Conform or Suffer: The Darkness of Beauty

Chapter 10 Moth City Library

Same Day

*

Melted snow transformed into puddles in the room's warmth, and Zill's legs slipped as she collapsed inside the vestibule. She pulled herself up by the library door's handle, and her wings shook wet clumps onto the floor mats.

Her cloak slipped off, revealing two unacceptable badges on her left arm. Obnoxious was engraved into the top badge. On the lower badge was the word Giantess.

Her cell phone rang repeatedly. Zill's semi-frozen index finger pressed the virtual buttons. "Karen, I'm alive. They're keeping the library open as an emergency shelter. New Jersey bought the Moth City Library, and squad members can't enter without a court order from Planet Earth."

"Dot texted me. Tell that creep to stay away from my daughter."

"Chase protected her. I know Stanton is rich and handsome, but he wants to turn Grew-Ella into me." The phone broke into static.

Zill sashayed around the library, leaving water behind with each step.

Posters on the wall explained the rules of the planet, not the library.

Librarians wearing Kindness Rebel shirts began to rip them down.

They removed a poster of an elf woman of color, Avery-Joy. Her lavender-colored hair flowed underneath a gold crown with Conform or Suffer embroidered into her pageant sash.

The librarians replaced it with another poster of her with the quote, "I stand with the Kindness Rebels. Just because I meet the beauty and cancel culture standards doesn't mean I support them."

A librarian crossed out Moth Kingdom's pointless status level lists for each gender. With the top being the prime minister, queen, or king, and right under it, the grand elite prince and princess, and the lowest being a crimson workhouse laborer.

Another poster featured a younger Yoleta wearing the same sash and crown. The statement under her feet declared that non-reject males wear whatever color they wish. Female elites wear black, gold, and pink, but all other women must wear muted green unless it's their wedding or college prom. Workhouse prisoners wear muted green if they behave.

Zill sat at the closest table. The women fled, but five men handed her their numbers. She sat next to a reject tiger male, and the other men avoided them.

Chase limped into the library.

Fans crowded around him, and he ignored them and focused on Zill. He wrapped his chiseled arm around her shoulder.

The reject man stood and slowly trudged in the direction of the stairs.

Zill collapsed into his arms. "We need Grew-Ella."

He slithered from her embrace and held his head in his hands. "Quig's annoying sister, Dot, ambushed me." Chase waved his hands back and forth when he talked.

"Does she know why?" Zill asked.

"No, she thinks I'm a creeper." Chase's hard mouth pressed downward.

She chucked a mystery book at him. "Your royal title and canceled TV show are worth a frozen pizza and a bag of store-brand potato chips."

He reached for her hand. "We'll figure this out."

"Baby, we're low on funds and Stanton is offering us millions," Zill said.

"Even if she isn't useful to us anymore, I refuse to do that. Maybe we should leave her alone if that's how you feel. What we've already done to her is disgusting enough." Chase hit his fists on the table.

The librarian shushed them.

Zill lowered her voice. "I don't know what to do. Avery-Joy is pretending she is a real reporter and not a college romance blogger."

"I can't believe she was queen." He rubbed his cracking shoulders. "She just goes through our garbage for information, but I said we'd meet him here."

"I'm going to kick her face in," Zill said.

Flint formed inside a quick burst of light. "We want to talk."

Avery-Joy's face appeared on the screen. She stood in a crowded lunchroom. "I texted you seven times, and you didn't answer. Guess what I found out while searching through the Ivy Kingdom census records?"

"Both of you would've reported on it. Not that anything you two write is coherent." His fingers dug into his palm.

Flint shifted the tablet. "Her information is so delicious."

Avery-Joy spoke to Chase. "We discovered you were married to Zill when you were engaged to Grew-Ella. Using engagement contracts to keep a mistress is illegal. They only exist, so exes can't cancel each other. I don't care that you lied because Zill is unacceptable, but Stanton is threatening Grew-Ella. Protect her."

"We already are," Chase said.

Flint grabbed the tablet. He ran toward the exit of the underground parking lot, tapped a watch on her wrist, and vanished in a burst of colored light.

Chase and Zill walked around the library until they found an empty storage closet. Zill kept guard outside.

Out of earshot, Chase called Sean-Mack on his phone. "Your plan didn't work."

"Grew-Ella isn't Ida, and people adore her. Her brother is extremely close to my adopted son, Junior. He escaped exile to help her and will run in the election. This was your fault because I planned to kill her."

"I don't want her to die," Chase said.

"You did your part, and I'll reward you with her. Yoleta might try to stop us, but she can't object to me selling Grew-Ella if she is dead."

Chase trembled. "No killing anyone. Sadly, Avery-Joy and her friends are becoming bigger problems."

"She is not the problem. Grew-Ella is, and if you don't handle her, I'll sell her to Stanton or kill her."

"If you ask, I'll slaughter my baby sister," Zill said.

"No, you promised," Chase said.