Adjacent to the pleasurehouse, the bathhouse was another of Sol’s many possessions. Gertrude ushered Lumi into the chamber. She sank deeper into her pit of despair with each step she took.
The bathhouse was a steamy labyrinth of marble and mosaic. The air thick with the scent of lavender and the hiss of water. The floor slick with a moisture that nearly made Lumi slip and fall. The flickering light of torches cast shadows across the steam.
A low marble bench lined the far wall where servants waited, their faces masked with indifference.
Gertrude’s brittle voice broke through the haze, “Undress.”
Too worn out to keep resisting, Lumi did as she was told. Each piece of clothing she shed fell to the damp ground with a thud. She was led to the large marble basin, the arm water lapping at her feet as she settled into the shallow pool
The servants moved in. They worked in silence, scrubbing her body with firm hands. Movements impersonal, the did not miss a single part of her. Gertrude watched, her sharp eyes flicking over every detail, ensuring her skin was flawless, her hair free of tangles, her body smooth.
The hairs on her arms and legs were torn off with hot wax. Each tug was a stinging reminder of her lack of agency. She bit her cheek to keep from crying out as they moved to her brows. Strands were plucked with ruthless precision. Then, to her chagrin, they attended to the space between her legs.
“How does the Emperor want it?” One of the servants asked, making Lumi’s face erupt with a hot blush. She was merely a doll, to be readied for someone else’s pleasure.
“He didn’t say. Get rid of all of it.”
The pain there was the worst; searing and intimate. Her skin was left raw, her pride in shambles. The warm water did nothing to soothe her. Every touch was a reminder of what was to come, what she had no choice but to endure.
The servants worked efficiently. They sat her upon a low stool, her skin still blazing from the brutal waxing. One began combing through her hair. Each yank felt like fire on her scalp, but Lumi held herself still. Another approached with a palette of powders and paints. The colors were muted and somber beneath torchlight.
“Do you think he chose her for her looks?”
The voice came from across the room. It was conspiratorially low, but loud enough to carry. Two pleasuremaidens lounged in the steaming baths.
“Hardly,” the other said.
The servant at Lumi’s back twisted her hair into a braid so tight, it felt like a vice, each pin driven in with surgical force.
“She’s pretty, I suppose, but the scar…”
Lumi’s breath hitched as the cool glide of a brush traced the burned flesh on the left side of her face. The strokes were meticulous, erasing the part of her that was broken.
“Perhaps it’s because she’s wild,” One of the girls said, “Men like to break things that don’t know how to obey.”
A servant’s hands glided over Lumi’s naked shoulder, leaving behind the faint sheen of scented oil.
“Or maybe she’s untouched,” the pleasuremaiden’s smirk was audible, “Men like to own things that no one else has touched.”
“Enough,” Gertrude snapped, her voice echoing through the chamber, “We are here to prepare, not to prattle.”
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Silence descended. Leaving Lumi alone to her thoughts. Her lips were painted, her skin bronzed with a golden powder, beads were braided into her hair.
Gertrude’s wrinkled jowls curled with the weight of a smile, “Perfect.”
They were finally done.
Lumi caught a glance of her reflection in the polished mirror. A stranger stared back at her. It was a mockery. Perfect, perhaps—but not her.
Gertrude escorted her back to her room. The door creaked shut behind her, the lock clicking into place. She was trapped—again.
Lumi sank onto the edge of the thin mattress that had been tossed aside. The walls pressed down on her, and there was nothing to do but wait. The silence stretched, each second clawing at her frayed nerves.
Why had Rook paid for her time? She retuned his belongings, hadn’t she? And she assumed his gem was given back. He hadn’t sacrificed a single thing.
But she was stripped of everything—her freedom, her memories. All she had were the clothes on her back and the scraps of her dignity that still remained.
And the worst part? Tonight he would take more.
The idea of surrendering to him, of letting him take what should never have been offered…No.
She would not go quietly.
But what choice did she have? Fighting would only summon Lady Sol’s wrath.
Maybe it would be better to endure it. To let him take what he needed and let the morning wash it all away. She had survived worse. Far worse. This would be no different. Just another wound to scar over in time.
It would be over before she knew it. Then she could begin again. Scrape together the gem she needed, one night at a time. It would take time, sure. But she would manage. She always did.
A meow at her window jolted her from her spiraling thoughts. Lumi blinked as a shadow shifted just beyond the hole in the wall. With feline grace, a sleek black cat leapt through the crumbling gap, landing soundlessly on the floor.
Its luminous eyes glowed in the fading light of the room. Then bones elongated and fur melted into dark, human skin. A heartbeat passed and Kit stood before her.
“What happened here?” She took in the room, tying her robe around her waist. “Are you alright?”
“I’ve been sold for the night,” Lumi said.
Much worse had been done to her, but this felt like the most pressing at the moment.
A flurry of emotions flashed across Kit’s face. Surprise, then disdain, then red hot rage. They each disappeared as quickly as they came. Her expression settled into a mask of calm, but Lumi knew better.
“To whom?”
“An emperor.”
Kit’s lips parted, “Which one?”
“Rook.”
Kit’s sharp inhale cut through the silence. Lumi thought she might say something—urge her to run away, plead for them to escape together. After a moment of hesitation, she sat beside Lumi.
“You’ll be alright.”
The laugh that escaped Lumi was dry as ash, “Will I?”
“Yes,” Kit inched closer, lowering her voice. “Don’t tense up. It’ll hurt worse if you do. Just…try to enjoy it. I’ve heard the emperor is young. And handsome. Maybe it won’t be so bad.”
Lumi’s stomach turned at the suggestion, but she didn’t let it show. Kit meant well, always offering comfort in whatever way she could. But those words were not what she wanted to hear in that moment. Not even close.
Her gaze snagged on a faint glimmer in the corner of the room. Her dagger—the one she kept beneath her pillow at night. The rest of her belongings had been destroyed or taken, but the blade endured.
Her fingers closed around the hilt, the cool metal grounding her in place. The weapon was small, but lethal. Its weight felt familiar and reassuring.
Kit’s eyes tracked her, an unspoken tension in the air. Her lips parted, as if to voice a warning, but the sound of the lock turning interrupted her.
“Be careful, Lumi.” Kit murmured.
Her form rippled and shifted. Her human shape dissolving into the sleek lines of a cat. She cast one last glance at Lumi before slipping through the window and vanishing into the night.
Lumi slipped the dagger into the sleeve of her cloak as the door creaked open. Rico stood in the entryway, his silhouette a dark blot against the faint light beyond.
“The general awaits,” he said casually, as though delivering her to slaughter was a mundane task.
Her fingers tightened around the hidden blade. The cool steel was a quiet promise in her palm.
Let him try to take from her. She would give him nothing. Not her dignity. Not her body. Nothing. If she had her way, he would leave the night with far less than he started with. Perhaps not even his life.
Five million gem—that was his worth. Enough to shatter the chains that bound her. Enough to buy back her stolen freedom, her fractured memories. Enough to disappear from this rotten place.
Her resolve solidified.
Tonight, she would kill the emperor.
