Trinket (Reverse Harem)

Trivality

I smoothed my hair through my palms, then twisted it into a coil against my skull. A rust-spotted mirror revealed my reflection, pocking it with blemishes that may or may not have existed. I touched the three claw marks that slashed the length of my cheek. The skin, still raised and thickened like I'd been repaired with a satin stitches, greeting my fingerpads.

The scars ran from my ear halfway to my mouth. Deep trenches that should have killed me, but hadn't. But I'd been young—too young to remember—and youngsters have a tendency to defy death.

The scars had never bothered me before—not really—but I stroked them and weighed what problems they might cause in high society. I wasn't disfigured, but I'd obviously gotten gnawed on by some mysterious beast and my family (because I didn't have one) hadn't been able to afford a proper Healer to preserve my appearance.

I had more three-claw scars on my back and thighs and running in a smooth line between my breasts. Whatever had attacked young me had been vicious but, three claws? No one knew what it would have been. Speculation ran wild, but it was only that: speculation. The packship had found me, brought me into the enclave, and raised me.

Always stained, always scarred, and always enjoying the view from the bottom.

"She gave us a piece of Her Heart/So those with courage could know the certainty of their own." I recited the verse as I touched my reflection. I'd sworn since I'd been a pup I'd go to the Chamber and know my own heart.

Not like a foundling like me had much choice. Scarred and without a pedigree, finding a mate would involve either fishing around in the gutter feeling along the mucky bottom, or looking straight into my heart and trusting the gods. Both were bad choices, but I had nothing to lose.

Nothing but Tynn, but I was going to lose him anyway. If the gods didn't take him from me, his family would.

"Ready?" Lucieta asked, appearing in my reflection behind me.

I broke into a smile. "I guess."

"Excited?" She set down a cup of water in front of me. "Here, drink up. It's hot outside today."

"No, not really?" I confessed. Strange. "I thought I'd feel excited about it. It was his idea."

I sipped the water. It only tasted a little bitter and fetid. I pulled back and smiled at Lucieta. "You boiled it extra long."

"Just for your special day," she shrugged and beamed. "Only the best for you."

I downed the rest of the water. Not the usual quick-boil job we usually did from our well-rations. Boiling water was such a waste, no matter how careful we were to try to capture the steam. But failing to boil the water would also make us sick. Made everyone sick. Made even the crops sick.
I set the cup down and instinctively ran a hand over my hips. The bones protruded a bit. Fetid water meant fetid crops. The water wasn't just fetid. It was also contaminated with something that robbed the soil of all its life, weakened grazing livestock... no one else thought of it this way, and Tynn scolded me when I mentioned it, but there were paintings hanging in museums of lush fields covered in green and pumpkins as big as a hog.

"I know," she grabbed my hands and squeezed, "When you came home and said he'd asked you to light the candle!"

"I know!" I exclaimed. "But..."