Eddard Chapter 3 (Con't)

Mother Minx's Part 1

The Game Begins

 

Wren and I started by going to a dockside establishment that had a seedy reputation, but apparently too seedy.  When we approached the operator about our routine, we were told we could, but the place for us was Mother Minx's.  We wanted to appeal to wealthy Amnites, because we needed to know who of them was in the slave trade.  Minx's was where they went for entertainment, so Minx's was where we went.

 

The place was big, especially for Scornubel.  In Waterdeep, the place would be considered sizable.  I was somewhat taken aback by the place, but Wren was suddenly all business.  She approached the owner. 

 

"I want to dance here," she said to him with a smile.

 

"You any good?"

 

She gave him a two minute display, and was hired on the spot.

 

She told me I was to act as a filter.  She knew she would get offers from wealthy Amnites for temporary employment.  I was to select the offers that would require her attention.  As her bodyguard, my role was also to intimidate those who would approach her with other intentions.  I didn't know if I could pull that off, I mean I suppose at six feet I was tall, and fairly well muscled.  I also knew that the two swords I carried made me look dangerous, but I also knew that I was not the biggest man in the world, hells, I wasn't the biggest man in the party.  Still, maybe I was the best choice.  Certainly Ulf couldn't entirely be trusted, Garrus would give himself away- not to mention die before he was seen in a place like this- but me?  I was smart enough to pull this off, and capable enough to operate here.

 

We went to the main room, she told me to find a table near the front, while she would go and prepare herself for her performance.  She told me before she went upstairs that once her performance began, I wouldn't be waiting long.

 

She was right.  I tried to do the right thing when she was on the stage, but I have to admit, her moves and timing was exquisite.  And she was beautiful, sexy, and alluring.  I had never seen anything like it.  In the end, I could hardly take my eyes off her.

 

"Excuse me," said a voice that drew my attention back to the table.

 

I started at the sound as a very obvious Amnite came to the table.  I quickly recovered.

 

He continued,"Are you handling her?"

 

"I am not, exactly.  I'm her body bodyguard.  I handle initial contact with clients, she makes the decision as to what, if any contracts she accepts."

 

"I see.  I would like to hire her for a week.  I'm sure she will find the pay more that acceptable."

 

"I'm sure she would," he was finely dressed, and obviously wealthy, but it was early in the evening, and I suspected his would not be the only offer on the table before long.

 

As she danced we talked some more, he even bought me a drink- a fine, expensive spirit, but I merely sipped it, being careful not to get drunk.  The conversation turned away from the immediate business, as I enquired as to the nature of his business.  If he balked, I would merely explain that as a bodyguard, it was my duty to understand somethings about the client.  I didn't have to explain, he seemed to grasp that.

 

"I have a good reputation in the town, and I am not known violence or hurting those I hire.  My business is largely in weapons, and as the Goblin war draws to an end, I suspect I'll only be here for a few more weeks, I am hopeful that she may ascent to my contract so those last weeks pass pleasantly."

 

Indeed, we did have a great conversation, and as her dance came to an end, he rose from the table, passing his offer on a folded piece of paper across the table to me.  But by the end of the conversation, I also knew he was not the one I wished to meet.

 

When she came down for her break, I briefed her on him.  She agreed with me, but met with him anyway.  That would enhance her reputation as someone for hire.  I thought about the conversation I had with him, and resolved to enquire a bit more about the Amnites in general, maybe find out who was known by them to be in the slave trade.  If I could get them talking about it, I may well learn a name or two that would bear checking.