It was a week after the battle at Iron Mountain Hollow when Rey’s breakfast was interrupted by a knock at the door. It was early, seventy thirty in the am. Her day at the casino started at nine, but getting the day started early meant she had a chance to catch up on her work related email and review her calendar for the day before she was hurled into a series of meetings and solving problems around the casino.

The knock came again, loud enough to be heard through two doors. Mizuko’s room was right off the main entryway, but it would have to be a pretty determined visitor to get her roommate out of bed. Her day usually began closer to noon but ran into the small hours of the morning down at Belle Park. Experience told Rey the nymph wouldn’t bother to get up to get the door.

Rey set down her spoon and wiped her mouth as she went to answer the door. She knew she looked weird, an old t-shirt worn over a suit skirt, but Rey didn’t like having to worry about getting her breakfast on her blouse – they’re be more than enough opportunities to get her clothes dirty out on the floor with the servers dashing between gambling tables.

She headed out of the kitchen and opened the door that separated the front room and entryway from the rest of the house. The door to the front room, currently used by Mizuko, hung open and Rey could see her friend sprawled out on top of the covers, totally wiped. She didn’t appear to hear anything as the knocking resumed for the third time.

Rey got the door open and was met by a young man’s cheery smile. Morning sunlight splashed off his dark brown skin. In his hands was a bouquet of orange and black lillies set in a faux brick vase.

“Good morning, ma’am!” the kid said. “Rey Lafitte?”

“Yes,” she said with a nod, still looking at the flowers.

“These are for you.” He handed her the bouquet and an envelope.

Rey took them, and didn’t quite know what to make of them. “Thank you. If you’ll wait just a second, I’ll go get my purse so I can give you your tip.”

“Yes ma’am,” he replied with the same sunny smile. Rey brought the envelope and flowers inside, then found a bit of cash and set the delivery boy on his way. Back in the kitchen, Rey looked at the flowers again. It was… weird. No, not weird, she thought. Completely unexpected. “Who on earth is sending me flowers?”

She opened the envelope and pulled out the card:

A small token of my appreciation for your guidance in our ceremony last week. Happy Hallowe’en. Sincerely, Richard.

Rey blinked. Richard had sent her flowers? She really didn’t know what to make of it. However, she found herself starting to smile. She didn’t remember ever getting flowers before, at least not from anyone but Grey. Regardless, she liked it. Rey returned to eating her breakfast while looking at the bouquet. She’d have to call Richard later to thank him. At least, she hoped the phone number she had in her cell phone would get to him.

Tuesday, October 11th, Richard called Rey in the afternoon while she was still at work. “Hello, Richard. I got your flowers.” Thinking of them made her smile. “Thank you so much.”

She heard him chuckle. “Rey, that was supposed to be my thanks to you. I really appreciate you taking the time out that you did, what… must be ten days back already. You made it really special. I mean that sort of thing is always internally important and unique to every individual but what you did made it really feel. I don’t know. I’m not good with words, but I’m glad you liked the flowers. I think they express my feelings about it better than my words are right now.”

“You’re doing just fine,” Rey replied honestly. “I’m glad I was able to be there for you and the others.” She wondered for a moment if he was talking about any meaning that lilies might have, but decided checking that thought out could wait until later.

“I was also hoping I could ask you some advice. About the Autumn Court.” He hurried to explain. “Remember your friend — ah, I mean the Legate of Mists came and had me go with her that night?”

Rey nodded and said, “Yes, I remember.”

“Did she mention what that was about?”

“No, she didn’t,” Rey replied. She figured that if it was meant to be general knowledge, she’d be told when the time was right.

“Oh. Well, Queen Veridia asked me if I’d accept a position at court. It was awfully fast, being that I only just joined Autumn but I guess she had already had it in mind. Anyway, the point is that now I’m in a situation where I think it would really help if I had a general idea of what was going on and who was who in the Court. This time of year is when I’m supposed to be really at my job and I want to do it well. I feel awkward bombarding our Queen with a bunch of newbie questions so…”

Rey laughed softly, “So you’d rather bombard me instead. It’s no problem Richard. I’d be glad to help you however I can.”

“Really? Ah, I mean that’s great! Would you have time say Friday or some other time over the weekend? We could do a light dinner or something. My treat.”

She decided not to tease him any further. “Friday would be fine. I should be finished work around 5:30, maybe 6 o’clock. Depends on how much paperwork I have to finish and how much I can put off to another day.”

“Okay. How about 7? I could pick you up somewhere?”

“Sounds good to me. You already know my address,” she answered. “Or you could pick me up here at the casino. That might be easier to make sure I won’t keep you waiting too long. Where will we go? Someplace casual?”

