Prytian's Pride

"This is so exciting," Solkri squealed as she threw garment after garment from the closet onto the large bed at the center of the room. The pile was growing rather large as I just stood in shock, staring at everything.

Pink swirling accents decorated the lime green walls, matching the framed artwork that was scattered across them. Rich cherrywood dressers lined two walls, leaving enough room around the bed for walking. On one of the dressers stood two shockingly realistic dolls, dressed in intricate lacey outfits. I tilted my head at them as they stared silently back. I wondered if they were meant to ward off strangers with those terrifying eyes.

Solkri came out of the closet to hold up different clothing peices in my direction. "What colors do you like?" I looked back to her, then immediately away after noticing far too much through the shimmering material that hung over her chest.

I shook my head. "I, uh, I don't care. Anything will do."

"Oh." She dropped the piece she was holding to frown at the pile, one hand on her hip. She looked up to assess me. "You'd be good in red, I believe." She went back to sifting through the assortment of colorful fabric. "I don't believe I heard your name."

"Ru-" I stopped myself. I need to start using that other name, huh. I hugged myself, clenching my arms around me as I breathed. "I think I'm called Nal now."

"Naldioshta?" She smiled and nodded. "That would indeed be the name Master Grysn would choose. Were you called something else before?" She held up red fabric that looked similar to what she had on.

"Yeah, my real name's Rueg." I squinted at the material held in her hands. "Could I get something less, um... see-through?"

She tilted her head at me, then looked down at the tattered, filthy clothing Grysn had given me to wear. "What did you wear on the mountain?"

I shrugged. "Just pants and shirts when we did work, or gowns when in the bedhouses. The Families sometimes wore a bit fancier clothing, with colors and stuff. I liked wearing my camo suit, though. It was warm."

Her mouth had opened slightly then closed and twisted with my words as she narrowed her eyes, not really into a glare, more like she was trying to see the words coming out of me to figure out if they made sense. When I was done, she blinked, shook her head and grabbed one item in particular from near the bottom of the stack. It was a much darker maroon, and the material was far heavier than any of the others she had considered. She forced a smile back onto her face and moved away from the pile.

"This should do for now, though I do hope you find something to wear you enjoy." She headed toward a back door after grabbing a few other small items from her drawers.

Nausea threatened to upturn my semi empty stomach. I couldn't smile, not even the fake kind I could usually get away with. So I did my best to not have any emotion show on my face. This girl wasn't like me. She looked like me, much more so than the company I'd kept the past few days. But, she was otherwise more like them than like me. Her speech, her clothes, even her healthy glow, was nearly antithetical to everything we were.

Was this common here? Were my kin in every household that would have so little in common with me? She didn't even seem unhappy. If she found out how much I hated myself for allowing my life to go this direction, would she look down on me? Would she hate me?

I felt alone. A familiar aloneness that I thought I wouldn't have to deal with again after my decision. An aloneness that only comes from being around those with which you're meant to belong.

She was out and around the corner when the calling of my name struck me from my thoughts and I hurried after her. Steam rose to the windowed ceiling above as water poured from a golden faucet into a large, white basin molded into the back wall, sat apart from a sink and smaller white bowl.

Solkri folded up the items she had brought in as she stood in front of a large cut out of the stone wall. She placed them down on the natural shelf and then proceeded back toward the entrance where she gathered a couple towels that rested in shelves there. I waited patiently for her to gather them and several other items in one location near the side of the tub. Having everything she required, she beckoned me to her and began to strip me of my clothing.

Like the doll in her bedroom, I stood and moved as she required. She took care upon seeing my scabbing leg wound, slowly prying the pants off me. With a gentle touch, she guided me into the water, where I flinched at the warm contact. As I lowered myself in, she turned the nozzle of the spout, cutting the flow of water.

It wasn't unusual to bathe with others in the houses. Bathing was a luxury we were only able to receive about once a month, so no one ever made a fuss about nudity then. We were just thankful for the opportunity.

Perhaps that's why I paid no mind to her bathing me.

