Page 5 of A Curvy Girl for the Prince
But again, Nerilda notices and barks out another, “Stop!”
I smile wanly over my shoulder.
“Oh, I best be going,” I say in a tremulous tone. “I’m wanted at the palace. I’m sure they’re going to call a search party at any minute.”
The madame rolls her eyes.
“You can’t be that important if you were able to come all the way out to Old Town to return a pair of panties,” she snorts with disdain. Then, her gaze grows crafty, those green eyes narrowing into slits. “What did you say you did at the palace again?”
“I’m a maid,” I reply quickly. “I mean, a lady in waiting.”
Both Nerilda and Lily stare at me.
“So which is it?” the flame-haired woman demands.
“A maid,” I fib, not wanting to give too much away. “A nobody. Seriously, my manager doesn’t even recognize me most days, I’m so unimportant.”
Nerilda’s look becomes calculating.
“Well then, that could be an asset,” she hums. She looks me up and down, taking in my bountiful breasts, narrow waist, and wide hips. “Your hair is ugly, and your make-up is all wrong, but then again, youarea maid,” she muses to herself, still checking me out. “Are you a virgin?” she asks in an abrupt voice.
I gasp.
“What kind of question is that?”
The madame doesn’t look offended at all.
“The kind that could make you very rich, that’s what. Like I mentioned, Haakon has been using my service for a few months now. The Crown Prince wants virgins, as you’ve overheard, and orders them on a monthly basis. I call it, ‘The Virgin Sacrifice.’”
I gasp again, hardly believing my ears.
“Really? The Crown Prince pays money for you to send over a girl every month who’s a virgin?” I manage in a steady voice. “Isn’t there a rule against that somewhere?”
Nerilda shrugs.
“There are no rules. This is Haakon Wolfson we’re talking about, and he can do whatever he wants. Besides, what’s going to happen if people find out? Will they de-throne him? Take away his royal title? Force him to abdicate? Let’s get real,” Nerilda continues in a snide tone. “If anything, this is what people expect of a virile, vigorous ruler. They want a man who’s a man, and not some dimwit with limp wrists.”
I stare.
“So people know that he uses whores.”
“People don’tknowknow,” Nerilda clarifies. “But I daresay I’m not the only whorehouse providing girls to Haakon. Our prince is voracious,” she says with a wide smile, flashing big white teeth. “Utterly insatiable, from what I hear, and a beast in bed too.”
I go still.
“And you wantmeto be that sacrifice?”
Nerilda shrugs.
“If you’re a virgin, then why not? Of course, I’ll make it worth your while. A hundred gold coins for your trouble.”
“Hey, I only got fifty!” Lily squeals from her place. “That’s not fair!”
“You’re not getting anything, idiot,” Nerilda snaps. “You failed, and now I have to scramble for a substitute. So what do you say, Martha?” she asks, turning back to me with an obsequious smile. “One hundred gold coins for your trouble? Provided youarea virgin, of course. Haakon always knows.”
I want to decline her offer. I want to turn on my heel and flounce away with my pride intact because I’m not a tramp, and I’m certainly not a working girl. Yet the proposition shimmers in the air, beckoning with invitation. After all, one hundred gold coins is real money in our country. Each coin is probably the equivalent of fifty dollars at melt value, which means I’d earn five thousand dollars for one encounter with the handsome prince.
Yet how can I even consider this? I know my parents want me to marry up in life. Even if we’re struggling to stay in the middle class, they think I have potential. Gerald and Maria want me to wed one of their banker friends’ sons, or maybe the son of our neighbors, the insufferable Joneses, who recently purchased that huge estate in the country. But if anyone ever finds out that I serviced Haakon, then the marriage door will immediately slam shut.