She remembered tales Dim had told her about the dangers in the Ishtarian Empire. Seasonal's pitted themselves against one another for entertainment and wagers were made by spectators. Death was the winner, each time. With this knowledge, Mari wisely kept her head down and only spoke to those who had trustworthy eyes, but these people were few and far between.
She wasn't even in Verkudul an hour when she witnessed something wholly horrific. She saw an innocent looking child, barely ten and shabbily dressed. This child produced a knife and stabbed a member of the armed forces in his crotch repeatedly. The unfortunate soldier understandably screamed and dropped to the floor as blood oozed out from where he had been maimed. Mari was horrified when the child was shot in the head, but this horrific act was sort of justified. This incident only cemented her negative opinion of the foreign land she was in. This place is backward and well and truly twisted.
Mari continuously thought about Ezra. She was of the faith, like her loving parents before her, she had faith that Ezra was alive and well, that was enough to keep her moving onward.
Mari had wandered into the grand bazaar, Talamh's oldest and largest covered market. The walkways were thin and with so many people shuffling along slowly she felt like she had stood in the same spot for hours. She was walking into shadows and then a brief light could be seen from above. Vendors were selling all sorts, lanterns and lights, decorative crockery, antiques, jewellery, artwork, games, musical instruments, hookah pipes, sweets, trinkets and gifts and anything and everything in-between. It was noisy as vendors were calling out their wares and what was on sale. Mari felt so claustrophobic, at one point she lost her breath and rested her hands on her knees, but she could not rest or stand idle. People were pushing one way and the other. It was a free for all movement.
Mari noticed that there were far more men than women around. In the Ishtarian Empire, a woman's life was controlled by a man from birth until death. Every woman must have a male guardian, normally a father or husband, but in some cases a brother or even a son, who has the power to make a range of critical decisions on her behalf. Women have fought for their rights but Sultan Ramzeez ignored the outcry and said: "the law is the law." Mari had to be vigilant, she was with no man, she stuck out like a sore thumb, and many eyes gazed at her, unfriendly eyes at that.
She took out a photo of Ezra at every possible opportunity and asked. "Have you seen her?" Pointing to the photo.
"No." was the only response she received repeatedly. She could not mask her disappointment. Her eyes were watery every time she heard the word "no" it was like someone had pierced her heart with an icy dirk. Her whole mien spoke of a woman who had given up she slumped her shoulders her pate low, but she found the strength within to raise her chin. I will find answers If I ever find the strip club. She vowed to stay resolute.
Eventually, after walking around aimlessly, she spotted a coffee shop appealing to tourists and thought it would be a good place to ask someone a few questions. Perhaps put her on the right track. Venturing in, Mari ordered a Frappuccino and took the photo of Ezra out from her pocket and again asked, "have you seen this girl?" Her voice a bit brittle as she had asked this so many times already.
"No," the server replied. She had a soft smile and a kind gleam was in her choclate brown eye.
"Do you know the way to Regina Revue?" Mari asked a follow-up question. She even showed the barista the match-box.
"Ah yes," the barista said. She was doing many things at once. Helping Mati, get her order and tending to other customers and their queries. "Red light," the female barista kindly informed her meaning the red-light district. Mari listened to the barista as the svelte lady with glowing skin gave clear concise directions to the red-light district. Mari was closer to her destination, she knew where she was going now, sort off. She paid an inflated price for her beverage, but she cared not.
She sat in the corner of the dimly lit coffee shop and left the photo of Ezra on the wobbly table and stared at it. She enjoyed her Frappuccino, there was an inviting caramel aroma, she licked the soft cream and when she took a drink, she realized it was exceedingly sweet, it stung her sensitive teeth. She sat for fifteen minutes in all just to rest and now she was ready to make her way to Regina Revue. I am close.
Not long after Mari had left the coffee shop, she cocked her head around and noticed at least six maybe seven or eight men were following her. Mari had heard about Dim's time in Verkudul. Women who were unaccompanied by a man were vulnerable and would get into unimaginable situations, horrible situations, "gang rape" was a word that sprung to her mind, "vicious beating" was another as well as "left for dead."
She was not afraid of anyone, well, she feared one or two people, but not Norms, Norms were forever in fear. Mari thought she would give them the slip and she went down a secluded alley to get away from her pursuers, but she walked straight into a dead end. Clothes lines hung above her when she opted to gaze up. Mari turned around to go back but the six men that had been stalking her prevented her from leaving.
These men who were of different ages ranging from their early twenties to their late fifties, she supposed. Each one of them looked vile. A couple of them had beards, some had few teeth, one had a nasty scar on his face. One was obese whilst another had one arm, but they all had a few things in common. They were all vile perverts who wore tattered clothing. They were probably ex-soldiers who served Sultan Ramzeez and had some injury and got thrown out of the army and left on the mean streets to die or do horrible things.
