Different Path

Life for Jon, his women and their children settled into a routine for a while after he took in Jenny and Penny. The Bordello was bursting at the seams with residents and Jon decided to enlarge the new house beside it as completion neared. He decided to only use the Bordello rooms for the whores, their children and support personnel. Any other women and their children would live in the house next door with him. He also decided to build what he called an office building between the house (which would be a large two story building with 6 bedroom suites, parlor, dining room and kitchen) and the Bordello. All three buildings would be connected by a covered walkway across the front. All three buildings would also have a large covered back porch.

When his new house was nearing completion, Tom and Paul finally found the courage to once again accost Jon, this time over the cost of the buildings. After they harangued him for a short time, Jon said, "Gentlemen, you are again trying my patience. You injured some of my women. You and your drinking buddies destroyed my property and cost me money and time as well as some supplies I may have trouble replacing. Some items I may never be able to replace. Now you complain about the restitution and penalties levied on you because of this. I am almost to the end of my patience with you. Now shut up and get out of my sight."

Tom looked frightened when he saw Jon's face and heard his statement. Paul, on the other hand, looked more angry. He said, "We think we've paid enough. Our fortunes are almost gone and our wives are still whoring in your house. By the time they get home in the middle of the night, they are too tired to do anything they're supposed to do. They don't even manage to give us a satisfactory fuck. They don't get their work done around our houses before they have to return to your Bordello to fuck more of the scum living in this town. When are you going to let them come home and do their own work?"

"I told you when I put them to work that they would have to work for me in place of the women you two injured until they are completely healed and go back to work. Of course, you two still owe me two weeks work or profits for damages that haven't been paid. I may just keep them for two extra weeks to collect the damages if you don't pay before the ladies are well. Now, is there anything else?"

"No Sire", Paul said as the two disgruntled men turned to walk away.

Five days after his discussion with Tom and Paul, the lesser injured whore was well enough to return to work. Indeed, she begged Jon for the privilege. She said, "Please Sire. I need to return to work. Sitting around is getting to me and I have always hated domestic work. Besides, I have needs, Sire. I needs dick bad."

"Come into my office Jolene and let me check you out If I think you're healed ok you can return to work tonight."

Jon looked at the cuts and scrapes on her skin, then checked the injuries to her pussy. As far as he could see by eye and with whatever magic sense he used to scan her, she was healed enough to have sex. He sighed and said, "OK, Jolene. I think you can go back to work, but I don't want you to service more than two men a day for the rest of the week. If you're doing OK by Friday, you can do four a day over the weekend and go to a full work schedule after that if there is no pain or reinjury."

"Oh Thank You Sire. Thank you", Jolene said as she wrapped Jon in a tight hug. She then turned and walked out the door with a huge smile on her face, her sexy ass swaying as she went.

Just before she was out of sight, Jon yelled, "Hey Jolene. Please find Charity and send her in to see me."

"Yes Sire. Right away."

Several minutes later a very disheveled Charity came into the room smiling. She was dressed in what Jon had come to call the work uniform, a thin silk mini dress coming just past the crotch and having a deeply plunging neckline, open almost to her navel. Her thighs were wet and glistening and he saw a white glob slowly seeping out of her pussy when she sat in the chair he offered her. One or the other of her beautiful breasts were occasionally visible when she shifted her position. The whole visual was extremely distracting to Jon.

Charity looked up at Jon and smiled before she thrust her chest toward him, once again showing a nice breast and a hard crinkly nipple. She licked her lips, smiled, and said, "Jolene said you needed me Sire? Can I serve you?"

Jon was speechless for a moment before mentally shaking himself and responding, "NO! Look Charity, I know you're here because you have to be... No, that's not quite right, I wouldn't have forced you to do this. I thought by telling your and Faith's husband's you two had to take the place of my two injured ladies they would be willing to pay the damages owed. Of course, we all know that didn't happen.

"In any event, Jolene is well enough to return to work so I have decided to allow you to return home now. As soon as Betsy is able to return to work I'll send Faith home as well."

