Page 70 of Born for Silk

He smiles wirily and looks up from his hands, meeting my gaze in the small brass-framed mirror. "Shall I leave now to inform the other lords they are required to start immediately? We have missed a night waiting for you to finalise your decision.” His brows weave, and I know this is it. “I will ensure there will be no crossovers. You will start with Iris tonight. This is your first time making an heir. Let me explain how it works.” He turns to face me. “Usually, a Guard would monitor the comings and goings, to ensure only one lord is inside The Circle at any time, but over the next five nights, I will stand at the door. You will go first. Do her well.”

I sneer. "She'll be limping by the time I'm through with her. You'll have an heir this season."

“We will have an heir. Make it happen, Sire."

Teeth grinding, I turn to walk back through the door, when his words slice through me, halting my step.

"I shall send Aster to a new placement."

I talk to the open door, my blood roars, ready for what he might say next. Clenching my fists at my sides, I say, "She is mine. I will do whatever I want with her.”

I hear his dark chuckle. “You would keep Meaningful Purpose from her? It is all she has known. She will not take this well. Let me reassign her to a lord with less… standards.”

“No.”

"If you want to fuck that girl, Sire. You need to treat her in the appropriate manner. As a Silk Girl,” he states smoothly, reading me too fucking well. I loathe his intuitions, not that I have managed to hide my interest in Aster well. “She is a breeder. She will get pregnant easily. If you want to fuck her at leisure not Purpose, we will need to remove all the parts that may bring you an unauthorised heir... you understand?"

I see black.

I don’t intend to fuck her.

I want to keep her pure, safe.

My last piece of humanity.

Perfectly intact.

But his threat digs at the grave of my darkest memory, and my weakness. I want to. There is no doubt that I want to fuck her and if I do…

He will cut her open.

Pull out her womb.

Leave her broken.

Just like my sister.

Hatred and disdain creep into my vision like phantoms finding my humanity and choking it. I do not dare turn around.

I lower my voice, deepen it. “If you touch a hair on her head, I will drag your spine from your torso by your skull.”

Without another word, I storm away from his chamber. The Guards I pass flatten themselves to the brick walls as I violently shake, visibly fighting to control my anger.

If he didn’t know I cared for her before, he sure as hell knows now.

Chapter Eleven

Aster

Silk Girl Vows:

For The Cradle, I will be proud of every pregnancy no less than I am my own.

“Rome,” I whisper as I come to, the warmth of his gaze still a tangible memory. He makes me feel as though I can be myself. A Silk Girl and Aster. A flower and a person with my own little differences. I adore what he is, and I adore what I am when he looks at me.

Like he’s going to choose me.

I blink my eyes open to the back of the veil. I slide it down to my neck and look around the dim room. Orange light spills from the ornamental fire— a first-light indicator. Yellow is crown-light. Red is last-light. It’s how I know what time of day it is in this room. The sun’s brilliance is filtered heavily with the haze, it is only direct enough at crown-light for us to truly mark the time of day.

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