Chapter 645: The brutal reality

He paused at the door.

"Failure would be... unfortunate. For all of us. I trust you understand the consequences of disappointing someone with my connections and resources."

It was a clear threat wrapped in polite language.

Mara bowed deeply.

"Yes, my lord. I understand completely. I will not disappoint you. The mother will be prepared and willing by tomorrow."

"Excellent," the robed figure replied, satisfaction clear in his voice. "I look forward to it."

He moved to the far door, which opened for him automatically, then closed behind him with a soft sound.

For several seconds after his departure, nobody moved.

Then Mara took a huge breath—deep, shuddering, like someone who’d been holding their breath underwater and finally broke the surface. Her shoulders sagged, and she held herself against the table where the three pouches of diamonds sat.

In the pool, Thomas and Sarah had stopped their performance completely. They moved apart from each other, suddenly looking very young and very vulnerable rather than like passionate lovers.

"Is he gone?" Thomas asked quietly, his voice trembling slightly.

"Yes," Mara replied, her own voice shaky. "He’s gone."

Sarah wrapped her arms around herself. "I hate when he watches us. It makes everything feel so... so dirty. Wrong."

"I know, sweetheart," Mara said gently. "I know."

Thomas’s voice became more agitated. "But did you hear what he said? He wants Mother? Our actual mother? Mara, we can’t—you can’t possibly ask her to—"

He couldn’t even finish the sentence; the horror of it was too much to express.

Mara turned away from the table, leaving the diamond pouches there for the moment, and faced the two young people in the pool.

"I don’t know what I’m going to do yet," she admitted. "But that man... he’s not someone we can refuse. He has connections to people in power. People who could shut down this inn, have us all arrested, or worse."

Sarah’s voice was small and frightened. "He scares me, Mara. Every time he comes here, he wants something worse. Something more twisted. First it was just watching us together, and we told ourselves it was fine because we love each other anyway. But now he wants Mother? What will he want next?"

"I don’t know," Mara said quietly. "I honestly don’t know."

Thomas climbed out of the pool and grabbed a towel to cover himself.

"He makes me feel like... like we’re not people. Like we’re just things for him to use. Objects for his entertainment."

He sat on the edge of the pool.

"And the worst part is that we need the money. Mother needs the money. We all do. So we keep doing it, keep degrading ourselves, keep letting that monster watch us while we—"

His voice broke, unable to continue.

Mara moved closer, her expression softening slightly. "I’ll figure something out," she said, though her voice lacked conviction.

Sarah’s voice was small and frightened. "I don’t think we can do what he requires us to do. Involving Mother... that’s too far, Mara. That crosses a line we can’t come back from."

Julian, still concealed in the doorway, saw a flash of irritation cross Mara’s face.

"But you have to," she said, her tone becoming firmer.

Both Thomas’s and Sarah’s heads snapped toward her.

"You won’t force us, right?" Thomas asked, his voice carrying a desperate edge. "Mara, please tell us you won’t actually force us to do this."

Mara’s expression remained carefully neutral. "Never. I would never force you to do anything."

There was a pause, and then her lips curved into something that wasn’t quite a smile.

"And besides, do I need to force you two?"

Both Thomas and Sarah looked confused.

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked warily.

Mara’s tone became more pointed, almost mocking. "Oh, come on. Remember the day I approached you two about this deal? I just said it to you once—that you would have to have sex with one another, and I promised to pay you triple for every performance."

She paused, letting them remember that moment.

"You two agreed within minutes. You wanted this more than I did. So stop acting like you’re both innocent victims being forced into something against your will."

Thomas and Sarah both looked away, their faces red with embarrassment.

"Well..." Sarah started, her voice suddenly defensive, "we loved each other. Way more than siblings should. We were... together in secret for months before you approached us. The feelings were already there."

Mara laughed. "Yes, exactly. And I’m not blaming you for that. Love is love, and desire is desire. I don’t judge what two consenting people do together, even if society says it’s wrong."

She gestured at the diamond pouches on the table.

"And just like I promised, I am paying you. Generously. Far more than you would make doing any other work at this inn. You’ve earned more in six months performing for Kraven than most people earn in five years of honest labor."

Thomas’s jaw clenched, but he didn’t argue. The truth of her words was undeniable.

Mara’s expression became harder. "And besides, let’s not pretend you have many choices here. Your father—who was an alcoholic, by the way—took a loan from one of the banks. Large sum that he gambled away and drank away and pissed away."

Her voice took on a cruel edge.

"He couldn’t pay it back in time. So they killed him. Slit his throat in an alley like the worthless drunk he was. Then they took whatever assets he had in his name—which wasn’t much—and sent all three of you here to this inn to work until you repay all his debt."

Sarah’s eyes filled with tears at the brutal recounting of their father’s death and their current situation.

"You, your brother, and your mother," Mara continued relentlessly. "All are bound to this inn because of that debt. Your mother works in the kitchens sixteen hours a day for pennies. You two work as servants and cleaners for slightly more."