"M'lord, I have brought in that man," A young girl called out as she came to stand in front of the desk and bowed her head.
Baelish stopped his quill and raised his head with a confused look on his face, only to see a tall, burly fellow wearing full-body metal armour, covered from head to toe in a large cloak, standing there silently, radiating surliness, as if everyone in the world owed him.
Baelish frowned as he wondered where this idiot came from, but in the next moment, the man slightly shifted his cloak to show a hint of his face, and almost immediately, his eyes lit up with recognition.
"Ah, so it was you," Petyr said with a smile on his face as he enthusiastically stood up and dismissed the servant girl with a wave of his hand while spreading his arms wide open to welcome the man, "Come, come! I was wondering who it could have been when my men told me that there was a big, menacing man standing outside the brothel scaring away customers, but it turned out to be a dear friend."
"How was I scaring them away? I didn't even speak with anyone." The man answered hoarsely, as he removed the cloak over his head, after the servant had left the room, showing a dour face with large pouchy bags under his droopy eyes, and a head full of rusty-red hair, and a matching beard.
"Ah, but you need to understand, my dear Ser Meryn, the men who come to my establishment at this time of the day," he waved towards the setting sun outside the window of the room, "are mostly those who are sneaking out here after a day of hard work, trying to get in a few hours' pleasure in their depressing life before they have to go back home. And seeing your valiant figure," he flattered without a change in his expression, "it must have deprived them of the little courage they had gathered up and sent them scurring back home to their wives,"
"Hmph, not my fault that all of them are cowards," Meryn Trant grunted in reply, a prideful look on his ugly face, as if he truly believed the man's words about his gallant figure scaring them away, and not because they thought him a dangerous sellsword sent by their wives to break their legs.
"Of course it is not your fault," Baelish smiled as he patted the Kingsguard on his shoulder, "Speaking of which, it has been quite a long time since you graced my humble establishment. I had almost believed that you had decided to become a celibate like your other brothers," he snorted as he turned around to move towards his desk and took out a clean silver glass and filled it with wine from his personal pitcher.
"As if," The Knight snorted as he accepted the wine from Baelish's hand, "You know how it is, what with the Tourney and everything, with all those stiff-necked nobles running around in the Red keep. If any of them saw me entering a brothel, their delicate sensibilities would probably be offended and they might go running straight to the King to complain, so I had been force to lay low" he scoffed with a disdainful look in his eyes, "This time I barely managed to find some time to sneak out here while the others were guarding the Prince and the King," he explained before an impatient look appeared on his face, "So, is my usual room prepared? I have been pent up for far too long, and I don't think I would be able to control myself from stealing a wife or a daughter from one of those filthy commoners walking around down there, if I don't get a release soon."
"Ah, of course it is ready, I have always kept a top room empty for my special guests," Baelish smiled as he clapped his hands, and called towards the door, "Shae!"
The door to the room opened immediately as a pretty woman in her twenties wearing a very thin silk dress, which hid nothing of her body, entered the room, "Yes, Master?" the girl asked sweetly.
"Girl, lead this gentleman to the best room we have on the second floor," Baelish said with a generous wave of his hand, acting as if there was really such a place, rather than all rooms being similar, "And make sure to entertain him to the best of your ability."
"Of course, M'lord," The girl replied as she raised her eyes to smile charmingly at the armoured knight as if he were a handsome prince instead of an ugly toad. "Come, sir, this girl shall lead the way for you."
But the response to her enthusiastic act was not one she had expected...
"You are not going to saddle me with this one, are you?" Meryn asked as he looked at the woman with such a disgusted look on his face that it caused a chill to crawl down her spine, and the smile on her face immediately became forced.
"Of course, not. Why would I do something like that to my dear friend?" Baelish asked with a sly chuckle, "You don't think that I had forgotten about your refined taste, did you?" he asked with a wink as if they were sharing a private joke. "Don't worry, she is just there to keep you entertained with wine until I send you your real prize."
