'Y-yes?' she stuttered, trying to get her heart down out of her throat.
'It's Maddie,' said a muffled voice. 'Lana sent me after your dishes.'
'Oh-come in,' she said, standing up in confusion, as the door opened, revealing the serving-girl who'd told her the way to the kitchen. With her neat brown skirt and bodice and apron over all, she looked as tidy as Rune felt untidy. Rune flushed. 'I'm sorry, I meant to take them down-I didn't mean to be any trouble-'
The girl laughed, and shook her head until her light brown hair started to come loose from the knot at the back of her neck. 'It's no bother,' she replied. 'Really. There's hardly anyone downstairs yet, and I wanted a chance to give you a proper hello. You're Rune, right? The new musician? Carly thought you were a boy-she is going to be so mad!'
Rune nodded apprehensively. The girl seemed friendly enough-she had a wonderful smile and a host of freckles sprinkled across her nose that made her look like a freckled kitten. She looked as if she could have been one of the village girls from home.
Which was the root of Rune's apprehension. Those girls from home hadn't ever been exactly friendly. And now this girl had been put out of her way to come get the dishes, and had informed her that the other serving-girl was going to be annoyed when she discovered the musician wasn't the male she had thought.
'Well, I'm Maddie,' the girl said comfortably, picking up the tray, but seeming in no great hurry to leave with it. 'I expect we'll probably be pretty good friends-and I expect that Carly will probably hate you. She's the other server, the blond, the one as has the sharp eyes and nose. She hates everyone-every girl, anyway. But she's Parro's daughter, so Lady Amber puts up with her.'
'What's Carly's problem?' Rune asked, putting her sewing down.
'She wants to work upstairs,' Maddie said with a twist of her mouth. 'And there's no way. She's not nowhere good enough. Or nice enough.' Maddie shrugged, at least as much as the tray in her arms permitted. 'She'll probably either marry some fool and nag him to death, or end up down the street at the Stallion or the Velvet Rope. There's men enough around that'll pay to be punished that she'd be right at home.'
Rune found her mouth sagging open at Maddie's matter-of-fact assessment of the situation. And at what she'd hinted. Back at home-
Well, she wasn't back at home.
She found herself blushing, and Maddie giggled. 'Best learn the truth, Rune, and learn to live with it. We're on Flower Street, and that's the whore's district. There's men that'll pay for whores to do weirder things than just nag or beat 'em, but that doesn't happen here. But this's a whorehouse, whatever else them 'nice' people call it; the ladies upstairs belong to the Whore's Guild, and they got the right to make a living like any other Guild. Got Crown protection and all.'
Rune's mouth sagged open further. 'They-do?' she managed.
'Surely,' Maddie said, with a firm nod. 'I know, 'tis a bit much at first. Me, my momma was a laundry-woman down at Knife's Edge, so I seen plenty growing up. . . . and let me tell you, I was right glad to get a job here instead of there! But young Shawm, he's straight from the country like you, and Carly made his life a pure misery until me and Arden and Lana took him in hand and got him used to the way things is. Like we're gonna do with you.'
Rune managed a smile. 'Thanks, Maddie,' she said weakly, still a little in shock at the girl's frankness. 'I probably seem like a real country-cousin to you-'
Maddie shook her head cheerfully. 'Nay. Most of the people here in town think just like you-fact is, Amber's had a bit of a problem getting a good musicker because of that. Whoring is a job, lass, like any other. Whore sells something she can do, just like a cook or a musicker. Try thinking on it that way, and things'll come easier.' She tilted her head to one side, as Rune tried not to feel too much a fool. At the moment, she felt as naive as a tiny child, and Maddie, though she probably wasn't more than a year older, seemed worlds more experienced.
'I got to go,' the other girl said, hefting the tray a little higher. 'Tell you what, though, if you got clothes what need washing, you can give 'em to me and I'll take 'em to Momma with Lana and Shawm's and mine tonight. 'Twon't cost you nothing; Momma does it 'cause Lana gives her what's left over. Lady Amber don't allow no leftovers being given to our custom.'
