Chapter 67 – Sophia Varsen

Past the set of doors, out of the reception area and into the Red Den proper, the decor immediately changed. Instead of the white motif of a prim and proper mansion that was outside, the open-spaced room beyond was decorated with heavy tones of crimson red, as befitting the name of the establishment. Although the walls were still technically made from the same white stone that gave the outside its pristine, formal look, most of the walls inside were adorned with various lengths of red silk, obscuring the white tons almost completely.

Around two dozen tables with several chairs arranged around them were placed around the floor of the room, all of which were facing a stage on the far wall where a completely naked woman was dancing with a pair of fans. Several men and women sat at the tables, entranced by the almost hypnotic way the naked dancer was moving her body.

Various scantily clad individuals, dressed in clothing that did little to conceal their nudity, sat beside and moved around these men and women. That said, although I could occasionally see an exposed nipple or two from these staff members, no pussies or cocks were blatantly uncovered, other than the pussy of the naked woman dancing, and even that was more often than not teasingly covered by one of her fans.

As wild as this sight was, it didn’t take me by surprise as I more than expected this kind of stuff to be going on in such a place. Vel, though, who wasn’t previously informed on the nature of this establishment, just looked around with a slack-jawed expression at all the perverse sights. That said, there was something I wasn’t expecting, that being the number of women here who were clients.

Back on Earth, it wasn’t unheard of for women to pay for sex, but it happened much less frequently when compared to men. Here, however, there seemed to be no such discrepancy as there were just as many women amongst the small crowd of potential clients as there were men. And this was still technically the morning, probably only a few hours after breakfast. How busy will this place get at night?

"AHEM!" Paul cleared his throat, drawing all of our attention back to him and what we were meant to be doing instead of just standing there in awe.

As such, the three of us began to follow him again as he led us through the room. Still, though, that didn’t stop any of us from continuing to look around as venturing deeper into this main room revealed several things I had not noticed before.

To either side of the doors that we had entered from, recessed into the walls in the space on either side of the reception area, were fully stocked bars, manned by scantily dressed bartenders. On each of the far walls past these bars was a set of double doors, each guarded by a pair of bouncers wearing those strangely modern black suits, but given the sights here in the Red Den, their suits didn’t really seem that out of place anymore. This whole place had a more modern feel to it than everything else I had seen of the city so far. In fact, there were only a few small things here and there that reminded me that I was still in a fantasy world as much of the place was similar to what I might have expected to find back on Earth.

Along the side walls, between the sets of guarded doors and the stage, was where the red drapery was thickest, and only now could I see that there were a few private booths and open doorways to other areas hidden behind the veils of silk. It was through one of these open doorways, closer to the stage than any other, that Paul led us deeper into the building.

The doorway led to a cramped hallway with a single door at its end, guarded by another bouncer standing entirely in front of the door. Paul gave the bouncer a quick nod, which they returned as they opened up the door and stepped out of the way, allowing us to pass. From there, our escort guided us through what was essentially the employee's only part of the building as there were various men and women in varying degrees of clothing lounging around and getting prepared for a day of work in this industry. A few of them spared us a look as we passed, but since we were being escorted by one of their security guards, no one said anything.

Eventually, we were guided down another series of winding hallways with several unmarked doors in them. At the end of the hallway was another set of thick double doors, but these ones were not guarded like the ones in the public area of the establishment. Apparently, this was our destination, because as soon as we reached the doors, Paul firmly knocked on them and called out. "Mistress, I’m sorry to interrupt you, but something has come up that Arriana believes you should deal with urgently."

No sound issued out in response from the other side of the door, but that didn’t seem to bother Paul, who took a step back and patiently waited beside the three of us. About thirty seconds or so passed before the doors opened, but the person coming out obviously wasn’t Sophia Varsen, the Mistress of the Red Den. No, it was just a slender, dark-skinned young woman with rather curly hair, who was probably around Vel's and my age.

From the dishevelled look to the dark-skinned woman’s black hair, the way her dress was folded up, and her cheeks were flushed, I had a pretty good assumption of what had been going on inside before we interrupted them. The way she scurried away, embarrassed but with a big grin on her lips, only further cemented that assumption in my head.

