Isolde instructs Dhaval to dance - MID-DAY

Dhaval and Isolde are dancing together, closely, and luridly.  He seems to be catching on to the graceful movements and choreography well, until he stops mid-motion, and freezes up.

Dhaval - "I-I'm sorry."

Isolde - "You forgot the fourth turn a movement ago, and you're only now apologizing?"

Dhaval - sits down on the edge of the stage
"There's just so many things to remember, and this one isn't like the two we practiced yesterday."

Isolde - "I know over thirty different routines by heart, tiger.  It isn't that difficult to learn three."

Dhaval - "I'm sorry."

Isolde - will actually look moderately sympathetic, for a moment, as she watches the tiger slumped in silence.
"It's fine.  You're actually doing almost well, considering you weren't trained since childhood like Amon and I.  I am. . . mildly impressed."

Dhaval - "Thank you."

Isolde - Narrows her eyes
"I don't compliment unless I mean it, and when I do, I expect a bit more gratitude.  What the hell is wrong with you?  You've been missing steps all day, and I haven't seen you gape at my chest once since we began this morning."

Dhaval - "I. . . I. . . " he'll look bashful, ". . . you noticed that?"

Isolde - "You aren't subtle.  What exactly is making you so useless?  And don't say it's the work.  I don't want to hear that.  Not from someone who barely takes three clients a day and limps about like he's been maimed."

Dhaval - "That was only yesterday, and he was a bear."

Isolde - "Bear are hung like rodents."

Dhaval - ". . .this one wasn't."  

Isolde - "All I hear is 'woe is me'."

Dhaval - "I'm sorry, alright?!  I'm not used to this, like you or Amon are.”

Isolde – “Amon and I never got ‘used to’ it.”
She says bitterly.

Dhaval – “I hate it.  I hate doing this.  I don't mind working, and I know Amon helped me out a lot, and that all of you have it harder than I do. That doesn't mean it doesn't still hurt, and feel wrong, a-and I have to pretend like I like them, and I'm not really any good at ANY of it!"
He sighs.  Behind him, Isolde has that mildly sympathetic look back.
"But I'm not complaining about it, alright?  I don't complain to anyone.  Not even Amon.  Especially not Amon.  And it's not the work I'm doing here that's bothering me, anyway.  Has Madame asked you to work at this gathering, outside the house?  The one she says is on the north side of the city, near the forest?"

Isolde - "The party, at the Baroness's?  Of course.  Amon and I go every year.  She hires out all the Divine's girls, and usually Amon, for the whole night.  Manjusha's asked you to go?"

Dhaval - "Yes.  And Madame says the Baroness wants a service from me.  Just me."

Isolde - "And?  That isn't all that odd.  Word gets around with the local monied.  The Baroness is a leopard.  She prefers feline men.  I'm sure she's heard about your availability, and it's not all that strange she'd choose you over Amon, given the options.  As unfortunate as that is for Amon."
She looks to him
"I thought you preferred women.  This will be your first female client, won't it?  I would think you'd be over the moon you're not being bent, for once."

Dhaval - "That's exactly the problem!"
He'll say, desperately looking up at her
"The men. . . it doesn't feel like it's real, to me.  I try to look at it as just work.  But, this is a woman!  I'm terrified!  What if I can't do it?  The burden is on me, now, and I don't know what to do!"

Isolde - "You work in a brothel.  I know you've seen how it's done, tiger."

Dhaval - "It's not the same."
He puts his head in his hands
"And I didn't want it to be this way.  Being with a woman i-is real, for me.  I don't think I can pretend it's just work, like I do with the men."

Isolde sits down next to him, almost smiling
Isolde - "Is this really it?  I'd thought for sure you'd gotten into something bad.  Liquor, or the Divine."

Dhaval - "No.  Amon was very strict about that.  He won't even let me touch the flowers."

Isolde - "He just doesn't want you saddled with his problems. And he's right to worry.  The Divine would get ahold of you in one puff.  You've got a head like a hollow tree."

Dhaval - "Huh?"

Isolde - "If you're so worried about mucking up your first female service, find a girl and fuck her, and get a little experience under your belt.  You're in a brothel.  It won't be that hard."

Dhaval - "Pay for a woman?  N-no. . . no. . . I don't want to be like the men here."

Isolde - "Well you're in a brothel, sweetheart.  The women here don't give it away for free.  Sorry."

Dhaval - Hangs his head.
"I just. . . I didn't want my first time to be like this."

Isolde - "Your first time was with Amon, tiger."
She lights a cigarette

Dhaval - "That wasn't real.  Nothing I've ever done here has been what real lovers do."

