Steampun Harlots

Liddy wasn't sure what to expect as she lead the procession through the estate. Hope was beside her in full armour polished to a shine. Cat was in a devastating black dress that fit right in with the high-class meeting. Mari, on the other hand, walked a tightrope between high class and burlesque with her violet dress. Ving, in contrast, wore her racing jacket over a tight-fitting jumpsuit and high boots in a bit of a mockery of what she really wore to race. Behind all of them, a tiny elf handmaiden kept up in the rear. Emma wore a simple silk dress with braided hair covering her ears. Inky and her girls flanked them, with Foxy left guarding the ship with the rest of the Emberborn.

As the doors to the court opened, they could all see a grinning redhead wearing a stunning red lace dress and an unbelievable jewel on her neck in a portrait behind the chair where an identical redhead sat. The fancy chair was much too big for her, but Liddy focused on the fact that Hannah already had a portrait that should have taken weeks to paint. It even looked old to her. Liddy struggled to comprehend what she was seeing. Mari grinned at her friend, knowing the story would be fantastic.

After they were introduced to the court by the Herald, Liddy wincing when he called her Trixie, Hannah spoke to them. "Welcome my friends. It seems as though much has happened. You see, the late Duke Stirling, after sending for the daughter born out of wedlock prior to his marrying a Lady of Crater Peak, has been assassinated."

Her attention wasn't only on her friends, she wanted everyone thinking the story was for them in case they had missed something. "Of course, with his designated heir just shy of adulthood, this could have been a disaster if I had not arrived when I did. Those responsible obviously didn't know of my existence and expected this session to offer them a chance to seize power. I will no doubt discover the perpetrators in time. However, to do that, I need a council who I can trust."

Liddy suddenly saw where things were going.

"Now, since I hadn't planned on getting involved in politics, the young Lady Stirling will assume her title when she is of age. However, I intend to deliver her court to her free of danger and corruption. To that end, I would like to name Lady Trixie Liddy my steward. Inky Maxwell my Marshal. Sister Hope my Chaplin. Lady Catherine Bell my Chancellor. Lastly, my Lady Ving as my Shipmaster. My good friend Mari knows her role already."

There was a heavy murmur from the assembled crowd.

"Be silent!" Hannah commanded. "This is a transitional court. You can return to your political intrigue in a few days time. Until then, I expect you to cooperate with the investigation and my friends." She focused on Inky. "Marshal, the guards here have proven ineffective at protecting their Lord or catching the assailant. Find the problems and fix them."

Inky stomped her foot hard as she saluted sharply before formally turning away and leaving to bust some heads.

"Everyone else," Hannah addressed. "Go home and prepare for the funeral."

Everyone but her friends left, Emma walked about to see if anyone was looking at her besides them. She nodded when the room was clear.

"What the fuck Hannah?!" Liddy whispered her shout.

"We got caught together, he made a claim and I ran with it. Then he got killed and things sorta happened."

"So what's with the heir?"

"Just a few days shy of age. I figure I just do all the unpopular things that need to happen and hand it over then." She turned to Cat. "So, how did I do?"

"Really well. All that time following and fucking with the upper class back at Crater Peak really served you well. Thanks for the fancy title by the way. My father would be furious to know this. I should write him a letter now."

"So, what is the job I know I have already?" Mari asked.

"You are my Spymaster, with Emma. Go about and learn things. Ving? Chime in."

Ving, startled from her gaze at Hannah's chest, responded. "Is that what I think it is?"

"My amazing rack? Yes, I'm certain you have seen it before though." Hannah smiled as she teased her lover.

"I thought so, what about the rock resting on it?"

"One of the crown jewels of the old Emperor. Not sure if he wore it or had others wear it for him but it's in all the paintings and busts of the late Duke's first wife. I'm sure you can see the resemblance."

Ving was about to ask more but Hannah waved it down not trusting they were totally secure.

"Will you really abdicate then?"

"Of course. This is the last thing I want to be doing with my life."

"Right," Liddy stated. "Then we have a lot of work to do."

****

It didn't take Mari long, after splitting up with Emma, to come across a noble couple arguing in the hallway of the wing she was sure she was lost in. She was just figuring the man as being berated for things not his fault more than anything when they spotted Mari's approach.

