Page 120 of Born for Silk

My heart jets to the skies, and I nod.

“Aster made me realise something,” Ana says, and we all look at her. “While I was in my room.”

We form a relaxed circle, and the carnival music floats to our platform, creating a private festival just for us.

The Silk Girls.

“Meaningful Purpose is the completed puzzle,” she states. “But the journey, the pieces, can be meaningful, too. You and you and you”—she bounces her soft, brown gaze around the circle— “my Collective.”

“Aster…” Blossom’s eyes fill with hope. “You’re still one of us, aren’t you? You’re not something different now?”

“I am still one of you.” I cup the back of her auburn hair. “He has said I can see you as often as I wish, only I must bring…” On a heavy exhale, my gaze hits the roofline.

They follow my line of sight to where Odio is perched on the tiles above us, head tilting as if listening.

Ana shrugs. “It will be nice to have a man around.”

I laugh.

Remembering the queen, I spin to thank her for allowing this to happen, but… she is gone. Sadness flickers inside me, but I remember my Collective. I force myself to surrender the simmering need to help her. Sometimes, it is best to accept that not everything can be fixed. Some people are not ready… some are paralysed with fear.

A memory whispers in her absence. Small feathers in my palm. An upside-down bird trapped in a glass house.

If she could only see the Redwind.

See something outside of these walls.

Maybe she would spread her wings.

“What happened to Iris?” Daisy pulls me to the present, her question a chisel hacking for the truth.

Blossom looks ashamed. “We told Ana.”

“I thought you would want her to know,” Daisy adds, glancing quickly at her hands. “We should trust each other in all things. I hope you’re not up?—”

“It is fine.” I touch her shoulder. “I’m glad.” Taking a step back so I can better see all three of them, I answer with all that I know. “She has been banished from The Estate. Sent to another Tower. One on The Mainland. A mining Tower. That is all I know.”

Ana frowns. “They are not executing her? For what she did to you? For crimes against her Collective? Against us?”

It is not that simple. I see her grey…

I shake my head as I say, “No. I begged the king to show her mercy.”

“Aster,” Ana sighs my name, heavy disapproval dropping her tone. “She deserves far worse.”

“She is the scorpion,” Blossom bids.

Ana’s eyes dart around in confusion. “A scorpion? Huh, she is a scorpion, that is for sure.”

“The House Girls are at the carnival.” Daisy points, and we all follow her finger out toward the stage.

I lift to my tippy-toes again, squinting at where Lord Medan, Lord Bled, and Rome are surrounded by women. Tall and curvaceous women, but any further details are lost to the distance. With that height and thickness, one can only presume they have a high Xin De genus.

Envy embeds its claws in my stomach.

I recall a conversation from last night when Rome said that Xin De girls can take more of him inside them. And I feel it, the most shameful of emotions—jealousy. It traps focus, distracting us from our Purpose. I don’t have time for it.

Jealousy makes us lose our path.

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