Bridget Bundy - The Secret Weapon

The brunette spoke up angrily, “It is forced no matter how you put it. If I refuse to sleep with him and another girl, then I die? What real choice is that?”

Sekai answered calmly, “It’s a harem. What do you expect?”

The woman shifted in her seat uncomfortably.

With no real expectation for the brunette to answer, Sekai moved on with her speech, “The harem will have a common living area. There’s a pool, sauna, sitting area, places to eat and drink, among other things. There are bedrooms, but there are two beds in each one. No one will have a room to themselves. Choose your roommate carefully because you may be stuck with them for a while. You can’t leave once you’ve been in the harem. If you change your mind and want to go back to your region, you can’t. The only way out is death.”

Sekai let the reality set in on the room before saying, “Question.”

The sandy blonde raised her hand again. Sekai looked at her and the woman asked, “When are we going back to the ball? I want to dance with the Chancellor.”

“The Chancellor already has a date. You saw who he left with.” Sekai answered dryly. “Any other questions, ladies?”

The sandy blonde woman looked down in disappointment.

“Is it too late to back out?” The same angry brunette asked.

“No, as a matter of fact, I was going to say this was your last chance. Reyna will escort everyone back to the ball who does not want to be a part of the harem.” Sekai stated.

Reyna opened the door and waited to see who was going to leave. The brunette stood first, and she made her way into the hallway. Four other women followed suit. Coraset wanted to leave, as well. She wanted to run out of there as fast as she could, but she remained.

Sekai announced, “This is your last chance, ladies.”

She waited to see if anyone else was going to walkout. The women all looked at one another. No one else moved. Sekai stepped outside and spoke to Reyna in a whisper and came back inside closing the door.

She pulled out the glass tablet and spoke two names. She instructed them to stand and follow Jorda and Hanako. They were the first to be examined. The selected women were directed out of the white room, and Sekai left the room, as well.

The remaining women began to relax a little. Coraset slipped on her shoes and adjusted her dress. Katarin was sitting in front of her, but she soon jumped up and sat in the open seat the angry brunette once occupied.

“So, what do you think?” Katarin asked nervously.

“About what,” Coraset asked as she looked at her curiously.

“This whole thing. I’m kind of excited actually. Can you imagine being with the Chancellor of Erato? He said something to that Sekai lady while he was standing in front of me. Did you hear what he said?”

Coraset stopped her and said, “Slow down, Katarin. You need to take a breath.”

She quickly exhaled and admitted, “I’m just really nervous. How come you’re so calm?”

“I can’t think of a single reason to be excited.” Coraset remarked with a dry attitude.

“Are you kidding me, Coraset? What if he decides he wants to marry one of us? Better yet, what if he decides he wants to marry me? I would say yes in a heartbeat.”

“You’re not breathing again.”

Katarin kept right on going, “I would say yes, and I would be considered more important than the Senators. I will be Mrs. Erato.”

“How will you feel as a wife when he decides to bed one or more of his concubines?” Coraset asked pointedly.

Katarin pulled at her neck as the question sunk in.

“What if he gets tired of you? You’ll be pushed aside for one of the other girls he’s not so bored with, and they’ll be his wife instead. You’ll be resolved to being another concubine in his harem.” Coraset was trying to bring her back to reality. Being a concubine wasn’t a goal in life. At least, that’s what she was trying to get Katarin to realize. “How old are you?”

“I’m…uh…twenty four years old.” She answered.

“Do you really think you’re emotionally prepared for this?” Coraset asked.

“I didn’t know there were emotions to prepare.”

Coraset didn’t even want to comment on her answer. “What was your job before you came here?”

“I was a dressmaker in the Timur Region.”

“Is there something else you wanted to do?”

“I don’t know. I never thought about it. It doesn’t matter now anyway. This is all I have. I’m tired of having nothing, Coraset.”

She wanted to speak against Chancellor Erato and tell Katarin he wasn’t the beginning or the end of her life. But she was in a room with nearly ten women who wanted to be his wife or be his concubine. They’d probably tell on Coraset to show their loyalty, and she didn’t want to chance that. She smiled and patted Katarin on the hand.

Every thirty minutes or so, two more females were called out of the room for their exam. Coraset was called before Katarin, and she was not too happy having to go through medical prodding and testing.

In the first room she was taken to, her blood pressure and temperature were taken. Blood was drawn and she had to take a pee test. Coraset was given a medical gown with the back out, and her dress was confiscated for good. She had to take down her hair. The same nurse that took her vitals checked her body. Her ears were checked, eyesight, and the inside of her mouth were examined. She was given a breast exam and her arm pits were checked for lumps, as well. The skin between her toes and fingers, the folds of her legs and arms were checked for signs of drug use. Eventually, the doctor came in and did a pap smear and a pelvic exam. He didn’t speak a word as he worked.

Without warning, she felt a small prick in between her legs. She was startled and sat up looking at the doctor who was now standing and removing his latex gloves.

“What did you just do?” Coraset asked him as she began scooting back from the edge of the examination table.

The grey haired doctor tossed the gloves in a red bio bin and rushed out of the room.

“What the hell!” Coraset screamed at the nurse who was cleaning up and separating the test tubes.

“Get dressed. Hanako will be waiting for you outside.” The nurse left the room with a tray full of tissue samples before Coraset could get herself together.

A red tunic and a short red skirt were on the table on the other side of the room. Coraset quickly dressed and swung the door open. She nearly ran into Hanako, who stood tall in the entryway.

The native Japanese woman did not move from where she stood. Her dark eyes showed a deep solemnity, and Coraset backed off not really certain what was about to happen.

Hanako remarked, “Follow me, Coraset.”

“He stuck me with a needle, and I want to know what was in it.” Coraset demanded as she stood fast.

“Did you see him stick you with a needle?” Hanako challenged her.

“I know what it feels like.”

She asked again with a heightened tone, “Did you see him stick you with a needle?”

Coraset considered the answer and the consequences of it. She was now considered a concubine, and she knew her actions and words were closely monitored.

“Maybe, I was mistaken.” Coraset remarked with a subdued anger.

Hanako took Coraset to another room, but this time it was carpeted with a deep burgundy rug. Near the back of the office was a large oak desk. The corner posts and trims of the desk had carvings of elaborate cherub designs. A flat screen glass monitor on a wide wooden pedestal was at an angle on the left side of the desk with a wireless glass keyboard in front of it. The desk had nothing else on it. On the right, two portraits hung on an ivory textured wall. One was of Chancellor Katherine Erato sitting in a regal red chair in front of the Colors of the Erato Federation, and the second was a picture of the newest leader, Chancellor Dominic Erato. He had a wide smile. The portrait was doctored to take away his wrinkles, and his full head of head didn’t have a speck of grey. On the opposite wall were shelves full of books, bookends, and statues of all kinds. An Akhenaten sculpture caught Coraset’s attention, and she went over to the bookshelf to get a closer look at the delicate stone piece. She remembered studying about the Egyptian King, how he changed religion, and she also studied more about his wife and son. She wondered if the stone was real.