The Ant Woman

Editor's note: this story contains scenes of non-consensual or reluctant sex.

*****

What happened next did more than startle Wen. It terrified her.

With faces of stone and arms of iron, two eunuchs appeared and suddenly seized Yuwei by her arms. Too startled and confused to speak, Yuwei looked up to the Empress with her mouth agape. Wen got out of her seat and knelt down, completely forgetting about the board game. "Great Empress," she said, "please explain to this concubine what rule has been broken."

The mostly white lips, which had dark red flower petals painted in the center, they stretched out into the most ... vulgar grin Wen had ever seen on the Empress Consort. So many black teeth, so much of her pink gums, they were shown off without a hint of dignity. The Empress rose from her chair and looked down at Wen, still holding that horrible smile.

"It's in your best interest to follow me." That's what she said to Wen. The way she said it oozed with pretension. The Empress knew that Wen would never refuse her. Wen didn't have that much power. She might never have that much power.

And, knowing she wouldn't be refused, the Empress Consort walked off.

Trying not to sink her teeth into her lip, Wen hurried to follow the Empress. Yuwei was left with the eunuchs, unable to do much.

Past screens with wooden openwork, through doors with lacquered designs of frogs hopping under moonlight, down a hallway and into a small room, that's where the Empress finally stopped.

It was something like an office, only there were more cushioned chairs and even some sofas. The large window was covered by three panels' worth of shutters. Each one had a scene in lacquer, a third of a short story involving an ancient Emperor seducing a young woman and then placing her in his harem. Wen noticed the shutters had simple, looping locks keeping them in place. They were very small. They'd probably be very quiet when manipulated.

It was stuffy, almost baking. The air was thick.

Behind then, the only door, the only exit in the room, it was closed by a maid, and the Empress Consort was left alone with Wen.

Wen moved aside and looked at a random vase.

A step closer to her, the hem of the Empress' clothing brushing against the floor. "Come here."

But why?

The Empress' hand lashed out and shot up, right on Wen's throat. Squeezed.

For once, Wen couldn't think. She was in such a submissive state. For her own survival, she needed to be in that state. She couldn't have reacted quickly.

Wen's back and head were slammed against a wall. She couldn't see anything much more than bursting stars. She was too amazed to defend herself. The Empress Consort wasn't the Dowager. She wasn't violent at all. Right? Right?!

Wen couldn't breathe.

Her skirts were being forced up. She tried to shake her head. Nothing but more pressure was given, choking her.

No ...

No!!

Only the Emperor was allowed to ...!!

Hot, golden fingernail guards poking into her thigh.

But ... she couldn't fight back, not without risking being beaten or beheaded.

Obedience to the Empress Consort. That was well enforced.

Sweat. It rolled down her face, likely on a slow course to destroy the carefully crafted image of paint, powder, and paper.

Her body was hurting in so many ways.

***

Wood Consort Wen had apparently been punished by the Empress Consort. Why? It wasn't made obvious to Miseo just yet. All she knew was that Wen was kneeling outside the entrance to the Moonlight Pearl Palace.

The Empress Consort could be fickle, to say the least. Miseo knew that one moment she would act as if you were her favorite person and the next she'd want you beaten. It was better for her to think you were boring.

Miseo and the Emperor were in their sedan chairs, and they both noticed Wen as they were both helped down. Although, Miseo saw that the Emperor only glanced at Wen once and then stubbornly turned his head away. Then he made a short sniff, much like his Royal Mother might do.

Since the Emperor had barely even looked at Wen, it made sense that he hadn't noticed ...

Wood Consort Wen's clothing, as beautiful as it was, was unusually disheveled. Her hairstyle was leaning on one side in a way that didn't look intentional. Her makeup was blurry, especially around her eyes and mouth, and there were lines that had clearly been made by sweat. There was an unnatural trembling in the woman's body. One couldn't reasonably claim she was cold. It was a blistering summer and she was kneeling under direct sunlight.

And the little concubine's eyes were weak and frightened. She seemed determined to not acknowledge anyone nor anything. When Yuwei, her maid, approached her with a cup of water, Wood Consort Wen wouldn't even part her lips.

As the Emperor started to walk on, Miseo decided to kneel down, and she cried out, "Oh, Your Majesty! Pity this poor concubine!"

