Twenty-One
The moonlight spilled into the temple of Sylvia in soft tendrils and cast half-moons and stars across Sin's upturned face. The whisper of the goddess flitted through her mind, cooing softly to her. The Mother Moon was kind. Sin prayed to all the gods she knew and to Sylvia too whilst she wondered at the growth of life in her belly.
Had her mother felt the same, she wondered. Would it be a demon? Had her own mother been tender at the thought of new life inside her? Would it tear its way through her flesh?
She touched her skin, cool, flat belying nothing of what was going on inside her. Though her flesh spoke nothing of the yawning gap inside her, the nothingness undone within her soul as Verain had departed like a dream. Despite that, Anata had not finished with her.
Sin had been inside the cool stone temple for days, between the carvings and cracks in the walls she could see the Hounds as they stalked back and forth, their muzzles close to the wall sucking and seeking the scent of her. They licked their lips hungrily. It was only a matter of time before they overwhelmed the old Hound, Voris. Only a matter of time before they had Sin caught between tooth and claw.
As if she had summoned him by thought, Voris materialised at the door with a bowl of steaming broth. She breathed the scent of food deeply but hesitated to rise and accept it from his crude hands.
"Venison." He said to assure her, his voice soft and his motions slow and deliberate so not to scare her.
She gingerly got onto her knees and accepted the proffered bowl. Stone faced, he watched in silence as she sipped from it. She finished half of it quickly but it didn't seem to touch any part of the hunger inside of her. He drew a hessian cloth around her shoulders to help ward off the night time chill but the chill was set deep in her bones.
Yawning silence filled the space between them until she could not stand it a moment longer. "What was Verain like?" She asked softly, it hurt to speak his name aloud and she didn't expect the tightness in her chest.
The old Hound drew in a deep breath and his brows seemed heavy with sadness and water was quick to fill his eyes. Sin felt a stab of familiar guilt, if it were not for her then Verain would never have defied the Meagesters and he would not have been banished from Elysion.
"Tell me of his mother." She said, trying to draw Voris to speak, to make himself more of a man than a wolf in disguise.
A smile transformed the Hound's face and she saw the phantom of what was once a striking man. She was relieved when he spoke. "She was beautiful." He said, his smile showing teeth. "Like you."
Sin looked at herself, covered in dirt, her hair matted together and smelling of her own waste. She didn't feel beautiful. She took to mean the mother was of a dark cast. "Her hair was brown as Elysion soil." He leaned forward and she flinched as he reached a hand toward her taking strands of her hair between his fingers. "She had a good soul."
"Who was her mother?" Sin asked, curious because she had never before seen a female Hound
"She was also like you." He said.
Sin took a moment to understand his meaning. "A slave?"
He nodded.
"It is forbidden." She said but her voice sounded hollow.
"It was." He admitted with ease. "It is."
Sin was preoccupied with wonder, to think a slave just as she was had defied the Maegesters long before she was born. It was wonderful and astonishing no matter the tragic end of it.
"We conducted ourselves in secret." Voris said and Sin could imagine them running together in the green glades of the southern slave hold, basking in the dawn, their hands entwined as they lay on the dew soaked grass. Perhaps that was the way between Hounds and humans, the electric spark, the magnetism she felt with Verain.
"But without consent of the House…were you not punished?"
"We were." He said and swallowed audibly. "She was given as food to the others." His chin fell against his chest and a shiver ran through him as he remembered the crunch of bone and tearing of skin. He had watched his own wretched son, Sorken tearing into his lover's flesh.
Sin was imaging the death, she could hear the phantoms of skin ripping and she dropped the broth bowl to the floor. She knew without a doubt that the Maegester had left her in the den to die, grunts and great sucking breaths assaulted her ears, the beasts still prowled outside of the temple. She moved to pick up the shards but Voris clutched her hands in his large ones. "The Maegester is a demon." She whispered.
"No." Voris said, still gentle. "He is not that."
"He killed your beloved, he will do as much to me." Sin began to tremble, part fear of being ripped limb from limb; maybe the thing inside her would tears its way out. What was it? Part god? Part demon?
"I will not let him." He said, his voice resonated in a growl.
"How can you say such a thing?" She asked in a panic.
Voris' eyes were the molten gold of Verain's eyes, intense and searing and she bit her tongue. "My grandson thought you worth defying his own father. For as long as I am able; I will protect you."
