It was late afternoon by the time I woke again. Immediately I noticed the large vase of flowers, basket of fruit and chocolate and a present of some kind sitting on my dresser. Slowly I eased out of bed and wrapped my robe about myself.

I was stiff but otherwise mostly fine, my curiosity at what I'd been given more than enough to override my concern at the slight ache and bruises I'd acquired, mostly from the one overzealous companion with a whip.

There was a small card sitting in front of the basket of yummy foods in a hand I didn't recognise. I pulled it open and quickly read it.

Rest well, Kitten, and enjoy these rewards for your performance yesterday. They were mostly Keaton's idea. He wanted me to make sure you knew how grateful he is. But the last gift is a little something for me. I want you to wear it tomorrow. Dante

I grinned as I reached for the present and unwrapped it, barely taking in the size of the small box underneath. I flipped open the soft finish box knowing jewellery was likely to be inside and found a collar of sorts, the black leather banned adorned with gemstones of a deep red hue. At the front it had a small heart that hung down. On it was a single word.

Kitten.

Although I'd never given much thought to the nicknames the companions had given me, I had a feeling I was going to enjoy this one. Grinning to myself I fetched my purse and went to pull out my tablet. I wanted to design a more cat-like paint design for the following day. Instead I was distracted by all the tokens that fell out from the previous day.

One of them had a large number I'd never seen before. A thousand. Someone last night had tipped me a thousand credits. Frantically I tried to remember who it had been, but I couldn't.

As I heard footsteps in the court outside my room I hastily shoved the tokens back inside my purse and looked to see who was coming.

Daniel appeared, making me lift my eyebrows.

"Seems congratulations is in order," my owner said as he strode inside the room with a tablet in his hands. "You have earned a wonderful amount for your first full month as a courtesan, especially with your wages for yesterday.

Before I could even ask what my debt stood at Daniels turned the tablet around and held it up so I could see where I was at financially.

Month 1

Initial debt: 2,225,053

Personal Bodyguard costs: 7,429

Court costs: 15,450

Interest accrued: 16,836

Earnings after fees: 52,536

Final debt: 2,212,232

I gulped, not sure what to make of the numbers before me. I looked at the amount I'd earned after fees and I was floored. It was a huge amount. But the costs, interest and final balance had me feeling more than a little defeated. I'd earned over fifty thousand credits yet made less than thirteen thousand of an inroad into my debt.

At this rate I was going to be a courtesan for another twenty years. And that was after me earning ten thousand in a single lump sum. Unless I could get a payment like that every month it was going to take me at least eighty years. I couldn't imagine how long that would feel.

As Daniel reached forward and lifted my chin I shuddered at his touch. This man was delighted. I was making him rich and all while letting him do as he pleased with me.

I was trapped and he was my master.

The End

Thank you for reading this story. For now this is where it ends with Auralia. I've got a lot of work to do for the next few months but I hope to come back to this story for book 3 soon.