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Lilac froze in place when Lady Jewl walked in the room.
Lilac wondered if she'd get the chance to leave her meager possesions to her friends before she died.
No, she probably wouldn't die. Misbehaviors way and construction duty and scary gaurds for the rest of her life.
And then there could be a conviennt accident for her.
At least there was no immidiate family for them to punish because of her. Extended family was far enough to be safe from her foolishness. Her friends could pretend not to have a clue who she was.
But those proud fools wouldn't. They'd stand with her to the end, even if it was brough to them by their foolishness.
How stupid was she really, to think she could steal from the lady of the hive?
She could manage taking from higher HiveWing vendors. But this was far too ambitious. And to be caught holding a bag of stolen jewlery? She should jump out the window wings folded and let the spectacle keep eyes off her dearest.
Could she trick her? Maybe if she didn't bring attention to the pouch around her neck, she could play it off as if she were one of Lady Jewel's own servants?
But this had never been an acting game for her. In and out. Dashing away with her head bowed at the most.
But here?
Maybe if she threw the bag at Lady Jewel's feet and prostrated herself on the ground, then she could avoid extreme punishment.
Or she was just stupid.
She'd get sent to Jewel's own private prison and no dragon would ever see her because this was the prison dragons disappeared from and she was more than just doomed really–
"Ah, the new help."
"What?" Lilac asked weakly, which was probably not the best thing to say.
"I do not have the time for silly SilkWings right now. Do come to my office after dinner, girl, there'll be time for all that to do with onboarding, just get to the kitchen already and tell your fellows about yourself, it's not good to be in the way." Her voice sounded stiff.
Lilac knew the sound of a rehersed voice. It remided her of the sound of her dearest friend, Lavender, when she was flirting with her… clients.
She briefly thought of her mother. Not all that long ago, just before Lilac got her wings, when she'd snuck and hidden to be there and witness a day in her mother's life. Her mother who worked construction, who pretended to be happy when she gave tours to the HiveWing inspectors– one can't sound bitter speaking to her higher ups, of course, ecpecially when you're a SilkWing and they are HiveWings. Of course, then there was the accident, and Lilac had really chosen a bad day to sneak and watch. Then she got to leave Bloodworm Hive for Jewel Hive and maybe she should have spent more time being glad she wasn't in one of the worst hives anymore instead of stealing from the lady of this one.
Lady Jewel walked past, and Lilac hardly saw the other HiveWings trailing behind before her body made the decision her mind was too stuck in the pas for, and she bowed her head and hurried away.
One of the HiveWings said something about ditzy SilkWings. Jewel responded, and Lilac knew performative laughs.
She found her way to the kitchen, and she wasn't sure why she didn't just run from this place. She just panicked, she supposed.
"A new one." A light yellow dragon said tentativly.
"She's shaking like a leaf–" what kind of dragon is bold enough to openly talk like that? Even in this hive– "come with us, I assume you have something to talk about." Said the dark orange one beside her.
The yellow dragon said something to one of the others in the kitchen, and the three SilkWings left the space for a more quiet room.
The orange dragon introduced himself as Cinnabar, and the yellow one as Tau.
"Okay, explain what's happened?" Tau asked immediately.
Was this something that had happened before?
Cinnibar poked the pouch Lilac wore. "Oh by Clearsight's claws did you steal this?"
"Um. Kind of?" It came out of her mouth like a question.
"Oh that's bold. I like you." Cinnabr said with a grin that amde Lilac relax a little bit.
Tau looked at her expectantly. Now that Lilac's heartrate had slowed and she remembered how to breathe and feeling had returned to her talons, she got a better look at her, she could see Tau's… not quite an injury of the wing, but it made her think about her cousin who had gotten his cocoon shoved around halfway though metamorphosis.
If Jewel had a dragon with misshapen parts in her employ… that and the fake voice, maybe she wasn't as damned as she thought. She could hope so, at least.
But still, it was a sob that escaped her before other words.
"Oh, hey, hey, you're alright, friend."
Lilac made a slightly embarassing sound of a snotty sniffle. "I'm not, Lady Jewel saw me stealing and she's going to kill me all the way dead and I don't know weather its better to run and be more damned or go to her when she wants me and risk her figuring out who I care about she expects me to go to her after mealtime she must be messing with me I'm so scared I–"
"Hey, stop." Said Cinnabar, as he wraped a wing over Lilac. "Lady Jewel is one of the few who cares," he looked almost vulnerable now "you're more safe here than anywhere else in the hive, at least."
"I'm scared." She admitted quietly. Before today, it had been fun, almost. What was more exhilerating than sneaking away from a wealthy HiveWing's buisness with a gem under your tounge or talonfulls of Scales between your wings that nobody even notices you're holding strangly because who looks so closely at a SilkWing.? But now, now there finally seemed to be consequences. Maybe it would have been better to be caught before she got this bold.
"You're going to be alright, friend. The ones who are as desperate as you are typically those who Lady Jewel wants to extend her protection to the most."
"I'm dead I'm effectively dead."