"I couldn't ask that boon of you."
"Nonetheless."
He picked up the bowl and slowly began to spoon the brother to her mouth. "Eat, if not for yourself then for the child."
She turned her face away. "Should I feed it at all? Maybe it hungers not for this but for blood."
"Shush." He said and placed another spoonful to her lips.
She began to cry, her salty tears a new ingredient in the broth. He fed her this way until she could have no more and he let her lay on the temple floor, her head cradled on her arms. She didn't dream.
"Daydreaming?" Pearl's voice was an unwelcome echo in the first rays of light. The women's hall was near -empty, shafts of sunlight filtered through the colourful stained glass throwing purple hues over the Lady of Elysion as she glided across the floor.
Linnea lifted her head from her harp, her eyes hazy with lingering thoughts.
"Penny for them." Pearl asked. "But why waste the coin? I know who your mind lingers on."
Lux St James. Spots of colour appeared on either of Linnea's cheeks, she could not refute Pearl's insinuation. To see him again had stirred such thoughts in her; perhaps there was more to life than what there was on Elysion…perhaps freedom….
"It's perverse. Isn't he your brother?" Pearl said. "Oh adopted, I know, but still. It's almost as distasteful as the thought of you bedding Lucerne."
Linnea's eyes shone an eerie shade of silver. "Careful, sister." She said in a small hiss. "You speak of what you know nothing about."
"I know that you have been smuggling letters to the mainland." Pearl smiled proud at her discovery, her eyes, a cool shade of blue, watched gleefully as Linnea grew ever more vexed. "Shall I guess as to whom the letters are being sent?"
Linnea took a breath and fortified herself, a pale eyebrow arched, she wore a glacial expression to rival Lucerne's. "Have you proof of such a thing?"
Pearl raised her chin as she strove to look imperious. "I have my sources."
"They lie." Linnea said firmly. "And besides I fail to see how such a thing could concern you."
"I am the Lady of Elysion, it all concerns me." Pearl said determined not to thrust out her bottom lip.
Linnea stood and approached her with the grace of a stalking beast. "Not a few seasons ago you were ripe and ready to part your legs for my brother, Lux. Is that not perverse?" Linnea said forcing her face close to Pearl's which caused the younger woman to pull back. "You would be wise to limit your concern to the child you carry, and yourself, we wouldn't want you to end up like the last wife."
Linnea strode out of the hall, head held high like a queen.
Pearl trembled with impotent rage, her hands moved to the swell of her belly, swollen with the aid of Alister's herbs and potions. She felt the fullness of her precarious position and worried, what if Linnea knows of my deception?
She knew she pressed Linnea, always trying to press the upper hand where she had none and now she was mystifying herself with anxieties that they would grow suspicious of her plans.
She forced herself to relax and move at a leisurely pace toward the gilded and green door that would lean to adjoining chambers. She looked behind her superstitiously before entering the room where Domitian paced back and forth.
He barely glanced up as she entered. "I mislike the whole thing." He muttered.
Pearl steeled herself and reached out to grasp his arm before he could return to pacing. "Only the best sacrifice will do." Pearl said, plying more lies. "Its' blood and body for the goddess, surely only this would suffice?"
Of course she referred to Lucerne's slave, the one he had favoured and had all of a sudden discarded. The slave with a name.
"And you would deliver all that you promised?" Domitian asked as he pulled her into his arms but she resisted his embrace, hands flying to her belly.
"Yes. I will do as I promised. I will make you a Lord proper, establish your family among those of the highest standing." She said taking a generous step away. "I need but speak with my father."
He looked amused as if he doubted her ability to do such a thing. "My father is a very influential vampire." She continued. "The Court itself will lay such titles upon you; Lucerne will be a mere trifle in rank."
She had been wise to his desires, after all he was just a man and as Linnea's interests faded and turned toward pining for Lux, Domitian's eyes had met Pearl's more often.
She knew Domitian liked to fuck the human slaves too and he too had desires of having Pearl that way but it would only be an idle distraction for him, though in time she knew she could fan the flames of enmity between him and her husband if she were to keep her legs closed.
For now it was enough to make empty promises. She wouldn't bother to contact her father, such things were forbidden to her under the marriage contract with Lucerne; she was to have no contact with others beyond Elysion. She was never sanctioned to leave Elysion unless Lucerne escorted her. She would never leave Elysion.
