Lilith's Child

Chapter 7

The Grandmother led the girls to a large room in the center of the building. A group of women waited for them and guided them to seats around scattered tables.

Eliza recognized a few of the older women from the town. She didn't acknowledge them. That had been one of the few things her mother had warned her about. It was considered bad manners to acknowledge women she recognized.

Eliza wore the best dress she owned. It was jade green, made by her mother to a simple design. She had been delighted when she had tried it on, preening in front of her mirror.

Now, as she looked at the array of colors and fabrics the other novices wore, she wished she had added some fancy flourishes to her dress. She felt plain and underdressed compared to the other girls.

Tables laden with food had been hidden away in a small alcove. The Grandmother told the girls to help themselves from the tables.

The girls sat in small groups and chatted among themselves while they nibbled at their breakfast. All of them were nervous and none of them knew much about what to expect. Some of the girls knew each other, these congregated together around the tables. Eliza knew very few of the girls there by sight.

She moved between groups, casually joining conversations. Several themes emerged. Some of the girls had promises of husbands, once they had completed their rites. Others hoped that they would meet a suitor while they were here. A few of the girls had asked a childhood sweetheart to be their First.

'Have you requested someone?' A tall, muscular looking girl asked Eliza.

Eliza felt a blush begging to travel up her throat towards her cheeks. She felt too shy to tell these strangers that she had requested Robin.

After the scene she had seen just days before, it was unlikely he would accept anyway. Then she would feel stupid that these girls knew he had rejected her.

She shook her head and moved on to another group. She crossed the room towards the table to refill her plate. She spotted a small, plain girl sitting alone in a corner. The girl cowered in a chair, her shoulders hunched and head down. As Eliza glanced at her, she noticed a tear on the girl's cheek. She hurried over towards where the girl sat.

'Hello, I'm Eliza. Are you ok?'

The small girl sobbed and nodded towards Eliza.

'I'm sorry, I'm Jane. I'm ok, just scared.'

The girl did not look old enough to be here. Her figure was frail and her features still had the roundness of childhood. Eliza knew that Jane must have seen at least sixteen summers or the elders would not have put her through to this season's rites.

'Don't be scared. It will be over soon, and you can go home to be a wife.'

Eliza squatted down beside Jane's chair and rested her arm across her shoulders to comfort her.

'Have you got a sweetheart coming to the lodge?'

Jane shook her head, her sobs becoming louder while the tears flowed.

'No, he failed the test!' She exclaimed. 'They won't let him in. We were going to marry afterward, but now... he says he doesn't know.'

Eliza held the scared girl closer as she cried. She did not know what to say. Everyone knew that fewer and fewer young men were passing the test every season. That did not mean they could not take a wife, just that they would never be fathers.

One of the Grandmothers clapped her hands to get the girls' attention.

'Ladies, if you could take a seat please, we are about to begin.' She called. She made her way to an ornate lectern at the front of the room.

One by one, they filled the rows of empty seats. Eliza noticed that every one of them looked nervous now.

'History, ladies... let us see how much you know!'

A small groan came from the back seats.

The Grandmother frowned and glared towards the offending girls.

'You young women are about to undergo the most important ritual of your lives. The least you can do is to understand why we are here.'

The Grandmother pressed a small button hidden in the carving of the lectern. A wooden panel on the wall behind her slid open with a swoosh sound. The light from the central lamp reflected from the glass screen revealed on the wall . Music filled the room.

On the screen was the image of a vehicle, traveling through the stars.

'The Enemy drove us from our home. We left the lands where we knew only persecution and hate. We left our homes behind and sailed into space with the hope of a new start. A new colony where our children could thrive. We found Eden, a beautiful planet much like our home'

The scene on the screen cut to a view of the forests and of seas.

'We settled here, using local materials to build homes. For a while, we fed off ships supplies, while we explored our new home to see what was edible. Our scientists established that we could survive here.'

The screen showed a small group of people, building houses and farming crops.

'Our Eden hid a serpent amongst its beauty. A threat our scientist failed to recognize.'

The girls all gasped as a picture of one of the demons flashed on the screen. They recognized the creature from their childhood stories.

'Eden already had an intelligent species living on it, one that resented our arrival. Year after year, we realized how they fought us. Many of our men were sterile. Women were failing to conceive. '

Eliza felt as though the man on the screen was talking directly to her, his eyes seemed to focus on her as he continued his narrative.

'It seems that some of our colonists had a natural immunity to the poison produced. Others were destined to be blighted by the malevolence of the demons. Our science could not produce an antidote.'

'Infertility tore Pair bonds apart. As women craved a child; they began to gravitate towards the few remaining fertile men. Bands of infertile men were unable to get wives to stay with them. Fighting broke out amongst our men, as jealousy over women festered into violence.'

A Lodge showed on the screen. It was very much like the lodge Eliza recognized.

'To try and save the colony and ensure our survival, the scientists began fertility testing. To prevent outbreaks of violence we devised new procreation rituals and embedded them in our laws. This maximized the chances of children being born. Each season, girls who have become women of childbearing age are brought to the Woman's Lodge to undertake the ritual.

Each season, boys who are of age go to the station medical facility where their sperm is tested. Those whose sperm are virile and untainted join the other virile men of the colony to attend the Women's' Lodge, for the rites initiating young girls into adulthood.'

The Grandmother paused, she looked at the faces of the young women, making sure they were paying attention.

'All you young ladies are virgins... If you are not, we will know and you will be punished according to the law. You can not fool us. You will be imprisoned. The man who entered you will be put to death. We know that you may have formed attachments to young men from your home villages. This is why we, as a curtsey allow a young woman entering the lodge the option to choose a man of her choice to be her First. The only consideration is, the man in question must have passed the tests to be eligible.;

Eliza shot a sympathetic glance at Jane who sat with her head bowed at the end of the row.

'Once a girl has been broken, any man within the lodge during the course of the rites may have intercourse with her... Any man. You may not refuse. Are you all clear on what will happen.'

The girls had begun to fidget and grow restless. They all knew the basics of what would happen next.