Chapter 14: Chapter 14

REYNA

My hand traced the familiar portraits of seven women in a circle, each holding a thorny rose in one hand. Red liquid—which could only be blood—dripped from their hands, from their elbows to their fingers, while the other hand held a silver dagger.

I could hear the movements of the other girls, but I didn’t turn to see what they were doing. The girls were friendly. I liked them, and I wished to know more about them.

When I completed my training, these women would be my sworn sisters for life.

A few seconds later, I turned to find Sabrina holding a lit candle. It brightened the room, and my mouth parted when Sabrina pulled at a pulley that was secretly hidden in the portrait on the wall.

A hidden door was revealed on the floor, with steps that led underground.

“Welcome to the Roses Quarters, Reyna,” Sabrina exclaimed, her smile smug before she started descending down the stairs.

“Come on, watch your steps, your training awaits you. You can always come back and try to find other secret doors later.”

I followed Sabrina with the others behind me as we descended into the dark underground room.

The underground room—or Roses Quarters, as Sabrina called it—was a big circular space, with ensconced lamps in the walls. Even with the candlelight in Sabrina’s hand, the place was still dark and cold.

On the walls were pictures of all the Roses, from the very first Rose sisterhood to the present day. I saw a curved screen on the opposite wall; it looked like a television.

This one was big and flat, unlike other TVs I’d seen. Maybe it just looked like a TV but was something else.

There was a round table with thirteen chairs around it, each seat for a Rose, I was sure. Under each Rose picture was a red candle ensconced in the wall atop a candle holder, waiting to be lit, and that was exactly what Sabrina did.

She walked around and lit each and every candle until the room was brightly lit, with hundreds of candles, all red, in the holes on the walls.

The girls chatted so excitedly, including me. It was a change from the quiet, gloomy way they behaved at the training center.

Something caught my attention. I walked over and stood in front of a picture that looked familiar.

It was Marlene Margaret Williams, my great-grandmother and one of the first Roses. She was also the woman who founded Marlenia.

She was a beautiful, strong woman, with golden blond hair, and her eyes looked kind. She didn’t have that jaded look found in Cassandra’s eyes.

It was then that I noticed a door to the left of Marlene’s portrait.

“Where does that door lead to, Sabrina?” I asked curiously.

“The dungeon, infirmary, ground floor, and other places,” Sabrina stated before dumping a handful of books on the table facing the screen.

I glanced away from Marlene’s picture and stared at the books.

“All right, girls, have a seat. Although most of you have been training here for a while, this speech was long overdue,” Sabrina said.

Sabrina paused and waited until we were all seated.

“Throughout history, women have always been the victims of war and men. They’ve always suffered most of the grievances. During wars or whenever a great calamity strikes, women and children are the most vulnerable, most victimized.

We’re killed, caught, raped, humiliated, and used in the most horrific ways imaginable. Seventy years ago, it was the same. Millions of people died in the blue mist plague.”

She took a breath and met each of our eyes before continuing.

“What most of you don’t know is most of the women that died during that terrible time didn’t die because of the plague. They did so at the hands of their partners, spouses, male relatives, et cetera.

The plague works in horrific ways, disrupting the minds of its victims, causing hallucinations. It turned men violent against their loved ones. It was the most chaotic time for humanity.

That was the moment the first Roses were born. Women from different fields of study came together under the leadership of Marlene the First and took up arms.

They did what was necessary, protected women and children, saved the few men that weren’t affected by the plague, and that’s how we’ve survived these years. The Roses are first and foremost protectors—never forget that.”

She met our eyes. When she looked at me, I perked up.

“Reyna, grab a copy and start reading. Don’t just read it and forget about it, you have to memorize everything. After you finish the first book, you can discuss what you understand about the book,” she said.

“Tomorrow I’ll answer your questions. We will do so for the second and third, and so on.

Meanwhile, we’ll start by teaching you about your body parts, the male body, and of course, how to walk sensually—not necessarily in that order.

Olivia and Chloe will help you catch up.” She nodded at the girls, who looked at me with encouraging smiles.

“You also need to finish reading these books in the first week. On the seventh day, we’ll spend the whole day discussing these books. I will ask you questions about them, then we’ll move on to the next step.”

My seat was close to Olivia. Much like me, Olivia was an introvert—even more so than I am.

There were more than seven books, all waiting for me to not only read them but understand them. I didn’t mind; I’ve always loved reading.

These were new books I’d never seen before, so I was already eager to dive into them.

I grabbed one of the books in front of me. ~ART OF SEDUCTION~ was boldly embossed on the front cover.

“But before that, let me tell you something about seduction. This might be too fast for you, Reyna, but we haven’t much time to train you. So I’m not following the usual rules. You would find everything I’m going to tell you inside this book, but mostly in the book in your hand,” she said.