A few seconds after the dark-skinned woman had made her exit, a powerful and confident voice spoke up from the room beyond, through the slightly ajar doors. "Come in."

To our surprise, Paul gestured for us to do as the voice said, but he didn’t follow us in. Instead, he merely shut the doors behind us and returned to his post. The room inside was a very formal office, but instead of the overly heavy red motif that was present pretty much everywhere else in the building, the colour red was much less restrained here.

Only a few bits of red were present between the rug on the ground, a few ribbons of silk hanging from various bookshelves lining the walls, and the cushions of a pair of chairs facing a hefty mahogany desk, behind which was a woman that I could only presume was Sophia Varsen. The family resemblance between Sophia and Damien was blatant.

Like her brother, Sophia had a strong set of rich brown eyes and locks of equally rich brown hair, near black hair. Unlike her brother, though, there were no hints of silver in her hair and, despite probably being only a few years younger or older than him, I didn’t actually know which one of them was the older sibling, her high charm score made her look much younger. But in a more ethereal, unnaturally beautiful way than that Arriana woman, whose charm score was also clearly affecting my perception of her, just not to this degree.

Sophia must have quite the charm score to look so damned amazing, I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone that looks quite as beautiful as her before. It’s like she’s being photoshopped in real time by her charm score.

As helpful as the charm score was for making one appear more attractive, there were some things it could not do, such as making one appear taller or bustier, both of which were things that Sophia needed no help with. Much like her brother, she had a broad build, but where his build was more manly and muscular, hers was very womanly and curvy. This, of course, was something that her rather low-cut, red and gold dress helped, but was on display more than a little bit. That said, though, her cleavage was nowhere near as large as mine or even Arriana's.

"Please take a seat." Sophia beckoned to the chairs in front of her heavy wooden desk as she looked the three of us over, not even batting an eyelid at our weapons or the fact that there was a bonded monster accompanying us.

With a slight bit of hesitation, Vel and I found our way to the chairs we were offered, while Saph took up position between the two of us. However, as I went to take my seat, I noticed something left behind by the last woman to meet with Sophia.

"I think your last guest may have forgotten something," I said as I pulled a pair of panties out from where they were tucked in between the cushion and armrest of the chair. A pair of panties, whose crotch was visibly stained with arousal.

"Oh, sorry about that." Sophia gave a warm but apologetic smile as she reached forward, over her desk, and took the panties from me. "I was not expecting to meet with anyone else at this early hour, and you caught me in the middle of… interviewing a potential new hire."

"I take it from the smile on her face as she left, that the interview was going quite well." I playfully returned, although I was not entirely sure why she was being so coy about this. After all, there was no way we could have walked here and not realised what kind of place the Red Den was, and making sure potential hires had what it took to be a sex worker made sense. Maybe she’s just being playful.

"She was… okay. A little inexperienced and naive, but she has the right attitude and, after a little bit of guidance, will make a wonderful addition to my staff." The naturally beautiful woman responded before turning to the matter at hand. "But that is not why you have come here. Please tell me, what is it that has brought you here that Arriana saw fit to have Paul escort you to my office without making you leave your weapons or bonded monster behind."

A quick glance to my side revealed that Vel was just as nervous and shy as before, meaning that I was no doubt going to be the one doing the talking again even though this was her aunt we were speaking to. "Damien told us to find you. This is Velyna, his daughter."

Upon hearing this, Sophia’s formal facade faltered for a second as her mouth dropped in surprise. "Velyna… I thought you looked familiar, but I haven’t met many elves to know if that was just a racial thing or if you really were her daughter. And I did not want to offend if it was an elf thing. But it’s nice to hear that Damien and Kehlana managed to start a family. The two of them always wanted children. How is your mother?"

"Ah… Mum died giving birth to me…" Vel mumbled, but still loud enough for us all to hear.

"Oh, the baleful curse… My apologies for being so rude. I forgot about the troubles those of elvenkind face. I’m sorry for your loss. Your mother was a good woman. The world is a darker place without her warmth." Sophia bowed her head in respect, giving the room a rather sombre atmosphere.

