Lourdes was run by the Odila clan under the Screaming Eagle banner for the last two hundred years at least. Though they were the undisputed leaders of the territory, in truth, there was a higher power that presided over the matters of the land. The temple to Magnus was in Lourdes and the church’s influence was felt in every decision in people’s lives, both grand and trivial. The church conceded that they were in the lands controlled by Bargo Odila; but they often acted as if the High Father were the true final authority.

The church had its laws for believers, and everyone was expected to follow them to the letter. Anyone who diverged from the words in scripture was subject to strict and often severe punishment. Because of their money and influence, the church often treated the citizens of Lourdes as if they were their own. They conducted religious trials that were outside of the system of law that was headed by the King. If they found someone to be guilty of heresy or adultery or some other crime that was especially looked down upon by the church; they would conduct legal proceedings. If the accused party was found guilty, and they always were, without fear of reprisal from the king’s court, they would mete out whatever punishment the fathers deemed appropriate according to the dictates of the church, up to, and including crucifixion.

Father Simon was sent on a mission to root out evil, get a confession, and return with enough evidence to deal with a problem that the church had been quiet about for many years. Removing his priestly robes, he donned a laborer’s coat and pants. Feeling good about being given a mission of such importance, he practically strutted to the seedy side of Corbinus.

Wen sat at her desk looking over the books. Even though her business had grown fairly large, she insisted on absolute control of the financials. She was also the primary greeter when a client entered the establishment. At forty something, she was still a stunning woman with a sexuality that came naturally and didn’t need to be affected in any way. She wore what could be considered business attire; but the amount of cleavage, the shortness of her skirt, and the bright red of her blouse would have been distracting in a true business meeting. Her long black hair was put up in an attractive style with long jeweled pins holding it in place. The chimes sounded that a client was coming down the hall from the main entrance. Getting up, she walked to intercept him or her at the door.

A tall man rounded the corner an entered her den of iniquity. He was balding, a bit over six-foot-tall and thin except for a bit of a paunch. His simple workman’s clothing were clean and looked like they had never been worn before. He was also well groomed, compared to the usual “men of trades”. She sized him up, considered how much he would spend before leaving, and what particular diversions he might be into, all in just two seconds. She greeted him with her usual radiant smile and waved him over to a couch in the main waiting room. A beautiful, very young girl entered the room. She was blonde and had an incredible figure that her robe-like dress did very little to conceal.

“Tea?”, she asked. From her tray, she put a cup before Wen, and waited for the client to answer.

“Something… stronger?”, Wen offered.

The man did he best to stop staring at the young girl’s breasts. With a jolt he looked up at Wen. “Tea would be fine.”, he replied. The girl put the other cup on the table in front of him, poured both cups, and glided gracefully out of the room. He sat stunned for a second, watching as Wen picked up her cup, then followed her lead. They both sipped the hot beverage. He remarked to himself how pleasant it was, as the warm liquid flowed down his throat, soothing and bitter at the same time. A warmth started in his stomach and started to spread to his head and through his limbs. He became very relaxed and sat back with the cup in his hand, taking occasional sips.

Wen was very accustomed to awkward silences, and as usual, allowed this one to play out. She sipped her tea and smiled pleasantly at her guest. Eventually he began to relax and looked up at her, “This is House Kapona?”, he asked.

“Yes, I am Wen Kapona, and this is my place of business.”, she said calmly. “Your name, good sir?”

“How rude of me. Taylor Karl, pleased to meet you Miss Kapona.”

“What can my humble house do for you today Mr. Karl?”

Looking a little uncomfortable, he leaned in and said, “I hate to be indelicate; but I was under the impression that this was a place where a man could go to relax, to be… entertained.” He looked around the room at the purple and dark red curtains that hung on every wall. There were dozens of candles and the air was filled with the smell of perfume and burning incense.

“You are not mistaken.”, she said. Picking up a small silver bell, she gave it a few delicate rings. “Let me introduce you to some of the staff.” Girls start pouring out of the several hallways that lead into the main sitting room. They all floated in like rose petals carried aloft on a gentle spring breeze. Soon there were a dozen women of all types lined up against the far wall, for inspection. There were blonde women, brunettes a redhead. Some with pale skin like fine china, others with black skin like the richest coffee, and everything in between. There was the exotic and the familiar, tall and short, women who were curvy and voluptuous and others who could have been innocent waifs. The only traits that they all had in common were their warm, friendly smiles and their lack of proper attire. None were naked; but all were dressed with the intention of making a man’s blood run hot.

“Taylor, please pick a lady that you’d like to entertain you.”, Wen said casually.

He looked at the madam, skeptically. “I’m not sure about this. When you say ‘entertain’, exactly what are you referring to?”

“Are you shy?”, she asked. “You found this place and seemed to know what this place is. It seems like you would know why you came, and what to expect.”

