was no stranger to the collateral effects of their jobs.
She was pregnant – and with the kingdom’s executioner child. There was absolutely no one else who could be the father, a luxury many of her girls didn’t have. But now came the tricky party – how would she deal with that?
Would Magnar even want another child to look after? He was a busy man already, and older than most of the parents around (she was hardly a young mother herself). He had taken so many under his wing, and he was often exposed to such great danger… It made herself sick with worry just to think of his journey to retrieve the young princess that was supposed to marry the Shinra prince one day.
It was impossible to contact him – she would need to decide on this alone, and there wasn’t a lot of time for her to make her mind. Sighing, she rubbed her temples in vain, seeking to help with the pains she felt – and heard the back door creaking open. Very few people had the key to that door – only the ones Melissa trusted personally to come and go as they pleased.
When the figure of Cissnei emerged from the small hallway, she let out a relieved sigh. Oh, she was a godsend gift right now – perhaps the girl would be able to help her decide now. If anyone had any insight on this, it would be the executioner’s daughter herself.
“Cissnei, my dear,” she went to her immediately, reaching out with her hands despite how early it was and unusual for Melissa to be around at such a time. Maybe Cissnei was just returning from one of her… Secondary jobs, she mused, “Can I impose on you for a moment? I’d like to talk you if you have the time.”