More likely, I was too indignant to feel embarrassed. The large tub of the warmest water I'd ever rested in, the piping far newer than the few buildings in town old enough to possess plumbing. And the soaps she more than generously applied to my hair and body, as though I were a sponge that could hold onto the scents for weeks longer than realistic. Scents I'd never smelled before, reminiscent of oranges and melted sugar.

My host's hands scrubbed the soap into my skin with a ferocity the sponge she held could hardly keep up with as my eyes moved across the sparkling dark tiles of the floor. "You truly must be from the mountain," she said, attacking my elbow with cleanliness.

I closed my eyes and steadied my breathing before responding. This would likely be the best time to get some real information. And considering I was now completely at the mercy of these stupid beasts, I needed all the information I could get. "Yeah. Um..." I sighed, realizing that I would need to make every effort to speak more... eloquently here. "Yes, yes I am. I didn't know there were other Pryktians living with the graysk- uh, drygsons." I sounded out the last word slowly, watching her face and hoping it was the correct term.

She lifted her head up from squinting at my callous covered hand."Pryk- oh," she said, going back to her meticulous cleansing. "We're referred to as tians by most here. I don't hear the full word very often."

I nodded, absently, letting her raise and lower limbs as she saw fit. "Are you that... Lyn's pet?"

Her mouth opened as she hesitated, moving down my legs with her scrubbing. "Goodness, no. And you'd best remember to not call anyone by their name while you are around others. It will get you in a mess of trouble soon enough."

"Oh, yeah," I remarked slowly. "There's just- there's a lot of us here, I assumed..."

Solkri moved down my other calf with the sponge, careful around my wound, though that did not stop me from wincing at each contact. "This is a special place," she said, thoughtfully. "You won't find another of its ilk anywhere else in the city. Those of us here are very fortunate. We belong to Lady Lynatin, in a certain sense. But we are granted autonomy here that very few tians outside are ever given."

The warm water flowed back and forth over me as Solkri's motions manipulated the water into ripples and waves. Her hands glided gently over my arm, though I swear she had already washed it.

"Is this some type of sanctuary?"

Soltri slowed her motions at my question. "In a way, yes. Lyna does not have the ability to offer it to many, though. She is bound by certain laws, but she does everything she can for every tian she can." She smiled and nodded, happy with her closing statement.

I sunk lower until my chin broke through the water. Steam still rose from the tub, but I felt a chill on my bones. I wasn't expecting any of this, and I wasn't sure how to use any of this information. Soltri may trust this Lyn person, but I had only met her, and she seemed as much a grayskin as any other. At least with Grysn I knew his intentions. And he was fairly easy to read regardless.

This Lynatin, she was yet to show her true self to me, I couldn't blindly run to her safe haven here without understanding everything. I thought about being trapped in this tiny garden, these five or six buildings, with the same tians for the rest of my life, and I wondered if that would truly be better.

"But I'm certain Master Grysn will take great care of you," she went on, blind to my worries. "He's the kindest man I know. And he's always bringing us treats and books." She nodded again. "Yes, I'm certain you'll be happy under his care."

She had me stand and washed around every nook and every other nook before having me sit back down as she moved behind my head. Strands of hair fell loose as she tugged through the disaster of my braid.

While I wasn't immediately trusting of this girl's opinions of grayskins, or even her perception of reality, it was comforting to hear that Grysn was not only feigning kindness to me. At worst he was feigning kindness to others also. At best...

My thoughts drifted to the forest, and how long I had been alone with Grysn. If he was hiding himself, his cruelty, around others, that time spent with him away from camp would have shown a different light on him. Actually, I guess it had, just not in a negative way. He had seemed even more-

My head jerked back as Soltri tugged on a tight knot near my neck. She apologized, seeing my discomfort, but continued prying on the tangles. I didn't mind being pulled from that thought. I'd rather keep a level head, and remain cautious around these grayskins. I crossed my arms over my chest and squeezed my legs together since she no longer needed access to any of those parts. Perhaps it was too late to feel embarrassment, but the less time I spent naked, the happier I'd be.

I sighed, heavily, catching Soltri's attention once again as she massaged a rosy goop through my somewhat less tangled locks. "You needn't worry, miss. I'm sure you must have experienced many horrors upon the mountain, but things will undoubtedly be better for you here."

