The Harlot's Stage or a Gilded Cage

   The sheer panels on the corset were really too much, Elona thought to herself. Come to think of it, the whole corset could go in the rubbish heap. She was used to her scullery clothes. They might be a little worn and plain, but at the very least they were clean and actually left her some room to breathe. With no idea where these clothes had been or who had worn them last, Elona was more inclined to burn them than wear them considering their origin: The Aviary, Waecarton’s most well-known high-end brothel.      Of course, it’s not like she had much of a choice. There wasn’t anyone else to ask since the only family she had ever known was here at The Aviary, even if they were prostitutes. The Sparrows, as they liked to call themselves, had collectively adopted her when her mother, their live-in housekeeper, had passed away when she was five. All she had of her father were the fragments of stories her mother had told her when she was young.      Although she had lived in The Aviary all her life, Elona was not a Sparrow herself. Instead, she had become the maid, housekeeper, cook, babysitter - whatever was required - because the Sparrows refused to allow anything untoward to happen to her. Not that Madame Biki, the brothel owner, hadn’t tried. In the end, it took the Sparrows promising to go to the authorities even if they took themselves down in the process. Under the threat of mutually assured destruction, Madame Biki caved and Elona gained a new flock of aunts instead of  a cruel adoptive mother- although Madame Biki still tried to occupy that role from time to time.      So even though she would much rather wear her plain maid’s clothes to The Selection portion of The Reaping, she acquiesced to all her aunts’ fussing. Given their vocation, the Sparrows had a…*unique* sense of style.     “Lend her your purple n****e tassels, Orora!” called Iki as she rummaged through the trunk in the corner of the room. The deep purple of her n****e tassels contrasted nicely with the color of Orora’s sun-kissed tawny skin, so she loathed lending them out for fear she’d never get them back. Luckily, she had an excellent excuse.     “She can’t wear n****e tassles, dumbass!  She has to wear a blouse, like a lady,” Orora retorted as she carefully laid out outfit options on the narrow bed.     Iki’s muffled voice reverberated from inside the trunk. “Hmmm, fine...oh, I know!” She emerged from the pile of clothes in the trunk with a sheer, pale pink, mesh blouse in her hands. “She can wear this with those new rose-gold pasties that Natrize just got!” Though they had vastly different coloring, Iki and Natrize favored similar lighter tones in their clothing. With Iki’s pale beige skin and long jet black hair, pale colors seemed to float just above her skin, making her seem almost ethereal. On the other end of the spectrum, pale colors softened the severity of Natrize’s dark umber complexion and close-cropped tight curls.      Natrize walked in carefully balancing a tray of tea and biscuits just in time to catch the tail-end of Iki’s comment. “What about my rose-gold pasties?” she said as she set the tray down on the bed next to Orora’s carefully considered ensembles.     “Not so close!” Orora objected. “As the only one of us with any combination of fashion and common sense, I will not have my work covered in tea. Leave it on Iki’s trunk or something.”     Curious what Orora had come up with, Elona looked over from her place in front of the full-length mirror. A midriff-baring blouse and flared miniskirt lay next to a full body latex catsuit which in turn lay next to a short fitted dress with a V-neck that went all the way down to the navel.  While technically more full coverage than Iki’s picks, she still didn’t feel they were quite what the rest of Waecaris had in mind for a potential Seed.      Elona braced herself, getting ready to say something, “While I do appreciate the coverage of the skirt, I’m not sure crotchless pantie-” She was interrupted by Natrize coming to the rescue.     “You’re both useless,” Natrize said, making a shooing motion with her hands. “Go get The Cage ready for tonight or something.” Grumbling, Orora and Iki made their way downstairs to set up The Cage, The Aviary’s main parlor that also featured the main stage. The Reaping was always a busy night for The Aviary as Waecarians indulged in their own dalliances to celebrate the beginning of the process to finding the next royal bride or groom. On their way out, Orora and Iki passed Madame Biki who carried in an opaque black garment bag.     “None of these old things will do,” said Madame Biki. “You’ll be representing The Aviary, so only the best is acceptable.” She unzipped the bag to show a gorgeous velvet dress in midnight blue. Embroidery along the bodice made it look as if the night sky had been sewn into the fabric.  Pulling out a sleeve, Elona saw similar embroidery along them. Set against Elona’s terracotta skin, wide brown eyes, and wavy black hair, the dress was sure to make her a knockout.     “What’s the catch?” she asked cautiously. Madame Biki was being uncharacteristically kind. Elona had lived here long enough to know that she only ever acted in self-interest.     “Nothing! I just hope that should you be lucky enough to be selected, you’ll remember those of us who have cared for you in this life. Clothed you, fed you, housed you…” Madame Biki trailed off as Natrize and Elona shared a glance.     