Thankfully, the Emperor paused, but he didn't look back. He was firm and cold. Miseo thought that she could safely go on regardless. "She's been so unwell, and now her condition has deteriorated. She's clearly offended the Empress Consort, but shouldn't she be given some mercy?"

Still refusing to turn his head, but with a clenching fist, the Emperor coldly said, "Mercy? Do you want me to rescind the Empress' punishment?"

"Clearly," Miseo said as she prostrated herself, "Your Majesty is able to do so. Wood Consort Wen needs to be kept confined, with no visitors, aside from a woman of high standing to guide her, to serve as an example of proper conduct, and remind her of all the Tree Cage's rules. With time, this Madam Wood could become a fine consort again."

"A woman of high standing?" The Emperor made a sound in his teeth. "The Empress Dowager despises her. The Empress Consort has put her in her bad sights. If anyone should care for Wen, it should be you, Miseo."

As the Emperor left to enter the Empress Consort's palace, Miseo got up and looked back to Wen. It was then that Miseo finally realized the most damning thing of all.

Bruising was on Wen's throat, vaguely shaped like a hand.

Speaking to Yuwei and gripping Wen's shoulders, Miseo said, "Help me urge your Mistress to her feet. She must be taken to her palace immediately."

Her lovely cyan eyes wet and nearly overflowing with tears, her fingers trembling, Yuwei weakly said to Wen, "Rise, Mistress. Please rise. You must go."

After a few more words, Wen finally rose, but her eyes were still quite unresponsive.

When everyone was at the Ginger Steam Palace, Miseo demanded that Wen be sat down at her writing desk with plenty of stationary and ground ink laid out. Then Miseo demanded a clean, sharp blade.

Confused about just what was going on, Lien was the one to hand Miseo a pair of scissors. She dared to ask, "Is Mistress ill?" Yuwei actually hushed her with a shake of her head.

Miseo dismissed them and everyone else, except for Wen, from the office. Then she leaned down to pat Wen's shoulder, and she said, "I've inferred something of what happened to you. So, you must write. Remember everything that happened while it's still ripe in your head, and write it all down. Then cut your hand to put your bloody palm at your signature."

Although Wen's face and body were cold and stiff, one of her arms rose. It trembled, but it rose, and the fingers pinched at a brush pen. Then the brush fell and rolled off the table.

"You must write." Miseo bent down to pick up the brush pen and put it back on the table with a little click. "Think of your children, Madam Wood. Think of how dangerous it is for them to live in a harem where the Empress Consort is so unhinged. This will only be the first step in fighting against her, but you must take it, otherwise nobody is safe."

In silence, Miseo waited for perhaps four seconds. Then, Wen's lips jerked. Her hand blindly searched for the brush, blindly because she was staring ahead at nothing at that point. Miseo had to personally put the brush in her hand and arrange her almost lifeless fingers.

Finally, Wood Consort Wen looked down at a cup of water. She wet the brush's hairs and then dipped them in the black ink. Her strokes on the paper were gradual yet still automatic. Miseo cringed after each character was fully written. And as more and more were placed under her eyes, Miseo thought she wanted to vomit. She resisted it well.

Then, with Miseo watching to be sure nothing drastic happened, Wen put a cut on her palm and smeared quite a bit of blood around.

Miseo helped her press her hand into the paper.

As the ink and blood dried, and as Wen's breath started moving in and out of her as if she thought there was only a limited amount of time to breathe, Miseo used her calmest words and started washing her bloody hand. "You have an ally here." She eventually patted the skin dry and applied an ointment. "You don't know me, and so you don't trust me, but I'm your ally." She tied a bandage on Wen's hand. "We now have a common enemy, and I'm glad to help you."

And just to make sure Wen knew that, Miseo took a sheet of paper and temporarily claimed the brush pen. She wrote out a basic testimony describing how she noticed Wen had bruises on her throat. Then she took the scissors and used the remaining clean blade to cut herself.

"You must keep these documents to yourself," Miseo advised as her bloody handprint was made. "Don't even tell a maid where you hide them. Keep them in a chest of stone to reduce the risk of fire, and have a two different locks attached to the lid. We might need these documents later."

Wen spoke for the first time. Her voice was hoarse and crackling. "Why shouldn't we report this now?"

"As delicate as the Empress Consort's position is now," Miseo said as she started cleaning her hand, "it's still far too strong. We must weaken her first. Then we should kick her down."

A few quiet seconds went on, and Wen suddenly asked, looking down at the table, "Madam Seed? How were you able to figure out what had happened to me?"

