My Way To You

Rin and Roy closely followed behind Ariana and Lady Zula. "Lady Zula." Ariana started but was quickly whacked over the head with a folded fan. "M-o-th-er." she enunciated as she looked ahead. Ariana rubbed her head gingerly as she smiled to herself. "Mother... Please don"t forget to buy some apples on the way back I promised you a drink but I never asked you if you had ever tried apple juice."

Lady Zula stopped walking and stared at Ariana. "Yes I have actually, it was a long time ago and it was only once. It was actually the reason why I fell in love with apples in the first place." she said as she looked at the girl with curious eyes. "Oh so it"s not new to you... then apple cider it is!" she said brightly as she gave her a small salute.

Lady Zula started to laugh and bent over to give the girl a small kiss on the head. "So cute!" she whispered into her hair and walked away leaving Roy completely dumbfounded. "Well she"s not wrong." Rin giggled causing Roy to completely blush.

Ariana eyed the too and flashed a knowing smile to Roy. "Big brother I"m gonna go ahead with mother so please take care of Rin for me." she shouted as she ran from the spot.

Ariana couldn"t help but giggle to herself once she caught up with Lady Zula. "Playing match maker are we." she said as she patted her head. "I can"t help it when he makes it so obvious." she said with a shrug. "Why do you think I never made her work like the other girls." Lady Zula said as she grabbed Ariana"s hand.

"Because she"s a ninja and is more valuable as a body guard then a... cough... female entertainer." she said as the walked further down the cobble stones street. "No child a ninja has more value as a female entertainer then a body guard. They are taught the art of pleasing a man at a young age and are often used to extract information from government officials, politicians, bankers and even business owners." she explained seriously while Ariana careful listened.

"So you kept her as a body guard so Roy wouldn"t suffer from heartnache and do something stupid." she said with a nod. Lady Zula"s eyes sparkled, she knew her hunch was not wrong about the girl and mentally patted herself on the back. "That is correct but enough about this serious talk. Let"s talk about something else before we make it to the Craftsman shop." she said with a gentle smile.

Ariana thought seriously for a second then her face lit up when she came to a decision. "Tell me about this town! I have never been here before!" Lady Zula let out a loud laugh and squeezed the girls hand. "Alright then! We are currently in the prosperous city of Stella Amora, we have proud roots that date back a 120 years ago. Infact if you travel downtown you will still see the stone buildings from that era. Of course after many, many, many years we have moved to brick and wood to build our homes, we still keep in mind our traditions and keep the exterior of the houses looking the same but the interior is completely modernized."

Lady Zula looked left and right before they crossed the street and walked past a sweets shop. Ariana tugged at Lady Zula"s hand and pointed at the shop. "Can we stop by for a quick look." she asked with puppy dog eyes. Lady Zula tilted her head as she thought. "I don"t see why not, would you like me to buy you something?" she asked affectionately.

Ariana gave her a big smile. "No thank you, I just want to check out the compet.i.tion... just in case we choose to offer sweets." Lady Zula started to laugh as she hugged the girl. "Honestly you"re too good to me!"

After a quick look around they left the sweets shop. Ariana quietly contemplated what they could make easily for high profits. "I"m not sure what you have seen so far in your life but you know what we are doing so far is enough for everyone to live comfortably, if this idea of yours takes off that is." Lady Zula said drawing Ariana away from her thoughts.

Ariana sighed as she looked up at Lady Zula. "It"s not just our girls I"m worried about. I hope that other brothels take our idea as an example and transform the industry. I don"t think women should need to service men in that sort of way."

Lady Zula spun Ariana around and had her back go against a wall as she bent down to her eye level. "You are so adorable talking like a little adult but you have to understand you may not change everything in one go. So I don"t want you to take on to much, work on the tasks at hand and then change the world."

Ariana was surprised by Lady Zula"s words that it caused her eyes to water. "You aren"t going to stop me from changing the s.e.x industry or keep the idea only to ourselves?" Ariana asked in a shaky voice. Lady Zula kissed her cheek and the wiped the lipstick off her face. "Once an idea is out there we can"t really stop anyone from trying to copy it."

Ariana jumped onto Lady Zula and hugged her tightly. "Thank you mother!" she shouted happily. After a moment Lady Zula broke their embrace and made their way to the Craftsman shop. Ariana looked up and read the sign aloud. "The Grizzly Crafters?" Lady Zula gave her a huge grin before she opened the door and a small bell jingled letting the staff know they had arrived.

