Chapter 55 Owned, Eve
OWNED, EVE
Dr. Veil's expression is one of concern when we arrive at the medical center at the Spire. Her green eyes take in my condition, and then she speaks rapidly to Rafe and Lorian in that harsh, tonal Imperial that makes my damaged head throb. By her body language, I guess she’s telling them off.
Lorian responds, gesturing at me, then at himself and Rafe.
The doctor's tone becomes sharper, more insistent. She points at the door, clearly wanting them to leave.
Rafe touches my shoulder, trying to communicate through the contact. His eyes hold promises he can't voice.
But when Dr. Veil physically moves between us, speaking firmly, they have no choice but to go.
Her touch is gentle as she helps me onto the examination table. She holds up various instruments and makes explanatory gestures, but I can only nod and try not to panic.
She treats my head wound first, the medicine stinging then soothing. When she finishes with the neural damage, she gestures for me to remove Rafe’s jacket that I'm clutching. I let it fall, exposing my beaten and bloody body.
She wipes the blood away in slow, careful strokes.
But when she reaches my shoulders, she pauses.
I hear her intake of breath. Then she carefully cleans and dresses the skin there, now marked with the new tattoos—one for each Sovereign.
Her touch is kind, her voice softer still, as if she’s speaking to a wounded animal, and her pity almost brings me to tears. But I hold myself strong.
I chose this.
When she finishes, she lifts my chin so I have to meet her eyes. They are steady as always, but I can’t understand her quiet words. Her eyes tell me she doesn’t want to do what she is going to do next. She had the same look anytime we discussed the Venus Lock.
Dr. Veil guides me to lean back, and I watch as she gets out a device and passes it over my skin.
It’s warm and tingly, so I look up to see soft hair sprouting from my skin in…
abundance, first on my head, regrowing the hair that had been shaved while I was with the IGC, but then she moves the device to my underarms, legs, and between my thighs.
Was this what they were talking about before, that she didn’t want to do?
Of course I don’t want more body hair, but I know this is how Imperials like their human pets to look, and knowing Rafe and Lorian, especially Rafe, he crosses all his t’s and dots all his i’s. He’s going to make sure I, at the very least, appear to be the perfect human pet.
Then Dr. Veil produces a tray with metal implements I recognize with a sick drop in my stomach. Piercing equipment. Every pet I ever saw wore them. The silver or gold hoops through their nipples, marking them as owned and another place to attach their leash.
I shake my head, trying to pull back, but she speaks firmly and gestures to my collar. The meaning is clear. This is standard. Required. Part of what I am now.
Owned.
Dr. Veil works with clinical efficiency, piercing one nipple then the other, threading simple silver hoops through my virgin nipples.
When she’s finished, she holds up the pet clothing for me to wear.
The dress is made of thin white fabric with its sides completely open, held together by tiny chains that will display everything with movement. No underwear. Nothing else.
I’m going to look like a sex slave.
But, I have no choice now. This is my punishment.
So, I put on the scrap of clothing. At least I know what pet life will be like; I’ve witnessed it here at the Spire.
And I know Rafe and Lorian, or at least, I think I do, which is more than most human pets can say about their owners before they are owned by them.
Dr. Veil puts a hand on my shoulder to let me know she’s sorry.
I nod and say, “I chose this”
She says something, but I can’t understand her words.
Then the Sovereigns return. Their eyes darken when they see me, taking in every modification. Lorian's gaze lingers on the piercings showing through the thin fabric, and Rafe focuses on the copious soft hair now visible between my thighs through the dress's gaps.
I feel like a newly groomed pet being picked up by her owners. And a fear spreads through my body.
What am I going to be made to do next?
Dr. Veil speaks to them at length, probably explaining the procedures. Occasionally she gestures to me, to specific modifications.
The twins nod, their faces carefully neutral.
When we finally leave, Rafe holds my leash connected to my collar, and I'm acutely aware of every movement.
The dress shifts and gaps with each step, and the piercings pull slightly, reminding me of their presence, and that I can only be grateful the leash is attached to my collar and not my nipples.
As my bare feet touch the smooth surface of the Celestial Spire’s polished floor, I wonder again if I should have chosen hard labor. I worry now that this was the worse of the two options.