He looked nervous, unsure what direction to take. The fact that his head was heavy didn’t help. He looked over at the women. Each one was staring at him, trying to catch his eye. Naturally he looked down on them, because they were dirty, filthy whores; but their faces were so kind, so… inviting. A resolve that had never been broken, broke. Desire started as an emptiness in his spirit and flowed outward. His manhood was engorged to a painful degree, and he was sweating all over. He leaned forward on the plush couch, his vision starting to blur. All he saw were breasts, legs, long hair, curvy buttocks. He tried to speak; but only drooled on himself.

Wen watched in amusement for a few minutes, then offered a solution. “Ahhhh, a first timer. That would explain it. Let me help you.”, she waved over a girl, black as midnight with full lips, large breasts and wide hips that many men found to be perfection. She also called over another girl, a tall girl that had porcelain skin, silver-white hair and had a thin figure. “Allanah, Carina, help our guest to the dungeon room.”, she smiled. “The rest of you, start tidying up around here, almost time for the evening crowd.”

The two women each grabbed Taylor Karl by an arm, and practically dragged him down a long hallway to a private room. Wen was in fine spirits as she stepped out the front door and into the heart of downtown. A place where the ordinary people lived and worked. There were no royal troops or constables here, you paid for and arranged your own safeguards. This part of town paid few taxes and received no services. The sky was turning cloudy and it looked like it would rain soon. She caught sight of a couple of teenage boys standing around deciding what kind of trouble they should get into.

“Hey, you, come over here!”, she called to them. The boys trotted over to her, checking her out even though she was older than their mothers. “Two coins each, I need you both to deliver a message.”

“Right away, Miss Kapona!”, the younger said, his blue eyes sparkling.

“Yes Ma’am!”, the tall black boy chipped in.

She pulled two tokens from her jacket pocket. She put one in the first boy’s hand. “Give this to the Mayor, and tell him, it is only good if he comes here right now.” She put a token in the other boy’s hand, “Give this to the head Constable. Very important, tell him this is only good if he comes here to my business right now.” She shooed them away, “I will pay you when you return.” They smiled broadly and took off in different directions.

A dozen minutes or so later, Mayor Toren arrived at the House of Earthly Joy, or more commonly known as Kapona House. He rode in the back of a closed carriage. Many public servants and wealthy traders preferred travel on horseback; but it hurt his back and he could afford the extravagance. As he was exiting the carriage, the Head Constable, Sir Arra Vosgi rode up. He was a knight in service to House Odila; but the lands that he was granted were poor in quality and his tenants were lazy, causing him to seek additional compensation by providing protection to the Capital City.

The two men were friendly enough; but being asked to come to a well-known (and well respected) brothel, at a moment’s notice, at the same time… it was enough to cause them both to be suspicious. Wen greeted them at the outer door, which was not her custom. As usual, she was all smiles as she invited them to come in. When they reached the inner chamber, her smile was gone. She snapped he fingers, and the girl on duty disappeared. She returned before the men could even sit down with their pints of ale.

“Wen, good to see you”, the Mayor said as he accepted his drink. “Though I would like to think that your giving out a token is a show of good will… I know better.”

“Yes, it is good to see you, Madam.” Sir Vosgi sipped his drink. “Torren is right, we can assume that you want something?”

“Of course, I do, those tokens come directly off the top, in other words, out of my pocket.” She accepted a small glass of a clear liquid and downed it. “Perhaps you sense the direction I am going by having the two of you both here at the same time, to inspect my business for… well, you make up something that sounds legitimate.” She accepted another shot of the strong liquid and again drank it in a single swallow. “Come with me gentlemen, I have something to show you.”

They both looked intrigued and bounced out of their chairs to follow her down one of the long hallways. The room that they stopped in front of was made of stones, piled and grouted to look like the walls of a keep. Unlike a keep though, there were heavy cloth curtains that served as the door. Pulling aside the curtain just an inch or two, she peeked in. Satisfied with what she saw, she motioned the constable to look. He stepped forward and put his eye to the crack.

The interior of the room was made to look like a typical dungeon. There were chains with cuffs hanging from the ceiling, the walls, and set into a large wooden table that dominated the room. The table had a fur on it and on the fur, was a tall balding man, chained so that he was forced to be on all fours. A ball was in his mouth, that was held in place by a leather strap that went around his head, other than that, he was completely nude. Behind him, a black woman was doing things that would make a grown man squeamish just watching. A thin fair haired, fair skinned girl was lashing him with a cat o nine tails and abusing him verbally. She wasn’t strong enough to draw blood; but the whip marks would most certainly last for weeks.