Isolde - "By that logic, I'm a virgin."
She says with a chuckle.  Dhaval isn't laughing, though.  She takes a few moments, looking down at him, pensively, then takes a long drag of her cigarette, and steps past him, walking off the stage.
"Alright, tiger.  Come by after dinner tomorrow night."

Dhaval - "Why?"

Isolde - "So you can have your first woman, coin and service-free."

Dhaval - in shock  "What?"

Isolde - "I've got an hour or two free.  Just don't expect affection.  This is purely so you don't embarrass yourself with the Baroness.  She's a good client, and a lousy fuck might put her off hiring the rest of us again."

Dhaval - "Oh.  So, this is just work, for you."

Isolde - "Nothing but." 
she turns to regard him
"If that bothers you, don't come by.  I promise you, if you hurt your own feelings over this, I will never care."
She turns back around

Amurescan Scout Dies - LATE DAY, RAINING

The one remaining scout who saw the transaction between the Cathazra and the Immar tears through the forest.  He is exhausted, dirty, and has clearly been running for quite some time.  The forest seems incredibly imposing and overgrown.  He pulls out a compass, trying to get his bearings, and looking through the canopy, but it blocks out the sky.  While he's standing there trying to get his bearings, a viper slowly creeps past on a branch nearby, the snake in focus, the scout not.  The scout begins to turn around to head in a different direction, and his leg knocks into the low branch/root the viper was resting on. He catches his foot, falls, and upsets the snake.  There is a moment where he finally notices the snake, stares at it in terror, and then tries to bolt out of the way.  The snake strikes, and he panics, stumbling away from it.  But the poison begins to take effect within seconds, and he weakens, tumbling down a small ravine, landing in a shallow (inch deep or less) overgrown stream.  He lies there on his back, body stiffening, staring straight up, his face frozen in a mask of terror as he begins to die.  He dies there in the stream.

Amon Learns his Fate scene		

Manjusha and Isolde are in bed together.  This is the first time we have ever seen them officially 'together', so I'd like to take a full page to linger on the first scene.  Isolde seems sleepy, and somewhat affectionate, for her.  Manjusha appears very troubled.

Isolde - "You're making that face again."

Manjusha - "You should be returning to your room soon.  I'm seeing one of the workers."

Isolde - "Mnh. . . no.  I'll be staying here tonight.  I can't stand that infant keeping me up at all hours."

Manjusha - "You will do as I tell you to, and leave when I tell you to leave.  I have business, and I cannot have you present for it."

Isolde - "As if I haven't seen you chewing out Amon several hundred times before.  He knows about us.  Most of the house does, at this point, so what are you worried about?"

Manjusha - "How did you know I planned to speak with the Jackal?"

Isolde - "You actually are meeting with Amon?  Why?"
she'll seem to bristle suddenly

Manjusha - "I already told you, it isn't your business."

Isolde - "Anything you can say to him, you can say to both of us."

Manjusha - snarls
"You've such a kinship with that dust dog."

Isolde - "Mnh.  Moreso than I ever shall with you.  And he's a man."
She gives a particularly sultry, fierce look at that, and slinks off the bed.
"Fine.  Keep your secrets.  I'll just squeeze it out of Amon in a few days, anyway.  He never holds out terribly long, when I squeeze him."

Manjusha - "If you're trying to imply that you bed him, too, I'm already aware."
Isolde begins getting dressed.
"You know, lover, you might be free, but you still live in my house, and rent space from me.  House rules are that servants not fraternize with one another.  I know you only have these trysts to upset me.  I could put a stop to them if I wanted."

Isolde - "Then do so."  
She straightens up, leveling an icy stare at Manjusha.
"Evict me from the house.  Go on."

Manjusha - "I may not own you, but I still own the jackal.  I could get rid of him.  Sell him."

Isolde - laughs
"No one would buy Amon.  No, darling.  I think you're saddled with him for life.  Sorry."

Manjusha - "We shall see."
She sits up, and throws on a Saree.  It's at about this time that there's a knock at the door, and Isolde goes to answer it.  It is, of course, Amon.

Amon - "I'm sorry.  You told me this morning to come by, madame.  Shall I return later?"

Manjusha - sits
"No, I am ready for you now.  And Isolde was just leaving.  Weren't you?"

Isolde - "I was."
She brushes past Amon, who will look fairly unaffected
"Talk to you later, jackal."

The door shuts behind her, and Amon stands where he is, Manjusha leveling a stare at him from across the room.

Manjusha - begins writing something in her ledger
"I hear you were out for several hours with a client the other night."

Amon - "About four hours.  He paid for almost a day, though.  I know I should have asked your permission, but you weren't here, and he's a very reliable client-"

Manjusha - "It's fine.  He's the only reliable client you have.  Let him bend you night and day, for all I care."

