Madame Swan
(Swords with Souls)
Cover by Darren Joy
Dark Fantasy Fiction
(Adult content)
The only thing keeping the brothel going was that patrons know the girls are experts in the art of pleasure. Before she took over the brothel, the original madame made it clear any man with a phallus that was warty, discolored, or had any other sign of sickness, would be turned away. Madame Raven, so named for her beady eyes, suspicious demeanor, and slick black hair had her two sons work as sentries. Rumours said that their father was a nobleman, and would not claim his bastard sons but paid for their training and weapons.
She smiles at the memory. Devon and Hank’s sons, Carl and Richard, were now her sentries. It was Devon and Hank who gave her the moniker Madame Swan. It started when she lay with one or the other. Devon first called her Lady Swan but that name would be an afront to the nobility, so she told him not to. Stroking her bare thigh, he had whispered with a knowing smile, ‘My Swan. Tall and sensuous.’ He must have told his brother for Hank started calling her ‘My Swan’ as well. Every time one of them said it to her it made her giggle shyly. Once she took over the brothel from the failing Madame Raven, both brothers started calling her Madame Swan.
She glances down at the wooden board she uses as a ledger. Taking up a piece of chalk she draws a penis and beside the image writes ten X’s side-by-side. Underneath, she draws the image of a lamb with a capital C beside it. A hundred lambskin condoms should be enough for a fortnight. She would also need Queen Anne’s Lace for the girls who didn’t like the feel of the condoms or the patrons who wouldn’t wear them but promised to pull out. Since the population was decimated by the plague aborting a pregnancy was punishable by death.
Places of worship were being used now for schools to teach children how to read and write along with addition and subtraction. She wishes she could have gone to a school. However, she also heard the main function of the school was to indoctrinate the students. Every day, before they started school they were to chant: “The King is great; the King is noble; the noblest of all. The King is wise; the wisest of all. We must obey the King; we want to obey the King; the King is our salvation from all that is vile.” She had covered her face with her hands as she rolled her eyes after one of the patrons told her. It was important to never outwardly show disrespect to the nobility, especially the king.
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