“Yes, that would be fine. I was thinking of this little cafe called Gordon’s. It’s a pleasant little place not far from the downtown area of Mythic. Fairly casual I suppose, but really all kinds of people go there wearing just about anything you can think of.”

“Okay. I’ll see you Friday, then.”

Half a week later, he showed up in an old ford sedan wearing a new-looking flannel shirt and dark blue jeans. Somehow he’d managed boots, too, and they looked shiny. He got out of the car and asked the attendant to wait just a moment as he was picking someone up. But Rey was there already, so he didn’t need to go inside. Instead, he offered her his arm for the ten paces back to the car, let her in, then quickly made his way around to the driver’s side again.

He took her across town and fairly expertly navigated the end-of-week rush traffic. On the way, Richard told Rey some things he might not be able to mention in the restaurant. He told her that Veridia had offered him the position of Paladin of Shadows, which he told her mostly consisted of being her bodyguard when or if she chose to be seen in public and to otherwise look big and scary at court events. He figured he could pull that off.

Once they made their way into Gordon’s, they were led to a table right away. The place was packed, but they had a booth which offered them some privacy. The buzzing of the crowd would prevent much of anything being overheard anyway. After they ordered, Richard said, “I was wondering if you could help me a little bit in understanding what the people in the new positions do and if there was anything you knew of I should watch for.”

“Why don’t we start off with what you do know,” Rey said, “and I’ll add anything I can think of.” She shifted slightly on the booth bench, and resmoothed the skirt of her simple dress back down.

They began to go over some of the details. Dinner arrived and although it was a little sparse, the presentation and service was excellent. Rey was considering how to answer his questions about who he should watch out for in the court when her phone rang.

“I’m sorry,” Rey said with an apologetic grimace. “It might be work.” She pulled the phone out of her purse and frowned slightly when she saw Mizuko was calling.

When Rey answered, a voice responded, “Ms. Lafitte?” The woman’s voice shook with fear and worry. “This is Mandy. Um. Something really bad is happening. Can we call the police?”

“What’s going on,” Rey asked calmly, knowing that if she panicked, it’d only make Mandy even more frightened. She remembered Mandy was a the brunette with the nose that had been broken more than once.

“There are some guys here and I think they are fighting with Miz– Ms. Naia.” Mandy struggled to keep her voice from rising, afraid she might be heard. “She told us to hide and she’d handle it, but I think these guys are maybe too many for her. They look bad, Ms. Lafitte. I think they’re mad ‘cuz she won’t speak to them. They don’t know she doesn’t speak.”

Rey frowned. “I’ll be there as soon as I–”

“Oh God!” Mandy interrupted. There was a loud, ear-jangling thump as the phone was dropped. Rey could hear voices in the background. “What is that?” someone asked. “Is that her? What is she doing? Is she singing?” Someone else said, “Move I can’t see!”

Rey waited, on edge, wanting to reach through the phone and smack the hookers until one of them talked to her again.

There was a crackling sound as the phone was picked up again. “Okay. Okay, she got away. They were holding her and hitting her, but she started singing or making this… sound. I don’t know. I think they are looking for her. What should we do?”

“Stay right where you are. I’m on my way.” Rey flicked her phone off and tossed it back into her purse, then looked at Richard. “I’m so sorry, but I have to go. Something’s come up…” Her voice trailed off, and she hoped the regret at cutting their evening off short showed more on her face than the anger she felt at what was happening to Mizuko.

Richard looked concerned. “Can I drop you off somewhere?”

Rey paused and thought, wondering how close she could afford to let him get. “No, it’s easier if I just grab a cab.” She slid out of her seat and moved around to his side of the table and pressed a light kiss on his cheek. “Can we start over again, maybe tomorrow afternoon? My place?”

He nodded, accepting her decisions and lumbered to his feet while managing to squeeze out of the booth while Rey slipped out and headed away.

After flagging a cab a cab, Rey had a nail-biting trip halfway across town.

—

Mizuko’s evening had started out typically enough. She arrived and said hello to the prostitutes, thanked Amber for hanging with them and then wish Amber to have a good night off.

Problems started when a couple of street toughs started scaring off prospective customers. The girls complained to Mizuko and Mizuko came out to confront them. By then, there was a group of five of them, all clustered around their leader. The leader of this posse was a tattooed skinhead the others called Rallik.

“Hey yo, chicky! You can’t work this street without payin’ for the privilege, understand?”

Mizuko didn’t approve of the nickname but she remained silent. Nor the insinuation she was a prostitute, but she was learning to not be picky about names. Instead she gestured for them to take off. They reacted predictably, got in her face, pushed her. So, she pulled out her brass knuckles, hit their leader hard enough for him to see stars and dropped into a fighting crouch.

