“If it’s as good as the rest of the meal,” Lara heard a man’s voice say, “we will surely have no complaints,” and laughter erupted about the room.

“Oh, I think you will find this a most special and rich dish. One such as you have never had before,” Gaius Prospero said. Then he nodded to his majordomo who quickly lifted the lid to reveal Lara.

The guests gasped as one, surprised and delighted. Laughter rippled around the dining room.

Where the instinct came from she never knew, but she looked coyly at the guests about the table, her head moving slowly to take them all in. The impression she gave was of utter elegance and pride.

“Now, my friends, I will give each of you the opportunity to inspect this truly rare and, you will agree, unique piece of merchandise. She is a virgin. Every orifice is intact, untouched by man or woman. She is ready to be trained as the most perfect of Pleasure Women, but before that her first-night rights will bring her owner a fortune. Who among your clientele will not lust after this exquisite beauty?” He stood before Lara on her tray, and offering her his hand helped her down from the table, and up onto a small dais of polished wood. “Look at this skin. Silken to the touch.” His hand swept down Lara’s graceful back.

She was startled, but she remembered Tania’s warnings, remaining still and without expression. No matter what happened she would show no emotion.

“When did you last see breasts like these? A bit small, perhaps, but perfect in every way, and she is young. They will grow with loving handling,” he chuckled. “And have you ever seen hair like this?” His fat hand ruffled through Lara’s hair and it cascaded about her like a waterfall of golden gilt. “I have never had a finer piece of merchandise to offer you, and I will expect your bids to echo my expectations by this time tomorrow night.”

“Is it true she is faerie?” one of the men asked.

“Her mother was faerie, none will deny it. You know her father, Sir John Swiftsword,” Gaius Prospero said. “A fine lineage.”

The guests now arose from the table, and came forward to get a closer look at Lara.

“Open your mouth,” one woman said.

Lara complied.

“She has all her teeth, and there is no rot. The breath is sweet,” the woman remarked. “Her eyes are beautiful. They are green but the lashes are dark. A most striking contrast.”

Lara felt a hand fondling her bottom. She swallowed as discreetly as she might, but the expression on her face remained impassive.

“The skin is soft, and firm,” the fondler noted. He ran his hand down Lara’s calf. “Very nice, Gaius. She isn’t mushy like many, but rather nicely tight.”

“My lord, this is the best slave I have ever had for sale,” the Master of the Merchants said proudly.

“I would see her more important attributes,” another man said.

“Yes,” agreed a woman. “Draw your nether lips apart so we may inspect your treasures, girl, if they may be called that. We’ll know soon enough.”

Lara reached down, and opened herself to the prying eyes. The woman put out her hand touching a small plump nub of flesh that had been revealed. Almost immediately a tiny pearl of liquid appeared. A man reached out, and wiped the bead of moisture onto his large finger, putting it in his mouth.

“Ahhh,” the guests breathed.

“She is perfect, as I have said,” Gaius Prospero murmured.

“Yes,” the man agreed, “and sweet as honey.” He took a strand of her hair between his fingers rubbing it as did several of the others.

Gaius Prospero then helped Lara down from the little dais. “Go now,” he told her. “You will find Tania outside the door waiting to escort you back to the north wing.”

Lara ran quickly to the door, and was gone.

The guests sat back down again at the table.

“It’s no wonder you have remained the head of the Merchants Guild for so long,” one of the men said to Gaius Prospero. “So that is how John Swiftsword managed to get the wherewithal to finally enter the tournament. Could you not have just lent him the monies, and taken a usurious share of his profits for the next ten years, Gaius?”

“I could have,” the merchant replied, “but I would have had to wait for my profit if I did that, wouldn’t I?”

There was laughter about the table at his remark.

“Believe it or not, I did not seek the girl out. Her stepmother brought her to me and asked if I would have her. A pretty girl not much older than Lara, but obviously ambitious for her husband, and happy to have a beautiful stepdaughter out of the house,” he chuckled. “It was too good a chance to pass up, and when the father agreed I could not turn away from such an opportunity.

“Now you all know the rules. You have between sunrise and sunset to post your bids with me in your own hand. Go now and talk among yourselves, owners and Pleasure Mistresses. The sale must be in gold, and presented the day you take possession of the girl.” He stood up again. “Thank you all for coming. I hope it has been worth your while.” And then Gaius Prospero, the perfect host, ushered his guests from his house to their waiting vehicles. Returning into the house he sought out his wife, Vilia. “Well?” he said. “You were watching, weren’t you?” He sat down next to her on their bed.

“Aye,” Vilia answered. “Your presentation was masterful, my dear Gaius. If you had allowed it they would have taken the girl on your dining table.” She laughed. “The lust was palpable. She will bring you a fortune. I cannot wait for the bids to begin coming in. You must let me open them! Not all will be able to bid, but most will even if they cannot afford it.”

But by sunset of the following evening no bids for possession of the slave, Lara, had been delivered to Gaius Prospero’s door. The Master of the Merchants was sick with anxiety and concern when his majordomo announced a visitor.

“The lady Gillian, my lord,” he said as he ushered in the Head Mistress of the Pleasure Mistresses’ Guild into his master’s library.

“You look pale, Gaius,” she said by way of greeting. She was a tall imposing woman with dark hair and bright blue eyes. Her simple gown of burgundy red silk hung in graceful folds. It had long, wide pleated sleeves, and a square neckline that revealed her fine large bosom. Her hair was piled upon her head, and covered with a sheer veil.

“Why have there been no bids?” Gaius Prospero managed to gasp out.

