Fate

Chapter 1


Ella screamed, waking up and startling some passerby’s. She looked around wildly, reassuring herself she wasn’t in the burning house. Slowly, her heartbeat came to rest, and her chest stopped heaving. She had that nightmare again. The one where everyone in her family perished in the fire that destroyed her house three months ago. Everyone but her. She shook her head: it was too early in the evening to think of such depressing thoughts. She pulled her blanket around her shoulders while she folded the thin matting that made up her bed and stuffed it in a bag. Stretching, Ella made her way to the local disorderly house where she’d gotten to know some of the girls there. The proprietor was still debating whether he would let her join or not. ‘I would think he’d only be glad to, but God knows what goes on in their minds.’ she thought as she made her way. Kat, the one who’d first talked to Sty about allowing Ella in, had kept her posted. The two girls had become something like friends, and Kat let her in to use the washroom and sneak some coffee.

Ella knocked on the backdoor twice, then retreated into the shadows. A fiercely blonde head stuck her head out, “Ella?” she came out of her hiding place.

“Over here,”

“Aw, there y’are honey! Come on in, Sty’s not up yet.” Kat came from the South, and had brought her accent up with her. Ella gratefully came in, hugging her friend, “Thanks Kat,” she whispered, “I’ll just be a few,”

“Take your time, like I said, he ain’t up,” she winked. Ella just smiled, unsure how to respond. Three months earlier, she’d been the middle child of a modest family in uptown Caennan. Her father had been a tanner. Now, it had all come tumbling down, and she had no family to rely on. She’d fled the burning house, sure her parents would follow, only to hear their anguished screams in the house…and then it was too late. Ella didn’t come out of her hiding place, she’d been shocked into silence and stone. When she did come about, there was nowhere she could go to.

“Say Kat…” Ella started, “Can I borrow some clothes again please? I’ll try to buy my own as soon as possible, but I’ve only a pair of shorts at the moment.”

“Sure,” she said absentmindedly while touching up her makeup. Ella changed, cringing slightly when she realized she was almost, but not quite, comfortable in a prostitute’s attire. ‘At least,’ she said, tweaking her top to be more suggesting, ‘I’m not a complete novice anymore,’ She studied herself in the mirror, liking the effect of black and red, before starting her makeup. At last, she pulled on the long, wool coat she’d recently bought at a third-hand store.

“Thanks so much again Kat, I’ll see you around,”

“Sure sweetie,” Kat kissed her on each cheek, “Go get some good ones, and I’ll talk to Sty.”

And so Ella pursued what had become her only source of income: advertising her body. At fifteen, her curves were generous, and many a passerby gave her a disapproving look. But the occasional man gave her more than that, and though she didn’t necessarily enjoy those encounters, she knew them to be crucial to her survival.

Until she saw him.

He was a young noble. Walking. The fact that he was walking in the poorer areas of the city without any kind of guards was what retained her attention. Tall and handsome with an open face, he easily walked down, his dark, bright eyes taking in everything. Everything but her it seemed. Ella could almost feel his eyes slide over her, invisibly. She stared at him, even long after he’d vanished into the crowd.

A hand tapped her shoulder. She turned, startled, “Can—can I help you sir?” she stuttered.

“Perhaps,” the man replied. He wasn’t actually that bad-looking. Ella guessed him in his early thirties, “Are you out for action,”

Ella’s face settled into a seductive look she’d worked hard on the past few months, “Why it just happens I am,” she smiled.

“Where at?”

“Where do you want?”

The man looked at her, “Single worker, huh? Not affiliated,”

She leaned conspiratorially, “I’m trying to earn a little extra,” she said, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh, I see…” He looked over her again, his mind working over something he didn’t want to.

“But I have connections at the Sty house…if, you don’t mind walking around the corner,”

The man looked relieved, “No, no… alright, how much an hour?”

“Thirty,”

“Ten,”

“Twenty,”

“Deal,” he seemed anxious to leave the public scene. Ella took him to Kat’s quarters. Luckily, the girl who used to have the other side of the partitioned room had recently left, and there was no new roommate so far.

Business was quicker than usual. The man was satisfied within two hours, which brought her a total of forty dollars. She secured the money in an inside pocket of the coat, and headed back out on the street. Evening after evening came to pass this way, and every time, she saw the handsome young noble pass her. Fantasies built up in her mind while she reluctantly gave herself over and over to greedy men, men who desired younger, who desired more… She was there for them.


Once, around the fourth hour of the morning, when the girls were all turning in, Ella turned to ask Kat, “Have you talked to Sty?”

“Yeah, he ain’t saying nothing ‘til you’re earning a hundred. He expects you to fork over half each time.”

“Oh.” they were silent, while Ella gave her borrowed clothes back.

“Say, do you think you could help me out?”

“Sure. What’s goin’ on?” Kat sat down on the bed, cross-legged, and Ella did likewise.

“See it’s like this. There’s a man, young, twenty at most, who keeps walking past me, every night. He knows I’m there, I feel his eyes on me. He’s never come up to me, but I wonder who he is?”

Kat half-smiled, a hint of sadness at the younger girl’s fantasies.

Ella’s eyes took on a dreamy, faraway look, “The incredible thing is that even though I don’t know his name, or anything about him, it’s like we’re connected somehow.”

‘That’s what we call wishful love…’ thought Kat.

“I just want to know more,” Ella grasped the older girl’s hands, “Just to find out his name, what he does…who he is…”

“Alright, I’ll get someone to tail him discreetly. You know you’re gonna have to pay right?” Ella nodded, “Thank you so much Kat. I really appreciate.”

“Hey,” she said softly, “Stay here this morning ‘kay? Take Julie’s old bed.”

“You’re a true friend,”

“Hmm… get yourself some sleep. I’ll try and find someone to tail this man of yours,”

Ella turned over on the bed, but didn’t fall asleep immediately. She thought of the strange man, and her heart sped up. The way the sun fell on his light hair, and the way a lock seemed to obstinately hang in his eyes…


Before long it seemed, Kat was shaking her awake.

“Ella hon, it’s six. We gotta get our act together.” Ella was up in a flash.

“Stevie’s gonna follow your mysterious man. Wanted twenty an hour, but I got it to ten.”

“Thanks, when does he want to be paid?”

“Each time he comes back.”

Ella nodded.

“Let’s get this show on the road baby!” Kat said, and proceeded to dress herself.

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A/N: It might take me a while to get all these up.... but they'll come eventually, I promise!