Had they not outnumbered her five to one, they might have run off and left her alone. Maybe. But getting hit in the face by a girl really pissed Rallik off. Three of the guys jumped her, grapped her by the arms and the throat. Rallik and his other henchman took a moment to gloat and then sought to take the fight out of her with some vicious punches to her body. The few people that were on the street cleared off in a hurry. Nobody wanted to see anything they might have to report to the police. No one wanted the kind of trouble Mizuko was having right now.

The beating knocked the wind out of the nymph, forcing a moan from her. When she caught her breath a moment later, she realized she had no chance of escape without a distraction. So she hummed. Knowing the effect her voice had on people, especially the first time they heard it, she was able to expect the surprise on her opponents’ faces. She ducked out of their grip and dashed into the alley, hoping to spread them out, double back and take them out one by one. It was a good idea in theory, but that only works if you are actually a faster runner than your pursuers. And she was not. They grabbed her the moment she attempted to double back and dragged her out of the alley again, throwing some kicks at her for good measure

On the way, they passed a fire hydrant and Mizuko took advantage of the presence of water. Still trying to hide any overt use of magic, she called to the water and it exploded free of the fastenings, sending a large piece to bounce off one of the gang members’ heads. That hurt him and set him on his ass holding his head. It also meant she got an arm free. With water spraying everywhere, she tried to make another escape. It didn’t work this time and they hauled her back up against the wall of the building in which the brothel was housed.

Rallik made his demands known to her while one of his buddies punctuated them with more blows to her stomach and ribs. Things were getting fuzzy, so she called upon internal magic to help her through the pain.

“You bitches want to work this street, then you gotta pay the Train Gang. Every fuckin’ week. You understand? You pay and you don’t get messed up. Breaks my fuckin’ heart to beat the shit out of gorgeous little bimbo like you. Don’t it, Dick?” One of his buddies nodded ascent.

“So I tell you what. I’m gonna get an advance and then we call it even, okay?”

Mizuko looked up at him, anger in her eyes, and then disappeared.

The hoodlums looked around startled and surprised, wiping the raining water from their eyes. “What the fuck?”

Rallik looked really disturbed for a moment, but wouldn’t show fear in front of his fellow sharks. “Fuck it, the bitch is slippery. It’s wet. Hey Dick, she get by you into that ally?”

“Naw boss.”

“Fine then. She went inside. We gonna get our advance anyway. Come on.”

They all went into the building. A moment later, Mizuko appeared at the doorway to the building behind them, breathing raggedly. The whistling in her breath probably meant broken ribs and she swayed on her feet. But resolutely stepped inside after them anyway.

—

The cab dropped Rey off a block away and she practically ran the rest of the way. She didn’t see anything out of the ordinary except for the fire hydrant gushing, and she hoped that was a good sign. Running to the entryway, she flung the door open and raced inside, only to pull up short at the scene in front of her. Mizuko was half-slumped against the wall, with what had to be three gang bangers, all badly beaten.

“Mizuko,” Rey said, and knelt down next to her friend, ignoring the damage she was doing to her dress.

Mizuko looked up woozily at Rey, and signed with the handicap of still having her brass knuckles on. “Was not me. Someone else did this. We need to find out who.” She reached out for Rey’s hand.

“You stay where you are,” Rey ordered, and started to search for whoever it might have been who Mizuko said had knocked those men out. All she could find was a small bloody smear on the door at the back of the building. She guessed that it had been made by someone leaving the building. Cautiously, she stepped outside and looked around, but saw and heard nothing.

By the time Rey returned to where she’d left Mizuko, Mandy and and a couple of the other girls stood nearby. “Are you girls okay?” she asked them, acutely aware she was wearing not only a dress, but a casual one, not the usual suits she wore.

She recieved several nods and okays from the half dozen women.

“Let’s get this trash out the back, and get her into a room. She’s soaked.” The low riding jeans and bare midriff t-shirt were soaked, and were she a normal person, she’d be shivering, but this was Mizuko. With the apparent beating she took, Mizuko was likely going to be one big bruise by morning.

They helped her get the men outside, left to recover their wits in the damp. On the way back in one of blondes spoke up. She was a jittery little thing, her hands shaking even when not on drugs or drunk. “Uh, ma’am we heard somethin’ when they was beatin’ on her earlier. We din’t know what it was but I was thinkin’ that maybe Ms. Naia can speak? Or make sounds. Is it true?”

“She can,” Rey said, “but she chooses not to.” She paused and looked at the assembled women. “If she does have to say something, then you’re in very big trouble.”

Feeling emboldened, the prostitute said, “Does she need an ambulamps? I don’t know how she beat up all those guys, but they musta hurt her bad.”

“She’s capable of just about anything, especially when it comes to protecting the people she’s responsible for. They’re lucky she didn’t kill them. As for the ambulance,” Rey said firmly, “I will take care of things.”

