I quite like the descriptions in this chapter, if I do say so myself. R
and R, as always, thanks and love to RegFrankieFan and Darkwolf.
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By the time I had finally gathered the courage to tell the Queen, I was six and a half months gone. I was surprised by how little I was showing, but still I was obviously in the family way. I could, by now, often feel the baby moving inside me. My 15th birthday had presented little cause for celebration as both my brother and I were working. However, we invited a few of our friends from the staff round in the evening. By now most of them knew about Riff and I, if only through rumours they had heard, but they tactfully didn't mention it when we finally told them of my condition. They all swore not to mention it to the Furters until we were ready, for which we were grateful.
I went to see the Queen alone. I knocked tentatively on her chamber door and waited until I was called in.
The air was heavy with the scents of ylang ylang and patchouli, their combined aromas made me instantly drowsy but I shook away my desire to sleep. She was a beautiful woman, her natural charms shone through the thick makeup. Her pure elegance and dignity as she reclined on the red satin chaise long made me feel so dull and inconsequential. Every aspect of her outside appearance radiated Transylvanian authority, from her fishnet-clad legs to her blood red velvet basque to her glossy mane of jet- black hair. This was the first time I had ever been alone with her and my whole body trembled with apprehension. She gave me a half smile and gestured for me to sit down in an easy chair.
"Ahh, Magenta, it's wonderful to see you. The last time that we met you were barely crawling. How you've changed. I don't like to think of our servants as subordinates, rather as extensions of our family." She smiled rather benignly at me and I weakly returned the expression. I hadn't expected her to be this amicable and was unsure of how I should act around her, after all, she was our highest-ranking superior. "Now dear, why do you look so worried?" I wrung my hands and bit my lip. I'd have to tell her, I couldn't put it off any longer.
"I'm going to have a baby." The smile fell instantly from her face and for a split second showed an expression of pure disgust. She then smiled rather patronisingly at me.
"And there I was thinking that you had just gained weight. I'd always thought you were different from the others Magenta, I thought you were far too bright to be just a servant, but I see you've thrown your life away. Very well. As you are not yet 18 and therefore recognised as an adult you have no rights to time off work, but I suppose I should allow you six weeks. There is still a charitable side to me that won't let me sack you. That should give you two weeks to prepare for the birth and a month to spend with the child afterwards. You and the father may work part time for the first six months, after that it is in your hands. I assume that the father is a member of staff here?"
"I.we.I don't know. He might be, but it may not be." Her eyes widened and she cackled in disbelief. Any trace of friendliness had vanished and her countenance reflected pure malice.
"For a lower class girl you certainly seem to be quite a hussy!" I stared at her in horror, how could she accuse me of such things? I was longing to tell her what her son had done to me, make her understand, but I knew that I would be putting my life on the line if I did. I kept silent, biting my lip even harder. "Not only are you with child before the legal age of consent for peasants, but you're promiscuous too?" I wanted to throw up. "It seems that you have adopted ideas above your station, you forget that absolute pleasure is a right reserved for the highest members of society and is not to be taken lightly. You'd do well to remember that. Now get out of my sight, slut, before I have you locked up."
I fled the room, sprinted all the way back to our home. Slamming the door behind me I leaned against the wall, once again dissolving into tears.
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By the time I had finally gathered the courage to tell the Queen, I was six and a half months gone. I was surprised by how little I was showing, but still I was obviously in the family way. I could, by now, often feel the baby moving inside me. My 15th birthday had presented little cause for celebration as both my brother and I were working. However, we invited a few of our friends from the staff round in the evening. By now most of them knew about Riff and I, if only through rumours they had heard, but they tactfully didn't mention it when we finally told them of my condition. They all swore not to mention it to the Furters until we were ready, for which we were grateful.
I went to see the Queen alone. I knocked tentatively on her chamber door and waited until I was called in.
The air was heavy with the scents of ylang ylang and patchouli, their combined aromas made me instantly drowsy but I shook away my desire to sleep. She was a beautiful woman, her natural charms shone through the thick makeup. Her pure elegance and dignity as she reclined on the red satin chaise long made me feel so dull and inconsequential. Every aspect of her outside appearance radiated Transylvanian authority, from her fishnet-clad legs to her blood red velvet basque to her glossy mane of jet- black hair. This was the first time I had ever been alone with her and my whole body trembled with apprehension. She gave me a half smile and gestured for me to sit down in an easy chair.
"Ahh, Magenta, it's wonderful to see you. The last time that we met you were barely crawling. How you've changed. I don't like to think of our servants as subordinates, rather as extensions of our family." She smiled rather benignly at me and I weakly returned the expression. I hadn't expected her to be this amicable and was unsure of how I should act around her, after all, she was our highest-ranking superior. "Now dear, why do you look so worried?" I wrung my hands and bit my lip. I'd have to tell her, I couldn't put it off any longer.
"I'm going to have a baby." The smile fell instantly from her face and for a split second showed an expression of pure disgust. She then smiled rather patronisingly at me.
"And there I was thinking that you had just gained weight. I'd always thought you were different from the others Magenta, I thought you were far too bright to be just a servant, but I see you've thrown your life away. Very well. As you are not yet 18 and therefore recognised as an adult you have no rights to time off work, but I suppose I should allow you six weeks. There is still a charitable side to me that won't let me sack you. That should give you two weeks to prepare for the birth and a month to spend with the child afterwards. You and the father may work part time for the first six months, after that it is in your hands. I assume that the father is a member of staff here?"
"I.we.I don't know. He might be, but it may not be." Her eyes widened and she cackled in disbelief. Any trace of friendliness had vanished and her countenance reflected pure malice.
"For a lower class girl you certainly seem to be quite a hussy!" I stared at her in horror, how could she accuse me of such things? I was longing to tell her what her son had done to me, make her understand, but I knew that I would be putting my life on the line if I did. I kept silent, biting my lip even harder. "Not only are you with child before the legal age of consent for peasants, but you're promiscuous too?" I wanted to throw up. "It seems that you have adopted ideas above your station, you forget that absolute pleasure is a right reserved for the highest members of society and is not to be taken lightly. You'd do well to remember that. Now get out of my sight, slut, before I have you locked up."
I fled the room, sprinted all the way back to our home. Slamming the door behind me I leaned against the wall, once again dissolving into tears.