"Thank you…" Vel mumbled, still rather uncomfortable and shy when dealing with this kind of situation. If not for the fact that we pretty much started kissing and having sex the moment we met, I expected that the young elven woman would have probably been just as shy and reserved around me for a while. It’s a good thing we did start our relationship like that. Who knows how much fun I would have missed out on otherwise.

A slight moment of silence passed as Sophia’s gaze turned towards me and the woman’s voice took on a defensive tone. "I don’t mean to be tactless, but who are you? I know my brother well and I can’t imagine him trusting his daughter’s well-being with anyone but himself."

"Ah, hi. I’m Evelyn. I’m Vel’s girlfriend." I awkwardly raised my hand and waved at the woman. "And well, I’d like to believe that Damien completely trusts me after everything we did together, but he didn’t really have much of a choice."

"What do you mean by that?" Sophia said as she gave me a stern glare, one that made me rather nervous to the point that I felt like I wanted to spill all my secrets despite the fact she hadn’t actually used a skill on me. At least, not that I was aware of.

"Oh, well, this is a little awkward to be telling his sister, but I have been fucking Damien quite a bit these last couple of days. We're kind of friends with benefits, if you know what I mean." Overwhelmed by the sudden nervousness that hit me when the woman focused her attention solely on me, the words spilled out of my mouth before I could even think about what it was I was saying. "Vel and I started out like that too, but then we started to feel more for each other. Although, I don’t think Damien and I are going to end up like that. What he and I have going is more of a fun thing, and Vel doesn’t mind if I’m with other people. Hell, I was even thinking of working in a place like this, and that was before I knew that her Aunt owned the most renowned brothel in the kingdom. I-"

"Eve!" The young elven woman who sat beside me called out my name and placed a hand on my leg, cutting me off before I could go any further. "I don’t think that is what she meant."

"Oh, umm… sorry…" I apologised, still feeling my heartbeat nervously in my chest, but my nerves were slowly lessening, which allowed me to think more clearly and realise how weird that sudden burst of nervousness was.

"No, I should be the one apologising. Sometimes when I get emotional, I can lose control of my presence. I’m sorry, I won’t let it happen again." Sophia apologised and bowed her head, but didn’t further explain what she meant by presence. "But could you please tell me what you meant by Damien not having a choice about trusting you with the safety of Velyna?"

"Oh, right well… There’s no good way to say this, but a reaper found us. Damien stayed behind to fight it while he sent us off to find you, using the key to access the Cr-

"STOP!" Sophia called out, cutting me off before I could finish. "A little word of advice: don’t mention that place or that bit of jewellery. You never know who could be listening. The city is not as safe as it once was. Damien’s been gone for a long time, and things have changed. The power has shifted and I have discovered more about those that murdered our father."

"I have a place where we can talk more freely later, but for now I have a gift for you, Velyna, one I had made just in case your father or mother ever paid me a visit, but I think it will suit you greatly." As Sophia said this, she reached down into one of the drawers of her desk and pulled out a small hand-held box made of rich, dark stone. The outside of the box was engraved with a complex series of golden lines, reminding me of the lines on that really shiny coin that we found in the mercenaries' backpack a few days ago and left back at the cabin in our haste to leave.

"It’s enchanted for multiple functions, the first and most important of which is that any object kept inside of it can’t be divined by skills or magic. The secondary enchantment placed on it makes it so that only one person can open the box, that being whoever first binds themselves to it by providing it with a drop of their blood. I spent quite a bit of coin to have the dwarves in their northern holds craft this, so I hope you will find it useful."

"I will," Vel excitedly said, her earlier shyness much reduced as she picked up and looked over the magical box that was gifted to her. However, she couldn’t really bind herself to it at the moment so she just held it close to her chest.

"Now, I suppose I should lead you to the place where we can talk more freely, where we will do just that. There is much we need to discuss. Not just about what brought you here, but also about what you want to do while you're here in Artelax and your future. Velyna is family, and I will protect her with my life if need be, but you..." Sophia’s lips curled up into a smile as she looked at me. "You, I am not sure about. You say you want to work in a place like the Red Den, and you are certainly attractive enough, but I wonder how suited you actually are for such work."