"I don't know who you think you are, but leave us and crawl back under whatever rock where you belong!" The woman demanded.

"I think I will remain and serve my Duchess. You aren't suggesting I disobey her, are you?"

The woman bit her tongue, "What do you want from us?"

"It's been dreadfully long since I've had a man inside me. I'm thinking your husband will fill me just fine." Mari could see him staring at her breasts while his wife fumed.

"You think my husband would do anything with a servant, especially one like you, and leave me here?"

"We don't need to leave. You can watch." Mari walked, almost between them, looking at her but showing him that while her dress looked full from a distance, its back was bare and showing her ink.

"Watch?!" The lady shouted with incredulity.

"Yes, watch. You see, he now has a woman willing to satisfy his needs. Notice how he hasn't objected to anything yet? Not a word? Your title doesn't give you this kind of power."

"I take care of his needs sufficiently!" She boasted arrogantly.

"Sufficiently?" Mari laughed as she pressed her back against the man to allow him a view down her bodice. "You think men just need a warm wet place to stick their manhood and they are satisfied? They can get that anywhere. You are his wife! You should offer him more than that. The thing that keeps men coming back is knowing they can please their woman. Make no mistake, feeling him inside my body will please me. His hands are already running along by back, admiring my skin. Why don't you show any of yours?"

The woman looked at her bust, covered in the same lace as her dress, then back to Mari's. "Dressing like a harlot isn't proper for a lady." She turned to her husband. "Why are you touching this woman in front of me?!"

Mari turned around to plant a finger on his lips to hush him before getting on the balls of her feet to kiss him and press her breasts into his chest. The lady noticed her bare back and that her dress had come undone enough to show the mounds of her bum. Slowly, undoing his jacket as she worked her way down to her knees, Mari spoke. "See, here is a man who's had to be strong and stoic for so long he can't show weakness. That rather than keep his wedding vows, he allows me to do the thing he wants because he's never had it before."

The woman watched in shock as she saw Mari pull his trousers open and run her tongue along his manhood before taking it entirely down her throat. "Stop this! How can you do these things with this filthy woman!"

Her husband closed his eyes and placed his hands on Mari's head as he let her work. The lady gasped at Mari, every time she withdrew to breathe before taking him again. Mari moaned in satisfaction at every touch as if the pleasure was all hers.

When Mari rose, her dress stayed on the floor. She walked over to the lady and put her hands on her shoulders and leant forward. Without saying anything more, Mari felt him pushing inside her and moaned in the woman's face as her husband thrusted. The lady shook, as each push into Mari moved both their bodies. Mari smiled in pleasure, leaning up to kiss the woman as she pulled away to be almost standing as the thrusts continued, supported by the man now gripping her breasts.

"I am a Lady and your wife! Why are you doing this?!"

"Because he has emotional needs, like anyone. You are just too blinded by how you think men should be that you don't think of it. You believe that all his wants are on the surface. That you just need to lay there and let him do his thing. Have you ever moaned like me? Done anything to show him you derive as much pleasure as he? He probably thought he had lucked out, marrying a beautiful woman like you. Yet here he is, about to seed another woman in front of you."

"It's not proper for a lady to act like this!"

"Fuck being a lady! That's for others! For him, you are supposed to be a woman! And a woman is allowed to enjoy getting fucked in whatever improper way she god damned feels like! Now you can either stand there and watch him seed me or you can strip out of that dress and show him some flesh he can please."

Mari wasn't sure what to expect - until she saw the woman struggle with the bindings on her back. She beckoned her over and aided her. The dress fell and she stood in her undergarments in the hall while her husband continued to ram himself deeply into Mari while gripping her breasts tightly. With some reassuring smiles from Mari, the woman stripped out of the rest of her clothing and stood naked in front of Mari.

"So lovely! Such a shame you have been hiding those lovely breasts. Let's see what he thinks." Mari bent over to touch the floor.

Still inside Mari, the husband looked at his wife who leaned in to kiss him. With one hand on the hip of the woman he still slid himself in and out of, he used the other to grip the breasts of his wife in turn.

"Moan like a woman!" Mari shouted.