"Good," Meryn nodded with a lewd smile on his face, as he turned around and moved towards the door with excitement in his steps, "Don't keep me waiting for too long."
The moment the man went out the door, Baelish's friendly smile disappeared from his face, as he turned towards the woman who was still standing there, staring at Meryn's back with fear and dread in her eyes, "Get going," he said as he impatiently waved her off, uncaring of her feelings, "And send in Serilla for me."
"Y-Yes," The woman stiffened as she came back to her senses and hurriedly nodded her head before leaving the room.
About a few minutes later, the door opened once again, and the one to enter this time was an older, mature woman, in her thirties, but she still retained enough charm that it would make most of the young, naive men out there feel weak in their legs with just a smile. "You called for me, Lord Baelish."
"Hm," Baelish nodded without looking up from his desk, and asked, "The messages from the last week, did they arrive?"
"Aye, that guard delivered them in the evening before you arrived from the Red keep," the woman replied with a quick nod as she walked across the room and kneeled in front of a small, inconspicuous wardrobe lying in the corner of the room, and opened a small safe hidden under some clothes before taking a small wooden box from inside it.
Standing back up, the woman quietly walked towards the table Baelish was working behind, and gingerly placed the box on the table.
After writing one last stroke in the register, Baelish slammed it closed and took the box into his hands.
The small chest-like container had a hole on top of it which acted as an opening that was only big enough for one to push little rolls of parchment inside, but if you wanted to take anything out, then you would either need to have the key to the lock, or break it open... which could tell the Master of the box that it has been compromised.
It was an ingenious way to collect information that he had learned about during one of his trips to Braavos when he was still working on creating his nascent spy network in the Capital.
All the various maids, guards, cooks, and others who were on his payroll only needed to go to the secret location of the chest and silently put the information they wanted him to know inside the box.
And if he liked the information enough, he would pay them an amount he considered appropriate, and over the years, he had established a 'good' reputation for himself as someone who paid fairly.
It was as simple as it was effective, and since he collected the box weekly, there was never too big a risk of a leak, and even if it got compromised somehow, the loss wouldn't be too great, and he could just need to discard that week's spies and start again at a new location.
"Oh, and before I forget, send the new girl that arrived last week to Ser Meryn's room," he said as he took out a small key he always kept on his person and opened the lock, "And make sure she satisfies him adequately. I have a big favour I need to ask the man soon, and for that I need him to be very satisfied with our service."
"B-But my lord," the woman looked taken aback by that and hesitatingly spoke, "The girl is only thirteen and has not even been properly trained yet, and not to mention even her moon—"
But a single raised eyebrow cut her off and forced her to swallow the rest of her words as she suddenly remembered what kind of man her master was.
"Tell me, did I ask you how old she was?" Baelish questioned in a calm voice, as if he was simply having a conversation with her, but the woman knew very well how much cruelty that mild-mannered face was hiding underneath.
"N-No, m'lord," she stammered in a panicked voice as her eyes immediately fell to the floor, hoping against hope that the man was not in one of his moods today, and she would be let off easy.
"Then do not tell me how old she is," Baelish continued with a gentle smile on his face, but the more he was like this, the more it terrified the woman, "The girl's father sold her to me, so she is mine to do as I please, and at the moment what I desire from her is to pleasure that man, who is a special kind where the younger they are the more eager he gets, and we always strive to fulfil our customers desires no matter what they are, do we not?"
"Y-Yes, Master,"
"And as for her not being properly trained yet... well, I think that would make it an even better experience for him, don't you think?" Baelish continued with a chuckle, as if he was making a crass joke and not talking about ruining the life of a young girl, "And if she happens to suffer a little because the man was a bit too extreme... well, that would be even more lovely, as then we can make the good knight work for us harder," he continued as if talking to himself.
"I-I understand," The girl replied with a forced smile on her face.
"Good," Baelish smiled at the compliance in her voice, "Get going then. Don't make him wait for too long," he said as he dismissed her with a wave of his hand.
The woman immediately bowed and scurried out of the room as if she had been granted a pardon, leaving Baelish all alone once again.
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