Casket of Souls

exclaimed, slapping down a counter and capturing two of Alec’s pieces. “That enviable Aurënfaie youth. If I didn’t know better, Lord Alec, I’d say you had a touch of that bloodyourself. You have something of that look about you. But you’re from Mycena, aren’t you?”
    “Yes, I am. But there are rumors of mixed blood,” Alec explained, as he always did when the subject came up. “My family was in trade and traveled in the south.”
    “Ah. Well, it suits you. Don’t you think so, Seregil?” The man gave him a wink.
    “I do, indeed.” Seregil slid one of his coursers into place to block Selin’s serpent.
    “Then it is true, what they say of you two?”
    Seregil glanced up with a slightly crooked grin. “More than likely, whatever it is. Do you know Alaya well?”
    “Oh, yes, I attend her salons. You should join us. I’m sure she’d be glad of your company, with her taste for handsome young fellows. You’ll be expected to provide some sort of entertainment your first time, however, and you will be judged accordingly.”
    Seregil smiled to himself. He knew just the “entertainment” to bring.
    They played for several hours, with the money washing back and forth between the two pairs, then went to the card tables to try their luck at Hawk and Hunter. Seregil won mercilessly there, and the other players finally gave up and departed.
    “That was thirsty work,” said Selin. “Where shall we go to drink at this hour?”
    “I know a very welcoming establishment,” said Seregil.
    They all piled into the duke’s carriage and Seregil directed the driver to Eirual’s house just down the street, where a pink lantern glowed invitingly over the door.
    “Your Grace, my lords, come in!” the doorman, Manius, said, ushering them in at once. “I will inform the mistress that you are here.”
    The lavish reception hall was filled with courtesans and their patrons for the night. Beautiful women of every description lounged around the room in silk gowns and jewels fit for any lady, entertaining their partner or partners for the evening. In a pink-lantern house, all the patrons were men.The other three colors, white, blue, and green, signaled other combinations. Alec had once unwittingly stumbled in under a green lantern and found himself surrounded by male courtesans intent on entertaining him, much to Seregil’s amusement.
    It was an elegant room, and rather exotic, reflecting the owner’s taste. Tapestries covered the walls, rather than murals, giving the room a warmer atmosphere in spite of the size, and displaying lush but tasteful scenes of carnal pleasures. The incense scenting the room was musky and sensual. At the far end of the room, a blond girl was plucking a lute, accompanying Myrhichia as she sang a love song.
    Manius disappeared up the sweeping gilded staircase at the back of the room, returning a moment later with word that Eirual was still receiving visitors.
    They found her in her broad, silk-hung bed. The explicitly erotic murals that covered the walls seemed to stir with a life of their own in the light of dozens of fine beeswax tapers.
    As was the custom in this particular street, and in some of the finer houses on Golden Helm and Silvermoon, too, if truth be told, she held her evening salons from her bed, where she sat propped up against lavish silken bolsters, clad in an embroidered velvet dressing gown, the front of the lacy nightgown beneath it open to reveal her breasts. Several of her courtesans were there as well in similar dishabille, and there were half a dozen male guests already in attendance, Duke Malthus among them, talking and laughing over their wine and sweetmeats.
    “Seregil, my love! And the handsome Alec!” Eirual greeted them gaily. “And you’ve brought friends. Duke Reltheus, it’s so good to see you. And this handsome young man.” She gave Selin a twinkling smile. “Didn’t I see you at Alec’s party?”
    “Yes, mistress,” Selin managed, looking a little flustered. Seats were found for the newcomers, and wine was poured.
    Reltheus sipped his and nodded. “Even in these times, you still serve excellent wine, my dear. How ever do you manage it?”
    “Oh, I have my ways,” she told him. She turned to Alecwith a roguish pout. “What brings you here tonight? I’m sure it’s not to seek my custom.”
    “Your company, of course, dear lady,” he replied.
    Eirual laughed and turned to Reltheus. “I had no idea you knew this pair of