The girl subsided. Mandy suggest, “Maybe we should take the day off, let things cool down?”

Rey nodded. “Ms. Naia and I have some things we need to take care of right now.”

The girls took that as a hint to get out, and they did so. The nervous blonde paused at the door to say she’d get some bottled water and put it outside the door in case they wanted it later.

A short while later, Mizuko started to come around. It looked like she could use some rest, and her breathing was a little ragged.

“You look like hell,” Rey signed.

“I hate fighting mortals. Can’t cut loose, at least not on the street,” Mizuko signed back. She groaned. “I think they broke a rib.”

“I’ll get you home and I’ll see what I can find in the Hollow that might help,” Rey said. “And we need to find something for me to eat too. I was in the middle of a nice dinner when Mandy called.” She turned and retrieved the water that had been left for them.

“Sorry about your dinner,” Mizuko signed. “Maybe I should stay here, though. In case those guys come back. Or whoever it was that beat those guys up does.” She shook her head. “I wasn’t that far behind those thugs. Whoever took them out did it fast. Scary fast. I don’t know what they want and I don’t want to leave these girls to whoever this is.”

“Supernaturally fast?” Rey signed.

Mizuko thought about it. “Maybe. I don’t know.”

“You didn’t see or hear anything?”

Mizuko shook her head. “Nothing. There were five guys out there. I only saw three left. And they didn’t leave past me. Something took them because I don’t see them jumping all the way to the ground from up here. They weren’t on a fire escape — thing rattles and shakes and doesn’t go all the way to the ground anymore anyway. I’d have heard something.”

“I saw a blood smear on the door frame at the back, but whoever it was nowhere to be seen,” Rey signed. “Either they’re really fast, or they can hide really well. Or both.” She paused. “Do you know if anyone or anything has claimed this area as their territory?”

“Aside from those jerks that showed up today? No.” Mizuko threw her legs over the side of the bed she was reclining in and levered herself up. “I have plenty of magic left. I need to look around. With the Sight. Maybe I’ll see something.”

“You need to take care of those ribs first.”

Mizuko’s jaw was set. “This can’t wait.” She stood up and limped toward the door. She grimaced but she was on her feet. “”You had worse when you joined the battle at Iron Mountain. Don’t tell me I can’t do this.””

Rey let her anger at the situation carry her through the effect of her friend’s voice. “I had no choice, and there was easy healing at hand. You do. What about your injuries? Something could be broken inside. You could be bleeding out and you’d never know it.”

Mizuko stopped at the doorway and turned toward Rey. “I couldn’t live with it if I left while there is something dangerous out there and something happened to these girls,” she signed. She’d spent almost every day with them for the past five months, seeing them at the worst and at their best. They had a rotten lot in life but Mizuko had gotten used to them. Cared about them even. She’d lost friends to a supernatural predator before and she was determined not to let it happen again. “Help me do this. Please. Then I promise I’ll take care of this like you said.”

Rey wanted to argue. “You think I can’t keep an eye on the girls until you get back?”

“I think you can’t see what I can see,” Mizuko signed.

“And what do I tell Veridia when something out there jumps you and kills you because you’re already hurt?” Rey signed quickly. “Do you think she’ll be pleased to know you died protecting some hookers when you could have taken a bit of time to heal yourself first?”

“In that event I wouldn’t care. I’d be dead as you colorfully point out. If you won’t help me, then I’ll do this myself.” She turned back to the door.

“Damn you, Mizuko. Do you think I want to lose you too over this?” Rey stepped forward and wrenched the door open and stalked out, then turned to wait for her friend. “Well? Let’s get started.”

She eyed Rey warily, then continued into the hall. She made her way to the end and looked around for the blood mark Rey had mentioned.

“Two thirds of the way up on the left-hand side,” Rey said. “Looks like they made it on the way out.”

Mizuko spotted it, then took off her jean jacket and her shirt. She was only topless a moment, though, as she put the jacket back on and zipped it up. Then she wrung out the baby tee as best she could and wiped the blood so she had a sample. After that, she went to the window and looked out very carefully, calling on her magic to enhance her perception, bringing to life a new spectrum of colors and sounds that pointed out supernatural beings. She found none.

She turned back to Rey and handed her the blood-smeared tee shirt. “Okay. A deal is a deal. I’ll get some rest at the Hollow. After that, I’d like to track the owner of this blood.”

“When is Amber due back?”

“She’s not tonight,” Mizuko signed. “But I’ll call her and I think she’ll come in given the circumstances.”

“Okay. I’ll pay for a cab to get us home. Richard’s coming over tomorrow afternoon.”

Mizuko blinked. “A date?”