These men were always on the prowl for loathsome women, mainly tourists. To these men Mari looked like an easy target, fresh meat, she was anything but. Mari looked into each of their empty black eyes and she knew they wanted to have their wicked way with her. All six perverts slowly backed Mari up against the wall, Mari had nowhere to run, she had to fight.
Mari showed no sign of fear, instead, she used this as an opportunity to ask for directions. "Say, I don't suppose you guys know the way to Regina Revue?"
"Harlot," one of them said.
"Let's rape er," another with a discernible lisp added.
Mari could have teleported at any point to safety, but she felt like letting all her built up anger out, unleashing her power on these poor victims who didn't know they were in deep shark infested water. Besides, fewer vile men in the world would be positive.
The sickly six so far had been voyeurs, one or two were also playing with their manhood, but this moment of silent admiration soon changed when they aggressively moved closer to her. "Igni," Mari uttered. Hovering above her palm was a lime green flame.
The men stopped in their tracks and began talking to one another and pointing at her. "Seasonal," they all said in their own unique way. She hoped the fact that she was a Seasonal would scare these men away, but it didn't.
Just as one of the men stepped to close, Mari set that man of fire. He was engulfed in flames within three seconds from brow to toe. He screamed so loud, why Jennifer in Nirvana could probably hear him. She silently loved it. The man ran around recklessly and wisely dropped to the sandy floor and rolled around. He would have third degree burns for sure. The green flame had burned his clothes. Scorched hair. And melted some skin. He lay there virtually a charred corpse.
I'm a bad bitch. She created another green flame and said; "tell your friends, not all women are weak." The vile men hastily retreated, and Mari hoped they had heeded her words.
Not long later. She was at Taksim Square just the place where the barista from the coffee house had directed her to go. At Taksim square, Mari met a lovely couple and asked them for directions. The man was bald as an egg and ugly too whereas his wife was like a model. This couple had told her she was close. It was a fifteen-minute walk passed Taksim Park and straight ahead through the narrow ally was the red-light district and not far was the strip club, Regina Revue. So, with this news, she thanked the friendly couple and walked off with haste.
I should have stuck with the hippies.
She passed the expansive park. She could hear music blaring from speakers. She could not see into the park as a great green bush, three times her height went around the confines as did a fence painted green. It was a huge park and every entrance way was guarded. Still she kept walking for about a mile and a bit. Up ahead she saw the coffee shop and beside that was the narrow ally. It was not entirely narrow. Two people of modest build could hold hands down it. This ally was the only way into the red-light district as a wall kept in the sinner's quarter of Verkudul. Two guards stood at the entrance of the ally. They were armed to the teeth. She assumed two more stood on the other side and Jennifer knows how many more roamed around the sinner's quarter.
She ventured into the ally. It was single file in and out. It was long and dark and was only lit up by these tiny red lights on the ground. In front of her she was quick to note a pickpocket's cunning fingers reach into some tourist's luxurious bag. Mari said nothing as this kid snatched a wallet. Mari decided this poorly looking kid probably needed the money more than the victim. Waifs here were in abundance. This ally was the perfect place for pick pocketers. Mari only had her wallet of value and she clung onto that for dear life.
Finally, she came out of the ally and the seedy sight was evident to see. There were Breton style buildings and they had clearly been modified. Great windows housed the ladies of pleasure. Obviously, this was Verkudul's centre of sin.
Mari looked at the women in the windows most of the ladies were just gorgeous and young, some illegally young. Some, not many, were even old enough to be her great gran. If the red satin curtains were closed that meant some punter was probably getting his cock sucked. Off course, this appeals to the rich tourists from Breton and all over to be honest. So there had to be some vice, right?
Women was one.
Another was drugs. There were numerous drug dispensaries all over. Cocaine, marijuana, ecstasy was just some of the outlets she passed. Here people could by a drug of choice and relax she guessed. It was not just limited to the dispensaries there were dealers on the streets. A hushed whisper of coke or weed was mentioned as she passed dodgy characters.
There were great restaurants, casinos, clubs and other conspicuous buildings too.
Then she saw the strip club, Regina Revue. The flickering purple neon sign with a lady in a bikini matched the picture on the matchbox.
Mari had arrived.
I only hope there are answers inside.
The bouncer at the door was the size of a bodybuilder, just bigger. He had a shiny bald head and was kitted out in a black suit with no tie. The bouncer was certainly not a local. He was as white as snow. "We don't take in the poor," the bouncer drawled. Mari took out her wallet and it was packed with hundreds of Kroaling notes. She looked for a twenty and pulled it out and placed it in the bouncer's breast pocket, she was immediately allowed entrance. "There are no male performers until Monday night," the bouncer told her.
