Brienne

On his next visit, the reporter was surprised to see yet another new woman in the uniform, but this time one he already knew. What was Sugar doing here? Shurgak hadn't given any special greeting, so he took her down the corridor to find out.

When they found a vacant room, Sugar revealed that the Champion had sent her up from Gweden specifically to entertain the Orcish Ambassador. He'd already been in once, and she was expecting him to come back for more later that night. But not to worry, there was plenty of time for their session before he was due.

Somehow he'd never got round to sharing his bed with Sugar at Gweden, although all the others had visited, some more than once. She was nearly as big as the Daedra women, and more of it was muscle. The dress she wore at Gweden just exposed her ample cleavage, but the uniform she was wearing here didn't cover much at all, and he could see the strength in her arms and thighs. He'd heard stories about her clients needing endurance potions to keep up with her, so he was wondering what he'd let himself in for.

Perhaps she was saving her energy for the Ambassador, but she was taking it easy with him. "I don't often get clients who aren't Orcs," she explained "and they always seem to treat it as a contest. It's a nice change to do it slow and gentle, not fast and furious all the time."

And she had a special request. Prizna had told her about her first encounter with him. "Orcs don't do that," she told him, "and I'm not sure I'd want one to try." That made him curious. Did she...? "Oh yeah, I know it makes 'em real nervous, but no Orc would ever admit that! And then they find they like it, and let me do it again".

While he indulged her, she told him more about the Ambassador. He'd come to Cyrodiil by ship, with his wife, who had a Breton name. Sugar was sure that was misleading, because all the Breton women she knew were really small, like Juliana and Meena. She just didn't see one being a wife to Gorthag. He was big, even for an Orc.

Milady had been kidnapped by bandits on the way here from Anvil, which is where their ship had docked. The Champion was out looking for her while the Ambassador was negotiating with the Council. Strange thing was, Gorthag didn't seem to be worried about her at all. So maybe it's a marriage of convenience and he really doesn't like her, but you'd think he'd at least want to be certain she's not coming back. It was like he already knew what happened to her. And of course, he's not acting married when he comes in here.

When they emerged, they found Taminwe waiting to talk to Sugar. Gorthag wouldn't be coming to the club tonight. He was already on his way back to Orsinium. Lady Brienne, however, had been found, and would coming instead. Sugar looked puzzled. "You'll understand when she gets here," Tanimwe told her.

Lady Brienne was even smaller than most Breton women. Shorter, anyway. She sat quietly in a corner while the Champion spoke to Taminwe and Sugar. Then the Champion turned back to Lady Brienne. The reporter could hear her confess tearfully to being a prostitute at the Wayrest court, and not really the wife of the Ambassador. Queen Elysana had sent her with Gorthag and set up the fake kidnapping incident, in an attempt to embarass the Elder Council into granting Orsinium status as a full Province. Wayrest's existing treaties with Orsinium would be much more valuable if that happened.

Brienne had been expecting to get shipped back to Wayrest by the men she'd run off with, but they'd tied her up and imprisoned her in a cave. At first she thought they were just taking their kidnapping act seriously, in case anyone investigated. But they weren't following the same script she'd been given. There was no hint of a ransom being demanded from Wayrest or Orsinium. The men were treating her like the prostitute they knew she was, rather than pretending she was a valuable hostage. Or more like a slave, as they weren't giving her anything but food, in return for what they demanded from her.

The Champion showed her a note he'd taken from their leader. That made it clear she was disposable, and Elysana didn't want to see her again. She'd only received a small advance on what she'd been promised for this caper, and wasn't likely to ever see the rest. And she'd had to spend all that on her outfit, as she had to look the part of an Ambassador's wife. Queen Elysana had a reputation for being a devious back-stabber, but Brienne hadn't seen this coming.

Sugar wanted to know if she'd been sharing Gorthag's bed on the way down to Cyrodiil. Brienne nodded. "Then she gets my vote," said Sugar. Taminwe indicated that she had hers too. The Champion turned back to Brienne and offered her a job at the club, telling her that if Ocato concurred, she'd be doing a few extra things. She'd followed Elysana's orders well enough, and the Champion himself had been fooled by her act. They could use those skills here, if she was willing to join the right side.

She appeared to understand, and thanked them all for their generosity, smiling at last.

Sugar came over to the reporter. "Looks like I can go back to Gweden and my regulars now. Brienne can do Orc duty if the need arises. If she can handle Gorthag, she can cope with any of them."

"But before I do, I've got some spare time I wasn't expecting, and I haven't been in the city since the Champion got my axe back. I'd like to go visit a few of the places I knew when I was here last. Drink an ale or two in the old bars. Want to join me? We can come back here afterwards and finish what we started."