The Constable backed away with a shudder. He turned and waved his hand for the Mayor to take his place. The Mayor stood there for several minutes before his concentration was broken by Wen Kapota grabbing his expensive jacket by the arm. He looked down at the woman, “Who is he, and why do you need witnesses like us?”

“He gave a false name and came here under false pretenses. His real name is Father Mikkel Simon. He was sent by the new High father to gather dirt on my business, and I suspect, on many more places that don’t fit into his new world order.”

The constable grabbed his bearded chin with a calloused hand, hard from years of wielding a sword. He thought for a long second or two, then came to a conclusion. “I understand your wanting to get dirt on this spy; but the bigger picture is the Church’s overreach. They’re meddling in areas that are not theirs to regulate.”

The Mayor agreed, “If we allow them to spy on the people and no doubt, have public trials and of course, executions… we’ll be, redundant.”

“Not only that, if it’s safe to go after an honest businessperson like Wen, then no one is safe. If we allow them to take this authority, they’ll be running this town in no time. I’m a believer and all; but I don’t need any priests running my life and controlling my business.”, he complained.

“It is settled then”, the Mayor said and they both agreed. Tearing the curtain down, the Mayor walked into the room, followed by the Sir Vosgi. They circled the action till they were in the sight line of the helpless priest.

“What is this deviancy?”, Vosgi asked. The girls took their que and were gone like a distant memory.

“We were conducting a random safety inspection, when indecent noises were heard coming from this chamber!” the Mayor bellowed with his dramatic flair. “The proprietress says that you claimed to be a Taylor Karl; but a little bird has informed me that you are not who you say you are.” He stepped forward and undid the manacle on the man’s right hand, then handed him the key. They all waited while he freed his other arm, then he removed the gag from his mouth. After freeing his feet, he dived for his clothes that were piled carelessly in the corner. He was afraid, and still a little intoxicated.

“Who are you, and what are you doing here?”, Sir Vosgi demanded.

“I… I’m Father Simon. The High Father assigned me to find out if this place is truly a place of evil. I can say without reservation, that it most certainly is. No doubt, Juventas has his shadow here. The God of the Underworld must be responsible for the sin that is practiced here!”, the young balding priest was almost apoplectic in his testimony.

“What I saw, was a man engaged in unnatural behavior with women who were not his wife. They are not your wives, are they?”, the constable asked.

The priest was pulling on his simple pants, looking up, he was surprised that he was the one being accused of sin. “Who are you, and why should I care what you think? I am a priest on a mission for the Church. No one will believe your word over mine, and certainly not the testimony of those harlots, or that pimp behind you!”, he screamed, and waived a bony finger at Wen.

“Please do not insult Madam Kapona, she is a long-time businessperson in this town. The town of which I am the Mayor.”, the Mayor stated.

“And of which, I am the Head Constable, and a knight in the Kings guard.” The priest looked crushed by the news of the identity of his accusers. “Not only is our word unimpeachable; but we could and should put you in irons.”

“Except, you seem to get off on that!”, the Mayor added.

The priest looked crushed; he went from face to face looking for any kind of reprieve and found none. He was the sinner and was being judged by others who had enough authority to end his career, and possibly even his life.

“What is it that you wish of me?”, he asked the three of them.

They looked at each other with knowing looks, the Constable spoke up. “We understand the indiscretion of youth. We were young once, a long time ago. We can never un-see the images that have been burned into our memories; but we would be willing to keep them to ourselves if you go back to your Church of Magnus and your High Father, and tell him that there is nothing to see here.”

“This is a limited time offer son. Swear on the Spear of Magnus that you’ll report back that no sin is taking place here, and we’ll allow you to leave.”

The priest perked up at the mention of the holy symbol. “You… you are believers?”

“Of course!”, the Mayor said “I’m a man of the Gods, especially Magnus. Magnus was not nearly as strict as this new High Father of your is trying to make him out to be.”

“True.”, the Constable added. “Our King, my liege, is a follower of Magnus. As am I. Magnus has never been against a taste of wine or the touch of a woman.”

“And I too am a believer!”, Wen joined in. “My house honors the Gods, while spreading happiness among our clientele.”

“We’ll forget your lapse in judgement; but you mustn’t raise false accusations against this poor woman.”, he leaned in. “Are we in agreement?”, Vosgi asked.

Father Simon looked a little relieved that he was in the presence of Godly people. “Please forgive my behavior here today, and rest assured, the High Father will hear my report that there is no sin to be found here.”

With that, they allowed him to further collect himself and beat a hasty retreat. When they were alone, the Constable turned to Wen, “Thank you for the token, madam. If you don’t mind, can I redeem it the next time that I am in this part of town? That show that you no doubt scripted, has put me off my game.”

“Of course, I appreciate your being a reliable witness on my behalf, should it come to that. Use them whenever you like, though the sooner the better. I don’t like carrying any debt on my books.”