"I have heard they have taken it to the Den." Pearl said focusing his line of thought.
Domitian's nostrils flared in distaste.
"You fear the Hounds then?" She said prodding at his pride.
"I fear no beast." He responded and then made a exasperated sound low in his throat. "They've probably ripped it limb from limb by now."
"And if they haven't?" She said. "Would you have me offer blood and sacrifices of some lesser being?"
"What makes you think it more than any other slave?"
"It is an affront to the laws of this island." She said. "It thought to crawl above its station; I will sacrifice it to the goddess and avenge all those offended by its disobedience."
Pearl hated the slave more than she could express. Hated how a mere human girl had so easily gotten under Lucerne's skin. How an inconsequential little mouse had moved her husband to tenderness, tenderness he had never mustered for his own wife.
But in return for her blood, her corpse, Alister would continue to help her upkeep her deception as a proud and expectant mother.
It was a little before the Anean Preces that the bleeding had come upon her, she had had Alister attend her discreetly and he had confirmed her fears that she no longer carried a child.
She had entreated him to help her carry on the pretence which he had agreed to especially when she had promised him blood and meanwhile the knowledge of the slave's condition had found her through whispers amongst the Hounds and slaves.
At first she had been furious at the discovery, a base creature catching the seed of a king and allowing it to blossom in her womb. Succeeding where she had not. So Pearl had locked herself in her room and cried, and pitched her belongings around carelessly and tore at her hair in despair.
When the fury faded she was left to stare into the darkness, seeing nothingness, but soon a plan formed in her mind. She would take the slave's child as her own, no one would know, the slave would birth the child and Pearl would hand her corpse over to Alister to do with as he pleased.
Pearl would remain secluded for the latter part of the pregnancy, with the medic's insistence and at the right time present a child, Lucerne's child. The whole of its lineage would not have to be known. If the child would live. If the Hounds had not torn the slave limb from limb.
Domitian seemed satisfied by her tone. Dark thoughts moving behind his eyes as he stared at the Lady of Elysion. He seemed set to the task and nodded his agreement. "I will fetch her then in one piece or several."
"Lucerne must never know." She said before he left the room.
He glanced at her behind his shoulder. "I value my life, Lady." He said. "No such words would pass my lips."
She offered a smile as he closed the door behind him.
She paced for a time and the sound of horse hooves alerted her, she peered out of the small window and saw Domitian's figure sat astride, trotting away from the house as if in an idle excursion, giving no note to his destination.
She relaxed only a little.
She could trust Domitian to be discreet, and he would not have to know of the slave's fate after he put her into Pearl's hands, she had told him only of sacrifices to be made for the safe passage of her child and of course revenge.
Alister had already told her of hidden rooms and pathways that could conceal such a deception. All seemed well. Providing the child would live. Hard enough for Lamia to conceive, for a half breed it was even more dangerous. Humans were inferior in every sense, if it were to survive; she would have to train the child to be strong to embrace its bloody appetites.
The thought was not easy on her mind but it would secure her place in Elysion and she would not have to return to her father a failure or worse have him disown her as Lady Beatrice's family had done when she was cast out of Elysion.
It was amongst her biggest fears. She had long ago lost all illusions of a happy marriage and she had her pride, she loathed to return to her father having been cast aside by Elysion, no longer the virginal prize nor the apple of Marsigni's eye.
She emerged from the small room into the women's hall where a handful of women sat, some with a needle, others with books. Linnea stood at the farthest end of the hall, she stared at her suspiciously as if in wait.
Pearl lifted her chin high and sashayed toward her. "I am fatigued. I will take rest now and perhaps later some fresh air would be of good to us." She patted her belly.
Linnea continued to glare at her in silence.
Pearl escaped the hall; she picked up the hem of her skirt to walk easier, her free hand balled into a fist to disguise the trembling of her fingers.
The sun was in the middle of the sky by the time Domitian arrived at the posts of the Hound's Den. He loathed the journey down the dirt path, his horse as reluctant as he was to make the journey.
His arrival was welcomed by the musty scent of wolf fur and animal sweat, the undercurrent of raw meats in stages of decay. Dark shapes of the Hounds disguised as men moved in the distance. He peered at them with narrowed eyes.
