Page 105 of Born for Silk

His head tilts, listening.

That’s it. “Yes, Collective.” I nod at Odio, rounding him. I manage to get to the girls, and we embrace, press our heads together and pant heavily into our huddle.

“It’s okay.” I breathe. “It’s okay.”

“What happened?” Daisy asks.

“I don’t know.”

“Where have they taken Iris?” Blossom adds.

“I don’t know.”

Daisy lifts her head first, her eyes meeting mine. “What did she do, Aster?

Shit.

I’ve spent weeks with these girls. I’ve not trusted anyone enough to release the secrets and spill them into the wild. It wasn’t just to protect Iris, but… I am ashamed. I feel shame over being disliked, over being Fur born, and I wanted them to like me.

But that was selfish.

Guilt now plays with my shame; I didn’t warn them about Iris and put them in danger of having her claws sharpened against their confessions.

“She hurt me, but…” I start, wondering how to explain Iris without making her seem like a complete monster. It isn’t black and white. Iris is grey, so very grey. “I don’t think she can help herself. I think that if she could turn the nasty parts inside her off, she would.”

Daisy frowns. “What do you mean?”

“Yeah, I don’t understand,” Blossom adds.

I sigh, blinking as my mind reaches for an explanation. “Have you heard the story about the Scorpion and the Frog?” I ask them, and their brows furrow in unison. “I read it once in an old fairytale book before it was banned. It was raining, or there was a pond in the way, or something like that. I can’t remember exactly, but the scorpion needed to cross the water. It asked the frog for help, ‘Can I climb on your back?’ it said. The frog said, ‘No way. You will sting me.’ But the scorpion was adamant. ‘No, I won’t, because then we will both drown. That makes no sense.’ The frog thought about this. Then he agreed, and just as they got to the middle of the body of water, the scorpion stung him. As the frog began to die and sink, he called out, ‘Why? Now we will both die.’ The scorpion started to drown, and with his last breath, he said, ‘I’m sorry, it is just in my nature.’”

Daisy and Blossom both share a meaningful glance, their expression sad and tight with confusion.

With what feels like tunnel vision, the horizon of light at the end being me, Odio watches as though he is also listening to my folktale.

“She cannot help herself.” I shrug, sad. “She is rotten inside, and I don’t know if she’ll ever change.”

Daisy swallows. “What did she do to you?”

“The thing about betrayal is it never comes from your enemies,” I say. “You have to trust first.” I take a big breath and exhale the heavy words, “Can I trust you?”

“Of course,” Blossom blurts out.

“Yes,” Daisy agrees softly. “I swear it.”

With shaking fingers, I slide my mauve dress up to my knicker-line and display the long, thin scars snaking down my inner thighs. “It is just in her nature.”

Their eyes widen.

I drop the skirting.

I tell them everything that happened. I confide in them; all the secrets and the truth about being Fur Born, Raptor, the dead birds, the pond—the entire private life I lived that I wasn’t supposed to. Not as a Silk Girl. I wasn’t supposed to feed beasts. I wasn’t supposed to swim. I wasn’t supposed to suffer.

Daisy grabs my hand, holding it between two of hers. “Does Sire know? How much? We need to know in case conversations move around us.”

A breath hitches in my throat. “I don’t know.”

Blossom nods slowly. “You know that we know, right? That Sire chose you, Aster. We saw the way he looked at you. It was as if he wanted everyone to know that you were his. It’s okay.”

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