'Oh-thank you!' Rune said, taken quite aback. 'But are you sure?'
Maddie nodded. 'Sure as sure-and sure I won't never do the same for Carly!' She winked, and Rune stifled a giggle, feeling a sudden kinship with the girl. 'I'll come by in the morning and you can help me carry it all down to Momma, eh?'
Rune laughed. 'Oh, I see! This way you get somebody to help you carry things!'
Maddie grinned. 'Sure thing, and I don't want to ask Shawm. I got other things I'd druther ask him to do.'
Rune grinned a little wider-and dared to tease her a little. 'Maddie, are you sweet on Shawm?'
To her surprise, the girl blushed a brilliant scarlet, and mumbled something that sounded like an affirmative.
Rune could hardly believe Maddie's sudden shyness-this from the girl who had just spoke about being brought up in a whorehouse with the same matter-of-factness that Rune would have used in talking about her childhood at the Hungry Bear. 'Well, don't worry,' she said impulsively, 'I won't tell him or Carly. If that's what you want.'
Maddie grinned gratefully, still scarlet. 'Thanks. I knew you were a good'un,' she said. 'Now I really do have to go. The custom's gonna start coming in right soon, and Shawm's down there by himself.'
'I'll see you down there in a little bit,' Rune replied. 'And if you can think of anything you'd like to hear, let me know. If I don't know it, I bet Tonno does, and I can learn it from him.'
'Thanks!' Maddie said with obvious surprise. 'Hey-you know, 'Ratcatcher'? I really like that song, and I don't get to hear it very often.'
'I sure do!' Rune replied, happy to be able to do something for Maddie right away in return for the girl's kindness. 'I'll play it a couple times tonight, and if you think of anything else, tell me.'
'Right-oh!' Maddie said, and turned to go. Rune held the door open for her, then trotted down to the end of the hall to hold open the door to the stairway as well.
She returned to put the last touches on her costume for tonight and get Lady Rose in tune, feeling more than a little happy about the outcome of the day so far. She'd gotten her first lesson, a permanent busking site with some extra benefits, acquired the first 'new' clothing she'd had in a while, been warned about an enemy-
And found a friend. That was the most surprising, and perhaps the best part of the day. She'd been half expecting animosity from the other girls-but she was used to that. She'd never expected to find one of them an ally.
She slipped into her new garb and laced the vest tight, flattening her chest-what there was of it-and looking down at herself critically. Neat, well-dressed-and not even remotely feminine looking. That would do.
Time to go earn her keep. She grinned at the thought. Time to go earn my keep. At a house of pleasure. With my fiddle. And my teacher thinks I'm going to be good. Go stick that in your cup and drink it, Westhaven.
And she descended the front stairs with a heady feeling of accomplishment.
CHAPTER NINE
'I can't imagine what Lady Amber thinks she's doing, hiring that scruffy little catgut-scraper,' Carly said irritably-and very audibly-to one of the customers, just as Rune finished a song. 'I should think she'd drive people away. She gives me a headache.'
Rune bit her tongue and held her peace, and simply smiled at Carly as if she hadn't been meant to overhear that last, then flexed her fingers to loosen them.
Bitch. She'd fit right in at Westhaven. Right alongside those other sanctimonious idiots.
'I think it's very pleasant,' the young man said in mild surprise. He looked over to Rune's corner and lifted a finger. 'Lass, you wouldn't know 'Song of the Swan,' would you?'
'I surely would, my lord,' she said quickly, and began the piece before Carly could react, keeping her own expression absolutely neutral. No point in giving the scold any more ammunition than she already had. Rune got along fine with everyone else in the house; it was only Carly who was intent on plaguing her life. Why, she didn't know, but it was no use taking tales to Lady Amber; Amber would simply fix her with a chiding look, and ask her if it was really so difficult to get along with one girl.
The young man looked gratified at being called 'my lord'; Amber had told her to always call men 'my lord' and the few women who frequented the place 'my lady.' 'It does no harm,' Amber had said with a lifted eyebrow, 'and if
