Gripless beauty

Fumbling her fingers, Cattleya stared emotionlessly at the clay brick wall in front of her. She was scared, much like the other crying girls in the room. The difference was she didn't show it. As an elder sibling, she has learnt to overcome her fear in order not to spook anyone else. So she decided to just count the bricks the best she could. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten... One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten... one, two..." She stopped when she counted to ten for the fifth time. There were simply too many bricks in that one wall for her to count. Desperate to find some other occupation, she started scanning the room. It wasn't circular like the slums most of the fielders live in and it had four windows and two doors, both made out of wood and decorated with bronze. She would be amazed by it if she weren't here all alone, without her mother. 

Her lips trembled as a sign of tears to come. Quickly, she hid her head behind her knees, not to upset the rest any more. How could this day turn out like this, when it started out like any other? This morning, as she was fetching water from one of the great three rivers that run through the Grainlands, her biggest worry was telling her age after the next flood season. Her little brothers and sister were all peacefully playing in the fields and her mother was picking the crops. Cattleya couldn't grasp why the three men from the city came to their house and took her away. What use is a simple peasant girl from the Grinlands to the rich, powerful and noble emperials of the great city Lux? 

The big door on the other side opened up once more. A woman in her winter years came out, gently took the hand of yet another girl and led her behind the door. This was going on ever since they arrived. One by one, the girls vanished behind the door and didn't return. Now, there were only three girls left. Minutes passed like hours, an unknown threat hanging over their heads, staring at them with big hollow eyes and breathing its chilly breath on their skin. 

Again, Cattleya turned her attention to the walls. This time, she stared at a great stone plate. The sole fact it was made from some sort of blue stone was amazing, but what really got her was the beautiful carving of a young girl, swimming in the stone sea. Her lips were curved in a perfect smile and her eyes appeared to be staring right down at the shivering girls. On her forehead was an imprinted sacred symbol, showing a high deity status. It might not have been the first time Cattleya saw the high goddess Triliya, but it was the first time she saw such an accurate representation of the entity of love, luxury and beauty. A shy tug on her ripped dress snapped her out of her daydreaming. Next to her was a small girl, probably the smallest one they took with them, and she was holding on to the piece of clothing, not even daring to make eye contact with an older person. It must have been hardly five floods away from her birth. 

"Excuse me miss," she said with a shaky voice, "I hope I'm not bothering you too much." 

"No, not at all," Cattleya said with a bit of surprise in her voice. She could tell that the girl was frightened to death and sought comfort by someone older than her. The child, with much effort, made a faint smile appear on her quivering lips before it vanished again. 

"I don't like this place," she lamented to the older girl as she pressed near her like a frightened chic seeking refuge under her mother's wing, "Will they do something bad to us?" 

"No, I'm sure they won't," Cattleya comforted her. However, she was sure that was a lie. It wasn't a secret nobility didn't have much patience with less eye-appeasing fielders, whose hands were rough and their faces covered in dust. 

Luckily, her new found companion was still childishly naive and was content with such a faint reassurance without any additional explanation. Her young mind was probably coming up with reasons, plausible and obscure, for their captivity. Without a grim fate in front her eyes, some light returned to her face and eyes as she continued the conversation, light-heartedly: "Oh, my name is Mistellia. I live near the Morning River." 

"I'm Cattleya from the Evening River." 

"So you live in the mud slums?" 

Cattleya nodded. She almost forgot. The people near the Morning River, the biggest of the three, are always supplied with rich, clay-like mud that washes up on the river banks. It might affect the fields, but that way they can entangle themselves in a much more lucrative business of producing building bricks for themselves and the emperials. That was the reason why their villages were full of snug, neatly-built houses with clay decorations while the fielders around Midday and Evening-the later especially- had to be satisfied with hay slums, smeared with their poor mud. 

"I've never been to there," Mistellia continued, "but I want to. The green fields look a lot nicer than our smelly dirt." 

"If... when," the elder corrected herself, "When we go back home you're more than welcome to visit." 

The five-year-old's face lighted up like the sky at sun rise, but was washed away at that very moment: "I miss my mommy and daddy." 

Cattleya opened her mouth to comfort her again as the door opened once again. The elder woman sauntered across the room, slowly, like a praying beast. Each of the girls held her breath, avoiding the woman's eyes. With her long, echoing steps, she stopped at the pair. 

"Why don't you be next, sunshine?" 

Mistellia looked up at the woman. She was extending her gloved hand at her, smiling. However, it wasn't the warm smile she received from her mother. It was the smile of a serpent, staring at the mouse it chased into the corner, sealing each and every escape she had. The small girl continued to hesitate, making the woman more and more anxious. 

"Come now. There is nothing to be afraid of." 

The sentence was as convincing as a beast telling the lamb it won't harm her. The poor girl squirmed further to Cattleya. Her frail body was shivering as she was looking at the wrinkle-framed, sunken-in eyes. IT was this that forced a protective response from Cattleya. 

"Can I go in her stead?" she offered the woman. 

"It doesn't matter which one of you lovely young ladies goes first. It doesn't make a difference to me, but you both will have your turn." 

"Then I'll take her place," Cattleya decided. She could feel the grateful, yet scared look with which Mistellia was regarding her. She turned her head to her little friend again and gave her a reassuring smile: "I'm sure it will be nothing. You don't have to worry about me and when your turn comes, I'll be waiting." 

That clamed the little girl down a bit and she let go of Cattleya's dress on which she was holding on for dire life. 

The woman placed her gloved hand on the girl's shoulder, guiding her towards the big wooden door, opening it and leading her into the heavy darkness on the other side. Cattleya spared one last glance at Mistellia, as her worried little eyes disappeared with the last ray of light. Now, it was just her and the woman held her fate in the palm of her gloved hand.