The Cursed Prince

"How huge?" Emmelyn asked again. She was interested to know more. She knew Lyla loved money and when she said 'huge' it must mean really a lot of money. Lyla had seen wealth and had served rich lords and merchants throughout her long career.

So, if it's only 100 gold coins, she wouldn't call it huge.  Just maybe, a lot of money.

"Well, one is 1000 gold coins," Lyla said. "Many bounty hunters were talking about this when they pass by Twig. They drank wine and bought my girls and discussed the hot new job. Everyone seemed to be very excited."

Emmelyn suddenly lost her appetite when she heard the 1000 gold coins. Mrs. Adler was feeling the same unease. They had also heard about this bounty for weeks during their travel.

They could kind of guess what Lyla wanted to say. It must be the bounty set up by Mars to catch Emmelyn.

They were right.

"So, our new king is after a criminal. It was a woman who was accused of murder. And her victim is none other than our beloved queen," Lyla explained. "It should be an easy job, right? They only need to catch a woman. How difficult can it be?"

Emmelyn pretended to nod in agreement. "Yeah."

"I am sure you can do it too," said Lyla. "I have got some information about the target and where people think she is going."

"Really? Then, please, do tell, Lyla dear," said Emmelyn. She kept up her acting and pretended to look interested. "I want to know how I can catch her."

At that moment, Emmelyn felt so heartbroken. She really wanted to cry when she heard about the bounty that her husband set up for her. Fortunately, she had her cup of wine to distract Lyla's attention from her.

Emmelyn just kept sipping her wine nonchalantly, while Lyla excitedly shared with her all the information she had collected from her brothel visitors.

"They found out that she is a former princess from Wintermere, before the kingdom was conquered by our army," Lyla spoke in a very gossipy tone. "She came to the capital to seduce the crown prince, now our king, so she could get closer to the late queen."

Emmelyn secretly clenched her fist under the table. She really wanted to rip anyone's mouth who talked about her that way. However, she couldn't do it to Lyla, because she knew Lyla only talked based on what she had heard.

It was not her fault if Lyla was fed with lies from the royal family. It was all the Strongmoors' fault. Emmelyn shouldn't blame other people who didn't know the real story.

"She wanted to get closer to the queen because...?" Emmelyn asked the question, pretending she was following Lyla's story. "She wanted to get revenge for the fall of Wintermere?"

Lyla nodded affirmatively. "Exactly. She succeeded. I heard that the queen really liked her and let her stay with her in the palace. That's when she took the opportunity to kill Her Majesty."

She wiped tears from her eyes as she continued her story. "Our beloved queen is now dead. So, of course, the king wants her head for killing his mother."

"I see," said Emmelyn. "Where do you think she is going? Do you have any physical description or other details?"

"I do, yeah," Lyla chuckled. "I heard that she is going to Atlantea. That's the land of the free."

Emmelyn furrowed her brows. This was the first time she heard someone talked about Atlantea that way. The land of the free?

"I have been to Atlantea but I don't know people call it the land of the free. Can you explain to me what do you mean by that?" she asked Lyla with interest.

"Well, that's how all criminals and people fleeing wars in Terren call Atlantea. They usually go there to escape punishment or prison here in Draec," said Lyla. "So, it's known among the people of the underworld that Atlantea is the land of the free."

"Oh, now that makes sense." Emmelyn nodded in understanding. Then, she asked again. "How do you know so much, Lyla?" 

Lyla laughed. "Oh, I have to know such a thing. My job here is to absorb information and sell it to the highest bidder. You have no idea how many people came to my brothel and speak loosely after one cup of wine and half-naked girls."

"I can tell," said Emmelyn.

She had seen what Lyla meant. Her women would serve wine to their male clients, wearing almost nothing. In the beginning, Emmelyn was sick to her stomach when she witnessed that.

However, after two days, she became numb and got used to it. She thought woman's gotta do what a woman's gotta do to make a living.

Here, at least they kept some of the money to themselves, unlike in many other brothels owned by men where the girls were sold to prostitution by their parents or family members to pay debts.

Those women would be trapped in such a profession for at least ten years before they could earn a little bit of money after their parents' debt was paid.

It was different with Lyla. As a former prostitute sold to a brothel by her wicked aunt, she understood the pain experienced by her girls.

She made a good agreement with her sex workers. They could keep thirty percent of their income, while the rest would be paid toward their lodging, family debts, and Lyla's cut.

It was a much better deal than anywhere else in Terren or even in Atlantea. That's why her workers were loyal and they did their work well.

When they got wind of the bounties, they also took the initiative to tell her about this new secret bounty that only people in the underground knew about.

Lyla had been pondering for days how she could get some of the money from the bounty, but she had not decided on which bounty hunter she would cooperate with.

She had so much information about the target and she was certain that she could at least point the bounty hunter in the right direction to earn that money.

Lyla thought it must be fate, when suddenly Anna told her that Lestat Sovie came.

"I know a lot, dear Lestat," Lyla said with a big smile. "And I want to work together with you to get the money. We can get 51,000 gold coins in total if we collaborate. I will be your eyes and you will be my feet. You can even buy a kingdom with it and rule like a king."

"Eh?" Emmelyn thought she misheard. "You mean 1,000 gold coins."

"Well, that is the first bounty," Lyla chuckled. "There is another one. The reward is 50,000 gold coins. Much better than what the king offered."

"There is another one?" Emmelyn and Mrs. Adler exchanged glances. "I have never heard of this."

"Yeah, because it's a secret only people in the underworld know." Lyla poured more wine into their cups. She was happy to see Emmelyn looking dumbfounded. 

Fifty thousand gold coin reward was no joke.

"Is this for the same woman?" Emmelyn asked.

"Yes," said Lyla. "We just need to catch this woman and collect both rewards."

"Who is the second reward from?" Emmelyn asked. Now, she became curious.