Ariana looked around the shop, there were some drafts hanging up on the wall, samples of lumber were leaning against the wall and sample tools were on display. "Welcome Lady Zula what do I owe the pleasure today." said a dark skinned beauty behind a large wooden counter. Her hair was ebony with streaks of red running through it. She wore it in a twin buns that sat on either side of her head. Her eyes were a striking blue and she wore pale blue overalls and a mellow yellow t-shirt.

"Becca I"m want to hire your services for my brothel"s renovation." Lady Zula said courtly. Ariana went up to the counter and tried to take a peek in the room behind the counter. "What if I politely refuse to renovate "such" a place?" Becca said with obvious disgust. Ariana heard her tone and jerked her head towards her direction. She narrowed her eyes and lifted her nose into the arm. "Mother are we sure we want to hire "this" person to do such an important project. I"m mean it might be better off left in someone else"s hands who can take on such a life alternating job that will impact the economy."

Becca looked down at Ariana and her eyes widened then she looked at Lady Zula. "Zula when the h.e.l.l did you have another child?!" she said in shock. Lady Zula started to laugh as she petted the girls head affectionately. "I"m going to formally adopt the child, she was originally sold to me but she is rather special and I really wanted to introduce you to her Becca.".

Ariana was confused and she dropped her snot ball att.i.tude. "You know each other personally?" she questioned as she looked at both women. They both started laughing at Ariana causing her to puff out her cheeks. Becca wiped her tears away and cleared her throat. "Yes child we are actually childhood friend."

Lady Zula placed and elbow onto the counter and gave Becca a side smile. "She is right though. What we are planning to do may make a name for yourself but if you don"t want to I can always take my business elsewhere." Becca rubbed her face with both hands and groaned loudly. "Fine! What do you want." Lady Zula pounded the countertop with excitement. "That"s my Becca! We will discuss the details over dinner tonight at my place. I want you start the designs right away."

Becca plopped herself onto the countertop in defeat. "All right. I will be there for 6." she moaned into the wood. "Good, good, now we should be on our way gotta go to your brother"s guild to hire some muscle." she said as she blew Becca some air kisses.

Becca lifted her head but left her body sprawled out on top of the counter. "I don"t need any muscle to do the work I have reliable employees." she said bitterly. "I know sweetie but I"ll explain tonight!" she shouted as she pushed Ariana out the door. "Nice meeting you Miss Becca good bye." was all Ariana could shout before Lady Zula closed the door.

"Now my little angel of to the Twin Tiger Guild to see Brian." she said with a giggle. Ariana skipped beside Lady Zula as she looked at the architecture, as the walked further into the city. It all looked like a mixture of Roman and Victoria styled homes and just as Lady Zula said there were in fact Roman styled stone buildings. One of the bigger ones was a building with the name "Twin Tiger" engraved into it.

They stepped through the arch ways and opened a door that hand twin tigers encircling one another painted on it. Inside was a grand hall that was redone in a Victorian style interior. Hardwood floors, high arched ceilings, hanging lights and a stone fireplace off to the side where a group of people dressed in armor, leather, and tunics were happily chatting over a pint.

Lady Zula paid no mind to anyone as she walked up to the desk. She rang the service bell and a mousy looking lady came scurrying to the desk. Her greying hair was flying in bits and pieces even though she wore it in a side braid. Her skin was fair and her face was small but the ridiculous big, round gla.s.ses she wore hid most of her face. "What do you want!" she barked causing Ariana to take a step back. She wasn"t expecting the mousy lady to have such a big and rough sounding voice.

Lady Zula opened up her fan and fluttered air to her face. "I"m here to see Brian." she said in a seductive voice. The mousy lady readjusted her gla.s.ses and looked at her then Ariana. "Do you have an appointment!" she bellowed causing Ariana to drop her gaze and grabbed her white dress. "Really Marina do I ever need an appointment to see Brian?"

Marina sat back into a chair, crossed her arms and stared down Lady Zula. "Go on then you know where he is." she said bitterly as she pouted. "Thank you again for your hospitality." Lady Zula said as she headed towards the stairs. Ariana stuck around and stared at Marina. Marina noticed her gaze and raised an eyebrow to her. "You got something to say child!" she said loudly.

Ariana let go of her dress, straightened up her back and looked at Marina"s face with tears welling up in her eyes. "A ginger and ginseng tea can help you with your cold and if it"s too bitter for you only add a teaspoon of honey!" she shouted back before running after Lady Zula. Everyone in the room had gone silent when Marina walked in but the moment Ariana ran off they all started laughing. "Oy Marina to think there was another person in this world to see through your acting!" a burly man shouted "And she was so young!" someone else shouted over the roar of laughter.

Lady Zula was waiting at the top of the stairs and she stroked Ariana"s cheek once they finally reunited. "You surprise me so much you know that." she said gently before she turned and walked down the hall.