The Prostitute Princess

*Contains references to prostitution*



Kyla marched toward town, fists clenched. If humans could visibly steam from pent-up heat, she was pretty sure she was. She was so fed-up with her parents treating her like a child - especially her mother! She knew her mother had started sailing when she was 14, like her - she had been all over the place, seen so many things, met so many people! - And yet she acted as if Kyla would instantly vaporize into thin air if she stepped off this tiny island. 

Approaching the main street, she stopped and inhaled deeply, hands on her hips. What now? Where did she want to work? Who would hire her? She wasn't opposed to labor, but with her good looks and charm, she knew she'd be better at dealing with people. Her eyes scanned the various establishments...bakery, butcher, mercantile, haberdashery - a sudden noise adverted her eyes to the tavern - where she watched a laughing man stumble down the steps as a beautiful woman waved at him from the door. The man turned around, tossed her a coin, blew her a kiss, and was on his way. 

Perfect. 

-At the Tavern-

Tabitha finished lacing up her bodice, then looked in the mirror and fluffed her hair, adjusting a few curls around her face. Viewing her pale complexion, she picked up her rouge and dusted her cheeks and nose. 

“No need fer that, dawlin’”, the half-naked man on the bed grumbled. “Yer pretty jest the way ye are.” 

“Hmm,” Tabitha answered with smile. She picked up the man’s pants off the floor and tossed them at him. “That’ll be five pence, Richard.” 

Richard made a growling noise as he pulled his pants on. “I keep telling ya girl, ye need te stop being so businessy. Ye need to relax and talk more.” 

Tabitha shot him a look over her shoulder. “I’ll do that when you pay more.”

Richard growled again, tossed her payment on the bed, and left. 

Tabitha exhaled, glad the night was over. She collected the money, made the bed, tidied up the room, and locked the door behind her. She made her way down the hall, past the other prostitutes locking up their rooms and men being kicked out until the next night. She walked down the stairs, across the bar, and was almost out the side door when a flash of bright blonde hair caught her eye. She turned her head, and her heart caught in her throat. 

Reyanna – one of her fellow prostitutes and also a waitress – was standing at the far corner of the bar, talking to a girl – a young girl – a young girl that was the spitting image of herself. 

Reyanna must have felt her gaze, for she looked over at Tabitha – then looked back at the girl – then back at Tabitha. 

Tabitha panicked and darted out the door. She scurried across the alley way, through the back door of the Inn, and burst into her room. 

Charlie, her best friend and traveling companion, jumped from his reclined position on the bed and released a few expletives at her sudden entrance. 

"My sister is here!" Tabitha exclaimed, breathless. 

"Your sis-she is? How? Where?" Charlie sputtered, unable to form a coherent word amidst the jumble of thoughts in his mind. He had been helping Tabitha search for her sister for five years now - the thought of the search being over was almost incomprehensible. 

"At the tavern," Tabitha answered, still standing in the door way. "Well, she's not, but a girl is -" 

"A girl?" 

"Yes - a young girl that looks just like me!"

Charlie cocked his head, failing to connect the dots. 

"If there's a girl that looks just like me, that must mean she is my sister's daughter! What are the odds that a teenage girl could look just like me?!" 

Charlie considered the statistics, but decided against playing Devils advocate. 

"So what do you want to do about it?" he asked. 

"We need to go search for her! Ask around!"

"What exactly are we -" Charlie began to ask, but Tabitha was already pulling him out the door. 

-At the Castle-

"We need to form a search party!" Rachel busted into the dining room, the door banging back against the wall, causing Charlotte to startle and spill her coffee. 

"Goodness gracious child!" she exclaimed, grabbing a napkin to wipe up the mess. "Good morning to you too. Why in the world do we need to form a search party?" 

"Kyla and I got into a fight last night and this morning she wasn't in her bed," Rachel explained to her queen. 