Dirty beasts. Domitian came from the main land originally; the dislike and distrust of shape shifters had been ingrained in him from an early age. He had served the Court for a time; it was how he had gained purchase in Elysion.
It had been decades ago now, so many, he hoped most had forgotten that he had never been born on the island. Lucerne had taken a liking to him, for Domitian loved to hunt, to ride, to fuck: to idle away the hours like a king without a care.
The familiar old Hound strode out of the temple and purposefully toward him. Domitian took his time to dismount; he would not rush to meet with the old dog.
"What do you seek?" Voris asked, not quite meeting him at the entrance, the beginnings of a growl beneath his voice.
The lack of propriety irked Domitian. The old Hound would still not defer to him as his Maegester, a title he would only afford Lucerne or others born of the island.
"The slave, does it live?" He asked eyes on his hands as he peeled his riding gloves from his long, elegant fingers.
"She does." He recognised the wolf Volka, stride from somewhere unseen, his feet silent upon the dirt. He came to stand beside Voris, a threatening shadow, his yellow eyes meeting Domitian's without fear or deference and again the vampire took offence. "Can't you smell her?"
Domitian glared from one Hound to the next. "Give it to me."
"She was given to me by the Maegester." Voris said and his hands balled into fists as if to contain a great rage.
"And I would have her from you. Quickly." Domitian said.
"Wait." Voris said, Volka stepped between them. But Voris did not go for Domitian as both Volka and Domitian anticipated. Instead he turned his back on Domitian and strode toward the temple with his head held high and his eyes kept forward.
Voris found the girl already on her feet, the rough blanket folded neatly and put aside, her ruined dress barely enough to conceal her respectability. She had heard the exchange, and appeared resolute, as if already accepting her death. "You do not have to go." He said.
"I am a slave; I only do what is commanded of me." She said in a dull voice.
Voris looked sympathetic but did not move stop her, he stood to one side and gave a respectful bow of his head and she walked out. He marvelled as she walked with her head high, her movements graceful, she was more a Lady than a slave in that instant.
Domitian snorted at the sight of Lucerne's slave, his lips curled in distaste. "It is intact." He approved of that at least, a clean sacrifice for Anata, as Pearl had wished.
Voris stood at the girl's shoulder, a menacing shadow whose eyes began to radiate the beast within its human cage. Domitian was very slightly afraid, for Voris was known to be an impressive beast and unrivalled upon the sands. "Where are you taking her?"
"Wherever I please." He said snidely. "It is of no concern to you, slave."
"You are to come with me, understand?" He said gruffly, not meeting the slave's eyes, confident the animal could obey the simple instruction.
"Yes, Maegester." She said and followed.
Voris grasped her wrist holding her back, many words trembled on his lips and rueful shine filled his eyes, a sigh puffed past his lips and he spoke. "Are you sure?"
She nodded and he released her.
Domitian disliked the hold she had seemed to take on the old Hound, the same mysterious magic that had Lucerne cling to her and the bastard little nuisance Verain. It would not infect him; he resolved and turned his back on the two watching Hounds.
He could hear the rest of them slinking in the recesses of the den, felt the malicious intent like cold fingers on the back of his neck.
Sin looked at the single horse. "Am I to follow on foot, Maegester?" She asked.
He growled, angry that she would speak when not permitted and unable to resist he struck her across the face, blood burst from her lip. "Do not speak to me." He said.
The Hounds watched but they could do nothing, Volka put a hand on Voris' shoulder holding him back. Domitian wondered if he need concern himself with silencing them, though they knew him to be the second man on Elysion and would presume his orders were from Lucerne himself.
The slave recovered masterfully falling back into a proper stance.
Domitian mounted the horse and grasped her easily with one hand, displaying his vampiric strength, he hauled her onto the horse; she lay across the saddle on her belly. Uncomfortable. Uneasy. The horse was uneven with the distribution of weight and kicked dust into her face, it filled her throat.
Domitian used his crop to whip her thighs, she didn't squirm as much as he anticipated, and didn't complain as he thought she might.
He made his way down unlit, hidden paths, behind the house and away from any attended roads. There was a slave to greet him at his destination, it beckoned him forward. "Are you at the bidding of the Lady?" He asked.
