Born for Silk (The Cradled Common)

Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Aster

Anyone around bullies enough, starts to develop a kind of harm gauge. A protective measure.

What will it be today?

Snide comments? A fistful of food thrown at my dress? A foot that slides out at the perfect moment and brings me to the floor? An elbow to the face?

What today, Iris?

In the weeks that followed that day at the pond, four Silk Girls from the house, including Lavender, were sent to placements across The Cradle to start their Meaningful Purpose.

It’s not meant to be sad, but they just leave.

And it makes me wonder…

What’s it like?

On the other side?

I may see them again when—or rather, if—we become Sired Mothers one day. We’ll be older then. Maybe time will change them. Maybe some of them will want to be friends.

And I’ll forgive them.

Feeling heat slide along my left cheek, I scan the quadrangle’s ancient brick and stone boundary walls to find Iris’s gaze setting my skin ablaze.

She is standing beside the Silk Wardeness.

Why does she hate me? Because she believes that I’m truly Fur Born? Is she that much of an elitist?

I stare back at her, reading the intent today.

My gauge shudders beneath the telling leer, until our Wardeness grabs her elbow and walks her… straight toward me?

I step backward a few paces before finding my spine, locking it into a defensive rod.

I stand still.

“Aster.” Wardeness stops in front of me, her fingers still clutching Iris’s elbow. “Show her what you have, Iris.”

I blink at Iris, and she pulls out my stained knickers from her satchel.

What the f-word?

“I don’t know what that is,” I say far too quickly. Most of the blood washed out in the pond, but the white fabric has splotches of pink, evident staining from something red.

“I think you do,” Wardeness presses.

“They are not mine,” I lie.

“They are. I would know. I got them for you.”

“I bled. I had my bleed. I was embarrassed. It was weeks ago. I forgot all about?—”

“You two take me for a fool,” she spits out. “I have seen the way you both behave toward each other.”

It’s really one-sided…

She purses her lips as though a lemon seeps juice below her tongue. “Like children,” she says. “Not like Silk Girls. You both have His mark. You will go to a lord or a member of The Guard. Maybe even to Kong if he ever decides it’s time. Iris, you’re the senior girl in this house until that happens. And Aster, you have such promise. Don’t let all that talent go to waste. And I will not be made a fool of. Do you hear me?”

“I don’t have any ill feelings toward—” Iris begins, but Wardeness isn’t accepting any lies today.

“Don’t fib to me.” She grabs the knickers from Iris. “Now. I don’t know why you hid your blood or why Iris was showing it off like a flagship to the other girls, but I know you two are at odds. Trade will, I hope you aren’t chosen for the same placement, but if you are, then you need to remember your vows. I will lock you both up and have you repeat them from first-light to last-light if I must.”

Fury bubbles inside me. “I don’t have a problem with Iris, Miss.” I stare at Iris, bored. “I couldn’t care less about her.”

Iris’s teeth clench behind her fake smile.

Wardeness pinches her brow between her fingertips. “ Trade Help Me. Okay.” She lowers her hand, resolute, and stares at us; a strange expression moves across her aging face. “Tonight. Gosh, I have only ever done this once before. But you are both very desirable Silk Girls. I cannot have your foolish ways stop you from achieving Meaningful Purpose. It is too important. I care too much for you both. Tonight,” she begins, her voice lowering. “I will collect you from your rooms, and we will go for a night ride in the van. It will be only the three of us. And you must not tell the other girls.”

“Of course, Miss,” Iris coos. I can hear the bullshit in her voice, but so many believe her to be sweet.

Around us, girls drag their feet to eavesdrop. I don’t like the idea of going anywhere in the middle of the night with Iris, but foolish interest whispers between my ears.

“That will be all for now, girls.” The Silk Wardeness looks between us expectantly. “Go back to your independent studies. I will see you tonight.”

I keep my composure, nod stiffly, and walk to the study hall, not looking up or around until I’m certain that I’m away from Iris and her groupies.

An entire night with Iris.

Oh joy.

I push open the heavy wooden door and am greeted by empty desks, a quiet room, and a single girl, Cherry, kneeling at the platform, probably asking The Cradle for two sons and one daughter in her future.

