Unfortunately Tejara needed to be punished for “assault” against a customer. Her punishment found her out alone in the afternoon heat, chopping firewood to warm the building in a few months when winter came. Every so often she lingered on the downswing of her ax and glanced up at the closed windows of the brothel.
Today, Mei’nin’sa would have to act like nothing happened. Keh’dor’rin would likely get out of that bed even if he shouldn’t and work til he collapsed or lost the baby (making his argument with Val’lin’r moot.)
A swing and a thunk and another log was split in two. The two people Tejara loved most in this world were hurting and she had nothing she could do...
Madam Minn did not make it clear if she was allowed to stop for dinner, so she didn’t. She just kept chopping as the sun set. Lost in thought and not even noticing the men sneaking up on her.
On the upswing of her ax, two arms hooked under her arms, keeping her in place. Instantly, she bucked, trying to knock him off. But the man holding her was bigger and stronger than she anticipated and she wasn’t able to throw him over her shoulder. Instead, she took one hand off the ax and twisted her arm to the point of it nearly popping out of the socket to strike the man wherever she could.
The blade of the ax sunk shallowly into the man’s thigh. It shouldn’t have been enough but apparently the man was a wimp; he screamed out and let her go. She spun around and backed up against the wall of the woodshed, holding up the ax with mildly shaking hands.
The man wasn’t alone. There were at least two others, one of which was snickering about his friend’s wound. All three of them had the look and demeanor of the sons of minor lords. Just rich and powerful enough to bully servants. The worst kind of customer to frequent the brothel.
Willing her voice not to shake like her hand was, Tejara called out, “if you’re looking for someone to hump you’ll have to head inside,” Tejara stiffly jerked her head towards the brothel, “and pay like good little boys.”
Unfortunately, the three young men she was facing weren’t the only one’s there. Distantly to the side, she heard the thwip of a crossbow bolt being released and pain exploded in her shoulder. She stumbled to the side with the force of the impact and nearly dropped her ax. She looked over at that piece of shit that was sitting on the low wall surrounding the courtyard. He glared at her while struggling to notch another bolt.
“Just go to sleep.”