Mari took out the photo of Ezra from her wallet and showed it to the bouncer. "Have you seen this girl?"
The bouncer took a long look at the photo before replying. "No... no underage girls work here," the bouncer informed her. Ezra was far too young to be on stage, far too young, but she might be groomed in a back room by sickos and perverts. Groomed to be a burlesque dancer or worst, she feared.
Then by chance, she met the owner of the gentleman's club who was coming down the stairs. He wore a multi-coloured blazer and his shirt was unbuttoned he was ripped for a man in his late fifties he had a well-trimmed moustache that aligned with his jowl. He wore a red fez and so too did the little monkey that accompanied him crawling over his shoulder. "You here for job?" The owner asked. "Your pussy would look good on my stage," he mimed grabbing her womanhood.
Mari despised this place already, drunk of male chauvinism, but she had to remain calm. Grin and bear it she told herself. She took a deep breath before saying anything else. "No," she simply said as she feigned a smile.
"She's rich boss," the kind bouncer informed the owner. "Probably lesbian," he not so kindly added. Mari paid the bouncer a mean glare. Women were treated as bad as slaves here, worst in some circles.
"Go on," the owner said as he pointed to the red staircase that went up to where the actual strip club was, or so she presumed. There was a lot of thick smoke tediously crawling its way downstairs desperately trying to mingle with the cleaner air outside. It was cooler inside she was grateful for that. The unmerciful heat had bothered her, and her clothes stuck to her like glue. Even if she could find no lead, she felt a stiff drink was necessary.
"Have you seen this girl?" Mari asked the owner of the joint, she was desperate for a lead at this stage.
"No girl... me not see no girl," the owner admitted, waving his hands as he spoke. "Only woman with big breasts," he said pretending he had tits by holding imaginary ones. "Now go if you're going in or fuck off."
Mari snarled quietly but went up the red staircase slowly. Step by step it got darker and darker, the further up she went. but up ahead there was a light. When she reached the top of the stairs, she saw a very beautiful, lean, swarthy lady lying on a giant white hand. She was virtually naked just a slim G-string hid her privates. She bent over and let Mari see her huge booty. Mari's eyes averted away to look at the gentleman's club. Hoping someone in here might give her a lead. Her fingers were crossed as she ventured in.
There was a bar to the left and plenty of stage room for the lovely ladies to dance. The place was very busy despite it only being midday. One woman she passed stared at her keenly as the stripper wrapped a leg around the pole. Boozed up businessmen took out all their hard-earned money and flung single Kroaling notes before her bare feet. She even allowed them to slip the Kroaling into her G-string.
Mari needed a drink, so she went to the bar and ordered a strawberry daiquiri. As she sat at the bar, she noticed something peculiar, it was a camera. It looked just like the one, "no, it can't be, impossible." It was at that point she remembered the handsome man in Luz. "It can't be," she mumbled. She picked up the camera just as her drink was being served. She opened the camera to look at the photos and to her horror, there were photos of her and Dim and worst of all there were photos of Ezra, loads of photos. This was the handsome man's camera. She couldn't believe it, but where was he?
"You shouldn't be touching that," the barman who was well dressed informed her, but Mari just ignored him. "Ten Kroaling," the barman asked with his hand out awaiting payment. The price for liquor here was extortionate.
Mari gave him a fifty thinking it was a twenty and told him to keep the change. This made the barman turn a blind eye to Mari's indiscretion. She was so fixated on the photos stored on this camera. "Where is the man who owns this camera?"
The barman cocked his head to the right and then the left and then pointed, and there he was, the handsome man coming down the stairs. He knew he was in trouble and so he bounded back in the opposite direction.
Mari ran after him.
She was determined to capture him.
On the next floor, Mari saw the handsome man push over a lovely serving girl who had a full tray of drinks. Still the handsome man kept running and flipped a table over to create an obstacle. The handsome man kept running upward to the next level. "Stop!" Mari called out but the handsome man didn't stop he kept on running. The whole club looked on to witness the chase. Mari followed him up the stairs until the handsome man had nowhere else to run, or so she figured. She followed him to the security room. There was a wall of cameras and two bouncers were standing looking rather surprised.
"You shouldn't be here," the biggest bouncer said to them both.
"Get out," Mari ordered them. She created a green flame that hovered above her palm. "Get out!" Mari said again this time through gritted teeth, she was able to make demands. Wisely the two bolted to the door recognizing Mari was a Seasonal.
"Look," the handsome man said, holding up his hands to protest his innocence. "It's not what you think."
