38

ORCHID

Addom said there was a lot to prepare for, but it certainly doesn't look that way. Hannah and I spend the entire day relaxing in the baths, stepping outside whenever we start to get too rotten. At one point, Kadmon and one of Hannah's alphas bring us a tray of fruit to eat. I practically feel like an aristocrat on the upper level of the city's hive, with servants waiting hand and foot.

It's nice and relaxing and chatting with Hannah. In fact, for a while, I even forget my apprehension about what lies ahead.

But finally, the day draws to a close, and the bathhouse grows dark as the sun sets outside the narrow, misty windows.

"It's almost time," says Hannah. "You need to dry off."

She brings me a towel from a cupboard by the wall.

"Hannah" I ask. “Will there be other people there?

Like... watching?

She nods, and a flush fills her cheeks. I remember that she went through this process relatively recently.

"There will be," she says. "Claims have been announced throughout the communi