When commoner Sera's meticulously planned assassination attempt of the new emperor fails, the last thing she expects is to be made into his concubine. Little does she know she's meant for so much more than that.
Submission for the 2022 Dune Mini Ban...
I don't know how you feel yourself, but I'd rather hurt here than be happy somewhere else. No one will scar me like you do, but no one will ever be compared, compared to you.- Marianas Trench, Only the Lonely Survive
"Do you think this means he likes me?" sixteen-year-old Marina was asking a fellow Kept, eighteen-year-old Eleanor.
Overhearing the young girl, Sera paused on her way to her room, hiding behind one of the carved pillars that lined the hallways.
"Why would it mean he likes you?" Eleanor replied, sounding very exasperated indeed.
"Well..." Marina hedged, "The Emperor never rejects anyone, right? So for him to brush off Anita's advances, and Ida's, too—"
"I don't think that means he likes you, Mar," the older girl said patiently. "He just didn't wanna sleep with them. That's all. And anyway, isn't he always around the new girl?"
Sera tensed.
"Sera, you mean?"
"Yeah."
Marina scoffed. "I don't think he's interested in her. If he was, she wouldn't still be Kept, now would she?"
There was silence for several seconds.
"You do realize the same logic could be used for you, right?"
"Whatever."
As the two girls continued gossiping, Sera snuck away in the direction of her room, not wanting to hear anything else.
¡Ay! Esta imagen no sigue nuestras pautas de contenido. Para continuar la publicación, intente quitarla o subir otra.
Sera had seen childbirth before. Five times, actually. Well, technically seven times, but she could only recall five. Her brother Adair had been born when she was eight, Aisling when she was fourteen, Brianna when she was sixteen, and both Sorcha and Kye when she was seventeen.
In any case, she wasn't exactly new to the screams of pain Annette was currently letting loose.
And when baby Eden came into the world, her screams rivaling her mother's, Sera wasn't sure how she felt.
Paul had been so... so sweet with her lately. So seeing the smile on his face when he was handed his infant daughter, the way he held her close and allowed her to grip his finger in her tiny fist, Sera realized several things with absolute certainty in quick succession.
First, she was incredibly jealous of Annette. Not just Annette, but Caroline, Illese, Anita— all the Hetaera, actually.
Second, she was most definitely in love with Paul. It had bloomed within her, not so much like a flower—as she had seen it described in books—, but more like a weed. Nevertheless, there it was.
Third, she wanted that with him. She wanted more than what Annette had. She wanted children with him, yes, but... god, it all came crashing down on her like a tidal wave— she wanted everything. She wanted him kissing her and touching her and holding her. She wanted to see him holding their child the way he was holding his newborn daughter. She wanted to fall asleep in his arms and wake up next to him the following morning.
