"It's a lot," Hale admitted, watching me stare around the room in awe. "Titiana paid for it all. I guess it's needed … rich customers expect … you know … " He laughed a little guiltily as I made my way to the bed. "Ah … I suppose I am a little behind on my washing. Sorry."
"It's alright," I said grimly. I was used to getting stains out by now.
I realized it sounded like I was being short with him. What was I to say, though? Did he expect for me to talk to him as if we were old friends?
Hale was very different as a man, I thought, as I stripped the soft silk sheets off the bed, struggling a little with the corners as I always did. Quieter, but more intimidating at the same time. He watched me for a few moments, not saying a word, and then went and sat down at the vanity.
"I have another customer coming today," he said, picking up a brush and expertly mixing a concoction of several of the bottles and jars strewn over the table. "He's nice. Confident. Doesn't mind thinking of me as a man."
"Do some of them?" I asked, unable to control my curiosity.
He nodded. "Yes. I suppose they feel guilty making love to a man. They prefer to leave my clothes on and think of me as … a sort of strange woman, I suppose." He grimaced ruefully, and then began to apply the powder to his face.
"Ah." I struggled to fold the sheets into a manageable pile. "How do you … " I stopped myself, suddenly realizing what I had been about to ask. I could feel a blush spreading to my cheeks and lowered my head, hoping he didn't notice. He did.
"You don't know?" he said, holding his face perfectly still as he applied the powder, so I was unable to catch any expression. "It's alright; a lot of men don't when they come to me." Hale lowered his brush and, looking into the mirror, caught my eye. "My offer still stands," he added, "if you want to find out." I dropped the sheets. Almost grateful for the excuse to duck down and hide my furious blush, I bent down and gathered them back up into my arms. "Um," I began, my voice constricted, "Hale, I couldn't possibly … "
"Hm." He picked up what looked like a gold-filled pen, and then gestured at me. "Put those on the bed for a minute. Come sit with me."
"Ah … " I thought of refusing, but I found I couldn't. Slowly, I dropped the semi-folded sheets onto the bed and went to sit in one of the soft-looking chairs next to Hale.
"Where are you from, Marcus?" he asked, smiling at me, and then turning back to the mirror. "You never told me."
"Oh. Rell."
"Rell … " he mused. "Is that near the mountains?"
"Yes," I replied. "Well, nearer than here."
Hale sighed, and admitted, "I've always wanted to travel. I read all about the country in my books. Someday I'd like to … " He paused, and then made a sort of
tsk
noise, as if berating himself.
"Well," he said after a moment, "you'd better get started on those. My customer is coming by this afternoon."
"Right," I said, and stood awkwardly. Then, without another word, I gathered the sheets up in my arms and left the room as quickly as possible.
I spent most of the rest of the day moping
over a bowl of gruel in the kitchen and wandering around in the backyard, absentmindedly doing laundry. For some reason, I simply couldn't get Hale out of my head. Whenever I let my mind wander, it inevitably returned to Hale. I kept thinking about what he had said to me, or wondering about him, and his big blue eyes kept popping into my head whenever I closed my eyes. It was enough to drive one mad.
Around sundown, there was a commotion in the sitting room. I entered just in time to see a young, dark-haired gentleman rushing down the stairs and spinning as he reached the landing. He pulled off his hat (a new modern trend) and swept into a low bow.
"My dear princess," he said in a dramatic voice, "I shall return for you ere the sun sets by the next full moon. Or perhaps before the full moon after that."
I turned to see Hailey rushing down the stairs after him with a jovial gleam in her eye (
his
eye, I reminded myself. But he looked like a woman currently, even with his hair mussed and his robe slipping down around his shoulders).
"And I shall wait for you, my love," he returned in a very obviously fake woman's voice, reaching up to stroke his face. "You shall be sorely missed ere you return."
"Ha," said the man. "Or my money shall, you mean."
"It is the same thing," intoned Hailey, and then screamed and giggled when he grabbed her by the waist (
him
, I reminded myself again) and pulled him into a hard, sloppy kiss.
Hale laughed and pushed himself away, pulling a fan from his belt and lightly thwacking the gentleman on the head with it. "Did you
pay
for that kiss, sir?" he said, sounding highly offended. "No, you did not!"
