so like, i haven’t really talked about neph’s experience at the brothel she was a slave at much ( and i don’t plan on going into any gruesome detail here, mostly just how i perceived the environment and the strict rules she lived by for a decade, but trigger warnings just in case ), but i imagine it was tailored to the higher class. the setting was a massive temple-like, stone building, multiple stories, cells in a dingy dungeon underground. anywhere where rich clientele might inhabit within the building was lavishly decorated— a common area where drinks and ‘live entertainment shows’ would be held, all of the rooms which could be paid for and used were better than a lot of the best inns in the realms.
it was crawling with guards. the girls’ personal sleeping quarters weren’t nearly as fancy, not in the slightest, but they were clean. they had to be clean, it was a rule. clean rooms, clean bodies— prim and proper. often there were four to six girls in one very small room, sleeping in bunk beds with thin mattresses and thin blankets. each girl had designated tasks, chores to have completed throughout the building, keeping it clean and looking presentable— making beds, cleaning blood, they were even responsible for a lot of the cooking, given limited resources to make enough food for each of them to survive.
regardless of having mostly free reign of the place, no place was private. someone was always, always watching, in every room, in every corner. if girls were seen trying to speak to one another in a secretive manner, or caught trying to plan some kind of escape, examples were made of them. the girls weren’t even allowed to become too close with one another, no touching, no ‘fraternizing’. the men in charge often would put some girls in positions of authority overs, these girls were treated slightly better— they found ways to make it incredibly difficult to build trust with one another. i also imagine nepharia was definitely one of the girls to climb that inner hierarchy of fuckery, anything for the slightest amount of relief, and maybe to try and build a rapport with the higher powers of the brothel— prove that she can be trusted, so they she might one day have some kind of upper hand, regardless of the girls she needed to throw under the bus to do it.
fuck, the other girls probably hated her.
on the business side of things, the doors would close to wealthy clientele at the beginning of the week, then reopen at the start of the weekend— giving the girls about five days to prepare for the next. every single girl is to be accounted for and dressed in the proper attire that was assigned ( usually, the attire was modest in nature, which somehow made it more disgusting in neph’s mind ) at the exact time the beginning of every weekend before the doors are opened. they’re already paid for in advance, waiting in assigned rooms for their client to arrive, and any girl that might be patron-less is assigned to the common area, to offer their services there.
if any of the rules were broken, or any of them got out of line in any way, the first warning is a lashing, then you’re sent to solitary confinement underground, in a small, windowless room, sealed with magic, only a small slot in the door to receive enough food and water to live for days, sometimes weeks, depending on the punishment. you sit with nothing but a bucket as a toilet that doesn’t get changed and cleaned the entire duration you’re there, and a mat on the ground for sleeping. the walls are thin and you’re close enough to where they send the really strong-willed girls who just couldn’t conform, and have to listen to their screams as they are tortured, healed, and tortured again. and if none of that works to break you?? well, they simply kill you.
after making a deal with a devil ( one of her regular clients, who only ever bought her to speak riddles at her ), and acquiring her warlock powers and learning of her true nature from said devil, he showed her what she could really do now. she didn’t immediately go ape shit, though. she was smarter than that. she had worked her way up, the owner of the brothel himself held her in high regard, well, as high as you can regard someone you literally keep as a slave. she probably used mad charm spells to convince him to take her out somewhere, away from the brothel, just the two of them. should would kill him quick, and his guards, and then just be so fucking elated that she can just…. go. be. she honestly probably doesn’t even go back to the brothel, not even to save anyone— she hadn’t made friends, but enemies. friends weren’t allowed. she might have tried to tell some kind of authority what was going on, and she just was unlucky enough to find the authority that was involved in keeping that place running— basically just murdering her hope that justice actually existed in the world, or that good men existed.
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untitled fic snippet
here you go guys @jvstncthcme @anemicc-royalty @wifeofdevil
“Lily?”
James walked into the kitchen, parchment in hand, tears threatening to form. Lily looked at what was in his hand, and when he did, she dropped the spatula and her eyes widened.
“You weren’t supposed to find that yet.”
“Lily, what’s going on?”
“James, I- Can we sit down?” They did so, and Lily took James’ hands in her own. “I promise this has nothing to do with you. I just- we got married really quickly, you know? We were young, and honestly quite immature, and we didn’t really know what we were doing. I know that I loved you then, and I still do, just not in the same way.
“I hadn’t even noticed until a few days ago. I’ve been spending a lot of time with Mary MacDonald recently, and it took me a while, but I realized that I was falling in love with her. It made me rethink how I felt about you, and well, here we are.”
At some point while she was talking, James had wiped away any trace of tears. He leaned forward and hugged Lily, letting this be the last time he did so as her husband. “I’m really happy for you, Lils. I hope things work out.”
He pulled out of the hug, and she looked back at him. “Are you alright?”
“I will be.”
Roughly nine months later, now living in his own, larger place, due to a recent increase of art sales, that were just continuing to climb. He knew they’d go back down someday, probably soon, but honestly? His art was being sold at quite a high price, and being sold for even higher at auctions, so he was set for a little bit. He’s also a children’s counselor, now that he’s able to have the requirements necessary, and he wants to help every kid he can, knowing how a bad childhood home can affect someone.
So, he was currently headed to an orphanage, to adopt a kid. One of his friends from school, Dorcas Meadowes, was an orphan, and she had told James about her times in the orphanage. James had vowed to himself that day that as soon as he could, he’d adopt as many children as he could. So today, he plans to adopt two, and he’s already certain he’ll come back for more. He didn’t just buy a new big house for nothing, after all.
After walking into the orphanage and greeting the lady at the desk, he was allowed to look around. Another worker followed him, and was to help him with names of the children.
He didn’t know why, but for some reason, he was drawn to the newborns. He guessed it made sense. Get them out of the bad place before they remember it.
James’ eyes landed on the first child, and he just knew he had to have her. He asked the worker what her name was, and her name fit her perfectly. Mariposa.
“Well, Miss Mari. You really are quite adorable. If we’re lucky, you might just have a new home by the end of the day,” James reached in and ran a finger down her face the way his mum used to, and smiled when the little girl wrapped her hand around his finger. He pried her off and ran his hand through the small bit of hair on her head, before walking to the next one.
What he saw made him stop dead in his tracks. This baby looked exactly like Harry, the one he used to dream he and Lily would have together. He had bright, gorgeous green eyes, black hair exactly like his own, and a skin color just a bit lighter than his own.
“Uhm, miss? What’s his name?”
“Harry Evans.”
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