The Blooming Rose was full to bursting despite the expensive price tag associated with it. Every table had people sitting, eating and laughing in varying degrees of honesty. Some captains were actual gentlemen capable of telling amusing stories without seeming dishonest or boastful, thus managing to truly grip the attention of his female company.
But most were coarse men who clawed their way to their position through a combination of luck, skill and cunning. These captains looked more like pirates than respectable merchants and Erik had already learned that the two occupations were not mutually exclusive in the slightest. Some were even chartered by the Marienburg government to prey on rival Reikland, Tilean or Arabiyan ships, without pointing fingers at their employer, of course.
Delicious food filled their bellies and alcohol flowed like water during the dining stage of the evening, but when the lights were dimmed and the first graceful figure appeared on stage, silence pervaded the room.
It was time for tonight’s main event.
The first performer was a graceful lady somewhere in her mid- to late twenties with long, curly brown hair and wide, sparkling dark eyes. She introduced herself as Melana and entertained the guests with a song. She sang quite well and received ample applause as the opening act of the night.
After her came three more performers who either sang a song or played a musical piece on a lute or flute.
Then the tone switched and the new performers that came on stage were accompanied by a band of musicians as the courtesans danced to their tunes. This was better received by the audience than the static stance of the previous singers, if only because the horny men could now better appreciate the performers’ bodies.
There was a clear hierarchy among the courtesans where the more popular or capable ones could perform for longer or even multiple times in an attempt to up their value in the coming auction. The first performers were newbies, perhaps newly attached to the brothel or recently purchased from the no-quite-illegal black market and each following batch would consist of more experienced girls.
Erik noticed this system before and had his own thoughts about it. Yes, by increasing the quality of the performances over time it would keep the audience’s attention but when it then became time for the so-called ‘Roses’, to perform, wouldn’t everyone be tired of it already? There are only so many songs one can listen to or dances to admire before the next was just that, the next one.
Then, after two of the Roses performed marvellously, Erik straightened up in his seat when the next courtesan was announced.
The Madam once more took to the stage to give an introduction, as she had for each batch of performers before and individually for her prized Roses.
“Gentlemen, today we brought out our prized, most unique performer. A beauty of the far, barbarous east versed in the mysterious arts of that faraway land. She knows naught but her own tongue which, from her mouth, sounds like songbirds greeting a bright morning. This Gods-given voice she will now use to sing for our entertainment as she plays the instrument she carried all the way from her homeland, the mysterious zither.
This is a special gift from us, the Blooming Rose, to you the great captains of the seas. Yet I must warn you, our special Nightingale, Yeying, will only perform more songs or play her zither for the one to win her plaque tonight.”
Somewhere in the crowd came sounds of disagreement. Why would they bid for a woman if all she would do is do more of the same she’s doing now for everyone?
As if expecting this, the practised Madam simply smiled a brilliant, yet challenging smile at the crowd before leaving a few more words:
“Yeying will now perform and I will leave it to you whether or not enjoying a night of her songs is worth it or not.”
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The band of musicians silently left the stage during the introduction, leaving the well-lit stage empty.
After a moment, a woman carefully walked on stage carrying her instrument. No, walked wasn’t quite the right word. It looked more like she gracefully glided on-stage before smoothly lowering her zither to the floor and kneeling behind it.
There was no lack of graceful figures in a high end establishment such as the Blooming Rose, but it was always accompanied by little movements aimed to entice men. A coy glance, a bounce in the hips, all meant to lure a man into paying their hard earned coin for a moment of bliss.
Yeying had none of that. She was dressed similarly to her colleagues with a short skirt and soft silk top with see-through sleeves reaching to her jade bracelet wearing wrists. Her skin white as milk, hair black as night and small, black eyes exuding softness, intelligence and, to Erik, a sense of fear and dread.
‘If I had fallen into the Frost Wolf tribe without being able to communicate with anyone… would I have done as well as I have? Would that ‘me’ be similar to this Yeying, fearful of the strange surroundings and a full inability to take care of yourself as a stranger in foreign lands?’ – A sudden dreadful realisation washed over Erik as he realised just how lucky he actually had been up till this point.
And with that new insight Erik leaned forward onto the table in interest, a change in attitude perfectly noticed and memorised by Skadi.
Still, the most unique feature of Yeying’s appearance was her veil. Her eyes were revealed, but the rest of her face was concealed by a colourful piece of silk held loosely in place so the veil couldn’t shift aside and accidentally reveal her face. It added just a bit of extra charm to her already exquisite appearance.
Again, Erik could hear whispered complaints from the surroundings. Such a beautiful woman was held before them like meat before starving wolves, but they could only look but not touch?
‘If I win her bid, there’s no way I won’t taste her!’ – Seemed to be most men’s consensus.
Soon after though, those murmurs died down as Yeying began her performance. Clear notes rang out in an unfamiliar melody and after a short while, her melodious voice sang out too. Nobody understood a word she said, but they all felt the deep emotions portrayed through the song.
After listening for a moment, Erik cheated to instantly learn the language so he could understand the lyrics. As it turns out, it was Cathayan and the song she sang was about a young girl fallen on hard times.
[The daughter of a magistrate was in love with a dashing young general, but right before their wedding a war broke out and the general was forced to go to battle. The girl waited for a long time, but instead of her lover’s victorious return, she received news of his demise.
Heartbroken, the girl wept and expressed her wish to never marry to her family, who did not agree. She had responsibilities to her family so a new marriage was soon set with her former lover’s rival.
Time went on and soon her marriage date approached once more but as she was carried towards the home of her husband-to-be, the marriage procession was stopped by a lone, glorious figure.
The fiancée she once thought dead had appeared to stop the wedding. With the head of the enemy king and proof of his rival’s treachery in hand, the young general heroically saved his wife and they lived happily ever after.]
When Yeying finished, there was no applause for while no-one understood her song, they were all enraptured by her skilful performance. And before the stunned crowd could react, she once more strummed her zither and began another piece.
It wasn’t like the previous song that was likely a famous musical piece in Cathay, but rather something improvised to sound like it to those that didn’t know the words. While those that did understand her words would likely either frown in displeasure or laugh aloud.
This piece was likely Yeying’s way of relieving stress. She simply melodiously strung insults and grievances together as she insulted everyone within the Blooming Rose right to their faces.
She insulted Bart’s greasy cooking, Vela’s lowly behaviour, the customers for their base nature and the ‘snake in her room’ for being eerie and unpleasant.
Erik couldn’t stop himself and in the midst of the performance, while everyone else was silent, he let out a booming laugh.
“Hahahaha, oh man, that’s actually genius. Good, very good! Hahaha! –Ouch!”
Erik suddenly felt an elbow stuck under his ribs, bringing him back from his laughter as he pointedly ignored the unfriendly gazes around him.
‘This girl might actually be more interesting that I thought. Didn’t I fancy Ingolf’s Cathayan dancers a while back? Might as well try and see I can bring this one back home.’
His interest awoken, Erik was in a good mood as he enjoyed the end of Yeying’s second performance and the entertainment given by those that followed after her.
Soon, it was time for the auction to begin and Erik had already thrown the idea of demanding his money back later out the window, instead opting to try and obtain a rare songbird for himself.