Charlotte resisted rolling her eyes. Rachel fighting with her insolent daughter was not news these days. Nor was Kyla disappearing, really. 

"Why do we need to search for her this time?" 

"Because I'm pretty sure she's been seeing a Rynaari boy and this time she threatened to get on a ship and leave the island."

Charlotte sipped her coffee, taking these things into account. The Rynaari were a group of rough-around-the-edges people that lived in the Rainbow Woods. And there was a ship scheduled for today. It wouldn't be difficult for Kyla to use her good looks and sharp wit to get on board without paid passage. 

"All right," Charlotte set down her cup and stood up. "I'll organize a party. We'll depart in one hour." 

"Thank you!" Rachel exclaimed and ran out the door to inform her husband. 

-At the Tavern-

“This is where we keep all the extra glassware,” Reyanna explained to Kyla, opening a door that led into a large closet lined with shelves. “Quite a bit can get broken on the weekend. If someone is being ‘specially rowdy, feel free to give ‘em a wooden cup – those are over there. Next I’ll show ya where –” A loud crash interrupted their training and drew their attention to the front door – Kyla gasped and backed into the closet.

“What the hell?” Reyanna asked. 

“That’s my mother!” Kyla hissed. “She can’t know I work here!”

“Ah – yer one of those girls, eh?” Reyanna cocked an eyebrow. “Naughty, naughty…”

“Reyanna, please, before she sees me! Where can I hide?” 

“I’m just teasing,” Reyanna stepped into the closet and closed the door. “You’re not the only one, princess. Step aside.”

Kyla moved as Reyanna reached down and threw aside the rug – underneath was a trap door. She – with much practice – pulled open the door and ushered Kyla into the surprisingly large cavern. “I’ll come get ya as soon as they’re gone,” she promised, and shut the door. She quickly replaced the rug and started gathering some glasses in her arms, just as she heard footsteps and yelling coming her way. 

"Miss, have you -" The man's words caught in his throat when Reyanna turned to face him. He stared at her with eyes an interesting mix of dark green and grey; a smattering of light freckles graced his cheeks, and his high cheek bones were framed by disheveled warm brown hair. 

"Can I help you?" Reyanna asked, scooting past him to deposit the glasses on the bar. 

"Ye..um-yes," the man stammered as he followed her. "I'm from the castle, and we're looking for a young girl by the name of Kyla - she's about ye high," he motioned with his hand, "and has wavy blond hair."

"Why do you think she's in here?" Reyanna asked, amused at the young man's obvious bewilderment. 

"Because she's very pretty - I mean, not as pretty as you - but pretty for, ya know, a girl." 

Reyanna grinned at the man stumbling over his words, causing him to blush and run his fingers through his hair. 

"I should go," he said, taking a few steps backwards, "but I would like to see you again. I'll be back - to ask you on a date." And with that he turned and left, almost colliding with one of the waitresses. Reyanna giggled, amused at how cute and innocent he was, and wondering if he knew how brothels worked. Then - unexpectantly, he turned around and came back to her. "On second thought," he grabbed her hand. "You should just come with me right now. I will pay for your time. I want to escort you to the ball tomorrow night. But first, I want to introduce you to my family." 

Reyanna didn't have time to respond before the young man pulled her towards the bar to negotiate her price. 

- At the Castle - 

"I just don't know where else she could be!" Rachel cried to Charlotte and Kurtis. They had spent the entire day searching the entire island. 

"Did you have a team searching Elvira?" Kurtis asked about their land to the east. 

"Yes! Even the caves," Rachel exclaimed. 

"And you checked today's ship?" Charlotte asked. 

"I boarded it myself," Royce answered. 

"What about -" they were interrupted by a sudden commotion at the gate. Nick, being his usual ostentatious self, spread his arms wide with flourish as he approached them. 

"My good king and queen, my friends Rachel and Royce, I would like to present to you Miss Reyanna, my new girlfriend," he announced as he bowed and swept his arm toward Reyanna. 