Thwack
again.
"But
surely
," gasped the man, "surely one kiss between lovers … "
"No!" gasped Hale. "No, it can never be!"
They were feigning. A highly dramatized love affair which they both knew perfectly well did not exist. They went on this way for several minutes, until at last, with another hard, passionate kiss, the man descended the rest of the stairs and went out the door, calling, "I shall return, my love!"
"Aye!" shouted Hale, no longer feigning a woman's voice. "Ere the next full moon, or perhaps the one after that!"
"Hale!" shouted Titiana, waddling terrifyingly into the room. "Don't use that voice! And for
goodness sake
¸ pull your robe up!"
Hale looked down guiltily at his robe, which had slid down over his shoulders, exposing his slender, male body. "Oh dear. I'm sorry, Titiana."
"Yes, you had better be," Titiana snapped. "And don't let it happen again."
Hale leaned casually against the railing. "Well, I think he was pleased. He does pay a lot, doesn't he?" He frowned. "However, due to a lack of sheets on the bed, we had to conduct ourselves on the floor." He made eye contact with me, and I gasped. I had forgotten to replace Hale's sheets!
Blushing furiously, I ran into the backyard, the giggling of the girls following me all the way. I felt terrible. I had never before been so angry with myself. Why? Why did I have to be such a failure? I was ashamed to be seen by anyone—least of all Hale. And now I had to go to his bedroom and replace his sheets while he watched. I couldn't imagine how disgusted he must have been with me.
With my whole body full of dread,
I went upstairs and knocked heavily on Hale's door. "It's Marcus." I was repulsed by how my voice sounded—hollow and liquid and, unfortunately, due to my stupid gift, horribly attractive. I shuddered. I didn't
want
to sound attractive; I wanted to sound remorseful.
"Come in," came Hale's voice, unaffected and male.
Slowly, I opened the door and shuffled inside, trying not to drop the mess of sheets in my arms as I did so.
Hale was sitting at his vanity again, this time wiping his makeup off with a damp cloth. He turned and smiled at me. "Ah, my sheets!" he exclaimed. "Thank you!"
"Hale … I'm so sorry."
"What?" He looked a bit confused, before realization dawned. "Oh, don't worry about it! We often do it on the floor, anyway."
"Er." I blinked rapidly. "Alright. Thank you?"
"As I said, don't mention it." Hale gestured at the bed and grabbed a pile of clothes next to him, disappearing behind a painted, folding screen.
I was still struggling with one of the corners when he emerged, dressed like he had been the first time I'd seen him as a man, in tight, soft pants that accented his slender legs, tall shiny boots, and a flowing silk shirt, open to the waist, of course. I couldn't help staring at him as he reached behind his head, tying his long, golden hair into a simple plait down his back and securing it with a length of ribbon. He looked at me in confusion.
"Marcus, what are you doing?"
"Ah." I looked sadly at the sheets beneath me. "Trying to get the sheets back on your bed."
He laughed, his blue eyes crinkling. "Well, you won't get it to reach if you're sitting on it. You have to get off and come around—oh dear … "
I had quite gracefully fallen directly off of the bed in a futile attempt to follow his suggestion.
"Oh dear, oh dear, Marcus," he giggled. "Oh, I shouldn't laugh." At the look on my face, he burst into giggles again. "I really shouldn't. I'm sorry, Marcus." He helped me up, his face still bright with a wicked grin. "You remind me of myself when I first came here."
"You did laundry?" I asked, as I helplessly watched him apply first the sheets, and then the covers, expertly tucking the corners under as if he had done so a thousand times.
"Yes," he said, folding back the tops and fluffing the pillows. "I used to be a servant here. They took me in when they found my wandering around on the streets." He finished and fell backward onto the bed, motioning for me to join him. "My family died in a fire, you see. I wasn't in the house at the time, and when I returned, well … " Hale sighed and was silent for a moment. "Anyway," he continued, "I was a serving boy here, until one of the customers noticed me. He asked Titiana if … if I was available. And … offered her a large sum of money."
"You didn't have a choice?" I asked him, aghast.
