The Initiate
a short story bridging the Cloud Prophet Trilogy & The Swarm Trilogy
by
Megg Jensen
Copyright © 2011 by Megg Jensen
Published by 80 Pages, Inc
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used factitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form by or any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the author or publisher.
1st Edition: December 2011
2nd Edition: April 2012
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Also by Megg Jensen
http://www.meggjensen.com
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Cloud Prophet Trilogy
Anathema
Oubliette
Severed
The Swarm Trilogy
Sleepers
Afterlife
The Sundering - coming fall 2012
***
“Don’t tear up, Eloh,” she told me. “You’ll have black streaks down your face if you do.”
I flinched, preparing for a slap across my cheek that did not come. For a moment I’d forgotten I was an initiate. No one would ever lay a hand on me again. I relaxed back into the chair.
She yanked on the side of my eyelid, pulling the skin so tight it felt like it would rip in two. A thick line of kohl wound its way around my eyes, led by her skilled hand. Commoners were not allowed to wear cosmetics. I’d never even known anyone who’d worn it. Cosmetics were saved for the queen and only applied by slaves who were referred to as cosmetae. Since I was one of the chosen, the cosmetae were to make me beautiful for only one night.
My sister said I was lucky. I knew otherwise.
“Hold your breath, now,” she said. She placed a small strip of linen over my nostrils. “I’m going to paint your eyelids and your brow with chalk. I promise, it will be a very becoming pattern. I’ve been practicing on rocks at night and I think I’ve come up with something new, definitely different than the girl who’ll stand next to you during the ceremony. You’ll stand out and maybe you’ll be favored.”
More than likely, by the end of the night I’d be dead. If by some remote chance I was favored, then the cosmeta would probably live a life of luxury. Anyone who had a hand in the creation of the Chosen One would be cared for. Her fingers swept deftly over my eyelids, patting the chalk into all the creases. A friend once told me they mixed the chalk with crocodile dung to help it cling to the skin. I tried to push it out of my mind.
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The Initiate - a short story
FantasyOver a thousand years ago, the gods left Eloh's people and took their magic with them. To win back their favor, her people sacrifice ten female initiates every ten years. No has ever survived. There has never been a Chosen One. Forced into becoming...