“It’s the first book you should read. We’re pressed for time, that’s why I’m not following the usual method of teaching. I’m rushing you so you can all be ready in less than a month’s time—no more. So if you know you can’t keep up, get out now.”

She waited, but none of the girls got up to leave. They looked at each other, then back at Sabrina.

Sabrina nodded with approval and continued.

“As you will come to understand, seduction is all about body language—the sultry look in your eyes, the pout to your lips, the sway and glide to your hips as you walk.”

“And the way you move every part of your body artlessly, with ease, for it to seem natural to you. For it to be a part of your makeup.” Sabrina walked sensually around us as she explained.

“You don’t have to be naked to be seductive. Although it helps greatly when the person you are seducing sees your body—it distracts them. Bodies talk. Most times, you say more with your body than you’ll have to with your mouth.”

“Why waste your breath trying to seduce, when your body can do it for you? Say less and do more—that’s the key. That is all, for now. Remember these words, Reyna. I won’t be repeating them.”

Wow! I had no idea what Sabrina was just babbling about, but I’d try to hold onto everything she just said.

It was a lot to take in, when I didn’t even know what seduction meant. Hopefully I remembered half of what she just said.

That’s why I was here—to learn, to become a Rose. I just felt like I didn’t have enough time to read all the books.

I suddenly remembered what she said about tomorrow. “Tomorrow’s the fight, Sabrina,” I reminded her.

“You’re right, I’d actually forgotten about it. We’ll meet next tomorrow then, is that all right with you?”

“It’s okay,” I replied with a breathy voice.

My eyes were glued to the titles, greedily taking each one in. I loved reading, and even though I was used to sneaking into the library to read—

There wasn’t much to read anymore. All the interesting books had been taken out of there.

Sabrina chuckled. She made me blush when she caught me smelling the books.

“You remind me a little of myself, when I was going through my training before my induction. I love books too, always will, but recently I haven’t got a chance to sit down and read, and now I’m getting distracted. Come on, it’s time for our first lesson,” she said.

Sabrina turned and grabbed something from the shelf out of my view, then walked back and gave them to me. It was a pair of shoes.

~High-heeled shoes.~

“It’s time for lesson number one.”

That’s how I wore the high heels and started learning how to walk in the death contraption. To say it was hard was an understatement.

Sabrina showed me how to walk the first few times, and then Olivia and Selena continued.

When I was close to dropping and my legs were shaking so badly, the big screen came on and my next lesson started, showing me the woman’s body parts.

Parts I’d never bothered to explore or touch before in my life were suddenly staring at me—or was it the other way around.

The day had passed in a whirlwind of events. The Roses’ quarters looked and felt like an entirely different world than the one I’d been living in.

It was probably why I never realized the drop in temperature as the hours passed and day turned to night, until Olivia and I said our goodbyes to the other girls.

The village had quieted down with the dark and cold; it had also rained during the hours we were underground. The cobblestone streets were wet, a little muddy, and slippery.

Everyone was inside except for the occasional guards on duty. As we walked back to the castle, I could see families silhouetted behind the window curtains as they dined, their voices low from this distance.

There was no joyful laughter, no excited chatter as I suspected would happen when one dined with their family. Family that wasn’t mine.

There was something deeply sad about the behavior of people in this queendom, with the exception of people like the Jennas. I was still befuddled that I was the only one who could see that.

No, that wasn’t true. I refused to believe I was the only one.

When we reached the second floor of the castle, my voice sliced through the still night. “Thank you, Olivia, I had a great time because of you.”

“It is my pleasure, Princess. I will see you on the training grounds, wish you luck on your fight.”

“Thank you and good night.” All my earlier elation was gone.

~Tomorrow is the fight. I almost forgot.~

When I walked into my room, my nana was seated at the bedside table. She was on the rocking chair that had been in my room as far back as she could remember.

She was knitting as she waited for me, the sweet woman. A big ball of yarn was rolling at her feet.

She rose to her feet immediately when her eyes fell on me.

“You look tired, Reyna. Come sit. You probably didn’t have the time to eat. Knowing you and your obsession with books, you’d probably forgotten to put something in your stomach.”

I smiled as I sat down and started eating the plate of food Nana placed in front of me on the table. She was partly right. Though we’d been brought dinner, I’d been so busy that I’d barely eaten anything.

“How did your first training as a Rose go?” Nana asked after she’d sat back on the rocking chair and went back to her knitting.

I swallowed the mouthful of food I’d shoved inside my mouth and replied thoughtfully.

“It was great, and I like Sabrina, she’s…nice. The girls are great too,” I decided.

Nana nodded, satisfied.

Images of all the things I’d seen today flashed in my mind’s eye. For a split second, I thought of talking about it with my nana but decided against it. I doubted I was allowed to discuss the training with anyone.