We all listened at the door, attempting to decipher what was taking place in the hallway. A woman screamed obscenities and a man raised his voice with threats.
“Let go of me you wretched piece of trash.”
“How dare you,” screeched the woman. “Give me what you owe me.”
“The entertainment you offered is not worth four Fu.”
“Give me something. You can not use me for nothing.”
I poked at Bodil, “Should we do something?”
A quick finger to her lips signaled me to hush. She answered quietly, “No. The woman sells her body to anyone who comes around. Lately more and more Dwarkaa Apolake Warriors are visiting our building. News has gotten around that there is cheap sex here.”
More vile language and sounds of a horrific scuffle filtered through the rough wooden slats of the door.
The man in the hallway screamed in pain. “You cut me, you piece of garbage!”
“You will think twice before cheating me again,” yelled the woman. “Let me go, let me go!”
The noise from the hall was horrendous and yet we did nothing. She was being dragged down the hallway as she squealed, past our door and on to the stairwell.
“She’s done for,” Enyo said.
“What will he do to her?” Akiko asked in a whisper.
“He’ll likely drag her to the square and kill her publicly himself.”
“He won’t wait for the Royal Guard to take care of it?”
“And risk her escape? No. He will kill her today.”
Enyo said, “There may be another room available soon.”
Bodil shook her head. “Yes, but we are taking no more rooms. If the others find out we secured another dwelling they will attack. We are already a target. Everyone knows we eat better than most. Flesh does not lie.”
“I know,” Enyo said. “It would just be nice to have more space.”
We waited until the racket in the hall slowly ebbed and faded. Gradually we released our battle ready stances, put our weapons away and looked at each other.
Bodil said, “There is a brothel operating from numerous buildings. The woman in the hall today is part of the brothel business but she is one of the older and lower class ones. A woman by the name of, Loralai, operates the traffic. She lives in a building two blocks from here but she oversees all the trades and transactions over a fourteen mile radius. She is very powerful and is something to be reckoned with. We stay as far away from her as possible.”
Enyo added, “There are many women eager to join her company. When they get hungry enough, they are willing to do anything to survive. Only the loveliest specimens are chosen.”
I begged to ask the question but Bodil answered before I did. “That is the last thing Enyo or I wanted. We saw our mothers destroyed by the business. We would be willing to do anything but join the brothel run by that evil sorceress.”
Akiko asked, “How does she avoid prosecution by the Royal Guard?”
“Her activity is encouraged by the Royal Guard. Many of them frequent the women under her employ. With all the women she hires, she insists on physical beauty, cleanliness and the highest promise of pleasure for all her clients. Very few are ever disappointed.”
“What will she do about this murder?” I asked.
“Loralai has close connections to the Grand Admiral of the Farrin Patrol. She will likely place a complaint against the man responsible for the death of one of her girls. The Dwarkaa Apolake Warrior will likely be punished, demoted, or even killed for his interference with her enterprise or maybe they will do nothing. I’ve seen the strangest things in this neighborhood. Loralai holds great power in these parts but there are others much more powerful that her.”
“You will point her out to me when we cross paths, yes?” I asked.
“Yes. I will,” Bodil promised. “Now it’s time for bed. We need to get our rest. We will be up before the sun.”
Enyo said, “I will show you to your room.” She went to the door, unlocked it and walked down the hall.
Akiko and I followed her. Four doors down, Enyo used a key to unlock the door and let us enter.
The room was similar in size to the one Bodil and Enyo reside in but looked in better condition with softer and fuller sleeping mats on the floor.
“Sleep well. Bodil will knock in the morning to get you both up.”
I nodded and she left. I went to secure the lock. Noticing a wooden slot in the door, I looked down to find a piece of wood on the floor. I took it and placed it into the space to double latch it from within. Akiko and I were both exhausted, due to our poor sleep the night before. We settled down quickly and were asleep as soon as our heads hit the mats.
Pounding at the door in the morning woke us both and we jumped from our spots. Stepping to the door, I asked, “Who is it?”
“It’s Bodil. Rise and shine. It’s time to get to work.”
I unlocked the door and opened it.
Bodil said, “We’ll eat breakfast in our room. Come when you’re ready.”
“Is there any water for washing in this building?” I asked.
“No. You have to fetch it from the communal well two blocks from here. We have some water in our room. You are welcome to use it this morning but from now on you will need to secure your own water supply.”
I nodded and she left.
There was nothing to do in our room to prepare for the day. Akiko was already on her feet and waiting for me. I grabbed my outer, rough-hewn cloak and secured it around my middle with the flimsy belt. I again longed for my Akoni Farrin garb, my thick leather jacket.
“Let’s go.”
We both left the room and walked over to join Bodil and Enyo. After washing and a quick, negligible breakfast, Bodil gave me a change of clothes to put on. They were beggarly and tattered and far worse than what I already wore. I looked at her in confusion.
“You will soon see how necessary the change in clothing is for our work today. Change and we will leave. And no weapons are allowed at the dump. Leave yours here.”
“No weapons?” I hated the idea of going unarmed. I never went anywhere without my knives and sword.
Bodil and I both changed into the ragged, pauper wear and she handed me a small, burlap bag to store our finds. I tucked it in at my waist. We then headed to the city dump to begin our day but I felt utterly naked without my weapons.
She spoke as we walked. “You need to be aware of the dangers we will face today and every day. We dress this way to avoid detection by the city employees. They are hired to keep the undesirables out of the dump. These clothes will allow us admittance.”
“These rags?” I asked.
