The Contrast Ch. 05

Longs legs in heavy boots were crushing branches in the snow. Two travelers covered in warm cloaks were arriving at their destination. The big gates of the town could be seen despite the snowy fog. Soon they will have finished their journey, and be separated.

"Here we are Rose. This is the town I was talking about. I need to find someone in this town, before I return to my people."

"Is that person very important to the drows?" Somehow the closer they got to the town, the more worried Rose was. She got used to Balok's company. He was easy to talk to and she always felt comfortable with him. Although they never talked about it, Rose was sure that they would part as soon as they were in the town. After all the drow did not promise her anything.

"He is very wise and we need his advices because we fear that some kind of enemy threatens us." Balok himself did not believe in such a thing. Drows were one of the most powerful races in the world, but even they had some kind of weakness. At least they wanted to check what was happening on the upper world. That was the reason why they sent Balok. He was one of the best scouts, an excellent worrior, and magic user.

"I wish I could help you somehow," she said. Rose really wished that she could. She hated the feeling of being useless and weak, but there was nothing she could do about it. Madame Ruby had made sure that Rose knew as little as possible. Her girls had to be avaible and weak, not strong, smart and independent. That was not good for the job.

"We are here. I recommend that you put on the hood. Maybe someone had heard of the girl who had escaped from the brothel." Balok never used the word prostitute. He did not want to insult her and Rose was glad for that, but also knew that it was the reality in which she lived. As long as she could not free herself or was declared dead, she was still formally a prostitute. She nodded to him and put on the hood, before they knocked at the gates.

"Who is there? What do you seek?" The man asked from the top of the gate. He looked first at Balok, who covered his head and then at Rose.

"We are just two tired travelers who seek a place to stay. We mean no harm or trouble." he answered calmly. The man whispered something to his companion and after a couple of minutes, the gates opened letting them enter.

"Is it always like that for you?" Rose asked him.

"When you hide your face, people don´t let you enter immediately. You have to assure them that you mean no harm."

"I understand." Rose walked close to him while she was searching the surroundings for any signs of danger. She did not know whether anyone knew something about the incident in the brothel in her city.

"First of all we will look around for an inn. We are both exhausted and I bet that you can hardly stand on your feet." She wanted to say she was not, but her body spoke a different language. Most of all she longed for a hot bath. During the last days and nights in the woods, she had often thought of the hot spring in the cave. Rose had also thought of what she had done to Balok that day and smiled.

"It would be nice if they had a hot bath in the inn." She answered him and smiled.

"Even better if they had a bath for two." Balok winked at her. He also recalled what happened at the hot spring and wanted to feel her mouth on his body again. His desire for Rose had grown stronger during the last days and he promised himself that he won´t let her go once they were at the inn. He would make sure she won´t be able to stand up when he finished the whole thing.

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"I ´m asking you again, what was it that the drow wanted from you?" the blond-haired man demanded from the old tailor. The poor old man was scared to death by this strange man. He tried to remember that day when the drow came into his shop.

"He asked for warm travel clothes for a female, nothing else."

"What did she look like?" The man asked.

"I did not even see her. He just gave me her body measurements and size. He said that she was unable to come herself. I made the clothes for him. He paid the money and left the shop. That is all!"

"Do you know old man that Madame Ruby's brothel was burned down and that one of the girls has escaped?"

"My God...what a terrible incident! I've heard of it, but I did not know that the whole building was destroyed. All I´ve heard is that Madame Ruby was killed that day. Maybe the same person who set the fire has killed her...."

The blond-haired man stared at him. This old fool didn't know much. He would kill him like all the others but first he had to make sure he got all the information from the old man that he needed.

"Tell me old man, did you know Madame Ruby very well?"

"Yes, I was frequently one of her customers but that is history. I stopped coming to her brothel twenty years ago because I was no longer capable of having sex." 'Twenty years ...that would be well before Rose was even born...so maybe the old man does not know the slightest about her. But he had to make sure.

"Did you know that Madame Ruby had some new girls?"

"I knew it, but what should it mean to me, when I can´t have sex any longer? My time passed." The Old man answered.

'Indeed... you old fool!' thought the blond-haired man as he walked a few steps towards the old tailor. Before he could do anything he heard a child's voice. There in the back of the room stood a little boy.

"Grandpa, who is this?" the boy asked. The stranger turned to face the old man, then to the little boy, then back to the old man.

"You are a lucky man...a very lucky man." he said before he left the tailor shop. He had to track down the drow to find out whether he had anything to do with Rose's escape.

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'Ah, this is wonderful.' Rose thought. She and Balok were lucky to find an inn which had a hot bath and the inn keeper demanded a fair price of them. Although she was very tired, she immediately wanted to take a bath before dinner. The night was quiet and had only just begun.

She wondered where the drow went. After they had rented a room with a double bed ,she knew to what purpose, Balok said that he had to do something, and that they would meet for dinner. He also warned her to open the door for anyone since he had seen that some men had been watching her.

Rose got out of the bath and wrapped herself in a towel. She heard the inkeeper as he called her to dinner. She quickly put on one of the dresses Balok had bought for her and went downstairs to meet him.

"Balok, I am ready...." her voice trailed off when she saw the same men who had been staring at her. Her old fears returned again.

"Well, well... what a lovely sight we have here guys." One of the men said. He had dirty, blond hair and green eyes, like a snake. Actually, he looked like a snake. Rose took a step back. "Hey, hey... where are you going sugar? We want to play with you."

"I am waiting for somebody... leave me alone!" she turned on her heel and hurried to the room as they followed her. She entered the room and locked it but they were trying to get into the room by force. Obviously they wanted to rape her and she cried out for help. The next moment the door cracked and the men entered the room.

"No! Let me go!" Rose screamed as one of them pinned her to the floor while the others laughed. She tried to break free, but she could not. The man tore up the upper part of her dress.

"Listen bitch, you better behave yourself or..."

"Or what?" a familiar voice said. They all looked at the door where Balok stood with his arms crossed while glaring at the men. The men froze because the dark elf had not hidden his face under the hood.

"Balok..." Rose whispered. The next moment Balok fought against all five men who were in the room. They must have thought that they could beat him but they were wrong. One by one four men escaped from the room severely beaten, leaving their leader to the mercy of the drow. With one hand Balok held the man firmly by the neck and with the other hand he placed a knife to his throat.

"What is the meaning of this?" His voice was calm and deadly.

"I...just wanted to have some fun. She looks like a pussy to be fucked."

The man had trouble breathing for the drow held him brutally by the neck.

"If I ever see you again near my woman, I will cut off your manhood. Understood?" The man nodded and as Balok let him go he ran away without looking back.

"Sorry I am late. I had planned to be back earlier."

Rose could not answer but ran forward to embrace the dark elf. He held her while stroking her hair. Once again she felt safe.