“What’s there to talk about, Lilliana?” her mother snapped. “Mistress Tempertant has graciously offered to give you your first injection. Now hold still and take it!”
“But I don’t want it!” Lilli protested wildly, still backing away. She wished desperately that she hadn’t sent Karn away. She was certain the big Kindred would have had her back. But she was all alone, with no one to help her. What was she going to do?”
“Is this a problem?” Lady Tempertant frowned. “Does your daughter not wish to be in style?”
“Oh, she’s just scared of needles—that’s all!” Lilli’s mother said quickly. “H’urk—Tonlor—hold her!”
Two of her mother’s hulking bodyslaves came quickly to grab Lilli by her arms. She struggled but there was no helping it—they were so much stronger than her and they obeyed her mother without question.
“Please!” she begged, feeling tears sting her eyes. Her throat felt thick and her heart was pounding. “Mother, please—I don’t want this!”
“Hush, Lilliana and don’t be a baby!” her mother scolded angrily. “It’ll be over in a moment!”
Lilli choked back a sob—there was no help here. Above all things, her mother hated to be out of fashion. And since they lived outside of Opulex, falling behind the times and being thought of as a “country bumpkin” was her greatest fear.
Bending down, Lady Tempertant pressed the wickedly sharp end of the multi-needle to the inside of Lilli’s thigh. Lilli gasped as she felt the bite of a thousand tiny pricks as the metal spikes sank into her flesh. The next moment she had a painful itching sensation as the burning liquid invaded her flesh.
“No!” she cried but it was more of a moan.
It was too late—the deed had been done and she’d been injected with the awful quick-grow hormone stuff. Who knew what would happen to her now?
“There—see? All done,” Lady Tempertant straightened up briskly and put the first syringe back in the case. “And you only need one more on the night before you go to the conception center. Before you know it, you’ll have a baby bump just like my Priss.”
She smiled at her daughter who nodded and smiled back. Then she turned her smile on Lilli and it became a smug sneer.
“Enjoy getting impregnated, Lilliana,” she purred. “I’m sure you’ll find it very entertaining. Oh, and tell H’rare if I ever see him again, I’ll have him castrated,” she added in an off-hand way.
Then she and her mother and the rest of the Mistresses waved goodbye and left.
Lilli watched them go, feeling strange and somehow detached from her own body. The place where she had been injected was painfully tender but all she could think about was the fact that she wasn’t ready to have a baby yet and she didn’t know what she was going to do.
Eighteen
“Little Mistress, what’s wrong?” Karn looked at his new Mistress with concern. She’d sent him and H’rare away as the banquet was ending and he’d placed the other bodyslave in the kitchens, which seemed like a safe place for him. He could help with the serving and hopefully escape Lady Mirabella’s notice. Then Karn had gone back up to Lilli’s suite to wait for her.
But when she came in, she seemed detached and distant. And…were those tear tracks on her pale cheeks? Karn needed to make sure.
“Mistress,” he said again, since she hadn’t answered him. “What’s wrong?”
“I…I don’t…I can’t talk about it.” Avoiding his eyes, she went to the bed and laid face down on it. “Please, Karn—just leave me alone. You can have the rest of the night off.” Her voice was muffled in the bedclothes but she sounded very close to tears.
Karn knew he ought to go—this was the perfect opportunity to explore the rest of the vast mansion and find the information he was seeking. He especially wanted to see if he could locate the Kindred warrior who had been accused of murder and sentenced to execution.
But he couldn’t leave just yet. Not when Lilli was so upset. He couldn’t help himself—he had to know what was wrong.
“Come on now, little Mistress,” he murmured, going to sit on the bed beside her. “It can’t be as bad as all that, can it?”
“Yes, it can.” Lilli’s voice was barely a whisper, but he could hear the quiver in it.
“What happened?” Karn asked. “Did that Priss bitch say or do something else to you after you sent me away?”
Just the thought made him clench his hands into fists. That little sadist was a piece of work, all right! He didn’t like the way she tried to win him away from Lilli, just to hurt her.
“You could say that.” Lilli turned her head so that he could see at least the side of her face. She looked miserable, Karn thought, and his heart squeezed in his chest.
“What did she do?” he demanded. “I thought we got her pretty good with the seed-shooting contest. And you probably saved her bodyslave’s life,” he added. “If you hadn’t won him, he’d be off to the Diluthian mines in a matter of days.”