Charity looked surprised, perhaps a little sad. She lowered her head and began twisting her hands together before she asked, "Sire, may I at least finish working my shift today? Please? One of my regulars told me he would come see me tonight..."

Jon looked at her in surprise before he sighed and said, "That would be fine I suppose but I want you to know your obligation is over. You may leave at any time now." He smiled and said, "I hope you're not too angry about this. I hope we can be civil if we meet in town in the future."

"Oh, I'm sure we can do that," she rose and glided to Jon before she bent and gave him a long hug. She smiled when she saw him staring at her breasts as she bent forward and, later, stood once again.

It was almost midnight before Charity and her regular customer completed their time together. She was exhausted and didn't take her normal amount of time cleaning up before she walked slowly toward her home. She was smiling slightly as she walked down the street. Unfortunately for her, she came abreast her husbands favorite pub as he staggered out the door.

Paul saw Charity walking slowly, almost dreamily, down the street and grabbed her arm, pulling and turning her to face him directly as he did. He snarled, "I see you finally decided to come home you whore. Couldn't you find any more cock to keep you happy tonight?"

"What? Paul, you know I'm actually coming home earlier than usual. The Wizard told me my service is ended. Jolene was able to return to work today and he let me go. He said he would let Faith go in a few days when Betsy is able to work again, just like he promised he would."

"Oh, yes, I know all about that whore. I heard earlier that his old whore returned to work earlier this evening. What took you so long coming home? One of the boys told me they heard the Wizard telling you you could leave. You just had to get more cock didn't you? Don't worry about your poor husband doing without and needing your help at home. Oh, no, all you could think of was getting more cock in your smelly cunt. I've never been so embarrassed in my life as I was when Amos told the whole pub you refused to come home until you finished your shift. Fucking WHORE!"

Paul slapped Charity and began staggering toward their store and the living quarters. He had tightened his grip on her and pulled her along. He was so unsteady and moving so fast Charity almost fell several times. She finally did fall when he stumbled on the step up onto the boardwalk. When she managed to get up her hands were bleeding and one of her knees was skinned.

Paul pushed her toward and through the door into the family quarters before he tore her dress from her body. He looked at her red breasts, breasts that had obviously seen some whisker and mouth action that evening, then looked at her still seeping pussy. He pushed her into the bed and fell on her as he tried to get his semi hard cock out of his pants.

Charity pushed against her husband, begging through her tears, "Please Paul. You're hurting me. Please stop. I only did this because you forced me and now, after I've paid your damages with my body you do this to me? Please stop.

Paul tried to rise and crawl over. Charity again but slipped from the bed and fell onto the floor, passed out cold. Charity didn't even check on him, she just pulled the covers over herself and went to sleep as she cried.

Charity awakened just after dawn the next morning and cleaned herself up. She started to do her normal daily jobs from before her service to the Wizard. The longer she worked, the more angry she became. The living quarters were a mess, dirty dishes and clothes strewn all over. When she went into the store she saw nearly all the displays needed to be straightened and the floors swept. It didn't look as if Paul had done anything while she was working in the Bordello. Of course she had known things were a mess having seen it nights after she came home from work and mornings before she returned to work. She had even made an attempt to set things right several mornings before leaving but never had the time to do everything.

She sat in Paul's chair behind the counter and wept as she surveyed the store and thought about the hours of work she had facing her. She looked around once again and walked out the front door, leaving it opened as she did so. One of the men on the sidewalk grinned as she passed and pinched her ass before he said, "Good morning honey. Or are you the high and mighty storekeepers wife again this morning?"

The men within hearing distance laughed as she flounced down the street and across it heading for the Bordello. When she entered the building she found Honor in her office. Honor looked up and began to smile before she saw the injuries and stood. She asked, "Charity are you all right? What happened?"

Charity began to cry and shook her head as Honor wrapped her in a hug. Through her tears she said, "Paul was drunk and I met him on the street last night when I was going home. Someone told him I stayed after the Wizard told me I could go home and he was angry. He hurt me last night after we got home when he tried to fuck me. He passed out before he could do the deed or hurt me more. This morning when I got up I began to work and try to catch up but I just can't. The store and quarters are filthy, a pigsty."