The girl was young, grey eyed and pale, she nodded vigorously. "Speak." Domitian demanded.
Sin could not raise her head to spy the exchange, her limbs were heavy and body useless; feeling sick and afraid to draw attention to herself.
The grey-eyed girl opened her mouth to show the stump of her tongue. Domitian gave a perverse half smile. He dismounted and Sin fell to the dirt with a thud, the girl quickly stepped forward to help her to her feet.
Domitian grasped the mute girl by the chin and stared into her grey eyes. "Come seek me later, before first light. Do you know my chambers? The door that bears my mark?" The girl nodded.
He went back to his horse and paused to catch the mute girl's eye. "When you sacrifice the whore, cut her slowly, make her suffer, that would please the goddess greatly." Domitian left.
A line formed in the space between the girl's grey eyes. Sin felt strangely bereft as Domitian left, what was the Maegester doing now? What was Lucerne's command? Was she to be sacrificed like an animal? She looked into the unfamiliar face of the grey-eyed slave, looking for answers but finding none.
Perhaps this girl was Lucerne's new favoured slave; Sin struggled with the strange sense of envy, the dark vain little part of her that had fed on the Maegester's want of her, his speeches and whispers of how he set her above all others. Stupid vanity, she berated herself.
She was distraught; it was so easy to get lost down the winding paths of fantasy. The girl's hands were cool on her elbow and wrapped around her hip, she helped Sin to the small door, it was a slave's path that lead into the house.
The girl navigated expertly.
The breath of the house was so familiar, lingering jasmine, incense, candle smoke and the perfumes of the Ladies of Elysion. Sin feared it: she didn't want to return to the cold grey walls or Lucerne's equally cold embrace. She was scared, she couldn't deny her fear. Any bravado she had had when she left the Den, that kept her closed lipped as Domitian had struck her, deserted her instantly.
The mute girl squeezed her hands but she didn't know if it was from sympathy or reprimand.
A door opened in the distance, dim light illuminated a small, simple chamber, a cot, a chair, a chamber pot, the girl pointed earnestly to the cot. Sin sat on the edge waiting with mock patience. The girl made a strange, strangled noise as she touched Sin's face, Sin winced as the girl's fingertips landed on her swollen lip.
The girl pushed her gently to lie down, she acquiesced with wide eyes and allowed the girl to arrange the covers around her. She soon left, locking the door behind her.
Sin's mind was mad with thought of what was to come. She expected Lucerne to stride inside and beat her…or worse. Perhaps he would beat her so bad she would mourn the loss of the child in her womb? The child in her womb…her constant companion, the unknown creature who was part her and part other.
She wanted the goddess to return to her dreams, she wanted the old woman to divulge her destiny in a vision far away from the confinement of these four grey walls. But those dreams never came and she was left with only darkness and exhaustion.
Wake up. The celestial voice whispered in the shell of Sin's ear, it penetrated through the fog of sleep. Wake. The voice was sweet, gentle, the beckoning of a kind spirit.
Sin woke with shudder and a goddess filled her vision, a golden cascade of sunshine curls surrounded a pair of cool blue eyes. "Good, it's alive."
Sin lifted her head, colour drained from her face as she realised the woman was no goddess at all but the Lady of Elysion. The very sight of her in the prison-like cell was extraordinary. "Get up." Pearl demanded her tone no longer having a silky quality of the heavens but a clipped, irritated tenor.
Sin couldn't organise her limbs and only managed to sit up. A shadow fell over her. The medic, Alister was standing at the Lady's back, his eyes moved hungrily over her.
"Look how it stares." Pearl snarled showing her sharp teeth to wilfully intimidate the slave.
"One looks much the same as any other." Alister murmured. "Though if the Maegester sees fit to put seed inside a slave it must have qualities above its kind."
Pearl's mouth arranged itself into a thin, angry line. "Does it understand us?"
"To some degree I should think."
"Do you understand me, slave?" Pearl asked.
Sin nodded, yes.
"Good. Then you will follow me when I tell you that I want what you have."
Sin's eyes became wide; she did not comprehend the Maistresse's words for she was but a slave and all that she was belonged to the Lords and Ladies of Elysion. Pearl made a sound low in her throat and Sin dropped her head fearing the Maistresse's wrath.
"I in turn will grant you a boon." Pearl said.