“Yes, I will sit down and have a goblet of wine,” the lady Gillian answered him pointedly.

The majordomo quickly handed the lady the requested goblet, and then departed the library, but he remained on the other side of that door listening.

The lady Gillian sipped at her wine. “It is always a pleasure to visit you, Gaius,” she said. “You never stint on the vintage.”

“What has happened?” he ground out in a harsh voice. He was becoming calmer, for if Gillian was here he would get the truth.

“There will be no bids for the slave girl, Lara, Gaius,” she began. “She is simply too beautiful, and of course there is the matter of her faerie blood.”

“Faerie blood never bothered you before,” he snapped. “At least three very well-known members of your guild possess it, and so do a number of Pleasure Women. And what the hell do you mean she is too beautiful? What is wrong with beautiful?”

“Not just beautiful, Gaius,” Gillian told him. “Too beautiful. Exquisite. She is perfection, and therein lies the problem. No sooner had you ushered us from your house last night than two owners got into a physical quarrel over the girl. And the Pleasure Mistresses were no better. There was at least one incident of hair-pulling. And when they all returned to their Pleasure Houses most found their women in a disturbed state at the thought of Lara joining them. They fear her great beauty will rob them of their clients, and if they protest, her magic will harm them. No one believes a girl this beautiful does not have faerie power. I know she does not, for if she did she would not be in the position she is now in, but convincing the others is impossible. Ignorance is a dangerous thing, Gaius. By this morning, regular patrons were offering the owners additional coin to help purchase the girl. Others were attempting to book time with her for you displayed her well at the tourney. Several of my guild have been threatened with bodily harm if they are not given the girl’s first-night rights. I have no choice but to forbid this girl’s sale into any of our houses. It is too risky. I am sorry.” She sipped again at her wine goblet. “Nor can I permit an untried girl to be sold as a Pleasure Woman to one of the magnates. Whoever purchased her would find he had bought a most dangerous possession. He would be envied by all, and therefore find himself in peril of his very life. Lara is the kind of girl that men see, and must have at all costs.”

Gaius Prospero was stunned by her words. His investment was suddenly gone. The Head Mistress of the Pleasure Mistresses’ Guild and its satellite, the Guild of the Pleasure Woman, was no fool. And her word was law among the owners, and the houses. “What am I to do with her then?” he asked helplessly. “I cannot give her back to her family, and ask for my gold to be returned.” He ran a nervous hand through his thinning hair. “I am ruined! How could I not have seen it?”

“Oh, Gaius,” she told him, “do not be so melodramatic. You are not ruined, and your eye for a fine piece of merchandise simply blinded you to the fact the girl was too beautiful to not cause difficulty. You have a cousin, Rolf Fairplay-a Taubyl Trader, I believe. Am I correct?”

“Yes,” he said. He was listening intently. Gillian was an intelligent woman, and might have been a merchant herself had she not been of the female sex.

“Cut your losses now, Gaius,” she told him. “Give the girl to your cousin to sell in one of the provinces. You can make a small profit on her even with the percentage you must give your cousin. The provinces are not as sophisticated as the City, nor do they have our refined tastes. She will still be beautiful beyond compare, but that will just make her unique there, where here it will cause problems. The Coastal Province would probably be best, for there are so many there who are fair she will not stand out as much. What did you pay for her?”

“Ten thousand gold pieces,” he groaned. “I expected at least thirty for her.”

Gillian laughed. “And you might have gotten it had she not been so perfect, Gaius. But if I understand she only came into your possession a few days ago. You can hardly have expended a great deal on her but for that outrageous gown she wore to the tourney. I am certain you can get at least fifteen for her in the provinces. Your cousin will have heard of what has happened, so offer him not the usual fifteen percent of the girl’s sale, but a full quarter share of the profit. You will at least break even.”

“If she goes to the coast I can ask for a minimum of twenty thousand,” Gaius said almost to himself. “The Coastal Kings are wealthy men. They would pay that or more for Lara. At twenty thousand I should make a profit of at least five thousand. I had the gown made by one of my slave women, and the material was purchased several years ago. It was just lying there in my storerooms waiting. I have actually expended little in this endeavor.” He was beginning to feel better. It was a disappointment, of course, but all was not lost after all.

Gillian laughed. “Gaius, Gaius, trust you to find a bright side in a dark matter. Yes, I think you are right. Have Rolf Fairplay take her to the Coastal Province. It is the perfect place for her.” She drank down the remainder of her wine, and stood up. “You have not been to my house in some time now. You should come again. Your young wife cannot keep you all to herself.”

“I came only to see you, Gillian,” he told her.

“Then come again,” she purred at him smiling. “I have a new girl, Anora.”

“I thought you did not entertain any longer,” he responded, eying her breasts. Gillian had always had the finest bosom.

“I don’t, but for old friends,” Gillian murmured, touching his cheek with her elegant long fingers. “I am glad I was able to help you solve this little problem, Gaius.” She put her hand on the door handle. “My felicitations to the lady Vilia. Good evening.” And then opening the door she glided through it, smiling in amusement at the majordomo, who had had little time to vacate the spot where he had crouched, listening. He ran ahead of her now to open the front door, and she playfully waggled her finger at him as she passed through to her awaiting litter.

Gaius Prospero sat for several long minutes reliving his conversation with the Head Mistress. Silently he chided himself for not seeing the problem with Lara himself, but then he had always been a connoisseur of beautiful things. He simply could not help himself. He bought only the best, as his many clients knew, and Lara was the best. Alas, she was too perfect. He called out for his secretary whom he knew was nearby, for Jonah was always nearby.