The woman, struggling not to contain herself as she was taught, let out a pitiful mewling. It wasn't much - but the man took his hand off Mari to hold his wife closer for a stronger kiss. Letting him slide out of her, Mari turned around and lifted the woman's leg, directing his arm under it before guiding his manhood, slick from her body, inside his wife.

The lady yelped before shuddering, finally making some real noise as he resumed his thrusting. Mari pushed them both a few feet over to a bench where he laid his wife down and used the bench as leverage to aggressively penetrate. Moaning, gasping, and pleading for more, the wife gripped tightly around his neck as her husband stared into her eyes. Mari enjoyed the sight as she watched over his shoulders, resting her body on his back. The woman screamed at the sudden rush within her body, feeling it spasm in unfamiliar ways. Mari slid off him to kneel at her side, running her hands over her belly to feel the man thrusting into her.

"This is how it feels to be a woman," Mari whispered.

The man grunted hard as his fast thrusting turned into a few hard stabs, and then keeping himself deep within his wife.

"His seed belonged in you. See? You pleased him, he pleased you. All because you acted like a woman. Had you been doing this all along, he would never have looked twice at me. My power to manipulate would have been nothing for you to compete against. Being a woman gives you a lot more power than being a Lady."

"Thank you." She shuddered as she spoke.

"Now, the other side of this is that now all your worries from court are gone. Do you even remember? Were they really that important?"

"No. Just fretting over our positions if something else unexpected where to happen. Not knowing who to trust."

"Anyone in particular you think might not be trustworthy?" Mari asked, finally getting somewhere.

****

Hannah could see the resemblance between the Duke and his daughter, though she had trouble discerning the connection with her own looks Had she not looked identical to his first wife Hannah doubted she would have been mistaken for family.

"Hello," Hannah started. "I'm so sorry it has taken me this long to come see you. How are you doing?"

"With what?" she snapped back. "Being locked in here for hours? Having my title stolen? Or maybe being the daughter of a man who looked disappointed every time he saw my mother or me because we weren't like you?"

Hannah knew an emotional breakdown when she saw one. "Any of those would be fine to answer, all or none. The first was to keep you alive, the title will be yours on your birthday, and that man is dead now." Hannah could see it in her body language that the girl was crying in relief. "What else did he do to you?"

"Dressed me up, like her, like you. Coloured my hair to be like her. Watched me all the time. But didn't like it when I never looked right. He did the same to my mother before I was born. Called her the name of his first wife, never bothering to learn what it really was."

"Well my name is Hannah, and I hope that you can start to find some peace in life."

"I'm Louise. I'm rather relieved it's all over. I thought I'd come of age and not know what to do. My father only cared about one thing - and it wasn't me."

A knock on the door preceded Ving entering the room with Foxy after having brought the ship to the duke's private dock. "Everything is tied down."

"Good! Is this room clear?" Hannah asked, looking at Foxy.

"Yup, quite soundproof," Foxy replied.

"What's that thing doing here?" Louise asked, aghast at Foxy.

Hannah rounded on Louise and slapped her across the face so hard, she spun as she fell to the ground. She gripped the young girl by the shoulders and hauled her up against the wall with her feet off the ground.

"Listen, little girl, don't you dare ever speak that way again about her or any Emberborn! I had hoped to bond with you, but I will not tolerate that attitude. I would think, with how your father treated you, that treating others as inferior would be something you would be keenly aware to avoid. Listen, I have killed, and will continue to kill in order to see them free. Don't oppose me on this!"

"Calm down, Hannah!" Ving shouted, pulling her away with the aid of Foxy. "I think she gets the message."

Hannah was instantly horrified at how she reacted. Of course a young noble girl would have been taught to think that way. Not even the well-meaning will always think twice about some things if everyone else accepts them. She looked at Louise, feeling guilty.

The young girl stood against the wall, not daring to move.

"I am sorry," Hannah stated flatly. "We have seen some truly horrible things being done to Emberborn. Things that can't be forgiven. Things you aren't ready to know about. You didn't deserve that. Again, I am sorry."

"I did think of them like that. My father did. There, but not really." Louise turned to Foxy. "I am sorry."