Sin lifted her head, eyes meeting, a flicker of doubt crossed Sin's gaze and Pearl drew herself to stand tall and imperious. "I am the Lady of Elysion." She said, summoning her best authoritative voice. "Tell me what you will and I will see it done."
"At what price, Maistresse?" Sin's voice was husky from the road dust and lack of sleep.
Pearl smiled toothily. "You carry Lucerne's child."
The girl sucked in a shaky breath. "You want it?"
"I will claim this child as my own heir and you will not speak of this to anyone. To all you are already dead." Pearl said as if to reason with her. "And in return…what do you ask?"
Sin's mind was alive with possibilities but as broad as her desires were she could only utter one word. "Freedom."
"What?" Pearl asked as she had not heard.
"Freedom." Sin said more loudly. "I want to be free of the House."
Pearl laughed. Even in her short time in Elysion she knew that there was no such thing as freedom. She inclined her head nonetheless. "Okay."
Alister's gaze slid sharply to Pearl, his lips parted and pursed on an unspoken protest.
"But first you wash." Pearl said and motioned to the grey-eyed girl to come forward. The girl's eyes were wide with knowledge but her mouth was set grim with determination to obey the Maistresse.
"Leave." Pearl commanded Alister whose features became carefully blank though it was evident his upset was not forgotten. He gave a perfunctory bow and disappeared from the room.
In the far corner of the room there was a large bath that had never been there before, it was a large, luxurious porcelain tub with elaborate gold detail and gilded clawed feet. Sin had no recollection of it when first entering the room. Water steamed within it, sweet scent rose with the steam and petals floated on its surface. It was the Maistresse's bath.
Sin pushed the covers down to expose her soiled dress which was heavy and stinking on her skin.
"I must apologise." The Maistresse said her pleasant tone, unconvincing; further betrayed by the hatred keen in her blue gaze, hatred tinged with the bitter edge of jealousy. "You have been treated badly."
"I have drawn you a bath." She went to stand beside the tub, the steam like a mist curling around her, her golden beauty ethereal in the dim light. She was flawless, a goddess as she had often thought, Sin felt woefully inadequate next to her.
"Take off that thing." Pearl said offended by her appearance.
Sin did as she was asked, shaky fingers peeled off the cloth, the rags of her dress fell in a damp brown mess until she was nude.
Pearl stared at her skin, her delicate nose curled at the assault on her senses; she beckoned for the slave to climb into the bath and Sin did so with unerring slowness. She dipped her foot beneath the water and it was hot, almost painful, but she continued until she was sat in the centre of the bath.
Pearl had a jar of more steaming water and poured it over Sin's head, half drowning her. Dirt curled away from her body and she closed her eyes until her flesh had become accustomed to the heat.
She froze as the Maistresse's hands touched her hair, her skin, sharp fingernails scraping lightly down her back. "I will not harm you." Pearl whispered by her ear and Sin shivered again.
"To think Verain would go mad over such an ordinary human. You look like the rest of them, you know. You all look the same. But I've tasted your blood. They say you have the blood of that goddess in you. Perhaps then your child will be enough to pass as my own: not full blood Lamia but somewhere between a vampire and a god."
Sin allowed herself to look at the Maistresse fully and saw for the first time her belly full of life. Sin swallowed a lump in her throat as she mulled over the bargain they struck. Though the Maistresse's eyes were misty and melancholy, Sin wondered if Lucerne had ever been tender to her.
The Lady seemed to read her thoughts for she said. "The Lamia do not marry for love but for advantage." What strange magic has me confessing such a thing to a slave? Pearl thought and withdrew abruptly. She motioned for the mute girl to assist the slave in any way to see the child in her belly to fruition.
She left the room without looking back leaving Sin to relax her limbs in the waters that were cooling fast.
The mute girl tugged on her arm, helping her out of the tub, she dried her with a cloth, careful to wipe the small swell of her belly and then wrapped her in layers of chiffon that covered her from throat to foot.
She was brought a platter of foods, the scents so delicious that water filled Sin's mouth and when it was laid in front of her she grabbed at it without compunction filling her mouth greedily with bread, meat and cheese. She had never been fed so well.
The grey-eyed girl stared at her fretfully but did not intervene.
When she had finished the girl took the platters away leaving Sin alone with the four grey walls.
Updated 01/04/2012
Miss S