Alyss hung the dress in her closet. She’d wear it tomorrow and be the envy of every female in the Chamber. Most of the girls followed her fashion sense, trying to copy whatever she did day to day. But Alyss was always one step ahead of them. This time she’d be leaps ahead. And when they asked her where she got the dress, she wouldn’t tell. She’d say it was a private designer made especially for her: a one of a kind.
Which was the truth. The dress felt as though it were designed especially for her. Adom did excellent work on the tailoring. The fabric molded to her curves in perfection. Alyss was tall with a narrow waist, ample breasts and a large derriere. Everyone envied her for her derriere. Those and her breeding hips that were good for fashion. She hadn’t minded that Adom had drawn her with a few extra pounds. Alyss admired art from the Grecian time period where women were drawn with more flesh on their bones. But to her it was a matter of perfection. And he was so near to capturing her image perfectly. He just needed to make a few adjustments.
She ran her fingers over the fabric of her dress. The texture of the ropes on her fingertips sent a sizzle down her spine. Instead of pulling away, Alyss leaned into the gown. She caught the faint scent of Adom’s musk and paint. Alyss’ hands itched to hold a brush. She hadn’t experienced the urge in months.
Before she made a conscious decision, her feet were already in motion. She made her way down to Merlyn’s old lab. She hadn’t been there in months. Not since Merlyn left.
The door was unlocked. When she entered, the entire room was empty. The tables clear of beakers, microscopes, and cages. She actually missed seeing her sister in here with all of her vermin, bent over a scope, and jotting down notes in a paper book. She even missed the sight of Liam slunk down in a back corner, sneaking glances at her sister when he should’ve been calculating his numbers.
Alyss went over to the closet at the back of the room. She hesitated at the knob to the closet door. She could smell the faint scent of paint. Her fingers twitched. She hadn’t done this in so long. Her Mother never once encouraged the hobby. It was not scientific and would add nothing to the advancement of their society. That deemed art a waste of time. She’d told herself that the last painting would be the last time. She’d repeated that lie for years. Until three months ago when Merlyn left.
After her glimpse at the canvases being wheeled into the Chamber of Arts and Culture, the itch began. After visiting with Adom today and seeing his artwork, she itched to scratch. With Adom she’d not only seen the art with her eyes, she’d felt it on her skin with the dress. She’d seen herself through his eyes in his portrait of her. She ached to let her fingers fly free over parchment if only for a moment.
Just for one moment.
And this would be the last time.
Alyss threw open the closet doors and gasped.
It was empty.
Gone were all of her canvases. Canvases she’d had since childhood. The itch tore down her spine. It buckled her legs with its force. Alyss held onto the door knob to stay upright. Her hands shook, her eyes watered, her breathing came in shallow gasps. Pain bowed her shoulders as though her soul had been ripped from her body.
Without thinking, Alyss raced from the room. She ran down the hall on unsteady legs. She burst into the great room and gave her Grand Mother a start.
“Where are they,” Alyss demanded.
Her Mother looked up at Alyss. Her eyes narrowed. “Where’s what?”
“My -Merlyn…Merlyn’s things? What have you done with them?”
“Merlyn is no longer welcomed in this house and neither are her things.”
Alyss’ bravado seeped from her spine along with any vestiges of her soul. “What did you do with them? The things in her lab?”
“I had them taken out with the rest of the garbage.”
Her Mother’s eyes challenged hers. Alyss saw that her Mother knew exactly what she was referring to when she said garbage; the list of items included more than just microscopes and beakers.
“You should worry about your presentation tomorrow before the chambers.”
Alyss didn’t answer. Her mind frantically tried to remember each painting that was now lost to her forever. Years of work, her innermost thoughts and dreams displayed in the perfect balance of lines, curves, and color, all gone.
“Alyss. If this bill doesn’t get passed our family name will be ruined.”
With her soul ruptured, her bravado gone, frustration boiled up and out of her. “It's just a bill, Mother. They can’t stop your work.”
Angyla stood.
Alyss took a step back.
“This family has faced embarrassment after embarrassment. First with Celia’s spawn returning from the wild and marrying those men.”
Alyss’ cousin Chanyn had been raised in the Wastedlands by her aunt Celia, who wanted no part of their society or its men. After Aunt Celia passed away, two men found her cousin Chanyn. Lord Khial and Lord Dain were outcasts, and against her family’s advice, Chanyn bonded with the males in a great scandal.
“And now your sister’s renouncement of her own work after taking up with those other men. If you fail, we will not get the funding or permissions to go ahead with the human trials. I will not give up my life’s work. I’ll use you as a human trial to prove that insemination works.”
“Me?” Alyss took another step away from her Mother. Her back met the wall.
“Yes, you.”
Alyss made a deal with her Mother years ago. Because she had no interest in bonding with a male or having children, and her scientific aptitude was abysmal, they’d decided she’d go into the Sisterhood and work for her family’s interest.
Alyss had kept up her end of the bargain. “You can’t force me to be inseminated, Mother.”
“It would be your choice. Move the bill forward or be inseminated. Two options equals a choice.”
The threat hit her chest harder than the insult. It landed with an empty thud. With her soul ripped from her being after seeing the hollowed out closet, Alyss had nothing left. She would not allow her Mother to replace that hole on her insides with an inseminated creation.
A spark lit inside her gut when she remembered her encounter earlier today. She remembered the tall, dark male advocate talking out of turn. She remembered him being reprimanded. Her stomach unclenched when she realized that she was going up against an ordinary man, not the Male Voice.
She’d face him with her smile, her eyes, her breasts and her hips. No man had ever failed to do her every bidding when she’d turned the full light of her attention on them. She’d use everything in her arsenal to hold him back and push this bill forward. And she would win. He was, just a man after all. It would be easy. And then, after the bill passed, she would move onto the rank of apprentice where she would no longer need her family backing. She’d be able to leave this Goddess forsaken house and live on her own terms. Perhaps even have a paint brush outside of a closet.
Alyss straightened her back, her once empty spine reformed to solid steel. “Don’t worry, Mother,” she smiled. “I’m prepared.”