The Art of the Corset (2017)

Chapter Twelve- Greydon

Awaking with muffled voices filling the air around her, she eventually came to with a pounding headache.

"Where am I?" She asked while slowly adjusting from her laying position to one that allowed her rest with her back against the nearby wall. Looking around before receiving an answer, she saw that she had been somewhere posh. The walls around her were colored in a light paint-only used by those with money in excess. A large window overlooked her as a child sat upon a window seat and a duo of a woman and man looked to her with concern.

"Do you know who you are?"

"Ev-" Realizing the reputation her name would have, she spoke her name in short-in hopes of hosting a new life. "Eve...Evie. Evie." She spoke with nervousness as the couple looked to one another before returning their gazes to her.

"Would you mind retrieving the healer?" He asked his female companion as the woman turned and motioned for the child to follow after her. When the door closed behind her, the man sat on the edge of the bed with great concern.

"What is it you can tell me of your memory?"

"I saw nothing." She spoke with obvious signs of deceit. Her eyes shifted from him as he let out a sigh.

"You do not carry a great attribute of lying...but I can see that-" His eyes froze on the ring upon her finger. "You are one of them, aren't you?"

"One of THEM?"

"The women who ask for sin?"

Closing her eyes with self disappointment, she shook her head. "There is no use denying it, I suppose."

"That would explain your position in seeing my acquaintance and I as you did."

"Will you call for the coppers?"

"No."

Her face showed surprise before he then explained his reasoning.

"I have a proposition for you..."

Giving a slight glare, she lightened it upon remembering his kind nature of caring for her and then not turning her in.

"You excel at matters of desire...and I am in the process of allowing my children to wed those that will not only secure their future, but mine as well. If you continue to withhold my...relation of last night...I will allow you a place here. But you will earn it."

"I do not understand...You could turn me away, who would believe a whore?"

"A whore?" He glared at the word. "We are all possessing sins of our own. I would be lying if I spoke innocent of that...but I can see you have not experienced life in an easy caliber, so I am offering you a chance to make something of yourself. Something more than a street girl..."

"Do you not worry if I am recognized?"

"Any man who dares claim recognition would also admit in pursuing you...they would be implicating themselves. So they shall not."

"I thank you for your offer, but I am unclear what I would do."

"There are many things money can buy, but love is not one of them. I will assign you tasks-of seduction and of a more stealthy nature."

"You wish for me to spy?"

He nodded. "I wish for you to observe. Many desire to tear us from our social climb due to greed and jealousy. I only want to keep my family together."

"Why me?"

"You are tainted by the world, but hope for the beauty in it still."

"How can you be sure?"