Desert rose

In the evening the tavern was usually swamped with all kinds of people. Drunkards, knights, guards and all the other common folk. They were all trying to enjoy their free time in the company of others. And for ladies like herself, there was a lot of money to be earned from people who wanted a bit more attention than simply having a conversation with someone. The clothes she was wearing said enough about what she was, because she didn’t want to make it hard to guess. That way, she would earn nothing.

The dress she wore showed some parts of her bodily figure just right, and it made her look very attractive, even if her face was doing most of the work. Her green eyes watched many of the men around tables, having drinks while some of them had already women on their laps. But then there was also a man who had been able to catch her attention for a bit longer, because he looked very different from the others. He had white hair and broad shoulders, and somehow, it didn’t look like he was fully enjoying himself.

Gracefully Arlyana began to move slower to him, moving her hips in a slightly seductive way. ”How is it that someone like you is not enjoying his evening?” She asked, her green eyes looking at him with a hint of kindness hidden behind them. ”Can I offer you a drink?” She then asked him, almost handing him the cup with mede she had been having in her hand the whole time.

Some of the girls inside the tavern were a bit more desperate for making money than others, given that they were taking the hand of any drunkard who was willing to spend some coin on them. Most of them were way too beautiful for those men, but Arlyana usually wasn’t as eager to spend her time on a man who wouldn't be able to give her something back in return. Not that she wouldn’t do it, but she still liked to pick her victims a bit more wisely, certainly on busy nights like this one. And besides, she was very confident in her own capabilities to charm almost every man, even if they posed somewhat of a challenge.

Sometimes she would eventually get disappointed, most of the time actually, but this man didn’t look like he would. She was rather quickly drawn to his brawny posture, his dirty looks and his handsome but brooding face while he was sitting there, looking a bit out of place. Honestly, maybe that was something they had in common, since Arlyana was very well aware of the fact that she didn’t belong here either. Deep down, her heart longed to be somewhere else, but she had lost most of her fighting spirit to get out.

As she placed herself next to his table, moving her hip a bit against it in a sensual way, he softly hummed before taking the cup of mede from her. Her lightly colored green eyes kept looking at him with a mysterious look while he thanked her, and she softly nodded. When he asked what made her think that he wasn’t enjoying herself, she smiled and sat down on the chair across from him, instead of taking a place on his lap like every other girl here did. ”Eyes rarely lie.” She told him while she had locked eyes with his amber eyes. The same could be said about her own eyes that now showed just how much she was out of place. Showing more depth in them than any other woman in her occupation ever did.

This wasn’t the only tavern in the city that offered girls for company, for there were many of them. Mainly because taverns were often visited by men, and the women were smart enough to find them in those places. However, there was ofcourse a difference in the quality of women from each tavern, and this one was known to have some of the most beautiful women. So, if that had been something he had been looking for, he had come to the right place.

However, from the moment Arlyana started following the broad man with the white hair, he had not seemed very interested in many of the girls walking around. Some of them left little to nothing to the imagination, whereas Arlyana still had at least some parts of her body covered. Because she was not as desperate as the other girls. But still, her clothes very much showed what she was. So did her face, even if she seemed much less interested in having coins slit down her cleavage than the others. The man frowned softly after her words, saying they were true after which he mentioned his boredom probably didn’t matter much to her. ”On the contrary, I believe it interests me.” She spoke back to him, her green eyes still looking at him, not afraid to make eye contact. Boredom was often easily solved by some company, and she didn’t mind giving him her company because he interested her.

To his next words she softly laughed, leaning a bit back into her chair, trying to tone down her own seductive attitude, because that wasn’t going to work on him. ”You men always think we only want to earn coin.” She said, making it seem like that wasn’t the case here. No, women had other needs as well. And sometimes, they did like the company of a man who wasn’t only interested in what was in between their legs..

Arlyana had always been more interested in the quiet men, the ones who came into the tavern and sat down in a corner, waiting for something to happen instead of simply taking whatever they came for. The ones who had a sense of loneliness around them, or possibly a sense of mystery. Maybe with a bit more dignity and respect for women as well.. However, it wasn’t every day that she got the chance to talk to one of them, but every once in a while, someone came in who managed to capture that interest. And then she wasn’t going to let the opportunity go to waste.

From the outside, Arlyana looked just like any other tavern wench, but her eyes betrayed her. They showed a slightly more romantic soul, and maybe even a spark of loneliness as well. One that perfectly matched those of the lonesome men who came into the tavern looking for a bit of company. ”Because that makes it easier for me to offer you my company.” She smiled, telling her the truth of why his boredom had interested her. Because if he had anything else to do, he probably would not have picked up a conversation with her. It was but a very simple reason, if she said so herself. Not hiding a whole lot of other meanings.

”Not really, but we are also just simple human beings.” She told him, giving him a soft smile. And with ‘we’, she surely meant the woman in the tavern trying to earn money from men. It was only now that it became very clear that she wasn’t looking for him to pay her, unless, ofcourse, he was absolutely willing to give himself to her out of his own intentions. But she was not going to force him to do anything.

Arlyana did not mind a man saying ‘no’ to her, if anything, that made them more interesting. Because he could have anyone in the room, quite willingly even, given his looks, but still he decided not to waste his time. Not that Arlyana called it a waste of time, because for her, it was strictly business. But for men it usually was. Besides that, she did actually respect the fact that he was setting boundaries, and she would try her best not to cross any of them. If only men thought like that a bit more, she knew the world would be a better place.

Ofcourse, it would become a different matter if he chose to cross his own border, without her help. But for now, she could enjoy a simple conversation. In which he said he would try to entertain her. ”Oh, well does that mean I have to pay you instead?” She asked him with a smile, clearly making a joke. Though, on the other hand, she would certainly not mind if that was the case, because the women in these places didn’t usually get much in return. It was usually only a one way door where they were mainly the givers, but rarely the takers. ”Then I doubt you know what interests me.” She remarked on his words, still giving him that stubborn look in her eyes. Definitely showing interest in him, despite his words.

When he told her he never said they weren’t she tried to find a quick response to his words, but she couldn’t find it. Opening her mouth for a moment before closing it, and thinking about it for another second. ”Alright, fair.” She told him, taking a deep breath as she looked down before looking back into strange eyes. ”You didn’t say that.. But you already warned me this conversation wasn’t going to earn me some coin.” She continued, still looking at him with those curious green eyes. ”And yet, I am still here.” Which meant that she wasn’t just interested in making money.

”Arlyana,” She eventually answered when he asked for her name, after which she softly tilted her head a little. ”What’s yours?” If he was allowed to know her name, she was certainly allowed to know his as well, right?