Miseo's sigh was clear but heavy. Her violet eyes turned away from Wen.

"In the beginning," Miseo said, "I consented to Her Majesty's attention, but eventually she turned violent. I believe she's been trying to provoke my jealous side through you." Her shoulder jerked up as she suppressed a laugh with the back of her hand. "She's misjudged me. I'm not jealous of anything that woman gives anyone."

When she next looked up to Wen's face, Miseo saw that those dark blue eyes were unusually round and very, very amazed.

Miseo's head tilted to one side. She made a hardly visible closed smile, her wide lips tight.

Wen took a messy, crumpled handkerchief from under her gown and patted random spots on her face as she looked away. Her jaw moved as if she was chewing on something. Then she said, "I ... I want to see a doctor."

Understanding why, Miseo suddenly whispered to her, "Then slap me, right on my cheek, so that the doctor will have a reason to come." At Wen's distrusting flinch, Miseo rushed to say, "We can't let the Empress think I'm caring for you in truth, can we? For all she knows, I could've asked the Emperor to put you under my eye so that I may abuse you."

Wen finally had a smile to hide at that time.

A doctor was eventually brought to the palace, and he was secretly told to give Wen a very ... private examination, with Miseo serving as a protective witness, of course. It wouldn't be proper otherwise. Wen's reputation needed to be kept well.

Convinced that someone had sexually abused Wen in some manner, the doctor said he must go alert the Emperor, but Miseo stopped him with a palm full of silver.

"We'd love to tell someone, but right now might not be the cleverest time to do so," Miseo whispered. "Therefore, I highly suggest you write an attestation and stamp a bloody palm. This way, when the time is much more clever, I can show it to the Emperor."

To Miseo's credit, she didn't tell the doctor to lie at all. The bribe he was given was only for his temporary silence. He didn't even know who had abused Wen. He couldn't exactly point out the culprit, now could he? It was in his own best interest to write the document out instead. But Miseo asked if she might hold onto it, hiding it in her own palace to keep anyone from stealing or destroying it. The doctor agreed, and that was that.

Still hidden from even her most beloved maids, with only Miseo for company, Wen gave herself a vigorous wash, including her face. Then she changed into a different outfit that had an almost dull color palette. As all this happened, Miseo made a point to tell her something that needed to be said.

"I asked the Emperor to confine you, and keep your visitors regulated to only myself, so that we can keep the Empress Consort at bay. However, there's always your sons. The Empress Consort has never had any strong feelings concerning children, but I don't know if she'd purposely harm any. She might harm your sons. She might not, but I don't want to risk that. I'll send a secret message to Pollen Lady Hayun to warn her to keep a more cautious eye on those boys, especially concerning the Empress Consort."

Miseo most certainly did that. She removed a gold bracelet of hers. That bracelet was secretly hollow in some parts. She tightly rolled up a message that was a sufficient warning but didn't quite reveal the true nature of the problem. Then Miseo told her maid to say this bracelet was a gift to Hayun, since she was raising the princes so well and clearly giving poor Wen some small comfort in her precarious state. Then she told her maid to insist that Hayun "appreciate this gift well" and "carefully admire it."

Once everything seemed quiet again, Miseo let Wen go to her reception room and continue with life as if everything was normal. Yet, Miseo saw there was still pain in those blue eyes. After a while, Wen was clearly grinding her teeth, and she demanded to have some food to chew on. She was given cooked but plain slices of water chestnuts and bamboo shoots.

As they listened to music, Miseo watched Wen chew on these things as if her life depended on how furiously her teeth moved.

"Perhaps," Miseo said as she leaned in and gripped the armrest of the chair she sat in, "the most comforting activity for you would be to write a story? You've always been known as a fervent writer."

Wen nodded and rose, abandoning her bowl of crunchy things to go off to her office again. Hoping for the best, but thinking something unpleasant might happen, Miseo followed. Wen didn't look particularly elegant when Yuwei pulled her chair out for her. She almost slipped of the seat. Yuwei's soft hands and clean fingernails took Wen by her blouse and helped her settle into a better position.

Miseo almost smiled at the pretty maid.

But the graveness of Wen's mental state was her main focus.

When Wood Consort Wen picked up her brush pen again, she dipped it in water, then ink, and then she tried to write a word. Halfway through, she paused as if there was a dam in her thoughts. Her fingers curled very softly, and the brush fell, splattering a bit of ink on her pale hand.

