Page 8 of Conform
I had stared at her bright eyes, gleaming with hope, in the communal sleeping area. The others all slept around us. I found the moon through the window above my small bed. If only we had that power.
“It would be wonderful,” I had whispered.
I missed her so much. It was strange missing something that wasn’t meant to exist. The Academy forbade friendships and connections of any kind. Alice hadn’t cared about any of their rules. Whispered conversations after lights-out had become our routine. A secret friendship. Stranger still, mourning something I didn’t know the ending to. Deep down a part of me knew she had disregarded one too many rules. That I would never see her again. She was gone.
“I think it’s for her eyes,” Violet was saying, bringing me back to the room.
“Have you ever seen anything like it, though?” Rose asked, clutching Violet’s arm as she peered at something Violet held.
“I have not,” Violet answered. “Her file . . . the Mate’s identity was blank, right?”
Rose nodded. “No number or preferences were listed for her.”
Violet turned toward me, a small black box in her hands. “Strange, is it not?”
“What’s strange?” I asked.
“You’ve received a gift,” Rose told me, laying a small scrap of paper upon the counter. It was too far away for me to read the meticulous penmanship on the note.
“What kind of gift?” I asked, leaning forward.
Violet grabbed my shoulders and pulled me back against the chair. “A very generous one. They sent you a film—”
“They call it a lens,” Rose interjected as she placed something on her finger. It was tiny and impossibly thin. “It says to place it over the blue one.”
“Who sent it?” I asked, my palms sweaty.
“The Illum,” they told me together.
“We aren’t often surprised, Fledgling. What have you done to win the Illum’s favor with a visual defect?” Violet asked, her eyes narrowed.
“I haven’t done anything,” I told them honestly.
The two shared a glance before Rose approached me. Violet gripped my shoulders tighter, tilting my head back until she hovered over me. “Shame they want to cover the blue. If she had two of them, it would be quite lovely. Brown will have to do.”
“It says to hold open the eye to place it,” Rose told Violet.
Her hands left my shoulders, holding open my blue eye. “Don’t move.” My pulse fluttered fitfully as a strange film obstructed my vision. I blinked rapidly as the film moved and my sight came back.
“It works. How bizarre,” Violet exclaimed, peering at my face, inches from me. “Let’s paint.”
Rose grabbed brushes, different jars, and vials from the vanity. I blinked incessantly, my eye watering. “Stop that,” Rose demanded.
Moments later, I was being pushed into another room with a small raised platform and a garment rack bursting with breathtaking fabrics and colors. Despite myself, a small thrill raced through me. I had always hated the drab, shapeless gray garments I was forced to wear.
“This is the fun part,” Violet whispered, and I jumped. “Here. On the platform, robe off,” she instructed, cramming something in my hands. Ivory lace panties. If you could call the small scraps that. Dropping the robe, I shimmied into them, breasts still exposed. I stood on the platform, clutching my chest, as the two squabbled. They clearly had a deep understanding of each other. A closeness as foreign to me as the procreation phase.
“The gold,” Violet claimed forcefully. “The neckline will distract her Mate, ensuring a successful contract.”
“She is going to dinner, not the bedroom, tonight,” Rose argued. “She should wear the pink gown. It will look beautiful among the blooms in the Garden.”
“And hide all our hard work with a frilly skirt and a high neckline? Absolutely not! They sent her a lens, which the Illum have never done. We make her stand out.”
Violet gently held a shimmering golden dress in her hands. The fabric was akin to liquid gold. It was magnificent. Rose gave in, and they raised the dress up my legs, leaving goosebumps in its silky wake.
“I hate when you’re right, Violet,” Rose said, rolling her eyes. She strapped my feet into simple golden heels, leaving me instantly off-balance.
“Last touches,” Violet said. Rose painted my lips one last time and sprayed me with a sweet-smelling substance while Violet combed my curls.
