Joseph's jaw dropped as the women wearing next to no clothing squealed in glee at the sight of his dad. He followed him hesitantly as they were ushered into a side door, away from the main entrance.
The trip down the hall was brief before they ended up in a room that was brightly lit. A small man with a greasy beard greeted his father pleasantly, and they wasted no time in getting right to business.
Joseph's surprise shifted to amazement as he came to realize that his father had a very simple relationship with the man, Rolen. Because he was there, his father and Rolen explained their business relationship, much to Rolen's amusement.
Rolen owned sex slaves who were expected to service men every day. He was rather ruthless in his business dealings, and had grown quite rich. However, it never failed that the women he employed always became pregnant. He had tried many different methods of birth control, but the ones that worked, caused side effects he didn't like. Because many men didn't mind if the women they enjoyed were pregnant, he continued to use them until they delivered their babies.
Before his dad stepped into the picture to buy those babies, Rolen had tried to sell them to other slavers. If they didn't sell in a week or so, he would dispose of them and get his girls back to work. Since his father had promised to buy any babies he couldn't sell, Rolen had agreed to hold on to them for him until he returned every six months. He employed several women whose only purpose was to tend to those babies.
As their explanation was finished, Rolen signaled to one of the women in the room to bring the babies. Joseph was shocked at the number that were brought in. They ranged in age from newborn to six months old, and there were over a hundred of them. His dad closely examined each one before nodding that he would buy it.
There were three that would need a magical healing to solve birth defects, a service Rolen was not willing to provide. In fact, most slave owners wouldn't bother with such a service for a mere slave.
The last baby that was brought in, had only just been born that morning. As soon as his father saw it, he immediately jumped into action.
"This one won't live if it isn't taken to my healers immediately!"
The woman holding it looked startled and glanced over at Rolen.
"You agree to pay for it, even if it dies the moment you take it outside of my shop, and I'll have one of my girls rush it over right now."
"Of course!" exclaimed his father, looking at the bundled babe in alarm.
Rolen shrugged and motioned for the woman to leave.
Joseph saw tears in her eyes as she held the baby tight to her shoulder and rushed out of the room.
"I'm not sure what the father was, but that one is new. She's still quite attached to the baby. I may need to give her an extra day or two before putting her back to work." Rolen's eyes lingered on the door she had rushed out of.
Joseph felt sick to his stomach knowing that his father dealt with this man.
"Is the amount suitable to you?" asked his father as they concluded their business.
"Of course. I look forward to seeing you in six months."
They wasted no time in leaving the establishment, and made a hasty retreat out of that particular section of the castle.
Once they were back in a decent section of the market, his dad led him to a nice inn to enjoy a drink as it was still too early for supper.
"Will he really deliver each of those babies to your caravan?" asked Joseph as he looked down into his apple cider.
"He will. He enjoys the money he gets for each of them too much to short me even one child. Even if it dies before it arrives, I will get each one." His voice sounded hollow and tired as he downed his second shot.
"Why do you deal with someone like that?" asked Joseph after a moment of inward struggle. He didn't want to lose the hero worship he had for his dad, but it was severely strained after the incident they had just gone through.
"Before I offered to buy all those babies, he was just killing them. I prefer to raise my slaves from infants as it makes later learning easier, so it just seemed right to buy his. I don't care for the man at all, don't get me wrong," he said, seeing the look in Joseph's eyes. "If I didn't buy those babies, they would all be killed. And nothing will stop people from having a sex trade like that. If those in power made them illegal, they would just move the operation into hiding. There's too many who are willing to pay for sex for it to just go away."
Joseph wasn't sure, he didn't have enough learning or experience to know if what he said was true or not.
As the bartender offered him another drink, his father sighed and asked for the same apple drink he was having.
"At least some good comes of this."
"What's that?" asked Joseph, finding it hard to believe.
"Those women who have to hand over their babies know that they will be well taken cared of and not killed. In fact, because I am so well known at providing high class slaves, their children will never be in the same position those women find themselves in."
"So, that's why they were so happy to see you!" exclaimed Joseph. He was so relieved he wasn't sure what to say. He had been so worried about why they had been so excited to see his father, but hadn't wanted to ask.
His father glanced at him and chuckled. "I've never touched a woman other than your mother, boy, and don't you forget it!"