"You just sit down here. I'll get the Wizard to look at you." On the way out of the building Honor yelled, "Philomena, bring some coffee and breakfast to my office for Charity. I'm going to get the Wizard."

Jon was sitting on his back porch with Polly and Bea drinking his morning coffee when Honor found him. After she explained why she was there Jon said, "That Son of a Bitch. Let's go see about Charity then I guess I need to have another talk with Paul."

Jon was working on Charity's injuries when he heard a crash and one of the girls scream. Paul yelled, "Where is she you bitch? Peter said he saw her coming back in here."

The footsteps pounded down the hallway and the partly opened office door was thrown open, bouncing off the wall behind. Paul forced himself into the room past Honor and raised his fist to slam into either Jon or Charity, no one knew for sure.

Jon heard the commotion and was beginning to turn when he saw Paul begin his swing. He dove to the floor and used his magic to grab the nearest item he could see and throw it toward Paul. Unfortunately for Paul, it was a knife and it hit him in the middle of his chest, sinking deeply into it.

The women, even Charity, rushed to Jon as Paul fell to the floor in a pool of blood. He never was sure which one said, "Jon, Sire, are you alright?" They were all touching him, checking him for injuries as they watched him worriedly.

"Yes ladies, I'm fine. He never touched me. Now, let me check each of you. I know he was rough with some of you when he came barging in here."

After the women were carefully checked, and antibacterial ointment and bandages dispensed, Jon finally checked Paul. He was dead and Jon felt absolutely no remorse about it. He pronounced him dead then rose to leave the room. The women followed as he went into the dining room and poured a cup of coffee before sitting at the table to drink it. They each fixed their drink of choice and took seats also. When they were all seated, Honor spoke to one of the older boy children. "Go find Timmy and have him clean my office. He can either bury Paul or cart him off. I don't care. If Charity has a preference tell him to follow her orders. Tell him when he's done he can either have a copper coin, a days meals or one of the women for the work."

"Yes Ma'am. Right away," he said as he scampered out.

Charity looked at Jon and said, "Sire, your store is filthy. It and the quarters need to be cleaned and straightened before you can reopen."

"Charity, that's your store now."

As Jon finished his sentence, Bea came into the room with Polly. She and two of the other women all started to talk at once but she won out since she was the senior woman. She said, "Jon, we've been over this before now. You know you just became Charity's Master, or husband as you insist we call you. What was Paul's is now yours. Charity is our responsibility, and you own everything he owned since you killed Paul."

Jon sighed and said, "OK, OK. I get it. But Charity will live there and run it. OK?"

Charity looked at Jon and almost cried before she said, "Please Master. Do I have to? Can't I just work here and let someone else run the store? Or can we just close it? I'm so sick of that dawn to bedtime work..."

"I suppose you can work here if you want to but the town needs another store for the competition. Who can we get to operate it? Will you please operate it until I can find someone at least?"

Charity sighed and gave Jon a weak smile before she said, "Yes Master. As you wish."

Three days later Betsy was cleared to return to work and Jon called Faith to him to tell her she could go back to her normal life. To his surprise, she said, "Do I have to? You let Charity stay here. You know how Tom is Sire. I don't think he's as bad as Paul was but if you would have me Sire, I would much rather stay with you and work for Honor as well. I never knew a gentle, kind man before. I rather like them. I must admit however, I'm not too keen about being a whore all my life." She got a thoughtful look on her face and continued, "I know just the thing. You need someone to run your store and I know Charity doesn't want to spend her entire life there. Could we both run the store for you and maybe work here some of the time so we can get our itches scratched too? Please?"

Jon looked at her and stood. He said, "Come with me," before walking out the door. He crossed the street heading for his store.

When Jon and Faith entered the store they found Charity working, rearranging the displays. Jon said, "Charity, I've released Faith to return home and she doesn't want to go. She came up with an idea that might work. We're here to see what you think."