I forced a smile, on the off chance she was watching my face. After gritting my teeth against her insinuations, I waited for another question to come to mind. Perhaps one that wouldn't immediately sound offensive.

She dumped a small bucket of water over the back of my hair before continuing to brush it out. My hair seemed to be her most formidable task of the day, and she focused on it intently.

The light from the high windows bounced off the mirrors and tiles with a pristine cleanness, I could almost hear the squeak it would give were I to slide one finger across any surface in the room. I didn't want to look at it. But if I closed my eyes, my thoughts would surely drift to even worse thoughts, so I traced the lines of the grout and followed the shadowy reflections of the trees swaying outside, hating all of it.

None of this was meant to be here. These beasts weren't meant to have any of this, not in the least because we were incapable of it, up on that mountain we'd been relegated to. It wasn't right.

Water cascaded down over my face and hair from the bucket Soltri had filled from the tub. I sputtered and frantically wiped my stinging eyes clear of the soapy liquid.

And this stupid girl and all these other stupid Pryktians just lounging about in some grayskins mansion was the snow on top of the disgusting peak. I squinted ahead, my jaw tight and fists clenched. These fools really thought this was better. They were deluding themselves into believing those damned grayskins' lies.

All of this was below us. Every single trace of it. And the Pryktians were almost no better than the grayskins for falling for it.

How could they possibly betray what they were? Betray everything they knew?

They couldn't possibly believe this would be better, right?

Tears were streaming down my face, and Soltri was suddenly at my side, her face filled with worry. I couldn't tell if I was still glaring when I turned to her, but I looked away regardless, wiping the evidence of my inner turmoil quickly from m face. She began to say something, possibly with the hopes of comforting me, but then thought better of it and returned to my hair.

Soltri did her best to not say much the rest of her bathing session, whether for my benefit or for the sake of her discomfort, I wasn't sure.

I couldn't help but feel guilty. Not because I said anything, I think I'd done a decent job of holding my tongue, but the harsh negativity in me focused on her, felt as succinct as a blade I'd openly pointed to her throat.

Out of the tub, she dressed me in a rather comfortable, although very loose, gown that consistently slid down my soldiers, no matter how far up I pushed the sleeves. And if I was as regrettably endowed as Soltri, the low neckline would have surely raised many eyebrows, not to mention other, uh, parts. As it was, however, there was a copious amount of my pale blue skin, with the slightest helping of moundy flesh on display. I was tugging the front up almost as much as the sleeves, to the point that Soltri finally gave me a top to put over the dress. It was warm and covered me up to the neck and I was happy. Well, happier.

Once I was thoroughly washed, dressed with my hair brushed and gathered with a silk ribbon, she felt ready to take me back to Lyn. As we began to leave her accomodations, I stopped her, noticing a weight missing. I looked through the pants that had been discarded to one side of the room and took out the folded papers, holding them close to me as we left.

Soltri walked slowly, back the way we had come. The aggressive excitedness was nowhere to be seen now.

It felt like I was leeching the joy from every happy creature I ran across.

I stared quietly at her back. Her dark, gentle curls trailing down her shoulders toward her full hips and-

I gulped and looked quickly down to her feet.

She was gorgeous. Living here, I wondered if she'd have similar issues to those Exica did.

I blinked, suddenly feeling offbeat with my footsteps.

Looking up at Soltri, I wasn't sure why I hadn't seen the similarity earlier. Soltri may have been a bit heavier set, maybe a bit shorter, but she was so similar, both in looks and kindness.

Sighing, I continued watching her feet as we made our way through the main building, pushing the thought of her from my mind.

Eventually, we found ourselves back in the first room Grysn and I had been accompanied to.

Lyn was busy pouring tubes of mixtures into other tubes of other mixtures. Soltri made sure to call to her before we were too close, thwarting any potential startles that could occur in her state of focus. Smiling, the grayskin set her vials into their stands, and turned toward the two of us. She eyed me up and down, before nodding and removing her powdery white gloves, discarding them to a nearby receptacle. "Thank you, my dear, she looks much better now," she said as she moved over to a wash basin in one corner and proceeded to wash her hands. Once she was finished she walked straight out of the large room, and Soltri followed close behind.