“These clothes are considered luxury by most of those desiring entrance into the dump site. Our attire decrees that we are the most attractive of the starving populace. Those who are the most desperately poor are usually not allowed in. Their desperation causes fights, riots and violent confrontations and the city employees want to avoid as much raucous behavior as possible. Whenever they allow the lowlifes into the garbage heap there are numerous skirmishes and deaths in tow. Many of Casimer’s employees have been killed during these uprisings. They prefer limiting access only to those deemed less violent and distressed.”
I listened quietly as she went on.
“Here, take this.” Bodil handed me a blue tag with a royal crest emblazoned on it. “Keep this in your pocket and don’t lose it. No one is allowed into the dump without it.”
“Do you have one?”
“Yes.” She pointed to the one I was holding. “I retrieved that one off of a corpse. There was a fight that broke out a week ago. One of them was dead and the other seriously wounded. I stayed close as they fought and moved in quickly to get the tag before anyone else had a chance.”
“But you didn’t know I was coming.”
“No but to have an extra tag is always useful. Thieves are abundant in these parts and one never knows when someone will attack and steal one.”
“Is everyone really that desperate here?”
Bodil simply turned to stare at me. Her silence told me enough.
“Another thing you need to be aware of. There are creatures that mill about the dump. They are not there looking for food, because there is none. All of it is scavenged by the pickers ahead of time, unless they miss some and we get lucky. The creatures search for dead carcasses and, if they don’t find any, they’ll come for our flesh and they are very aggressive. Keep up your guard.”
“How are we to do that with no weapons?”
“You will learn. Try to find a sharp object from the dump heap as soon as possible and keep it handy.”
I nodded and asked, “What type of creatures?”
“Snakes, large rodents, starving dogs and sometimes other animals that are nearly extinct. All of them are ravenous and eager for food. Catching one is great luck. Keeping it, getting it home, without it being stolen is even greater luck. On the rare days I am able to secure one, I cook it up for our dinner.”
I was used to scavenging for any type of flesh to eat on my farrin. Back at home, on Akoni Farrin, there were many pieces of meat hung from a rope to dry in my dwelling. I was not above eating any of the creatures she mentioned, although I’d never tasted dog.
“One other danger I should mention before we arrive is the Tonrar. They know when someone is new to the dump. They will report you to the guard or guards on duty.”
“What is the protocol?”
“You will tell them that you’re sister, who was a regular at the dump, is dead. The woman died two nights ago in her sleep. Some residents took her body and dumped her in one of the burned out buildings a few streets down. Anyway, the guard will ask you your name. Tell him your name is Neesha.”
“Does this woman actually have a sister named Neesha?”
“Yes but she died a few weeks ago. Both sisters are gone but the Royal employees don’t know that. Both bodies were dumped in burned out buildings.”
“And they allow a transfer of the blue tags?”
“Family members are permitted to continue with the work as long as they can show the tag.”
“So the Tonrar don’t know that both sisters are dead?”
“There are so many paupers in Dwarkaa and so many new deaths each day that they struggle to keep up with all the information on births and deaths. Hopefully they’ve not heard that detail.”
“What do I do if they remember and demand an explanation?”
“I’ll leave that to your imagination. Make something up, anything that will dissuade them from killing you.”
“Tell me the other woman’s name, the one who died a few days ago, the one who had rights to the dump.”
Bodil quietly whispered it, “Zilla.”
We walked in silence through heavily populated streets, the buildings rising to three stories around us. The farther we walked from Bodil’s residence, the thinner and more beggarly the people appeared. Emaciated forms floated around us; their paper thin silhouettes hardly looked human. Many of the populace of the lesser farrins were starving but not to this degree. These gaunt figures shocked me.
I’d always imagined those born on Dwarkaa were favored, fed better and had advantageous lives. Everything I once believed was a lie. I began to see that Casimer cares for no one. He rules with an iron fist in his entire Domain.
I finally asked, “Is there anything else I need to know before we arrive?”
The buildings began to thin out and, in a clearing at the edge of the city, a massive hill rose high on the horizon.
“Keep your head down and work hard, all day. We are searching for anything of value, a piece of string, beads, shiny bauble, clasp, an intact shell, pearl or anything you believe would be useful.” She handed me a small trowel. “Place that in your pocket and don’t lose it. Dig down and search carefully. We will go to the most recent dumping spots. Hopefully we have arrived early enough to be the ones to find the treasures of the day.”
As we passed the last of the homes, a dirt road lay before us and a small cloud of dust rose from every footfall. Half an hour of walking brought us closer and I could see more clearly. A high, prickly wire fence surrounded the dumping grounds and guards were already on site, ready to monitor all who came. The noxious smell was overwhelming and clearly the dead were also deposited here in great number. The odor of death floated around us like a harbinger of terror, making it difficult to breathe. We were the second ones to arrive. One beggarly man stood at the gate waiting for it to open as we approached.
I dreaded this first day and hoped I’d live through it. The heavy aura of the Tonrar began to reach for us as we arrived and I knew we were in trouble. I wasn’t a familiar face and I’d been noticed.
One of the Royal Guards at the gate stopped and turned toward me. Obviously the Tonrar had notified him. He wore the typical black uniform but his had red and yellow detail. All I’d seen before were the Apolake Warrior Uniforms, sailor’s uniforms, black with red detail. Although not as ostentatious as a sailor’s uniform, his looked similar enough. The hat he wore was much wider, and a thin, black gossamer cloth hung down from it covering his face. Maybe it was for the purpose of shielding his head from the heat given off by the dump. I could feel the heat waft toward me even from this distance. Or perhaps it kept out some of the horrific odors as he stood guard all day.
I hoped my size didn’t give me away. I was not nearly as thin as most. Even Bodil was leaner than I. I desperately hoped that the Tonrar hadn’t noticed that detail.
The Royal Guard pointed to me. “Come here.”
I began to perspire in earnest as I slowly made my way toward him and hoped for the best.
