The next day rolled in and we learned about dress codes and rules of attire, also what colours the Sovereign was partial to.
I was having a hard time not rolling my eyes every time the Sovereign was mentioned. He was a perverted, disgusting man. My mother would even be disgusted by his actions.
Then I remembered that my mother had sent me here.
The new instructor was named Mistress Binita, and she wore a beautiful green salwar kameez that complimented her tanned skin and green eyes. Her blond hair was in a thick fishtail braid with gold ribbons.
She was now discussing dinner apparel. She was telling us the importance of each piece of jewelry and scarf as two attendants dressed one of the girls.
The girl began to struggle to breathe as the corset was being tightened. Mistress Binita chuckled softly and said, "I believe that we'll need to have some practice time with the corsets." The attendants then put a frilly white underdress over the corset and tightened that.
The dress itself was a long, silver gown with a blue scarf hanging off of the right shoulder. the girl's hair was adorned with a silver lace embedded with blue jewels. Her neck and waist were also covered with silver chains.
"Now isn't that lovely." Mistress Binita said as she admired the ensemble.
"Now I'll need another one of you." She crossed her arms and observed each of us. Her gaze settled on me. Dread seeped into my veins.
"Ah, darling! Come on." She said, gesturing for me to come to the front of the room.
Out of all the instructors we've had I liked her the best. She was kind and sweet, but the last thing I wanted to do was get up in front of everyone.
The classroom we were in now was a round building with a high, domed ceiling and arches all around. The wooden doorway was in the back of the room. There were thin, gauzy curtains hung in the archways, but it still felt fairly exposed.
It was midday and the sun was high in the sky.
I rose to my feet and walked to the front of the room next to Mistress Binita.
"Excellent darling!" She moved a couple feet away from me and I snorted.
She gave me a confused look, then continued talking, "Now, the outfit that this young lady will wear, is going to be what one of you would wear if the Sovereign happened to call for, or on you." She said with a bright smile.
The humoured expression on my face fell. 'I'm going to wear a prostitute's dress?!'
But I didn't run or try to flee. What was the point? There were two large eunuchs guarding the door and the other girls had already seen me naked. It was humiliating but I would grit my teeth and bear it.
The attendants removed my robe.
"Now you see, we all know why the Sovereign would call on you." She paused, her cheeks were a shade of red. Apparently she wasn't as comfortable with the thought of, well all of us girls' "duty" as the other two Mistresses had been, "You'll not want a corset on, so you will wear this." She pointed to the piece of fabric that the attendants were now putting over my chest.
It was a scarf, just a scarf. It was made of a thick, soft, purple fabric, different than the silk, and it held in my chest rather well. They then wrapped more scarves of thinner material around my arms and waist, then secured them with little tucks here and there.
My bum was still bare, and Mistress Binita then began explaining what would be worn there, "This large scarf is then wrapped around your waist and another few over top of it."
A large, purple scarf was tied around my waist and pinned in place with a thick metal belt. The scarf that was more like a skirt, revealed most of my left leg and almost my entire thigh. It reached down to the floor and had yellow tassels along the trim. The attendants wrapped two more thin, gauzy scarves around my waist.
They kept my hair down and knotted ribbons in my hair. They put a gold headpiece on my head and the large jewel rested on my forehead. They then tied a thin veil over the bottom of my face that did nothing to conceal my features.
"The goal of this ensemble is to-"She cleared her throat, "Tease the Sovereign."
She clasped her hands together and said cheerily, "Now to the next outfit!"
I just stood still, looking at my reflection in the mirror, 'I look like my mother.' I thought horrified, 'Or at least what she used to look like when she came home from "work".'
A tear traced its way down my cheek and got the veil slightly damp, 'The last thing, I ever wanted, was to become my mother.' And here I was. On my way to becoming her.
~~~~~~~~~~
After having eaten lunch we had another lecture from Mistress Daksha about the government and a little of the military.
We were then allowed to retire in our rooms. We found dresses on our beds and immediately put them on. We were all sick and tired of those robes, and walking around practically naked.
The new dresses were made of a comfortable fabric and they reached just below our calves.
I had been getting acquainted with my roommates. There were ten of us, all of us were eighteen, except Laurel, she was nineteen and from WaxingVille.
Three of the other girls were from my town, Crescent Port, but I didn't know them. The others were from all over.
They all asked for me to sing them to sleep which was nice. I missed singing to my siblings.
I tried not to think of them, but I couldn't help it!
I had looked after them all their lives. My mother would always be "working" so I learned to cook and clean, to barter in the market for good deals, to teach my siblings to read and write.
I tried not to think of them, but I couldn't help it.