Ahead of me, high and proud, the magnificent portrait of our king hangs, framed by stained-glass windows.

Ambient light from outside filters through the glass, casting the mural in colours, bringing the images to life. His eagle, a black and orange figure like an umbrella over the portrait. The tides of The Strait below, navy and black waves, and white foam. The Redwind, depicted in red and orange fragments, creates a fishbowl effect around the piece.

I tilt my head as I study it, feeling warmth pool low inside me, taking in the regal sight and artistry before me. It doesn’t do him justice. Not now that I have seen him in the flesh. Felt his hands on me.

Swallowing the reverie, I move toward one of the desks. The Silk Wardeness’ outing sits in the front of my mind .

A team exercise, maybe?

Some kind of bonding?

It doesn’t matter.

Whatever she has to show us won’t change Iris. And I need to win by excelling. In ballet. In poise and manners. In being a Silk Girl. So I can leave this glass container and see more of…

Anything.

I open my desk and retrieve the text, Anatomy of a Silk Girl. I flip to chapter seventeen, Perineal Tears, and start reading.

At the end of the day, after studying and ballet, I wash the sweat from dancing off my skin with scolding water.

It’s always extra hot.

The wooden shower mat beneath my feet is warm, too, almost too warm. Floating around in the puddles are fresh petals, the scent of which mingles with the tree leaves, cedar, and tar used to heat the room year-round. Heat in the showers aids to cleanse us.

Cleanliness is a virtue.

Especially for a Silk Girl.

I wash, thinking about what I read, about the Xin De Maternal Deaths and why my Trade is so important to The Cradle. And… why being Fur Born means I’m at risk.

Am I strong enough to carry a baby with Xin De genes? When they grow so large, so strong, so quick.

I was assured years ago that my mother was Silk Born. That she was kidnapped by an outlawed Common man and that is why I was first marked as Fur. My blood is Silk, though. The story goes that The Guard found my mother dead in a pile of ash and bodies. I was found later.

That is the story I was told.

I am not really a Fur Girl.

I turn off the shower.

I’m wandering from the stall absentmindedly, my thoughts reeling and rolling over, when I bump into someone.

And it all happens so fast.

Iris shoves me against the wall, knocking breath from my lips. “You say nothing tonight, got it!”

I quickly search behind her to check for her followers, but she’s alone, which seems strange. I frown. “I have nothing to say. You tried to hurt me, tear me, but you failed.”

“They’ll know you’re Fur.” She sneers. “See scratches all over your skin. It’s important to live a delicate life. It says so in the books. Peaceful. Stress and trauma get into the cells and infect the babies. I have the Xin De DNA. I have the strength. I am perfectly at peace!”

“ Yeah, you’re the picture of tranquillity right now.”

Red builds beneath her cheeks. “My seal will be a perfect shield and Sire will choose me because of it. Not you. He can’t. He won’t choose you!”

Gosh. She is jealous of me…

Power slides across my lips, resting into a smile. “You’re really jealous of me, aren’t you? You’re not disgusted because I was Fur Born. It has nothing to do with me. You’re jealous.”

“Filthy little Fur Girl!” She lifts her hand to slap me, but I catch her wrist. It vibrates with her rage.

“No.” I shake my head, glaring at her. “I’m not scared of you. Jealousy is not a virtue, Iris. You’re imperfect, too.”

“I’ll ruin your face next.”

She is losing it. I lean closer. “Do you know how to swim, Iris? I do. I jump in the pond and swim all around to catch birds. If you touch me again, I’m going to drag you into the deep and hold your head under until your lungs fill with water, and don’t worry, I won’t be punished. A creature lives near that pond, and he likes to eat birds. Pretty red birds like you. They won’t find your body. He’ll pluck you to bones, red feather by red feather.”

A moment of hesitation flitters through her angry stare before she tugs her wrist from my hand. She backs away slowly, grasping at a cruel smile. “The creature isn’t real, Aster. Your only friend is make-believe. You still have an imaginary friend. It’s pathetic.”

I blink at her.

“I’ve heard you talking to it,” she goes on. “It doesn’t talk back. It isn’t real. They’ll see that you’re not fit to be a Silk Girl. They’ll see that you’re odd and not want your genes tainting their legacy.”