Page 42 of What Fury Brings
The hands on his skin suddenly felt different.Hotter, most prominently. That heat started to travel upward.
No.
He was naked, and herefusedto become aroused for this entire crowd to see.
“Can’t I oil myself up?”
“With this many people looking? Not a chance. We have a show to put on. We’re supposed to be already fucking.”
She really should not say that word while she had her hands on himand he was naked.
Desperate now, Sanos tried to find some sort of topic change.
“You said I would beat him. I didn’t realize you had such faith in me.”
She stood and walked behind him to tend to his back. “You said you were a fighter, and I can’t afford to lose in front of the entire country. So, yes, you’re going to win, because there is no other option. I have the popularity vote of the people. Glenaerys knows it. This was a desperate play to garner more of their favor.” She paused. “How much training, exactly, have you had?”
“Swordplay and wrestling every day of my life for as long as I can remember.”
“How often do you win?”
“There is only one man who has beaten me in recent years.”
“Your father or your brother Sanos?”
The pause perhaps lasted longer than he should have let it. He’d slipped up. He was rumored to be one of the best fighters in hiskingdom. Being better than Sanos would be an outrageous claim for Andrastus.
“My father,” he said carefully. “I let Sanos win because to not do so would have drastic results.”
“I see. Men and their fragile egos. The crown prince cannot have his younger brother besting him. What will the world think?”
“Precisely.”
A pause. “I may hate the man entirely, but Atalius is a masterful fighter. If he’s taught you half of what he knows, I’m eager to see you fight.”
He hated the praise heaped upon his father, even though she gave it begrudgingly. Almost as much as he hated making himself seem like a spoiled brat.
And then she said, “You may yet redeem yourself for allowing me to walk off with you out of your own kingdom.”
He scowled even though she couldn’t see it from behind him. “In the past, I’ve never had cause to worry for my life at brothels.”
She said nothing in response, so he continued. “You shouldn’t have taken me from there, you know. The whores will likely be put to death for aiding you. There’s no way you managed to pull that off without the assistance of the madam.”
Olerra moved her fingers up to his neck. “Then I suppose it’s a good thing I paid them each a small fortune and moved the lot of them to Amarra.”
He rounded on her. “What?”
She grabbed his forearm before continuing her ministrations. “They were a few hours behind us on the road. I gave Madam Blanchette enough vyra to poison every man in the brothel. Then she and the girls were escorted by palace staff all the way here to start new lives.”
He didn’t know whether to be impressed or livid.
“You uprooted the best brothel in Brutus? Just picked it up and moved it here?”
“I doubt Madam Blanchette still runs the brothel. The women now have other options, and the business wouldn’t be nearly as lucrative here.”
“Why?” he demanded, his incredulity rising with every new revelation.
“Because most of the clientele are differre women. Amarran brothels are mostly full of male prostitutes and the occasional madae and madereo.”