Jon and Faith told Charity what her idea was then the three discussed it. Finally, Charity agreed they would both work in the store and live in the quarters. They would share a workroom at the Bordello if Honor approved the deal, working at least two nights a week each. The store would open at dawn and close at dusk as it had in the past.

As might be expected, Tom was exceedingly angry when Faith refused to come back home. She said he had given her to the Wizard and he lost responsibility for her. After all, she said, what sensible caring man would willingly give his wife to someone else as a whore?

Tom continued to bemoan his poor treatment by his wife and the Wizard, especially when he had a few at the pub. He was very careful to never say anything within Jon's hearing however. He was too scared after what happened to the first town Wizard, Toby and Paul when they threatened Jon to chance angering him further. He was also angry about his wife operating Jon's store in competition with him. He and Paul had operated as a monopoly, keeping prices unrealistically high but Jon refused to gouge the townspeople and he was forced to lower his prices or go out of business. He absolutely hated only making a fair profit.

Jon continued to heal the ill and spend a lot of time studying "magic". One day he was sitting in his new office at the rear of the office building when he heard Polly talking to someone in the reception area. The voices were getting loud and interrupting his concentration. When he walked into the room he saw a scraggly looking young man glaring at Polly just before he said, "Listen Bitch. I done told you I was an apprentice Wizard and my old master died. I heard about this Wizard and I came to become his apprentice so I can learn the new magic. Now go get your Master right now."

Jon angrily stalked farther into the room (if a 6'3" rail thin man can stalk). He said, loudly, "What the hell's going on here? Who are you and what gives you the right to come in here and demand things?"

The young man glanced at him and said, "I told this Bitch to get your Master. I've come to be his apprentice. Now, one of you better find the Master before I become more angry than I am now."

Polly turned and smiled at Jon before she said, "Oh, Master. I'm glad you're here. This Apprentice demands to talk to you."

The young man's face paled and he staggered, almost falling when she addressed Jon. He stammered, "I'm sorry Master. I meant no offense. You're not wearing robes and I didn't recognize you. I am Merle, an Apprentice Wizard, whose Master died before he could finish my training. I have come to you so I can become your apprentice now."

Jon's first impulse was to send the arrogant young man away rapidly. Perhaps the only reason he didn't was a memory. He had known several arrogant young nerds with an intellectual attitude back on his earth. Some of them did exceedingly well in their studies and became decent people. A second reason, albeit a minor one, was his desire to have someone who could, possibly, take over some of the crap Wizard jobs he was becoming bogged down with.

He glared at the young man before he said, "And just what makes you think I want to teach someone with an attitude like yours? The way you talked to Polly when you came into my office is disgusting. I won't put up with any of my people treating their fellow humans like that."

"I am sorry Master. I will strive to do better if you give me a chance Sire."

"Well, come back in my workroom and we'll see if you have any potential."

Jon talked with Merle for several minutes trying to draw him out and obtain information to help make a decision on whether or not he should take him on as an apprentice. On one hand, Jon didn't feel as if he was qualified to teach an apprentice magician. On the other hand, if the young man had potential he could use the help treating the sick and injured IF, and that was a big if, he could get him trained up and competent.

Knowing some medical professionals in his home took a decade or longer to be trained he wondered if what he was considering was practical. After all, as far as he could determine, the knowledge of the human body, bacteria and virus in his current world was slight. He would need to start from scratch.

After talking with Merle, Jon was skeptical about his suitability. He didn't seem too bright and his arrogance was astronomical. Jon said, "Merle, I just don't think you have what it takes to learn the kind of magic I practice. You may have potential for some types of magic but not the medical magic I practice."

"Sire, please. I know I can learn it. Look, I can already do some spells." The young man mumbled something under his breath, gestured, and a lantern lit on Jon's desk. Merle smiled and said, "That is one of my better spells but I have only been studying for a year. I can cause dust and dirt to leave a room as well as some other more childish things my former Master insisted on me learning."