Holding their make-shift lamp with both hands, Anuk followed Lorelei closely as the latter hectically rummaged through the barrels and baskets piled in the back of the basement. For the last couple of minutes, they had gone through bags of potatoes and heaps of moldy turnips; had looked behind several small beer casks and between the oil and vinegar barrels; had peeked in a box full of broken pottery and discovered a sack full of deformed tin mugs. Lorelei was starting to get impatient. This was the cellar of an inn, for goodness sake! What she was looking for had to be here! This was their only way out! Please, dear Gods, it had to be here!

The first plan to just pour oil on the wood and set the door ablaze had been quickly abandoned. In the closed-off space, this would spell their own death. Surviving being drugged and kidnapped by bloodthirsty fanatics, Lorelei had no intention to commit suicide by suffocating from the smoke. Besides, the flames and the smell would have alerted their kidnappers.

Picking the lock was also not an option. The latch was most likely secured with a padlock on the outside where she could not reach it. But even if she could, Lorelei had zero knowledge in lock-picking to make use of. Still, there was another weak spot that she could take advantage of. If she could somehow remove the pins of the hinges then maybe, just maybe, they had a way out.

With persistence stemming from desperation, Lorelei was determined to check every inch and corner of the cellar if she had to. The time was running out. Who knew when their jailors would decide to check on them?

At last, her meticulous search was rewarded. Between some dusty crates, her wandering fingers found their target – a tool-box that the inn-keepers used to repair the damaged or leaking barrels. Inside, amongst other things, was a heavy wooden mallet for hammering in the spigot of the wine and beer caskets, as well as nails and chisels to tighten the loosened hoops. This was their way out!

The young woman grabbed the mallet and the thinnest chisel she could find and rushed to the door. Under her instructions, Anuk left their lamp on the ground and hurried to scoop oil from the barrel and pour a bit on the old, rusty hinges. Hopefully, this would make it easier to pry the pins out and reduce the noise.

Lorelei licked her cracked lips and muttered a prayer. The wooden mallet felt so heavy in her hand, yet compared to it, her heart felt even heavier. Until now they had been lucky. But how long could that last? If the Red Hands caught wind of what they were doing, they were dead on the spot.

‘You are dead anyway if you just stay and do nothing!’ thought Lorelei, steeling her resolve, and positioned the chisel just below the pin’s head. After a heartbeat, the hammer came swinging. The sound of the collision rang in her ears like a church bell. Lorelei jumped up and listened intensely while her heart almost flew out of her chest. One second. Two seconds. Half a minute. There was no movement from the outside. No one came down screaming to look for the source of the unusual noise. This gave the young woman some courage. Again and again, she swung the mallet. Inch by inch, the rusty old pin started to come loose from its socket.

After a few minutes of diligent hammering, the lower pin could be removed. Lorelei sighed and brushed away the sweat from her forehead. Half of the work was done. Now came the turn of the upper hinge. Having gained some experience, she started her fight with the pin yet again. Slowly but surely, the wretched piece of rusty iron was sliding out. Just a bit more. It needed only two-three more hits and then…

Then Lorelei’s worst fears came true.

From behind the door, her tensed senses could distinguish rough voices and heavy steps in the distance. Two men were slowly approaching the basement and arguing all the way.

“You’re a crazy bastard, you know!” The first man had a slight lisp and a cranky disposition. “They should still be out cold for a whole while. That drug is no joke. I’ve seen it being used on the feistier whores. It knocks them out and makes them as dolce as sheep for hours. No way these two are up already.”

“I’m tellin’ ya, I heard something.” The second thug’s high-pitched voice rang under the low ceiling. “I trust ma ears.”

“Probably just some rats thrashing around or the cat trashing them.”

“Yea, if a puss can swing a hammer. ‘m tellin’ ya, somethin’s fishy.”

“Your brain’s fishy!”

“Let’s bet. If it’s fine, I’m buyin’ the booze tonight. If not – yer in.”

“Add a whore to the bunch and I’m definitely in.”

“Deal!”

Rough laughter echoed under the basement’s arches.

Lorelei felt her heart freezing as horror paralyzed her whole body. She had no idea what to do, how to react. They were coming. They would find them out and kill them! Her legs felt so soft and wobbly that she almost fell over. At that moment, Lorelei could feel a small hand grabbing her sleeve. She looked down and saw two huge scared eyes.

Right! She needed to protect Anuk.

Lorelei fell into a strange state of numbness but, surprisingly enough, the fog in her mind cleared. She quickly grabbed the cloak from the child’s shoulders and tossed it over some sacks and baskets in one of the corners. Spinning around, she blew out the flickering light of their oil lamp, drowning the room in complete darkness. At the same time, she pulled Anuk, pressing her to the wall right behind the door, and covered the child with her body. Counting the passing seconds, Lorelei clutched the heavy mallet in her right hand while her left gagged the little girl’s mouth to keep her silent.

Soon enough, the clang of metal scraping on metal came from the outside. Someone cursed and the rattling sound repeated itself again as the man looked for the right key. Finally, the lock clicked and sprang open and the jailors pushed the door. The old wood gave in and scraped the floor before it stopped jammed by something.

“The hell!?” The lisping man grumbled loudly. “That darn thing won’t budge. Somethin’s stuck there!”

