Page 6 of Degradation (The Brethren Lords #3)
Pailtyn
I ’m standing in a room with six other girls, all of us from the Founder families and that fact alone makes me more nervous.
Did Gunther only invite us then? Did he decide to ignore all the other elite families and go purely for Founder blood?
The only family missing here are the Ashers, but they haven’t produced a girl in years.
All of us naked.
The flimsy gowns we were permitted to wear have been tossed at our feet, and we’re on show, standing like statues for the entire Senate to appraise.
We’re in the Great Hall, in the Palace. It’s odd to be in this space, in this inner sanctum.
My eyes keep darting to the walls, to the motifs, to all the beautiful artwork and gold that seems to cover every surface.
The place is more beautiful than anything I could imagine.
If I shut my eyes and tries to conjure up the image of God’s house, it would be like this, it would be this breathtaking, this magnificent.
There’s a little table in front of each of us with our details. Our names, weight, health records, family history, and our pedigree; as if Gunther doesn’t know it all.
I do my best not to shiver, to stay still and silent. If I can hold my nerve, there’s a good chance I’ll get through this entire thing unnoticed and unscathed. After all, the girls beside me are just as beautiful and odds are, he’ll pick someone else.
With each step the Chapter Lord takes, the room seems to grow more tense. Our families are standing opposite us, watching this entire thing play out as if it’s the proudest moment of their lives.
I can see my mother silently wringing her hands with anticipation, and her eyes haven’t once left my body.
I can see Pearce too, narrowing his eyes, staring at me in a way that makes me want to cover myself up.
No doubt we’ll have a conversation when we’re back at the house about whatever transgressions he thinks I’ve committed.
Gunther takes another step, barely looking at the first girl or the second. The Senate echoed his every move, following him like a bad odour. I’m in the middle, nicely hidden amongst the crowd as it were.
He stops in front of the girl next to me, Tilly, flicking through her paperwork before his eyes fix on her body.
She’s a head taller than me, she has a heart shaped face, and fuller breasts.
Perhaps it’s just better genetics, or perhaps it’s because I’m the youngest here but I’m also the shortest girl and I’m hoping that plays in my favour - that I’m ignored.
Passed over, that Gunther wants a lithe goddess to stand beside him as his wife.
Gunther tilts his head, murmuring something we can’t hear and then his eyes flicker to me.
In haste, I drop my gaze, but it’s a stupid mistake.
I have no right to look him in the face. No right whatsoever.
I’ll pay for that dearly, because I don’t doubt my brother hasn’t missed it.
My cheeks blush with shame and as his gaze lingers, I know it only gets worse.
“Little Paitlyn.” Gunther says, smiling in a way that makes me shiver. “My, how you’ve grown.”
I don’t know how to respond. I’m not meant to. I just bite the tip of my tongue and pray that our past interactions are enough for him to disregard me. Only, to my horror he steps between the very tables, manoeuvring himself closer to me.
I can feel his warm breath on my skin as he stares down at my body.
With one calloused hand he reaches out, grips my chin and pulls my face up. Instinctively I look up, meeting his watery blue gaze and a gasp slips from my lips before I can stop it.
It’s been years since I’ve seen this man. He used to meet with my father regularly, but that all changed when I was eight. When my father passed, when me and my mother had to go into confinement and technically retire from good society.
His fingertips brush against my cheek as he forces my mouth open, and he shoves them in there as if he expects any other reaction beyond me choking, but my body trembles more.
Shame radiates off me because I know what he’s simulating and it only increases as I feel him take the weight of my left breast, balancing it in his hand.
“You’re very sensitive.” He says as if I understand his meaning. Sensitive to what? Abuse? Violation?
“She’s never been touched by a man, Chapter Lord.” My mother says while the other families beside her scoff.
“All these daughters are pure.” Tilly’s father states almost flippantly. “Every one of these girls is a virgin.”
“That’s not what I meant.” My mother replies boldly, too boldly considering the circumstances.
After all, aren’t we meant to be the subservient sex?
“No man has ever laid a finger on her until today.” She continues, “Not just her sex, but every inch of her is pure. Even her own father and uncle never touched her skin. Never held her.”
As she declares this, the other families seem to murmur both in surprise and resentment, as if that fact alone makes me suddenly more worthy.
Gunther certainly seems to think so as his eyes light up. His other hand comes down from my chin to grasp my other breast and, as he begins to fully indulge in his ministrations, I have to bite my lip to hold back the curse I so dearly want to say.
Surely such actions, such behaviour goes against all public decency? He’s clearly getting off on this, he’s clearly enjoying every second. I hate the fact that my nipples have hardened, that my heart is racing with the amount of adrenaline pumping through my veins.
I’m not enjoying this, I’m not, but my body is giving every signal that I am and that shame that I couldn’t believe would get any worse engulfs me entirely.
I know what this means. Even as he steps back, even as he fondles the girl next to me and the one beside her, I know that I’ve scored the highest ranking.
It’s everything I didn’t want.
It’s everything I was hoping to avoid.
My heart sinks to an impossible level, and it’s all I can do to hold back the tears.
I wanted to be a disappointment. I wanted to be overlooked.
Sure, my mother would have been livid, would have almost certainly beaten me for my failure but what is one moment of pain versus a lifetime chained to a man like him?
My mother steps up to me, cloaking my body in a robe and she gives me the biggest grin.
“You’ve done well.” She says. “Very well.”
Like I had any say in the matter.
I don’t want to be Chapter Lady,I don’t want any of this. But what choice do I have? What power do I have?
None, that’s what. Absolutely nothing