"Oh, isn't it!" Mari snapped. She didn't even give the handsome man a chance to respond. "We have much to discuss," she continued. "Now then. Did you kidnap my daughter?" Mari got straight to the point. Still the green flame hovered above her palm as she took a step forward.
Realizing his limited options, the handsome man said, "yes, I took her," he said in a honeyed tone, just what Mari hoped to hear. Sort of.
She breathed a sigh of relief, she feared this trip might be a waste of time, but now she had a lead, a solid gold lead. "Why?" Mari asked in a brittle tone as a tear crept into her eye. She felt rejuvenated that she had discovered the truth, but she would not relax, not until Ezra was safely in her arms.
"Your husband," the handsome man blurted.
"Dimitris," Mari said her spouse's name.
"Yeah. Dimitris," the handsome man echoed in a tone of disgust. "He's a gambler is he no - "
"What of it?" She had no idea why they were talking about Dimitris. Ezra was the only person she wanted to talk about.
"He gambled her," the handsome man blurted out.
"No," Mari quickly replied. "D-Dim would never do that. Besides, it's not legal."
"Why would I lie?" The handsome man said. "You have the power over life and death."
"Where is she?"
"N'Karath," the handsome man told her. "The Sultan has her now."
This was conflicting news, Mari had to know, "is she alive?"
"Alive, yes, for now," the handsome man informed her of the good news. Mari smiled for a second and rested her shoulders and breathed a sigh of relief. Then the bad news dawned on her, Ezra, her princess, was with Sultan Ramzeez.
"You're going to take me to N'Karath and get me to the palace," she instructed him stoically.
The handsome man didn't have much of a choice. He agreed to go back to N'Karath with Mari. "So be it," he said reluctantly.
As they went back downstairs Mari ran into the owner again. "You, fucking bitch!" The owner spat his words out and was pointing his finger in Mari's face. His little monkey who sat on his shoulder was also making a racket.
"Quiet," Mari said as she created a green flame to showcase her power. She was not a woman to be fucked with.
"Hey! Easy! Easy!" the owner replied. She made her flame smaller and smaller until there was nothing there.
The owner walked by Mari cursing away and gesticulating his frustration. "Allow one woman to enter and havoc ensues."
"Where are you going?" Mari asked her daughters kidnapper.
"My camera," he said. "It is too expensive to leave behind." Mari followed him over to the bar and she even finished drinking her Daiquiri.
Ì am on the right track, but I know I cannot take my eyes off this one not until Ezra is safe.
A few moments later her daughter's kidnapper and Mari left Regina Revue together. It was good to taste fresh air. Then the heat hit her.
"So whats your name?" Mari asked the kidnapper. She certainly didn't want to refer to him as the "handsome man" that would set a poor pitiable precedent that spelled out she was attracted to him on some level. She remained stern with him as if he were a dog or a perisher on the streets.
"Emre," He answered. "Emre Yilmaz."
"And eh. . . have you a car?" Mari asked him.
"No," Emre replied as he pushed out his bottom lip. "I see a car I take it. . . simple." He lived such a Maverick life.
They began walking toward the ally, the only exit. Mari would not let Emre go too far. She held onto his white shirt and made sure he did not bolt. She knew that he knew that her eyes were fixated on him. She was breathing down the back of his neck as they emerged out of the ally.
"Well. . . do you see any cars you can take?" Mari asked him once they were away from the armed forces.
Emre had a good look around, he seemed to be aware of his surroundings. Verkudul was his second home and he seemed to know this city like the back of his hand. "This way," Emre ushered her. He led her to a packed underground car park and the pair had a good look around to find a suitable vehicle. "This one," Emre said he was pointing and walking toward a flashy red sports car and that was the one he was going to jack. "Keep a lookout," Emre asked Mari who popped open the boot and disarmed the alarm instantly. "What's your name?" Emre asked her as he made himself busy.
"None of your business," Mari replied coldly.
"Unusual name," Emre quipped trying to make light of a tense situation. Mari was not impressed as she held her arm akimbo.
"Just so you know when this is all done, I will kill you," Mari informed Emre who nervously gulped. Emre jimmied open the lock on the door and got in and hotwired the vehicle.
"Get in," Emre said. Mari got into the flashy sports car the interior seats were leather and very comfortable. The dashboard looked like it had come from out of space. She was wrecked, all the traveling had taken its toll on her, her feet were warm as if she had stepped on hot coals. Now, thankfully, she could rest for a bit. She took of her shoes.
"Do you not think this too -"
"Flashy," Emre finished her sentence.
"Conspicuous," was a better word Mari could use as she closed one eye.
"N'Karath is full of flashy cars, flashy suits, flashy everything in truth. We won't stand out I promise you that."
"Drive," Mari urged him as she looked out the window and thought about Ezra.
Emre and Mari were on the road to N'Karath.