"I am absolutely against this! That bitch, Eudora… When we get back, I'm going to string her up with razor wire," Mira exclaimed.

We were already in the back of a wagon bound for Semiramis. Mira hadn't let go of the plan Eudora set in motion, but complaining was all she could do. Each one of us knew deep down that this was the best course of action to infiltrate Juna, no matter how humiliating it was.

"Could be worse. You could have this stupid collar on you," Belle remarked, holding the leash to her face.

Mira snatched the leash from Belle's hand and ordered, "You will offer a blowjob to the first man you see after setting foot in Semiramis."

"I can't believe you— er, I mean… yes, of course!" Belle gasped for air as the collar loosened.

Io and Mana could not be convinced to stay behind. They had sworn to protect Ceris, and they would do so until their deaths. Which was why Eileen needed to perfect the polymorph elixir for them. Ceris, too, needed to not display her elven ears. Otherwise she would be shipped off to Thanreas, never to be seen again. It took the bunyips a few hours to get used to their legs. They were still wobbly, but were able to walk just fine. Running was a different matter.

All six of us were dressed in shredded burlap frocks to give the impression of being poor. One good tear in the wrong place would render me naked. We witches had to keep our familiars far and above, and once we got to the city, clear away from the castle. None of us needed the newly appointed witch— whoever she was— to suspect witches or familiars were in the city.

Belle, in particular, would need to stay out of any higher officials' eyes to avoid being recognized.

"This is necessary as we make our final move against Edith," I reminded Mira. "Neither she nor King Uldrin will see this coming."

"Regardless, I'll be damned if some wretch laid a hand on me or you." Mira sighed, then reached into her burlap sack only to not find what she was looking for and sighed again.

"No pipe?" I asked.

"No pipe," she confirmed.

While the three of us weren't as enthused about traveling to Semiramis, the bunyips and Ceris were the opposite. They were seeing new sights wherever they laid their eyes on. Rolling plains of green, blossoming fields of flowers, and plenty of smaller, bustling cities between Lotherain and Semiramis.

Ceris saw what her people could have— a flourishing homeland. I imagined this was just as important a mission for her as it was for us.

The bunyips, on the other hand, looked like they were about to pounce on anyone. Even if they were in a human form now, it was difficult for them to suppress their instincts. Once we got to the brothel, I needed to keep an eye on them to administer the elixirs at the right time.

One of the traffickers glanced over his shoulder, flashed a toothless grin, and said, "Nearly there to 'Ramis. Maybe me an' me boys be yer first customers at the Garden, heh?"

"Sure, if you want the rest of your body as bald as your head." Mira pointed an ignited finger at the man's face.

He turned around and said nothing more.

"I've never been to Semiramis. What's it like?" I asked Belle.

"It's a terrible place where crime runs rampant," she scoffs. There was no nostalgia or inkling of someone who missed their home. Belle spoke with such venom that her lips practically dripped with it. "King Uldrin does nothing to protect the citizenry from the many crime syndicates in Juna. They pay him to look the other way. I was assigned to Uldrin not to safeguard or restore order, but to make sure he paid his dues to the Council."

"Snakes are everywhere. You should have culled the cutthroats yourself when you had the chance," Mira said with a taunting smirk.

Belle rolled her eyes, unwilling to take the bait. "Not all of us can take lives as easily as pulling weeds.

"There she is! Ain't she a beaut?" Lucas, the escort Eudora contracted to lead us shouted.

The first thing I saw of the city of Semiramis was the absurdly tall walls that surrounded it. Guards with metal-pointed helmets stared down at us from the towering stone structure. The way into the city was through an iron gate, smaller in comparison to the wall, but still unnecessarily large.

Beggars and vagabonds line the road leading up to the city. They hold out their hands, pleading for even the dullest of coin. One of our escorts flicks a sovereign mint, a gold coin which is the official highest single piece of currency within the Council's domain. The poor folks went in like a pack of hungry wolves, biting and clawing at each other to get to the coin.

Ceris watches on, saddened by the sight of the fighting.

"I had no idea. Even in such rich lands, they starve?" she asked.

"This is human greed. It's not the worst of it," Mira answered 

It had gotten dark by the time we arrived in Semiramis. Multifloor complexes, their windows boarded up with rotting planks, held up by crumbling bricks that hadn't seen repair in decades lined the streets. Rats roamed freely, hunting their next decaying corpse or spilled food. Grey and brown cobblestone roads had been smudged black after years of neglect. Piles of trash were a common sight.

The depressing atmosphere changed when we passed into what Belle called the Mecera Ward. Unlike when we first entered, there were guards here. Streets were smooth and paved in cement. Street corners had fenced plots of foliage and trees. Residences were individual mansions separated by their own smaller stone walls.

Disparities between the rich and the poor were stark, to say the least.

Mecera was where the Ladies' Garden resided, and a large wooden signpost surrounded by flowers made sure everyone who passed by knew. It was a three-floored building situated at the corner avenue between the main thoroughfare and multiple smaller streets. Being so close to the many taverns in this marketplace square maximized exposure to visitors and potential customers.

