Pallas I Aastha Mangla

Pallas

Aastha Mangla ‘23

leap, she landed directly in front of the gleaming palanquin legs, calf muscles rippling beneath her cloistering marriage robe as her feet hit the packed dirt with a dull thud.

“Magistrate,” she bowed, gritting her teeth as she quietly forced out the bitter greeting. The shadowy lump inside the palanquin shifted slightly--her presence had been acknowledged.

Amma threw her a furtive glance, clearly less than pleased at Sun’s wildly unseductive composure.

“We are honored that you have considered such a humble maiden to become a part of your esteemed kin, Magistrate of Tanmei.”

The full honorifc rolled off Amma’s honey tongue, as smooth and beguiling as the false speech of a serpent. From within the palanquin, Sun heard the sharp snap of fngers.

Immediately, two women servants, clothed in lavender uniforms, materialized in front of her, placing frm hands on her arms and urging her towards the silk fap. As per the city mandate, their eyelids and lips were sewn shut, with only a pair of delicate ears left untouched to receive the indefnite commands of the magistrate. Sun trembled, repulsed at her visible display of fear. She frantically searched the silk fap, eyes roving over the ftting serpents embroidered on the front. Their magnifcent, fery golden eyes seemed to come alive on the silk canvas, twisting and turning as they trapped Sun with their magnetic gaze. She felt her breathing slow and her chest close, and a scream tore silently out of her dry mouth.

How stupid I am. The hemp smoke, the hemp smoke, Sun thought, right before her vision turned dark.

When Sun woke, she found herself in an unfamiliar setting.

“Get up,” a malicious voice hissed in the dark.

She stirred. Tried to move. Failed as jolts of pain racked through her body with the force of a lightning bolt.

“Get up.”

The voice grew louder, impatient and more emphatic.

“GET UP.”

Sun felt herself being dragged upwards, body limp as a rag doll and limbs swinging uselessly at her sides. Groggy, her eyelids slid open, adjusting to the dim light. Black lanterns hung across the cavernous ceiling as far as the eye could see, forming an intricate, shadowy web. She felt sharp nails dig into her back, her shoulders, and she cried out in unbearable pain. Fear shot through her veins, weighing her down like lead. A fabby mass of stomach, covered in unruly hair and faking skin, slapped against her bare breasts. All around her, skeletons lay about, covered in bits of decaying, torn silk.

Silk. Even covered in grime, the colorful scraps were unmistakable Tanmei-crafted. Gleaming white bone lay underneath the cloth, one half buried deep into the dirt. And it was in that moment she knew that all around her lay the skeletal remains of Tanmei’s beautiful women. Which meant that the looming