Hidden behind the door, Lorelei wanted to scream. She forgot her sash! And that was not the only problem. Hanging on only one of its hinges, the door was putting even more pressure on the half pulled rusty pin. The young woman could hear the light moaning sound that the bending iron gave out. In a flash, she knew what would follow and made a decision.

The angry thug gave the door a kick. With a groan, the door gave in. At the exact same moment, Lorelei threw her entire weight on the wooden boards. This was followed by a loud twang and the pin finally broke. The heavy door crashed down, driving the thug on the ground with its weight. The man screamed in pain and confusion.

“Run, Anuk!” Lorelei yelled and jumped over the fallen door and the unlucky jailor beneath it.

The second thug was totally taken aback but quickly gathered his wits. He tried to bar the escapee’s way only to be met with the full force of the swinging mallet. There were a crunch and a gurgling moan, and he found himself sprawled on the floor too. On her side, Lorelei had no time to see the results of her attack. She darted forward, pulling Anuk by the hand, and flew towards the staircase.

Up and out! Their only hope was to get out of the basement.

Quickly! Maybe no one else had heard the commotion.

Faster! Before even more of Simone’s men showed up.

Half carrying, half dragging the child up the ladder, Lorelei was jumping two steps at once. She shot out of the basement’s trapdoor and frantically looked around. It was a dim room with an iron-barred muddy window that leaked sparse sunrays. Directly to Lorelei’s right, there was a cooking stove with a big simmering pot and right beside it – a tightly shut door. The path to her left was barred by a sturdy table with a half-chopped rabbit and heaps of potatoes on top, but on the other side of the table, she could see another door.

After a second of hesitation, Lorelei pulled the child out of the trapdoor and was ready to follow when something suddenly pulled on her ankle, sending her toppling on the floor. She peered over her shoulder and saw the bloody mug of one of their jailors whose upper body was half protruding from the basement opening.

“Go, Anuk!”

Lorelei pushed the girl away from herself. Lifting her free foot, she kicked the man holding her straight in the face. Howling and spitting blood and some broken teeth, the thug loosened his grip. Like an agile eel, Lorelei wriggled free and sprinted towards Anuk, who was trying to pry open the door beside the fireplace. Pulling on its ring handle with all her might, she soon had to give up. It was locked.

Scurrying through the room, the young woman grabbed the fire poker and stormed the second door with the binshi girl trailing not far behind her. This one gave way after the first push and the two runaways landed in a dim parlor. On the left, a staircase ascended to the upper floor. On both sides of the hall, there were doors, leading somewhere. But it did not matter. For straight-ahead two bright windows flanked a third door. This was the way out!

The crashing and shouting behind their backs ushered them to hurry. Woman and child both jumped towards the exit. Alas, this door too was locked. And yet this could not break Lorelei’s determination.

“Stand back!”, she hissed and swung the fire poker.

The sound of shattering glass filled the air. Shards flew everywhere. Lorelei’s heart was pounding so fast that it was painful. She threw away the rod and grabbed Anuk by the waist, hurling her out of the broken window.

“Run and don’t look back!”

In that very second, someone grabbed her by the hair and yanked her backward. Lorelei cried in pain and tried to struggle, but a heavy body slammed her on the ground, pressing all the air out of her lungs.

“You fushing bitsh!”, came a familiar lisp, now intensified by a few missing teeth. “Ya dead!”

A fist landed on Lorelei’s cheek. Her ears rang and then, a split-second later, the pain overwhelmed her. But before she could even let out a peep, the second blow landed in her stomach. She curled into a ball and threw up some bitter bile, mixed with the salty taste of blood.

Coughing and gasping for air, Lorelei tried to crawl away, but the sturdy hand pulled at her hair again. At the same time, her ringing ears could discern the slamming of a door, followed by heavy footsteps. Shortly after a child’s yelp rang in the courtyard, only to be cut sharply. Lorelei’s heart froze. Anuk! With last desperation, she bore her nails in the arm holding her braid and felt something liquid streaming down her fingers. Cursing loudly, the man slammed her head in on the floor, knocking his victim half-unconscious.

Then a female voice penetrated through the pain and fog in Lorelei’s head.

“What’s the commotion?”

Stairs creaked, followed by light steps. Her capturer shifted his weight and pulled away, leaving Lorelei free at last. It was all the same. She couldn’t muster up the strength to move even a finger and remained lying limp on the wooden floor. There was the rustling of cloths as someone knelt beside her. A hand painfully grabbed her chin and twisted her head. What came into Lorelei’s blurred vision was a waterfall of curly hair falling over a smooth shoulder, barely covered by a light gown. As its deep cleavage ran all the way down to the navel, the woman’s plump breasts were mostly exposed. And on the left one, just above the heart, there was the sign of an opened read palm burned into the milky skin.

“My, my, if it isn’t the duchess of Norden!” Sister Simone’s mocking tone made Lorelei want to vomit again. “You brewed up quite the mess, your highness. Now, what am I to do with such unruly guests? Bigs!”

“Yesh, ma’am!”

“Put the mix-blood with the rest of the whores and tell them to keep an eye on her. As for the noble pain in the ass…”

“Bring her to me.”

A new voice coming from above joined in the conversation. Its tone made shivers run down Lorelei’s spine. Every word coming out of the man’s mouth felt like snakes crawling over her bare skin.

“I will personally check our merchandise for damage. We can’t deliver broken goods to the turgan.”

“Yesh, mashter Argente!”

A rough hand forcefully pulled Lorelei from the ground and dragged her to the staircase.