Chapter 3

The calm Yaru expressed had finally begun to settle on me as well. I sat in front of him, sipping tea and wondering when my first lesson would begin. And what it might entail.

Yaru had been almost silent since I’d confirmed I would become a courtesan to pay back my debt. Several times he’d glanced at me, but for the most part he stared into the nothingness of air, his face thoughtful.

With nothing else to do, I found my mind wandering, starting to think about when I might have to begin. Would it be that night?

My stomach churned and I shuddered. This drew Yaru’s attention, but he merely raised his eyebrows and waited for me to speak.

“How big is my debt?” I asked, not ready to talk about the finer points.

Yaru pulled a thin, transparent rectangle from inside his robe. As his fingers swiped the surface, a liquid inside coloured and formed a detailed screen like those of the tablets that had existed when I’d been frozen.

After a little tapping and swiping, he brought up a view that included a photo of me from before I was frozen. Beside the photo was a set of data including my full name, age at freezing and my sponsor. Underneath it all was a field for current sponsor debt. The amount was seven figures large.

“How bad is that?” I asked. “How easy is it to earn over two million now?”

“It’s the largest sponsor debt I’ve ever seen.” Yaru looked straight at me, his voice still the same matter-of-fact calm. “The average courtesan can expect to earn fifty to sixty credits an hour.”

“And the interest?” I asked, my stomach tightening into a knot once more. That was a pitiful amount per hour compared to the debt.

“Eight percent. Your interest alone is almost five hundred credits per day.”

I closed my eyes, fighting against my fear again. That was ten hours on average just to keep the debt from growing.

“What happens if I-”

“Don’t,” Yaru said, interrupting me before I could ask what failing to earn my interest would do. “Don’t dwell on such a thought. You wouldn’t have been healed and I wouldn’t be here if Daniel and I didn’t believe you could earn far more.”

I nodded. He had a point. It did Daniel no good to spend that kind of money if he couldn’t get it back eventually. But it left me with only one place to logically go next.

“Where do we begin, then?” I asked before I could lose my small amount of bravery. “How soon am I expected to earn that amount? Is there a database where people look for me?”

“Yes, and no.” Yaru put the crystal screen away again. “For the next four weeks I will escort you into society and make introductions. I’ll never leave your side in public and you won’t earn a single credit.”

“My debt is going to grow!”

“Do not focus on that.” Yaru frowned, snapping a little. “If you focus on trying to wring out every last credit, you will struggle every moment of every day. You must focus on being the best courtesan that ever lived.”

“No pressure,” I replied, letting my voice drip with sarcasm. This earnt me a smile, my guru calm once more.

“In these first weeks we must build anticipation and interest in one thing only. Your unveiling ceremony.”

“My unveiling ceremony?”

“Yes. It will set the tone for the first few months, perhaps even years of your career.”

I took a deep breath, keeping my mouth closed over my many questions. Panic still bubbled under the surface. I needed to listen and focus. Somehow I needed to hold myself together.

“After three weeks of introductions and hopefully repeat interactions, Daniel, you, and I, will choose the people you will invite to the ceremony. Normally, a courtesan requests the presence of half a dozen of the richer men interested in her.”

“Half a dozen? All at once?” I felt my limbs weaken, unable to stop myself trying to imagine satisfying that many men at once. Yaru chuckled.

“The idea is to create a bidding war.” He smiled as he explained. I exhaled with relief. “Although it’s rare for any to go home without spending some money and gaining some satisfaction from the encounter.”

I raised my eyebrows. “So inviting lots of men isn’t a good idea?”

“No. Not unless you want to end the night unable to walk. Or worse.”

A shudder rippled up my spine. It wasn’t something I wanted to think about, especially knowing it was going to be weeks away.

“So where do I begin?”

“Well, I would like to cover two things with you today. The first, ensuring you understand what tonight will bring.”

“What do you mean, what tonight will bring?” Once more, I felt like the rug had been pulled out from underneath me. Could this day get any worse?

Yaru tilted his head to the side again, then he glanced at the bodyguards on the door.

“Would you gentleman please step outside for a moment?”

“Not sure the boss would like that,” the one on the left replied, the corner of his mouth twitching up on one side.

“What Daniel would and wouldn’t like in regards to his newest courtesan is entirely down to me,” Yaru replied, putting on the sickliest smile I’d ever seen. A moment later it disappeared. “Or I can call for Daniel and we can ask him what he’s happy with you doing now.”