As we climbed off the wagon, our lead escort whispered to us, "Let me do the talking. Gotta put on an act, so just play along."

A pair of large men with clubs under their arms guarded the entrance. One of them opened the door and shouted inside. Meanwhile, Belle bit her lip and walked up to an older gentleman passing by.

"W-Would you… like a blowjob?" She gulped.

"Not right now!" The man flustered and ran away.

Mira laughed at Belle's expense, who came back relieved that she didn't have to screw anyone in the middle of the streets. Her laughter was cut short when a rather rotund woman in an extravagant silken dress waddled out. She reeked of fruity perfume, her entire face was like a painting with all the make-up she had on.

"What took so long, Lucas? I had customers waiting all day for the new arrivals!" the woman bellowed.

Lucas had all six of us lined up in front of the mountain of a woman like we were freshly baked pastries on sale.

"Forgive me, Madam Gestain. Ran the wagon into a ditch, we did. But here we are, fresh batch from Parthun. Bunch of farm lassies who ain't got no homes anymore. These cunts were more trouble than they were worth," Lucas said, slapping Mira on the ass.

Belle and I gasped. We tried to give Mira a look not to act out, but it was too late. She grabbed Lucas by the arm and twisted him until he dropped to the ground.

"You don't touch the goods," Mira snarled at him.

Madam Gestain leaned down to inspect Mira closely, and she returned the glare.

"I like you. Reminds me a little bit of myself. I'm sure there will be plenty of folk that want to break that defiant streak of yours," she said, then threw her arms out as though to welcome us to our new home. "I paid a pretty mint for you lot. So as long as folks pay, they do get to touch the goods. Girls who aren't obedient will be made lessons of."

A foul mixture beer, perfume, and sweat permeated the air. The first floor of the establishment was a tavern, where prostitutes drank with guests until they were too drunk to fuck, or just drunk enough to make poor financial decisions.

We could see the second and third floor from below. They weren't so much as floors as they were just stairs leading up to a walkway where the prostitutes' individual rooms were. It was also where they worked. Some women could be seen leaning over the railings to see us entering.

All in all, it was surprisingly well-kept. Filthy wasn't my first thought, shockingly clean was a bit unexpected.

"Girls are on the clock all day. If someone comes to you looking to fuck, turn them away. They pay me five sovereign mints to fuck you, then you take them to your room. The house takes four-fifths of the cut, and you take one-fifths. Is that clear?" Madam Gestain asked.

We nodded silently.

She then gave Belle the stink-eye, more specifically, her collar. "And why are you still wearing that? That idiot Lucas forget to take it off you?"

Belle swallowed hard and answered, "Er— a witch put this on me. It's magic that… makes me obey whatever someone commands…"

"Some folk will pay good money for that kind of play." Madam Gestain rubbed her chin, nodding to herself.

We're led to the second floor. Mira, Ceris, and myself were given rooms here. Belle, Io, and Mana had their rooms on the third floor.

The next three days were spent having sex with customers. Even in the dead of night, if a paying patron came in, we still had to fuck them. Madam Gestain controlled when and how much free time we were allotted, which wasn't very much. I might have had dicks inside me longer than I didn't. I had to be creative in hiding my penis, pretending that I liked getting fucked laying face down, or just taking it behind in general was enough to get patrons off my back. Mira snuck into my room several times in the night to get a piece of the action.

King Uldrin never set foot in here, but several high ranking officials in his court had. We couldn't get to them because the Madam assigned her favorites to tend to them instead.

Most of the girls here were incredibly friendly and supportive with one another. It actually felt like another covenant. The few that scorned the rest were the highest earners of the establishment, and they began to look at us newcomers with disdain.

What little free time afforded to us was spent exploring the Mecera Ward to find the grassroots of a rebellion. Suffice to say, we had no luck. Even Belle was none the wiser of any attempts to sow chaos when she was guardian here. 

On the morning of the third day, we were getting our pay. Mira received a hefty amount despite how small our cut of the profits were.

"Color me surprised. Never would have guessed so many men in this city like getting stepped on and cursed out. But whatever gets the gold flowing in," Madam Gestain snickered.

Mira sneered at her back as the brothel owner proceeded to the third floor.

"If I had a mind maggot or the proper reagents, I could bend her will to us. Actually… I wonder if I might actually be able to grow one," Mira whispered.

"Taking over her mind would give us more time to investigate the city," I agreed.

A man who had become Ceris' regular emerged from her room. She followed soon after and waved him goodbye.

"Aren't you enjoying this a little too much?" Mira asked her.

"Pillow talk makes people much more vulnerable than alcohol can, and you humans simply love talking to anyone that showers them with attention. That man happens to be a member of the Silver Cross— a group of people unhappy with King Uldrin's inaction against crimes in Juna." Ceris flashed a triumphant smile and skipped over to us.

This was it. Ceris had secured the information we needed. Now, it was time to take action.