Page 15 of The Hunchback

I swiftly donned my loose garments before stepping around the tree to join Esmeralda. The beaming smile she greeted me with had the most exquisite heat blossoming in the pit of my stomach and spreading throughout my body, but especially in my chest. Sitting on the blue picnic mat, her legs folded on the side, with her reddish-brown hair draped around her, she looked like a wood nymph waiting for her lover.

How I wish…

The most delectable-looking spread had been laid out on the mat in front of her, but in a way that only left room for me to sit right next to her. As if to confirm it had been intentional, she patted the mat next to her.

“I don’t know what you like eating, so I brought a mix of everything,” Esmeralda said.

“I am not picky,” I said truthfully, “and this is quite a feast.”

My mouth watered at the sight of fancy cold cuts, cheeses, breads, jams, sautéed potatoes, and sliced hot meats. I didn’t know the name of half of the food in front of me, but it all looked divine. Frollo had not starved me in any way, but he’d never provided me with particularly fancy meals. I usually had a portion of the staff meals set aside for me—although I suspected the cook gave me the leftovers. You didn’t save the finest pieces for a faceless employee no one had ever seen. As I grew older, I’d begun fishing and hunting and now have my pick of the prime pieces instead.

“Good! Dig in,” Esmeralda said.

Picking up a warm loaf of multigrain bread, she broke it in half and extended one of them to me. I gratefully took it and imitated her as she slathered some dark blue jam on a piece before eating it. My taste buds nearly had an orgasm when the sweet flavors of blackberries, slightly spiced, invaded my mouth. I realized I’d probably moaned when Esmeralda giggled while staring at me, before tossing a piece of cheese in her mouth.

Naturally, my two imps parked themselves at the edge of the mat, looking at us with their irresistible big, black, needy eyes. Between two bites, Esmeralda fed them each a little bit of food, further increasing the tender emotions I felt for her.

“So, tell me about yourself,” I asked. “How did you end up a Vestal?”

“The same boring way as everyone else, I’m afraid,” she said modestly. “I was born on the Fourth Circle, the only girl and youngest of four siblings. My parents were fairly poor farmers and had hoped for a daughter that would qualify as a Vestal. Did theyeverget their wish.”

I raised a questioning eyebrow, nonetheless relieved at the absence of bitterness or anger in her voice.

“Every child is tested for ergokinesis at the age of five, both males and females, but we are the ones that really matter,” Esmeralda explained. “If a male shows great potential for power, he would be trained in administration and law to possibly become a Praetor—although energy manipulation isn’t a requirement for that role. But if a girl shows potential, her family receives a first dowry when she is taken to Obscura to begin her Vestal training. We have ten stages to complete in the twenty years of our training, the last one consisting of us being ordained. For each stage, another dowry is paid to our parents, the amount scaled according to our power level.”

“So the more powerful you are, the more credits your parents receive?” I asked before taking a bite out of a juicy cube of some kind of red meat.

“Correct,” Esmeralda said with a proud nod. “My dowries have taken my family out of poverty and into a comfortable life. With me being Anointed, my parents received a major bonus which has allowed them to buy additional lands and chattel. And that also enabled them to give each of my brothers a large enough plot of land to raise their own families.”

“That’s great,” I said, although not quite comfortable with that system.

“You seem troubled,” she said.

I hesitated, not wanting to appear judgmental or to make her feel as if I was devaluing her accomplishments.

“It’s just… Hmmm, how do you feel about that?”

“I do not feel exploited, if that’s what you’re wondering,” she said in a gentle voice. “And do not feel embarrassed for the thought crossing your mind. It is in fact a topic that surfaced often at the temple on Obscura among us the trainees. Some of my ‘sisters’ felt the dowry should have been set aside for us to enjoy once we’d been ordained. After all,ourwork was being rewarded.”

“That is indeed what I was thinking,” I admitted sheepishly.

“Which is fair. However, we have no use for those credits. Growing up on Obscura, our food and board was provided for,” Esmeralda said, flicking her long hair over her bare shoulder. “And we only wore the uniforms given to us by the Matriarchs. Once we are ordained, the Circle whose invitation we accept pays us a large sign-on sum to spend on whatever we might see fit. But even then, as you can see here, food and lodging is free for us, so we have no real use for credits.”

“I see what you mean,” I replied pensively.

And I also could relate. Frollo didn’t pay me wages for my gardening or blacksmithing work. It didn’t bother me since he always provided me with any material things I might need upon request.

A wistful smile stretched her lips, and her eyes temporarily lost focus as she reminisced about something.

“It makes me happy knowing that doing what I love also gave my family a chance at the good life we otherwise never would have had,” Esmeralda continued, refocusing on me. “I love my family. We don’t see each other often, but those dowries allowed them to come visit me from time to time, which they couldn’t have afforded otherwise. However, I understand the frustration of some of my Vestal sisters whose parents wasted their dowries on an extravagant lifestyle, well beyond their means, and who today have nothing to show for it. Before we were even ordained, some such parents were hinting that their daughters should continue to support them once they would start receiving their Vestal wages.”

“I certainly hope your sisters will not,” I said in a harsher tone than I’d intended.

Esmeralda chuckled, amused to see me so outraged on behalf of women I didn’t know. “I hope not either,” she replied after taking a sip of mulled wine. “I’m just grateful my parents’ wise investment of my dowry has spared me having to face such unpleasantness. But enough about me, I’d love to hear about you.”

My heart skipped a beat, suddenly feeling self-conscious all over again. Frollo wouldn’t want me to speak to anyone about my past. Then again, he didn’t want me to speak to anyone, which would include everyone but him.

“There isn’t much to say about me,” I said, squirming slightly under her intense gaze. “I was born in the Godswood. My mother passed away shortly thereafter due to complications with my birth. Had I been a ‘normal’ child, modern medicine would have saved her life, but…” I shrugged, trying to make light of the situation to hide the extent of the guilt I always felt at having ‘killed’ my mother. “I don’t recall much of my youth, except for a cabin in the woods, near a river, and the constant smell of fresh breads and wild berries jam.” I looked down at the almost empty jar of blackberry jam Esmeralda had brought, feeling somewhat embarrassed to have devoured most of it. I pointed at the jar with my index finger. “This reminds me of home. Or at least, of what had felt like home, even though the woman who had raised me there hadn’t been my mother. But she had been kind.”

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