Elona spoke carefully. “If I’m so lucky, I have every intention of looking out for the only family I’ve ever known. Thank you for the dress.” She really didn’t want to have to accept this dress and whatever strings came attached, but she didn’t have much of a choice. She had nothing else remotely respectable to wear to The Reaping, and while the participants in The Reaping, commonly known as Seeds, were technically picked at random, she was pretty sure she still had to be wearing decent clothes to have a chance. And that was all she needed: just one chance to get herself and Anova out of this hell-hole.      Before she could do that, though, she needed some alone time with Anova to fill her in on the plan. “I can help her get dressed,” said Natrize, volunteering her assistance to save Elona from having to spend more time in close proximity to Madame Biki. Madame Biki seemed a bit put out, but there was no arguing with Natrize’s no-nonsense tone. Although there was no official hierarchy at The Aviary, Natrize was widely regarded as the Senior Sparrow and there were times even Madame Biki had to concede to her. Reluctantly, Madame Biki left to get the house ready for tonight.      Safely alone again, Elona turned to Natrize. “If it’s all the same to you, is it okay if Anova helps me get ready? We’ll call you if we need any help.” Natrize knew how close they were, so she wasn’t offended at all. Anova had arrived when Elona was 10 and she was 8. With just a two-year age difference, they had grown up more like sisters than best friends.     “That’s fine, I’ll go get her,” Natrize answered. Minutes later, she reappeared with Anova in tow. She left them with one last knowing smile and a bit of caution. “Just remember we have to leave in an hour, and we’ll be leaving whether you’re dressed or not. So say your goodbyes, but be quick about it.” The girls nodded their agreement, but quickly broke out into giggles.     Anova was also eligible for The Reaping, but she had been able to get dressed much more quickly since she actually was being groomed to be a Sparrow. The other Sparrows had tried to protest just as they did with Elona when Madame Biki revealed her intentions for Anova, but she threatened to throw both Elona and Anova out, along with any others who objected. Since they knew Madame Biki already had a list of replacements in mind, even if it would be inconvenient to retrain so many new hires, they had no choice but to take what they could get. While they did their best to shelter Anova as much as possible, Madame Biki still began her alternate training on her eighteenth birthday.     Part of that training was building a different kind of wardrobe for Anova - instead of the plain cotton dresses she had grown up in, she now had drawers full of thongs, corsets, short skirts, and all other manner of revealing clothing. Today, it seemed she was wearing the Sparrow version of the dress Madame Biki had brought to Elona. While there were cuts of midnight velvet around her breasts (more like her areolae) and nether regions to provide the barest amount of coverage, the vast majority of Anova’s dress was composed of swaths of midnight blue tulle. While Anova had coloring similar to Iki’s, her skin was paler, almost porcelain, so the outline of her body glowed like moonlight under the dark tulle.      Large glittering stars modeled after Polaris were embroidered over her crotch, her ass, and each n****e, crudely drawing attention to her assets. In the beginning, Anova had been extremely self-conscious in such get-ups, but after numerous punishments, she had learned to ignore her discomfort. Now, she focused on the things she could control, which is why she was putting the last touches on her dramatic makeup look. Hopefully if her face was attention-grabbing enough, people wouldn’t have as much time to look elsewhere.     “Anova!” Elona called from near the bed. “Come help me figure this thing out! Why are there so many frigging laces?” Frustrated, Elona threw the laces of her bodice up in the air. Anova finished putting the last gem near the outside corner of her slanted eye and glided over to Elona to help. Her deft fingers threaded the ends of the ribbon through the eyelets on either side of the bodice.     Elona quietened, momentarily hypnotized by Anova’s sure, repetitive movements. “Listen, Novi,” she started. “One of us is going to get Selected, I know it. Whichever one of us does has to win and come back for the other, okay?” Anova was quiet, her gaze on her hands as they completed their task. Elona grabbed Anova’s hands, forcing her to look up. “Okay?” Elona persisted.     Anova sighed. “Loni, the chances of getting picked here in the capital are like ten thousand to one. We’re going to go to the Garden, get our totally normal bags of rice, and then come back here to our fates.” Elona started shaking her head, adamant that this had to be their way out. Anova stilled her shaking with a hand on her cheek “Hush, it’ll be okay, because we’ll be together. And eventually I’ll earn enough money to buy our freedom from Biki and we can run away and start a bookstore, just like we’ve always dreamed.” Given Madame Biki’s predatory tactics, they both knew this was a pipe dream, but they had an unspoken rule to never say that out loud. Anova returned to the ribbons on Elona’s bodice, tying them off in a perfect bow. As a finishing touch, she made sure Elona’s star-shaped locket lay centered on her chest. It was her one memento from her mother, so she never took it off.      Elona took Anova’s hands in her own. “I won’t let that happen to you. One of us will get a chance, you’ll see, and that’s all it will take. We’ll be free.” Anova knew better than to argue, just as Elona knew better than to push. And so the two sat silently in the other’s company, one convinced fate would give them a chance and the other convinced their fate was sealed. Natrize’s soft knock at the door signalled that it was time to go to The Garden to see what fate truly had in store. And so they went, hand-in-hand, to see what destiny awaited them.