As I walk the familiar corridors, all I want to do is die from the shame of what I’ve become. What Rae said I would always be. And the last thing I want to do is meet any of my former colleagues like this, like the Sovereigns’ human pet.
Walking through the Celestial Spire as a pet is a different experience entirely than being an employee.
When I walked these hallways before, other staff members would bow to me as the Sovereigns' representative. Now, I’m being led by the Sovereigns on a leash, and everyone we pass in the corridors is staring at me like I’m an accessory or fuck-piece, making my bare feet feel heavy and the collar around my neck feel like it’s choking me.
As we pass the threshold into the public areas of the hotel, I can hardly walk. I slow and put my hands around my collar.
I can’t breathe.
Lorian puts his large hand on the small of my back and says something to me I can’t understand. I get the gist of it though, you chose this punishment, now, get on with it.
I try to put one foot in front of the other, but I find it’s difficult to keep up with their pace.
I know what I did, and I would do it again, but this shame.
I have never felt anything like it. The last thing I want to do is to be seen like this by my ex.
colleagues. This was the first place that I ever mattered to anyone, and had any real status, and now I am lowest of the low.
Some always saw you this way, the Devil whispers, maybe your equality was always an illusion.
Rafe pulls the leash taut when I slow.
No, I answer the Devil in my mind. My equality here was never an illusion.
As we pass through the Grand Lobby, I see the desk where I used to work. Where I used to be an equal with proper clothing, and again, I wonder: how will I maintain my sanity like this?
The Grand Lobby is bustling with activity when we enter, but conversations die as the Sovereigns lead me around as their human pet.
Everyone crowds around me, and wants to see the human-terrorist-turned-human-pet.
I catch my name in their incomprehensible words, and I can imagine what they’re saying about me, none of it good.
I want to die of shame.
Rae appears, and her perfect face is twisted in what's clearly satisfaction.
She bows to the Sovereigns, then says something directly to me.
When I don't respond, she laughs and reaches out her hand and runs it roughly between my legs, her fingers pressing against my pubic bone through the dress's open side.
I freeze. The violation is so casual and so public. She's touching me as if I'm an animal to be petted. Then, she says something else to the crowd of guests and former colleagues gathered around us, and several people laugh.
I do take note that not all of my former colleagues laugh.
But it still hurts, all the same.
But I won't cry. I won't give Rae the satisfaction.
However, when she moves her hand up my body, and tries to pull on one of my nipple piercings, I lose control and spit in her face. I know it does me no good to act like an animal when I am collared and being led around on a leash, but without words, what else can I do to defend myself?
Rafe yanks hard on my leash to move me away from Rae just before she tries to slap me.
Then, Lorian steps between us. I don’t know what he’s saying to Rae, but she steps back, although she still has a smug look on her face, and I wish I could punch her.
I pull against my collar and try to get around Lorian to attack Rae.
Lorian puts his arm out and easily holds me back.
“Let me at her,” I say, even though, I can’t understand what anyone else is saying around me.
Rae stares at me and says more incomprehensible words, which cause some to laugh at me again.
Lorian says something, trying to calm the situation, I imagine.
Then, I see Lira pushing through the crowd, her voice rising sharply. She and Rae exchange what's clearly heated words. Then, Lira turns to the Sovereigns, bows, and speaks rapidly in incomprehensible words, gesturing to me.
They nod.
Lira, my lovely friend, approaches me carefully, as if I might bolt or bite.
Her hands are gentle when she takes mine, and her familiar voice is soft and earnest. She's trying so hard to communicate something important, but it's all meaningless noise to me.
She squeezes my hands, and her green eyes meet mine in earnest.
I stare at her helplessly. Is she offering me comfort? Making plans? The frustration of not knowing brings tears to my eyes despite my resolve.
She hugs me, and this, at least, needs no translation. I cling to her, desperate for this simple physical contact that says, "You're okay, my friend.”
When she finally releases me, I see the glimmer of tears in her eyes, and then when she wipes my face, I realize I’m crying as well.
How am I ever going to survive this? Every day I cannot speak their language, I will be seen as more of an animal than someone worthy of equality.
Without a word or a warning, Lorian lifts me into his arms.