The five of them stood wide-eyed and slack-jawed - Reyanna not at Nick's bold label of proprietorship - but at the woman standing directly in front of her. She was another version of the young girl Reyanna had been training that day....and of Tabitha, her fellow prostitute. 

"There's something weird going on here..." Reyanna commented, without taking her eyes from Rachel.

"You don't say," the man next to her muttered. 

Reyanna ignored his comment, pointing her finger at the tall redhead. "You look just like this young girl I was training today, and..."

The prostitute said something else, but Rachel didn't hear it. A faint buzzing noise filled her ears, her vision narrowed. She felt her temperature rise as she clenched her fists and turned toward the gate. 

She was completely unaware of anyone following her as she marched toward the tavern, unware of them yelling her name, arguing with each other, prodding the prostitute for more answers, chastising Nick for thinking he could court a prostitute. 

Without hesitation, she bound up the steps of the tavern, burst through the door, and stopped, unprepared for the sudden dimness. Thankfully, her eyes adjusted quickly enough to make out the blur of blonde curls scurrying away from her. In a few bounds, she had a fistful of Kyla's hair and yanked her backward. The girl yelped, causing her new Matron to step forward. 

"She's my daughter!" Rachel spat before the woman could contest her, and pulled Kyla toward the door, then shoved her through it. 

"The first thing I'm going to do is find that young girl and ask her who her mother is," Tabitha explained as they walked toward the tavern. 

"And you think a young, aspiring prostitute is going to share that information?" Charlie asked. "She probably doesn't have a mother. Isn't that why most girls become prostitutes?" 

"Yes, in most cases, but-" Tabitha was cut off as the young girl in question came stumbling through the tavern doors and down the steps, colliding with Tabitha. 

"My goodness!" Tabitha exclaimed, grabbing the girl by the shoulders to right her. "Are you all right?"

"How dare you -" The loud motherly voice halted at the precise moment Tabitha looked up and they locked eyes. 

The woman was tall and shapely, with high cheekbones, full lips, dark blue eyes and long, thick, curly red hair. 

The girl in her arms featured the same eyes, lips, and hair texture - but blonde, like hers. Her eyes darted back up to the woman, back to the girl, back to the woman. 

"Rachel?" she squeaked. 

"Tabby?" the woman responded in a whisper, tears welling up in her eyes. 

Tabitha released the girl and stepped toward Rachel; Rachel took a haggard step toward Tabitha, forgetting there were stairs, and nearly collapsed in her arms. 

"I searched for you for so long!" Rachel sobbed, holding her sister tight. 

"I've been searching for you too!" Tabitha cried, tears streaming down her cheeks. 

"I'm so glad you're alive! I can't believe it!" 

From a few feet away, Kurtis, Charlotte, Royce, Nick, Reyanna, Charlie and Kyla watched the emotional reunion. 

After a few moments, Charlie turned his attention to his fellow onlookers. He recognized Reyanna as a prostitute, but the rest of the crew were donned in very ornate garb - layers of rich velvet and lace and fine embroidery - fine enough that it appeared....royal. 

"Are....are you....are you royalty?" he asked the young man standing closest to him, the one with his arm around Reyanna. 

"Why yes I am," the man answered with a cocky smile. "I am Sir Nicholas, prince of Rose Gem Island." 

Charlie's eyes grew wide. "And are those your parents?" 

"These are my aunt Charlotte and uncle Kurtis, the king and queen." 

Charlie felt the blood drain from his face. "Does that mean Tabitha's sister is royalty?" 

"By association," Kurtis chimed in, having overheard the conversation. Charlie cocked his head in confusion. "It's a long story."

Nick grinned at Charlie again. "Not expecting your prostitute girlfriend to be the sister of an honorary princess?" 

"I...um...I've seen a lot of crazy things, but...no....I did not see that one coming." 

"Neither did we," Kurtis answered with a chuckle.