“I don’t think so,” Rey said. “He asked for some help with some things. We were about to start in on it when Mandy called.”

“Do you want me there or would you be happier if I were elsewhere?” Mizuko watched Rey.

“I’m not going to repeat with Richard what I did with Chase, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Rey signed with a slight grimace. “Nothing’s going to happen but talk. He wants to learn more about who’s who in Autumn.”

“So you wouldn’t mind if I hung out, maybe hit on him? Played wounded kitten with him a little and butt in where I thought I might?”

“Why, are you interested in him, or are you just trying to get a rise out of me?” Rey signed with a chuckle.

“No. Trying to get you to answer me honestly. I think you would like it to be a date or you wouldn’t have mentioned it. It wouldn’t have been that important.” She shook head. A little smile curled her lips as she signed, “Rey, you have the best dates. Mine seem to leave me sore, angry, or beat up by five guys. Don’t worry. I have other things to do. I won’t be in your hair tomorrow.”

“I do like him,” Rey signed, “but I don’t know if it’s going to go anywhere. I know, you said he looked at me ‘hungrily’, but all it could be is lust. I’m not really willing to settle for that anymore. And Chase is going to find that out if he thinks I’m just going to fall into bed with him again.”

Mizuko raised an eyebrow at her angry mention of Chase. She wasn’t sure what that was about but decided to leave it alone. That was a nerve she didn’t feel the need to touch. “I know lust,” Mizuko signed. “To me, lust is hard to control. Or maybe in some cases just not controllable. The hunger I saw in Richard wasn’t quite the same. Maybe it’s because I just can’t imagine him not in control of himself. The hunger I saw in him was like an attraction. A desire. Not something as raw and unbridled as lust.”

“Perhaps,” Rey signed, thinking back to the flowers, and his surprise at her willingness to help. “But please don’t think you shouldn’t be there. You were driven out by Chase being there before the attack. It’s your home too, and I never want you to feel unwelcome.”

“It’s okay. You know I don’t mind the gypsy thing. Besides, it wasn’t that bad crashing in the office here for the night. I didn’t have to pay for a cab home.” Her lip twitched slightly in humor. “Okay. So Hollow for rest and goblin fruit. Then we figure out how to track the owner of that blood?”

“Yeah. But I want to talk to you about the girls. When we started, I never expected to end up running a brothel, and I certainly didn’t expect to end up Witch of the Bitter Wind.” Rey shook her head. “I don’t think I can afford to keep the brothel. If Veridia found out….”

“You’d rather not be known as the Witch of the Brothel. You could lose respect before you ever had a chance to gain it,” Mizuko signed.

Rey nodded. “But I can’t just throw the girls to the wolves either. I’ll come up with some cash so if they do have to pay protection money, they’ve got the first payment in hand,” she signed.

Mizuko nodded but didn’t say anything. She thought about it all the way back to the Hollow where she managed to get some basic goblin fruit and rest a couple hours. After that she wanted to see if they could do some tracking. Rey was able to enhance her senses enough to pick up a trail, but it led only to a car on the other side of the block. Mizuko spent some time asking around if anyone knew of a car that had parked there, but too much time had passed and no one could give her anything to go on.

The next morning Mizuko was up early to catch Rey before her visitor arrived. Mizuko approached Rey while she was having breakfast. Mizuko was already fully dressed for the day, though it was hours early for her. But she wasn’t in a suit, just casual jeans, black shirt and a green sweater.

“We need to talk,” she signed.

“Okay,” Rey said. “What’s on your mind?”

“You’re cutting the brothel loose. But what about my call girls? Or your escorts at the casino?”

Rey grimaced and ran her fingers through her hair. “I don’t know. What happened yesterday brought everything to a head. I haven’t a clue yet.”

“I’ve been dealing with Honey and Verdant Green,” Mizuko signed. “I don’t think they are aware of any operation going on at your casino. Since I hired them I can deal with them. The two girls you brought in and trained from the brothel are going to have to be your problem, I think.

“With the elimination of that part of your business, I think the risk to you disappears. Any kind of protection you might need is probably covered by the motley pledge now. I don’t think you will need me at the casino with you.” Mizuko didn’t like admitting it. She loved the casino, but the truth was she had no skills whatsoever that could be useful there. She was dead weight.

“I may not need you,” Rey said, “but there was a certain level of comfort knowing you were there.” She sighed. “I don’t suppose I could convince you to take the two escorts on as well?” She suspected the answer would be no, but she’d wanted to ask. She felt guilty about everything that was happening about the women who worked for her.

Mizuko blinked. Then understanding settled over her features. “I’m not intending to take anyone on. I said I’d deal with the new call girls, but I only meant that I would tell them they needed to handle things on their own. They probably would be pissed, but I don’t know the first thing about setting things up for them. Same with the brothel. I was going to tell them they were their own bosses and if they wanted me to stick around they could hire me. I wouldn’t know the first thing about what to do with your escorts.”