Amon - "I would, if he wanted it."
spoken mostly to himself

Manjusha - "I know I don't have to tell you this Amon, but your numbers are bad.  You had a little over two weeks of steady work when the fleet first docked, but that seems to have died off.  You're back to falling behind on room and board."

Amon - "I'm aware of my situation."

Manjusha - "You know what kind of a position that puts me in, don't you?  The clan is pressuring us to cut costs wherever possible, especially right now, when we're so outnumbered in this district.  The Divine is the lowest producing house amongst our holdings.  And it's because of problems like you."
Amon looks quiet, like he knew this was coming.
"Right now, all you are to us is a cost.  And I don't see your situation improving.  Be honest with me, please."
She levels a look his way
"Do you?"

Amon - "No, madame."
He is silent for a moment.
"You’ve finally decided to sell me, then?"

Manjusha - "I have.  You haven't left me much choice in the matter."
Amon winces, like he knew, but hearing it was still painful.
"And especially with your debt as outstanding as it is after that auction, this is not the place for you, anymore.  I think you know that.  You honestly have a better chance paying off your contract as a laborer now than you will ever have, here."

Amon - "But my back-"

Manjusha - "Life is hardship, jackal.  If you must blame anyone for your situation, don't blame me.  Blame your mother.  I wasn't the one who sold you off to pay my debts."
She steps over to him, and hands him his contract.
"You have two more days here, and then you'll be brought to your new owners.  You have no chance here.  However small a chance at freedom you have with them, it must be better than none. . . no?"

Amon - slowly open his contract, and looks it over
"There's no name written in the margin.  Who am I being sold to?"

Manjusha - "They have asked to remain anonymous."

Amon - suddenly looks concerned
"No.  No, you can't do that.  It's not legal.  I'm entitled to know who I'm being sold to."

Manjusha - "What does it matter?"

Amon - "It matters to me!  This is my life.  You could be selling me to anyone.  You could be selling me to Coros, or the sick degenerate who bought me when I was a child!"

Manjusha - "Lord Rezanu is long dead.  And it isn't Coros."
she looks down, though, and there is obvious guilt in her features

Amon - "Manjusha."
That catches her attention, and she looks over to Amon.
"Who is it?  Please.  Please tell me.  I know you wouldn't be keeping this from me if she didn't tell you to.  But, I need to know."
Manjusha continues to be silent.
"Whatever you tell me, it doesn't leave this room.  I swear it."

Manjusha - ". . . you are being sold. . . to the Cathazra.  Whom in particular, I honestly don't know.  I'm not even certain if they have names, as we do."

Amon - his eyes widen
"The army that followed the Amurescans here?"

Manjusha - "Yes."

Amon - "What do they want with servants?!"

Manjusha - "I honestly do not know. They were unspecific as to which servants.  My mother has just asked us to choose our lowest earners."

Amon - "Haven't you heard what the sailors in port have been saying about them?!  They aren't people, they're beasts.  Monsters.  I've heard they're cannibals!"

Manjusha - "They may honestly just want laborers-"

Amon - "Then they'd ask for laborers!  What buyer willingly takes the worst of the lot, with no preference for profession or skills, unless they have NO use for them?!  They're going to kill us."
He goes silent for a few moments, looking down.
"You. . . know that.  You knew it when you called me in here."

Manjusha - "Neither of us know what they are going to use you for, Amon-"

Amon - "It isn't going to be my charm."
He snarls now, almost looking angry.  But it will die down, fast, to despair.
"Am I really that worthless to you?  I've worked under you for eight years.  I know I'm the dirt you walk on, but I thought at least. . . ."

Manjusha - "Tell me what I should do then, Amon.  Tell me.  Who should take your place?  Every single servant contracted to my clan ultimately belongs to my mother.  If not you, she will take another.  Who should it be?  Your protege?  I could easily claim he has cost this house too much, if I reported to my mother who actually won his auction.  What about 
Iyanee?  She's a low earner, as well-"

Amon - "No.  No one else."
Manjusha - "Then do what good you can on your way out, jackal, and take it like a man.  Your debt wasn't entirely blameless, you know.  You have put yourself in this position as much as your mother did.  And since she is long gone, you have only yourself to blame.  If you'd kept your nose clean, you would have been free a very long time ago, and you and I both know it."
Amon slowly opens his eyes, resolutely.
"It pains me to have to do this, but I have no choice.  Accept it, and hope that these creatures will afford you some chance at life.  You have no other option."

Amon - slowly rolls his contract back up
". . . two days."

Manjusha - "Yes.  If you'd like, I'll release you from all of your obligations until then.  You're free to do as you will with your time."

Amon - "I'll stay here.  I have little else to do."
his expression is strangely blank

Manjusha - "No one else in this House can know.  It would create a panic.  Amon?"
she takes him by the chin
"No one."

Amon - "Yes, madame."