Born for Silk (The Cradled Common)

Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Aster

Silk Girl Vows:

For The Cradle, I vow to live free of jealousy. It is a disease that does not leave space inside the heart for Meaningful Purpose.

“ Hmm ,” a girl named Island, The Estate’s Modistes Girl, makes a drawn-out sound of contemplation as she circles my naked body. “Small.”

I wrap my arms around my middle, darting my gaze to Paisley, who sits in the corner watching us. I know I’m small; it’s literally been thrown in my face every day of my life.

Most Silk Girls have Xin De in them… But not all. In the past, only Xin De girls qualified to be Silk Girls, but since The Revive, the criteria are simply three generations of successful pregnancies and births. Sounds easy, but one miscarriage and you’re out. Forever . But Xin De mixed girls carry and birth the babies well. Better, in truth. They can carry the babes for longer, some, all the way to term. Which is not usual now given the massive size of a Xin De fetus.

I follow Island with my eyes. Her face is entirely covered in chalky white paint; her top lip is a bright red puckering arrow.

“Very sweet figure,” she notes, “but you could be a tad fuller in certain areas.”

She stops moving around me. “To add volume, I’m going to go with a heart-shaped neckline, really try to showcase those sweet little things to the lords.”

It’s been two days since I moved into my forever room. I’ve been told that there is a carnival in The Estate tonight. It is a word I didn’t know until today. It means party, of sorts. All the lords from every tower will be there, giving the five in his Collective a chance to view us amongst others. “I’ve never been dressed before.”

She finds a white, long-sleeve leotard with a heart-shaped neckline—like she advised—on the gold-gilded clothing rack. “Put this on first, then this long purple slip shirt. I will do your hair up high, show that long neck and décolletage. You’re the perfect ballerina.”

“So, you don’t think I’m too small?”

“Look, it’s old practise that the larger girls carry better. But I have seen tiny things like you birth just fine. Your hips will do what they will whether you have extra meat on them or not, and if the babe has a high Xin De genus, you will not be expected to carry it to term anyway. It will be incubated when it grows too large for your womb. The Revive was meant to balance the differences between our kinds and stop the species conflict, which is why more Silk Girls like you are arising. The Xin De genes are recessive; you must have read this in your studies. But—” She takes a big breath. “Some are opposed to The Revive. They want purity. After all, Xin De were masterfully designed to survive. It’s in a Xin De Lord’s best interest to pick a girl who has some traits, height, strength, flesh armour, the nictitating membrane, the film in the nostrils. Do you have any of these?”

I shake my head.

“I didn’t think so. But you’re a sight, Aster.” She smiles widely. “Really, really, lovely to look at. You’ll be picked quickly because they won’t be able to take their eyes off you.”

She’s just being nice.

“I agree,” Paisley says from the corner.

“What if no one wants me?” I ask Island as I dress, sliding my leg into the fabric holes. “What happens?”

“There are five lords and five Silk Girls.”

And that is her answer. One of them will get stuck with me, whether they want me or not. She starts to fuss around with my clothing, a mother duck plucking duckling feathers.

A few moments later, I am dressed.

Dressed but not at all prepared.

“Don’t worry, Aster. I’ve seen you move. You’re lovely. Slow. Sultry. That’s the ballerina training.” Paisley looks at Island. “And her eye contact?—”

“ Yes ,” Island agrees, “her eye contact is some of the best I have seen in a new Silk Girl.”

I bounce my gaze between them, utterly overwhelmed by the subject.

“Remember,” she purrs, “you have other body parts, too.”

Island steps to my back and starts on my hair. “Far more interesting than big breasts and round hips.”

I blink ahead. “Like what?”

A corner of Paisley’s mouth curves. “Like your lips .”

“Eat fruit,” Island adds quickly.

I cannot keep up. “Are you sure?” I look up, and Island leans to make eye contact with me while she pins my hair into a soft, loose bun on the back of my crown.

She looks like my Rapport after a feed, all teeth and cunning excitement. “Eat fruit while you look at the lords. Fruit is juicy. It’ll slide down your lips.”

My face flushes.

“ Oooh, yes,” Paisley gushes softly. “Don’t wipe it off straight away, make sure they see.”

“You cannot speak unless spoken to”—Island moves to stand before me. She lifts my chin and begins to paint my lips with a soft red blush while she says, “You cannot approach them or touch them, and you must be appropriately dressed, but you can eat and gaze at them.”

“I can’t,” I begin.

“It’s in your Trade to seduce, Aster. Make one of them want you. This is for The Cradle. You remember your vows?” Paisley approaches me, smoothing a piece of my hair into place. “That part about your irresistibility? And erm, staying in his…”

“His mind’s eye,” I finish, all this sinking, pressing down, like a weighted boulder of expectation.

Dammit. This is a lot.

I close my eyes and see the erotic image of the girl with the Xin De man thrusting into her. I place my face over hers; a shiver rushes through me. Then the man’s face becomes my king’s; I know it so well. Each piece: the scar on his lip, the predatorial blue gaze. He is every inch Xin De.

I wonder whether the other girls imagine it’s him each time they spread their legs. That’s the design, right? To have us all obsessed with him. It’s why his picture hangs in the Silk House, why we know every inch of his face.

Despite never knowing whether we are the one he chooses or not, we care for him, in turn, for The Cradle.

I shouldn’t think like this… Shouldn’t question the reasons or speculate. It’s a horrid habit.

All of this is. Well, it’s to keep us without jealousy, to keep the peace, and to protect the heir at all costs. I know this.

But I do feel jealousy, jealousy toward Ana’s pregnancy, Iris’s Xin De genes, and Blossom’s curves. And I am sure if I knew Daisy better, I would find something to envy about her also.

I’m a terrible Silk Girl.