“I’m probably going to have to do the same thing.” Rey’s lips twisted. “The way I’ve got things set up, it should be relatively painless to get them set up on their own.” She hoped.

“Still working in your casino?” Mizuko signed, looking interested.

“That was the plan,” Rey replied. “I set up a dummy corporation, and then got it a corporate account at Mountain Garden. All room charges are put to that account, and the bill is sent to that p.o. box I’ve got on the other side of town. I pay the bill, and that’s that. There’s a phone number with a service that the clients use to contact the escorts, and they have always taken care of choosing which customers they wanted to take on. Some clients keep coming back and requesting one of the other. They don’t work every night, but they make more than enough money to pay for everything themselves.

“Plus, if I cut them loose, they won’t be limited to working just at the casino. They could go other places as well, wherever they choose.”

“Wait. So… but they still have to have sex with their clients all the time, right? Won’t their working there still get you in trouble if their found out?”

“Thing is, they don’t have sex all night long,” Rey replied. “Their job is to be a companion. Someone to be there, so a gambler could have a beautiful woman at his elbow. Sex is not an official part of the service. It’s the escort’s decision was to whether or not that happens. Believe it or not, some of their clients don’t actually want sex at the end of the evening.”

“So they get to go on dates, when they choose, with whom they choose and within limits they choose. And the get paid a lot of money for it.” Mizuko blinked, then signed. “I’m not seeing a down side to this job. No wonder they like what they are doing.” Of course Mizuko wasn’t thinking about things that most people might consider. Permanent relationships, for one thing. And if an escort wanted to settle down she couldn’t exactly find a guy to marry and keep working like that.

“It seems glamorous,” Rey admitted, “but the reality is far different.” She went on to describe many of the problems – and dangers – the escorts had faced since they’d started working for her. “The bigger the money they get paid, the higher the risks. A lot of the other girls heard my offer and immediately thought of the movie Pretty Woman. That kind of thing only ever happens in the movies.”

Mizuko thought about it. She’d figured maybe her life was to be a glorified messenger for Autumn and a thug on the street. Well, ‘thug’ might be a little unfair but it boiled down to about that. She cared what happened to those girls but at the same time she really didn’t care for getting shot or beat up. That was the reality she had going now, and likely would continue in the future. Mizuko frowned, less sure now what she would do.

“There’s one bit of advice Lyla gave me a long time ago about sex,” Rey said. “And I think it’s the biggest stigma any sex worker faces. You can have sex with whoever you want, as often as you want, but the minute you get paid for it, there’s no way out of it. You’re stuck with the label of whore, no matter what you do afterwards. And the people who own and run brothels, or who are pimps, can be viewed as maybe a half step above them.”

“People think that about me. And think I run things down at Belle Park.” Mizuko concluded. “Am I stuck?”

“I don’t know,” Rey replied honestly. “They might. And with how beautiful you are, it’s not surprising some guys think you might be a hooker. That’s the biggest reason for why I insisted you wear a suit when you were on-duty, and made sure the ones I bought you weren’t too feminine or flattering. I figured if visually you were set apart from the girls, then that might lessen some potential problems. And, at the time, you didn’t seem to care all that much about your reputation, and I thought we might be able to keep it all hidden better.”

Mizuko chewed her lip, then shrugged. “I guess I don’t. But you do now. You should; you have an important position with Autumn, with Veridia. My position is useful to Veridia, but on the whole not important. Everyone knows I’ll be acting simply as her messenger and what and who the messenger is is less important than what she says or can do.

“But in the mortal world, if my reputation is tarnished, can you afford to be associated with me?”

“Probably not,” Rey admitted, “but I’m not going to abandon you. You’re my friend.”

Mizuko looked a little lost. “I don’t know what to do, Rey.”

“Let’s start with what you want to do,” she replied. Rey hoped that by helping Mizuko get things straight in her head, realize what her priorities are, that might bring things into focus.

“To go back and live in the Hollow with Ollie.” Mizuko signed, “I know I can’t just do that. But you asked.” To her, most of what she did in the mortal world was something she had to do. It was easier when she was able to do things to help her friends but she just didn’t think about mundane ambitions as something she cared about personally.

“You’re right,” Rey said with a smile, “I did. So, what do you want to do here, outside the Hedge?”

“I’m not sure,” she signed. “I don’t want to end up a burden. Or to hold you back. Maybe I’ll take some time out. Think about things.”

“That’s probably a good idea.” Rey nodded. “One thing to keep in mind is that you may consider yourself just a messenger, other people might not. As Legate, you could be considered the face of Autumn when you’re acting in your capacity with other Courts. You might not care so much about your reputation, but considering Veridia once said she was glad to see you weren’t dressed like a whore, she just might care.”