The two bodyguards looked at each other for a moment. The silent one shrugged his shoulders and walked out of the door. After giving Yaru a brief glare, the second followed suit.

I looked back to Yaru, expecting him to now carry on talking, but he didn’t right away, instead pouring another cup of tea for both of us. I found myself wondering how much tea he was going to drink. I didn’t pick up my cup yet.

“Officially, none of the men are allowed to force you to service their needs. Even once you’re unveiled, you will have the final decision on who you accept, in theory.”

“But in practice it can be different.”

“Yes, my dear. I’m afraid so.”

I let out another exasperated growl. I definitely wished they’d left me frozen.

“You have every good reason to keep Daniel happy. He has a large amount of say in other areas of your life. Including what expenses also come out of your wages.”

“So, he can keep me in this position even longer if he wishes?”

Yaru nodded. I pushed away the emotions that threatened to overwhelm me. I couldn’t think too much about this. Somehow I had to survive.

“There. That’s the strength I’d hoped to see.” Yaru nodded, his expression full of respect. I lifted my eyebrows. “You mastered your emotions to keep going. That’s how you’ll get through this.”

“One night at a time, starting with being screwed by my sponsor.” I let out a dry laugh. A big part of me wanted to cry. Or throw a tantrum. But I wouldn’t let it. I wanted Yaru to be right. I wanted to get to the end of this horrible part of my life.

“Well, there you do have some luck. Of a sort. Your maidenhead is up for bidding on at your unveiling.”

“I hate to break it to everyone, then, but that cherry popped a long time ago.”

Yaru smiled again and took a sip of tea, his look almost smug. He knew something I didn’t.

“What?”

“Daniel will have greased a few palms to ensure the people healing you went a step further. It’s common practice… but again, they’ll never admit it… You’ll get to pop a second time.”

“How wonderful,” I replied, my voice full of sarcasm. Yet another element to this I didn’t want to think about.

Yaru simply nodded, his eyes studying me.

“Hang on a second,” I replied. “If they can heal that, why are—”

“Why am I still a eunuch?”

I nodded, glad he didn’t appear to mind my blunt question.

“Money.” He stated the word like it was obvious, or normal, to be happy to trade a body part for wealth. “I am good at what I do. People pay me large amounts to teach courtesans. I can’t do that if I’m healed. I’m the best, and I like being the best at what I do.”

I blinked. This wasn’t a decision I understood. Silence fell between us.

“So... If you’re the best. How do I survive this? What advice do you have to get me through these first few weeks, especially tonight?”

“Equality, my dear. Get people to treat you like an equal.”

It sounded so easy when he said it like that, but I knew it wouldn’t be. I nodded anyway. For now I needed to push my emotions and my fears aside. I needed to learn.

Before I could ask any more questions Yaru looked up and towards the door. Edward and Jake were back. After letting out a quiet sigh, Yaru nodded at them.

“And now for my second task of today. The most important way you’ll entice new customers. You need a skill.”

“A skill?”

“Yes, like singing or dancing. Hell, even origami can work.”

I gulped. “We might have a problem.”

“Oh, you’d be surprised how many women say that. I almost always find something.”

Yaru proceeded to list off skills, from the art of napkin folding to archery. Not one of them jumped out at me. Ten minutes later he was still going, the pause between each suggestion getting longer.

“Tea making?” Yaru asked when he noticed my face and finished listing off all the skills that had come to mind.

I shook my head.

“Hmmm.” He frowned, showing concern for the first time since we’d met. “Really, none of them?”

“Nothing that I could trot out in the next few days and impress people with.”

“But you had a job before you were frozen. What did you do?”

I opened my mouth to speak, about to tell him what I did, but I hesitated. I knew what had gone on my form. It wasn’t what I’d really done to make money. There was no way I’d have been allowed onto the program had anyone known. Could I tell them now?

“Unless being able to help a woman decide between two dresses based solely on how quickly I could get her out of my shop counts, I have no previous job experience that would help here,” I replied, lying.

Yaru chuckled but shook his head. “You'd be surprised how many people say that sort of thing at the beginning, although few with so much humour. Yes, I have high hopes for you, my dear. You won't break under this. You'll bend like a willow branch in the wind, but you won't break.”

I blinked. This was a confidence I wasn't sure I agreed with. But despite my doubts, somewhere on the inside I found a small piece of calm.

Hold on to that, I told myself. Hold on to that feeling of peace. You're going to need it.