Will didn’t like the sound of that, then he saw something that caught his attention. “What is that?”
“How should I know?” demanded Selene. “I can’t see a damn thing.”
On their right was a large, wooden building and Will could see several women standing along a railing that stretched the entire length of its front porch. They were staring out into the mist curiously, though he was sure they were just as blind as Selene. “There’s several women standing in front of a building to our right.”
“Just keep walking,” urged Selene. “That’s not our objective.”
The women were only twenty feet from them as they passed the building, and Will stared intently at them. His mist-vision rendered everything in shades of gray, so he couldn’t have said anything about their hair or eye color. If Selene had been standing among them, he might have had trouble identifying her, but one of the women seemed familiar somehow. He tugged on Selene’s arm to stop her. “I think I know one of them,” he said softly.
“You know what they are, right?” asked Selene.
He wasn’t stupid. “Comfort women.”
“Technically, the Darrowans call them ‘merchant wives,’” whispered Selene.
“Wives? What the hell does that mean?”
“The Prophet’s laws are weird,” she explained. “Prostitution is illegal, but an unmarried man can sleep with another man’s wife, so long as the husband gives permission.”
“So they’re selling their wives to other men?”
“Well, these are probably Terabinian girls. Women who are raised in Darrow are followers of the Prophet, so they have certain rights that foreign women don’t. So when they took your village, some of the more enterprising soldiers married the women they captured so they could make a profit prostituting them to the others.”
Will felt his eyes go wide. Then these are my neighbors. “We have to save them.”
Selene shook him, hard. “How? Have you lost your mind?”
He was staring hard at the women, and he was pretty sure the one he recognized was Tracy Tanner. “I know that woman. I saved her son, Joey. She’s a friend,” he insisted.
“She’s been here for months,” said Selene calmly. “She’s been remarried, beaten, raped repeatedly. They torture them, Will. She won’t be in her right mind anymore. She’s as likely to turn us over to her new ‘husband’ as she is to help us. And all that aside, how are we supposed to accomplish our mission if we stop and try to help a half-dozen women escape from the camp?”
Will looked down, meeting her gaze. “If it were you, would you want me to walk away and leave you?”
Her eyes were filled with uncertainty, but after moment she responded, “Yes. If it were me, I’d rather die than have someone I care about see what had become of me.”
He stared at her for a moment. His heart was a confusing mess of emotions. “Well, too fucking bad. I’d drag your miserable ass out of hell if that’s where you were and screw the consequences.” Grabbing her hand, he pulled her toward the porch. “Keep your head down. You’re a boy and I’m bringing you here to gain experience.”
“What?” she exclaimed in a panicked whisper. “No!” But it was too late.
Chapter 61
Selene kept her head down as though in embarrassment as Will pulled her up to the front porch. He said the first thing that popped into his head, “My friend and I are here for some fun.”
The women gathered around them like hens, clucking their encouragement. “Your friend seems shy,” said the oldest, a middle-aged woman he didn’t recognize.
Selene had her head bowed, her body facing Will, and she jumped as one of the younger ones ran a hand across her rump and gave it a firm squeeze. “Are you a virgin? I love how shy you are,” said the woman.
It was Will’s turn to be shocked. He had returned his vision to normal, and both the voice and his eyes confirmed the identity of the one who had grabbed Selene. It was Annabelle Withy. Their eyes met, and she stared at him in horror. His eyes darted sideways, and he saw Tracy Tanner staring at him as well. He gave her a smile full of false confidence. “You look ripe. How about you and your friend show us the ropes?” He nodded at Annabelle.
After a moment, Tracy broke out of her trance and smiled. “Of course! Anna, let’s take care of these gentlemen.” She was studying Selene’s face, and Will thought she saw understanding there.
Tracy and Anna led them inside and positioned themselves to hide Selene from direct observation of the man who was seated there. He held out a hand to Will. “Six silver, three for each. You get one hour. If you want more, pay in advance.”
He dug around in his coin purse, but it was empty. He’d never taken the time to recover his money from the floor at home. Unsure what to do, he continued to fumble until Selene shoved a gold crown into his hand. Will passed it to the man.
The man looked at it carefully. “A Terabinian crown?”
“Spoils of war,” said Will with a nervous grin.
“Let me get your change,” said the pimp. After a few seconds, he handed Will four unfamiliar silver coins of Darrowan currency. “You’re lucky it’s me,” said the man with a wink. “You’re supposed to turn in any Terabinian coin you find.”
Tracy pulled on his arm. “Let’s go upstairs,” she said in a sultry voice he would never have imagined coming from her. He followed, and she led them up to a short hallway. There were four doors leading off from it. “Anna’s room is over there,” she said, pointing at the door across from hers, “but it will be more fun if we share mine.” Opening the door, she let them in.
After the door closed, they were alone, and Annabelle latched on to Will’s arm. “What are you doing here? Did you come for us?”
“Not exactly,” answered Will, but Annabelle seized him a hug that nearly crushed the wind from his lungs.
“I never thought I’d see you again,” she mumbled.
Selene was watching them with a face carefully composed to show no emotion. “We found you by accident,” she said.
“It’s dangerous for you to be here,” said Tracy, her expression fearful. “They’ll beat us if they find out we helped you.”
“We’re getting you out of here,” declared Will. “How many of you are there?”
“It’s just me and Tracy,” said Annabelle, still holding him. “There’s two other women here, but they’re both from Darrow.”
“And Stan,” offered Tracy. “He’s the one you met in the front room.”
“That’s it?” asked Will.
Tracy seemed angry. “That’s all they need. Do you think we can just walk out of here?”
“I didn’t mean it like that,” said Will. It was then that he realized that Tracy Tanner was pregnant and just beginning to show.
“Do you know where the supplies are stored?” asked Selene, her voice cool and business-like.
Tracy gave Selene a suspicious look. “Who’s she?”
Will stared at Selene a moment, unsure what to say. I wish I knew. Finally, he answered, “Her name is Isabel. She’s a sorceress with the Terabinian army. We’re here to burn the supply stores if possible.”