Mizuko nodded. “I’ll see you around then,” she signed.

—

Later that day, Richard stopped in. Mizuko was long gone by that time, though Rey hadn’t heard her leave. That just meant her friend had liked used the Hollow Door. When Richard arrived, he brought a gift, saying it was only proper since Rey had invited him over. The gift was a bottle of wine — not too expensive but not cheap either.

They discussed the various members of Autumn, as best as Rey knew them, as well as the several people in new positions at Court. There were still a lot of possible titles out there for the taking and more than enough Autumn changelings potentially jostling each other to get a shot at them.

They also discussed their own roles, at least a little bit and that of their friends. Rey mentioned Mizuko and what she knew of the Legate’s duties, and she tried not to look over toward the room Mizuko had so recently called home.

When Rey had gone to check on her, Mizuko wasn’t there. The suits and other business clothes, and the cell phone she’d bought for Mizuko were there, all neat and tidy, but everything else, all of her friend’s modest possessions, were gone. The suits and phone being left behind hurt Rey almost as much as the fact her friend had left, as if trying to erase any sign she’d ever been there.

Wanting to make sure Richard didn’t misinterpret her discomfort when talking about Mizuko, she explained that until this morning, her friend and been staying with her.

It was hard to get facial expressions from Richard’s large, bovine head, but he made up for it in body language and the tone of his voice. “Are you okay?” he asked sympathetically.

Rey shrugged. “I don’t know. With everything that’s happened lately, she said she needed to take a break from things. When I said that might be a good idea, I didn’t think she was going to leave.” She shook her head. “She’s my friend, and this is her home too.”

“It doesn’t sound to me like she said goodbye. Maybe she’ll be back before you know it.” The big guy shifted a little and it made the couch creak. “There have been a lot of changes recently. For some the changes are pretty big. Maybe not so big for others. We all handle these things differently, but never easily.

“You know, I thought that Claire would join me in coming to Autumn after we disbanded Dusk. But some of the people we lost were hard for her to let go. Maybe joining Winter was a way she saw to deal with it. I don’t know. I just know it’s really hard when distance develops between friends. I don’t think that’s what’s happening here. I’m sure that once she finds a way to deal with whatever it is that’s on her mind, she’ll connect with you again.”

“I hope you’re right,” Rey said softly. “I don’t have many friends.” Then she groaned. “Oh god, that sounds pathetic, doesn’t it. And not completely true either. I just don’t have many friends as dear to me as Mizuko is.”

Richard chuckled softly and patted her hand reassuringly. His hand lingered on hers but withdrew it before the moment became unintentionally intimate. “Well, I’m sure that when you need her, you won’t have far to look. She’s the Legate after all. She won’t be far from Court or Veridia, I think. And so long as she knows you’re here, I’m sure she must know she has a safe place to come home to.”

—

Mizuko arrived at the brothel after taking some time to play with Ollie back at the Hollow. She had a small luggage bag with her containing some clothes and shoes that Amber had found for her. Once there, she used the phone to contact Honey and Verdant Green to let them know that they weren’t going to be able to maintain the business arrangements. The changelings were both disappointed, but since things hadn’t quite gotten off the ground for them yet, they surprised Mizuko by not being too upset about it. Mizuko then contacted Amber and let her know that things had gotten too dangerous. She told her friend about the gang that had beaten her up pretty badly the previous night and that there seemed to be a new player in the area. Fast, powerful and dangerous. Amber was convinced not to come near Belle Park Avenue again when Mizuko said that whoever it was acted faster than the killer that had gotten hold of Amber and her friends early last summer and were at least as dangerous.

Mizuko then gathered the hookers together and gave them a written explanation. Their boss was pulling out of this business and Mizuko thought that things had gotten too dangerous for everyone. She told them that whatever they’d been told, Mizuko had not been able to handle things. Someone or something dangerous was going on and she didn’t know what it was. But she was quitting too. She told them all that they should get out of this business and that if they did now, Mizuko would try to help them find other lines of work. Mizuko’s own reputation among the hookers went a very long way to convince them this job wasn’t an option anymore. She wanted them all to be safe, but she was only one woman. And she would have no backup anymore. She just didn’t think she could protect them.

One of them asked Mizuko what she was going to do and she had to admit she had no idea. Some of the girls decided they would leave. Maybe try dancing at a strip club or join some other brothel. Others hung around Mizuko and talked about trying something else completely. They had a some money since Rey had never demanded that much of them. Two of them opted to get an apartment and offered to let Mizuko stay with them until she figured out some line of work, too. Mizuko agreed, but only for a short while. Just until she figured out what she wanted to do.