It took me a moment before I stumbled cautiously after them. We were led as ducklings to a nearby room, much smaller than the first but similar in reflective cupboards and harsh, solid furnishings. She sat in a swiveling chair and turned to where I stood, hovering in the doorway. Soltri moved to stand near the wall beside her uh, her... What the hell were they to each other exactly?

She gestured me to sit in on a long bench, covered in a layer of spongy foam fabric. This was a small room, with the only doorway being the one I stood in. I couldn't say I was claustrophobic, but experience had led me to be wary of tight rooms containing only one exit. With shallow breath I ventured in, keeping an eye on their expressions. I'd never worried too much about women before, the most they might do is beat you generally, and I wasn't typically worried about that so much. But neither of these women were from Thurnup, and I'd rather keep my guard well intact in such a delicate situation. It wouldn't be difficult for them to think of terrible things to do to me if the mood struck the grayskin, and Soltri was deluded enough to play along. I'd imagine they'd done plenty of horrific things to-

"Please sit."

I swallowed and sat, realizing I'd stood in front of the bench glaring at them longer than I'd meant. My face flushed as I focused my attention on my hands resting in my lap.

Everything is fine. Just focus.

"I'll need you to remove your sweater," the grayskin women said as she picked up an instrument.

My mouth opened but I wasn't sure what to say, so I turned to Soltri for possible assistance.

Noticing my face, she straightened and made a sound of recognition. "Uh, Lyna," she said, turning to the grayskin. "She is quite shy, she requested the sweater to cover her shoulders and chest. She prefers to maintain her modesty." She turned to me with what I'm sure was meant to be a comforting smile, but my eyes had narrowed and forehead creased with her words.

Had she meant to degrade me that way? I didn't need to maintain my modesty. I was perfectly fine naked and showing everything off if I so chose to. I merely was not choosing to do so. Was that- oh, maybe that's what modesty means.

Lyna looked to her small blue companion, then back to me with a small, insulting smile. "You may put it back on as soon as we are finished, I promise we won't take long."

Tired of their jeering comments and demeaning eyes, I removed the sweater with a huffing pout, throwing it down beside me on the bench.

They made no other sound as the grayskin came closer with what looked to be a stethoscope, the metallic snaking out of her ears connected to the round piece held in her hand. I had no time to protest as she moved it over my heart on my bare skin, making me gasp against the cold. She listened, moved locations, then listened again. She did the same several times, both around my chest, and a few against my back. She asked me to breathe with each pause, and I shakily complied. I tried to be patient, but couldn't understand why she was taking such a long time.

I was shivering by the time she was placing the device back in a drawer. Now I really wanted the sweater and modesty had nothing to do with it. Then again, glancing down, it may have a small thing to do with it. I sighed as she came back to me with another instrument she wrapped around my arm.

She continued a routine examination, at least that's what she called it. Every new thing she did she explained in detail out loud. This was to take my blood pressure, this was to check my lungs, this was to check my pulse, weight, joints, eyes, pelvic floor? She had me stand and resist her pushing me from different positions and angles.

At first I thought it must be for Solkri's benefit, but from her rather bored expression, I changed to thinking it was just a strange habit of this grayskin's to talk to herself. And then I began to realize, it seemed like she was explaining it all for me. Some of it made sense, our doctors didn't do anything nearly as thorough as what she was putting me through, but they checked vitals and general health if you said you didn't feel well.

After all the physical work seemed to be over with, she sat in her chair, legs elegantly crossed with a notepad and pen in hand. She went through question after question. Sicknesses I'd had in my youth, sexual activity and any past pregnancies, any known allergies, last menstruation, any visual impairments. At this point, it was very apparent that if she wasn't at least some sort of doctor, she had the education to be, so answering the questions, while at times strange and unsettling, didn't feel wrong. Some questions she asked I had no answer for, not having the records of my birth history. Those were kept in the townhall, with most the others, I'd never seen them and had never given them all that much thought. She also asked questions about certain diseases and physical ailments that, even with her explanations, didn't sound in any way recognizable to those common in town.