Foxy nodded. "Quite understandable."

"Still," Hannah interjected. "You don't dissolve raised prejudice with hate or shame. Even if it seems to make you feel better. You do it with familiarity. Foxy, go get the rest. I'd like to introduce them after the funeral."

Foxy nodded and left. Hannah nodded for Ving to follow.

"Look, I wanted to bond with you. I might have messed that up, but I want to give you something."

"What?" Louise asked, rubbing the side of her face.

"I'm not really your sister. At all. My father was the one with the red hair and I know my mother was the poor seamstress she always was. I was a hired harlot to entertain your father because of the resemblance, and when he got caught escorting me he made up the story. He died right then and I've just been rolling with events ever since. I truly intend to step aside when you are old enough. I just want to make sure you are safe when you do."

Another knock came at the door, they were summoned to the funeral. They exited the room and into the fresh air of the garden.

"Why would you tell me this?"

"So you could trust me to walk away when the time came. I just have to trust you not to oust me with this until then. Now, let's see if we can find Sister Hope so she can help your face."

****

Inky had an advantage in sorting through who was a problem with the guards. Anyone who looked at any of her girls longer than they needed too got berated while the rest were kept at their post. It was a quick test that worked well enough for a speedy search before the funeral. Something more in-depth would come after. As she stood before the dozen or so who seemed like real problems, she considered her options. The former Marshal and the former captain of the fancy guards who lost the Duke were her first targets.

"You two look like you don't think you should be here," she stated, striking a slightly cocky pose to match her tone.

Properly baited, they yelled in agreement before the Marshal asserted himself. "Of course we shouldn't be here! Some tart like you walks in here and orders us about after her friend hands her a title! It's outrageous!"

"Were you not given your title by a friend? Was it the Duke? Didn't do a good job repaying that debt, did you? Granted, I am a cavalry officer at heart, more at home on horseback trampling my enemies into paste. Never did enjoy being a guard captain as much. Yet here I am, doing your job because you couldn't. Unless protecting the Duke's life wasn't a part of your duties. Anyone here who was never under the impression that they had to protect the Duke can leave!"

Inky waited, cupping her ear, broadly over-gesturing her attempt to hear their silent response. Hearing nothing, she finally knew she could start fixing the problem.

****

Hannah stood with her adopted sister and the rest of the harlot crew in her court. Inky and her girls stood around them, keeping a watchful eye on everything. She could see Foxy inside the estate, watching from an open window where she could hear everything. The body of the Duke was on the pyre as it burned with painful slowness. She knew Vile was close by and considered getting her to move the show along but thought better of it. The last thing she wanted to do was overstate her comfort with Emberborn before she dropped her political bomb on them later. First, she needed to catch the assassin. Conna stood in front of her, holding a rifle, but with the trench gun on her back for Hannah to snatch up at a moments notice.

Leira was bored. The soldiers were used to standing about doing nothing but she hated it. Stripping down and sneaking into the fountain was much more enjoyable. The cool water around her body, the warm sun on her face, peaceful and serene as the birds twittered overhead. She could definitely get used to living in such a place and understood why rich people built things that way, even if they had forgotten why. Of course, she found the peace to be much more pleasurable when she noticed a stray lordling from the funeral had noticed her. A young man, about her age, much younger than the men she normally entertained herself with, approached.

"I thought mermaids were creatures of the sea," he said, watching her breasts inflate slightly as she continued to float in the water.

"We are. But when life takes us to land, we find home where we can."

"You are beautiful. I've never seen any such as you before."

"I am quite rare indeed. Have you seen many women in your young life?"

"I'm not so young. Mother wants me to meet the heiress so that she thinks of me when she is old enough to marry. She's the young one."

"How will you get her to remember you? Have you the talent to please a woman in such a way?"

"I... haven't..."

"I thought not. Come join me in the water and learn how."

Leira watched as he undressed behind some shrubbery, trying his best not to be seen. She smiled at herself at how well talking like a lady worked out for her. It seemed like swearing as she normally did would have scared the poor boy off. Suddenly it made sense, what everyone had tried to explain to her, about reading your marks and acting accordingly. She had to bring herself back to the present as he slid into the water with her and started to touch her skin gently.