When she left the apartment building, she did so with luggage bag in hand and accompanied by two of the girls. Together, they headed toward the bus stop, collecting a newspaper along the way.

It was a long day of hitting up rental agencies, but they finally managed to find a place just south of Mythic City and within the Santa Fe city limits. The two cities had long ago grown together, so this was by now a dense, low-income residential neighborhood of mixed apartments, duplexes, and homes. After several failed attempts at getting a lease because they had no stated job or income, they tried lying and then paying a deposit in cash. That worked well enough to get them a month to month lease in a small apartment building.

They settled in on carpeted but otherwise bare floors for the night, making do with blankets and pillows the other two girls brought in from their old place at Belle Park. But Mizuko couldn’t stop thinking about what happened the previous night, and wondering what it was that had taken out those men.

She still had the tee shirt with blood on it, and decided there had to be a mystical means of locating the guy it belonged to. Finally, at about midnight when the other two were deep asleep, she got up and slipped out of the apartment, then caught a cab north toward the 13th Street Goblin Market. It was a dangerous place she knew, but if there was magic to be had to help her solve this problem, she figured it would be there.

The market was alive with activity this time of night and she had to be careful not to be drawn in by distractions. Eventually she found a goblin wizard who specialized in selling contracts of magic. He offered her a deal — one dream unfulfilled for the power to look into the past or future of any person she had met. The better she knew the person of course, the better the magic would work. She wouldn’t even need the blood and if she was clever, she could use the spell to get an idea of where the subject was, or would be. All it would cost her was a smidgeon of unrealized potential, something he assured her, she would never miss. After a moment’s thought, she agreed. He unfurled a densely-worded contract for her to sign, which she read carefully, then judged the deal to be fair enough. She signed it with a quill pen and then the contract disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Now armed with her new magical power, she made her way back to Mythic proper and took a late night bus to the West Mythic Train Station. From there is was only a couple blocks to the place her girls used to work. None of them were there now, of course and it looked oddly empty to her. She hurried up to the apartment door to avoid any meetings with former clients and headed inside to the old office. It was already locked, the land lord having been alerted that the tenants had left, but she didn’t mind. She just wanted a place out of sight to try her new magic. She stepped into the stairwell and sat down on the steps, then began concentrating on the men who’d assaulted her yesterday. She clutched the blood-stained shirt in her hands and hoped to nudge the magic in the direction of this unnamed thug. It was difficult, the magic sluggish due to the tenuous connection to the thug she held in her mind.

When the images and sense of things started to come, they quickly built up and flooded her mind with a sense of being other-where. She got the impression he was in the basement of a rundown house about 2/3rds the way between where she was now and downtown Santa Fe. He was in bad shape, likely needing hospitalization but would be alive for at least the next twenty minutes or so.

She had snagged a route map from the bus she’d taken here and pulled it out to have a look at the area she was heading for, then headed back toward the train station. There she’d be able to find a cab. It was expensive for her, but she knew they hung out there all night to provide rides for people coming off the train. She began to canvass the area looking for the right sort of run-down house. This time of night, there was almost no one around and she had little to fear of mortals catching her poking around.

She narrowed things down to three houses. She approached the one that looked the most mundane and peeked through basement windows to see if her man might be in there. The basement was finished and alarmed, but there was an area she couldn’t see that seemed to match the dimensions of the room in which she saw the dying man in her divining vision. She she carefully checked for supernatural influences, and finding none, she smashed in the window and turned herself into wind and autumn leaves. The alarm sounded as she swept through the room and under the door — to find nothing but the furnace and water heater. She flowed back out just as quickly then flew toward the next likely place now that she’d caused enough ruckus at the first.

She checked out the second house, but no dice. She continued to the third and at last spotted the guy. He was on his last breath and she quickly realized there wasn’t going to be anything she could do about it. The wierd thing, though, was that this house appeared to be occupied by a family. With morning coming, the place would be stirring, especially with an alarm ringing through the neighborhood.

Mizuko frowned in puzzlement as she watched the injured man’s last breath rattle out of his chest. She waited there a few moments, wondering what had taken him and stashed the gang banger in the basement of some family to find. That was disturbing enough but suddenly she thought she should make it a little creepier. Maybe send a message to whoever dropped this guy here, should they return, that they aren’t the only thing that goes bump in the night. Or early morning.

So, she called upon water from the nearest source. It happened to be the corpse, of course, and bloody fluid trickled out of him in response to her call. She made it line up for her — wavey lines to represent water with a small stick figure to represent a child. Even if it wasn’t found for a while, she knew that the mark would remain in dried blood.

After that, she made her way back to the apartment she was now sharing and collapsed in exhaustion to sleep away a good part of the day.