As Yuwei carefully moved in and wiped that hand clean, Miseo said to Wen, "I'm a dancer. When I need to release my deepest feelings, I dance. For a writer, those feelings are released with writing. But now you're too frazzled to do such a thing." Miseo took the brush and carefully laid it aside. "Perhaps if you were distracted by a hobby that's new to you, you might feel lighter."

Some minutes later, Miseo and Wen were back in the reception room. Many pieces of furniture had been pushed out of their way. Some servants started playing music. A flute, a little drum, and a spike fiddle. Then, Miseo performed a few basic movements with her arms and encouraged Wen to imitate her. "Go on, Wood Consort," she said. "Try to match me."

Her brow furrowing, Wen shook her head. "I could never hope to do so."

With lines of reassurance stretching around her eyes, Miseo moved again and said, "That doesn't mean you shouldn't try. Your body will love the exercise."

"I've danced before," Wen said. "I know the benefits."

"Then you should dance now," Miseo insisted.

Wen put a palm to her cheek. Then she sighed and half-knelt. She took a spot some feet away from Miseo and tried her best to imitate the dancing.

Two hours later, once Wen said she was tired, she sat back down at her desk and started writing without any prompt. She did it as she likely did before, with an ease only granted after a lifetime of practice. She wrote as naturally as Miseo danced, and Miseo was pleased to see that.

***

A few days or later, Miseo returned to her Morning Dew Palace at a time when the sky was beginning to darken. She found her little Eunhe playing a board game with her nanny. Miseo patted her daughter's shoulder and left to go to her bedroom. She knew she reeked of ink, paper, brushes, and even a bit of Wen's favored hand cream and flowery incense. That was how closely Miseo watched Wen. She thought she needed to change clothes and have a bath.

But before Miseo could do anything of the sort, a maid interrupted the others, who had reached for Miseo's clothes, and she said, "The Emperor's here! He wants to see you!"

Miseo sighed and said to her nearest maid, "Tend to my makeup and hair, then I'll go see His Majesty."

When Miseo was satisfied with her appearance, still wearing the same clothes, a maid opened her bedroom door, but Min Ji was anxiously pacing in the hallway. He bowed to her and said, "Seed Consort, His Majesty said he'd prefer to meet you in your bedchamber."

Blankly, Miseo blinked down at the eunuch. Then she shrugged and said, "Tell him I'll wait here, then."

Miseo was left alone in her bedroom. She knelt down on a rug as she waited. Finally, the Emperor entered, his limbs a bit stiff. There was a hollowness in his cheeks that Miseo didn't fully understand.

"Good evening, Your Majesty." She knew to keep a gentle tone.

His slippers stopped around two feet from her knees. The firelight put a glow on the little gemstone beads sewed on the toes. "Has Wood Consort Wen been a troublesome companion?" His voice was dry and bumpy.

Knowing that it was important for the Emperor to think that she thought Wen was unwell and difficult, Miseo purposely lied. She suspected the Emperor knew Wen was pretty sane, and he only kept her away out of some secret anger he'd rather not discuss. That was fine with her, but she needed to feed his lie for him. If the Empress Consort heard differently, she wouldn't believe that Miseo was venting anger on Wen.

"Oh, how can a woman in her position not be troublesome? I've already punished her so many times." She let out what she hoped was the most false sounding giggle and then muffled it with her sleeve. "There are times when I regret asking to have her as a burden, but then I remember her children. It's truly in her best interest to become well soon so she may have them again."

The Emperor's response was, "Hm." A very simple and deep hm. Then he asked her to sit on her bed.

He embraced her at first. Then, he paused to take the most ... thoughtful sniffs. His nose mostly went to her shoulders and arms.

Aside from those moments where he inhaled the scents in her clothing, the Emperor was rather ... taut.

***

On a cool autumn morning, after sighing and pouting over missing her children, Wen suddenly had some ideas. She sat beside the tall Seed Consort Miseo on a patio and to gestured for her to lower her head. Up into the long ear, Wen whispered some thoughts.

To have the custody of one of the Emperor's children, whether it's your own natural children or not, that was a secure feeling. The Emperor would visit you more often, which meant he was more likely to give you his "grace," which could lead to pregnancy. Aside from pregnancy, there was the glory of simply being the guardian of a prince or princess. So much favor was on your path. Everybody knew this, especially the Emperor.