"No, I did," he replied. "I agreed. It was a lot of money, and I knew that the Parlour needed it. I thought it would just be a one-time thing, but … you know how word gets around."
"How old were you?" I asked.
"How old?" Hale thought for a moment. "Well, I suppose I am seventeen now, so … fourteen."
I sat up and looked at him. "You are seventeen?" I demanded. "
Seventeen
?"
"Do I look older?" He sat up as well. "I'm young. It's how I manage to pass as a woman." He held his slender hands out in front of him, examining the soft, smooth fingers. "One day, I shan't be able to anymore," he said sadly, and then turned to me. "Can I tell you a secret?"
"Of course."
He leaned back on his hands and sighed. "I look forward to that day. I know I shouldn't, and I do feel horrible about not being able to help out Titiana and the girls, but … " His face was serious. "One day, I will leave this place and take what little money I have, and … I want to travel the world." He smiled at me, his dark blue eyes narrowing as they did when he was happy. "You could come with me, Marcus. You could be my guide."
Before I realized it, I was saying, "I'd like that."
"Of course," he continued, his smile widening, "if it was just you and me … alone, travelling … we'd absolutely have to make love."
I blushed again and attempted to hide my face in my hands. "Hale … " I moaned. "Please."
"Ah, Marcus." He shook his head. "You keep refusing me. It's absolutely terrible for my self-esteem.
I
thought I was handsome."
"You
are
handsome," I replied, glaring up at him through my fingers. "It's not that. I just … "
"You want your first time to be special," he finished. "I understand … sort of. I think my first time was special." He frowned, looking serious. "I can't really remember. Oh well. I shan't bother you about it again, then."
Hale leaned over and, before I could even realize what he was doing, gave me a quick peck on the cheek. "You'd better go," he said. "Lady Aram from the palace is coming to visit me tonight." He stuck his tongue out, making an absolutely disgusted face. "Please believe me when I say, Marcus, that I would
much
rather sleep with you."
"I do," I said, and left. For some reason, I was unable to keep the smile from my face all the way down the hallway and into my bedroom.
I flopped down onto my bed, thinking about my conversation with Hale—trying to pinpoint the exact moment when my heart had started to beat hard. Why was I breathing so quickly? Why couldn't I stop moving? I wanted to get up and run around. I wanted to burst into Hale's room and tell that old lady to leave him alone, and grab Hale and take him far away and …
I forced myself to calm down. I told myself that Hale didn't really like me that much. That he probably offered to have sex with every young man he met. He was so strange—he was probably just being friendly. I was definitely overreacting.
But … sex with Hale. What would it be like? It seemed a very large part of me had been set aside specifically for the purpose of wondering how it was that two men made love, and it was only getting larger as I became more and more curious.
I was actually glad to detect a presence by my window, something to distract me from the incessant voices in my head. "Hello, Draeden," I said, sitting up to look at him.
"Hello, Marcus." He smiled at me. "I notice you
still
haven't had sex."
"No," I agreed. "No, I haven't. And do you know why? Because I don't know
how.
"
"Eh?" Draeden looked confused. "You don't … oh goodness."
"Yes." I shook my head. "I know you assume that I am a jaded pervert, but you will be sitting around forever waiting for it to happen unless you tell me how it is done."
"Ah." Draeden looked uncomfortable. "I did assume … Well, let's see. You, ah, know how it is done between a man and a woman?"
"Yes," I said, refusing to think about it.
"Well, it's ah … " began Draeden. He looked very uncomfortable indeed. "It's … rather similar."
"Ah. I fail to see how that is possible."
"Yes, I suppose you would," said Draeden desolately. He stood there for a moment, deep in thought. Finally, he said, "Well, I've decided that it would be much more educational for you to be shown, rather than have it explained to you."
"Shown?" I repeated warily. "How?"
Draeden held an arm out. "Come with me. If you dare."
I did dare. I wasn't sure why, but I did. Maybe it was the curiosity overwhelming me, or maybe it was that incessant energy I seemed to have taken from my visit with Hale, but I couldn't seem to stop myself from standing and walking over to Draeden. I clasped his arm tightly, and he smiled at me, and then it was as if we winked out of existence.