"Lady Jewel is… I hesitate to say one of the good ones, It's a danger to trust any HiveWing all things considered, but I do have to trust one, and it's her. She," he paused, as if considering how much to say, "she made sure I could get my paperwork changed. Not an easy thing to get done." He started fidgeting with his wrist cuff.
Lilac felt like she should know what that meant. She tilted her head in confusion.
"You know…" He muttered, like he was losing confidence "I coulda been a nice girl having dragonets, and changing records makes things confusing with matchmakers."
"Oh. I've got a niece. Used to be my nephew but they never let her change anything in the records back in Bloodworm. Nobody even listens to us enough to call it pointless in the first place back there."
"You're going to be alright." Tau said softly.
"Until then," Cinnibar said, solemn tone leaving his voice for a little grin, "we've got some extra rose candy you could help us get rid of."
"Alright, hand it over." Was the first thing Jewel had said when Lilac had come for their… meating?
The one Lilac had, perhaps foolishly, not run away before the time came for it.
But maybe not foolishly, because, or at least she thought that, Jewel's voice had a touch less of that fake quality from before
Lilac didn't quite trust her gut, but she trusted Tau and Cinnabar. She took the pouch from around her neck and dropped it on Jewel's desk between them.
"Tell me what brought you to this." Jewel said with some sternness. And Lilac tried her best not to panic.
She didn't want to divulge her entire life story to the otherwise random HiveWing who was the lady of the hive. But she seemed to want a sob story and that was what she needed to survive.
Jewel watched her in the long pause Lilac took. "Just tell me what made you–" she shook the pouch still full of stolen jewlery– "this desperate, to start."
"I- I have pwople to take care of, and well, you know, sometimes things we need aren't conisdered necessary and so then we have to pay for it but we don't have enough money and then we need more…"
Jewel raised a brow.
Skeptical?
Would she belive the actual story?
The lie jumped to her tounge before she had chance to stop herself. "And it came to a point where unsavoury work was more dangrous than stealing…" It was the same flavor of lie she'd told her friends. Worl on the side that wasn't allowed and no Lavender it's not like I'm stealing anything just let me help you.
"What kind?" Lady Jewel asked, as she was sorting the contents from the pouch in three little piles.
She needed Jewel's pity, and for her to be uncomfortable enough to not dig. Lilac, after all, was the one with less to lose. So she told someone else's story, and imagined what Lavender would say if she were four years younger and eight times as anxioius.
"I, uhm," a deep breath, she was horribly stressed but she knew performance, "provide services to HiveWings who feel unfulfilled. I'm always careful," She thought about the things Lavender said when she'd finally opened up, "theres never any eggs." Lilac averted her eyes. Was Jewel beliving her?
There was a look, on the face of the lady of the hive, an expression which was the daughter of rage and pity.
She got pity, at least. Though she felt like she was failing at making Jewel too uncofortable for question. The anger, Lilac had done something wrong in performance.
Jewel slid a blank pice of paper twords her, along with a pot of ink. "Names." She said coldly. "Physical descriptions. I want a comprehnsive list."
Maybe, Lilac realised, she should have ignored that insinct to lie.
"Now here is the story, if you choose to accept it: today was your first day working for me, but the paperwork about your job change was backed up." She swept one of the piles back into the bag. "When we noticed that some of my jewelery was missing, you saw a blue and purple SilkWing just as he was escaping but you couldn't catch up to him hard as you tried." Jewel tossed the now lighter pouch back to Lilac, "And do make sure these get far from me when you pawn them, I don't want to have to be seen in any of those again so it'd really a favour."
"What?"
Jewel tapped the paper. "Names. You're going to be alright now."
Lilac didn't know any of the names. What little Lavender would tell her of that, the who was never part. If they'd found out she was talking, after all, that'd be danger.
Would Jewel be as understanding if she knew Lilac lied to her?
She failed at makeing Jewel too uncomfortable for question, so she had to do something.
"I'm sorry I lied it's my friend who does that work I didn't expect you to ask questions after that I thought it'd make you want to change the topic I'm sorry I was scared I–"
Jewel reached across to place a talon on Lilac's own, and Lilac didn't know her heart could race any faster but it did.
"I have room for more help. Tell this friend of yours that there's a better paying job available. No matter what, I want names."
Lilac nodded. "I'll pass that message along."
"Who is this dragon anyway?" Jewel asked softly.
"You'll know who she is if she accepts the job." Lilac found a shred of courage.
"And so you don't tell me now?" Jewel prodded.
"Which just might result in you knowing the name of a rule breaker you'd already be mad at for denying an offer from you." Lilac said defensivly.
"You stole from me and I am giving you a job." Jewel said exasperatedly.
"We'll see if she takes the offer."
Jewel sighed. "I suppose there's always a place for catution."
They weren't related, but appeared as though they may well be sisters. Both with light purple scales though Lavender's were cooler in tone. Lavender's scales were shadowed with darker purples while Lilac's had spotlights of a lighter more pink leaning color. Lilac with yellow spots on her tail and green antennae, while Lavender had yellow spots along her neck and whorls of green in the wings.
Which was why Lavender almost found it funny that they now had the same place of work. Walking side by side with the little matching dragon that she took care of as if her own.
Sometimes, she responded to Lilac's name, because when Lilac wasn't in the room, she knew whoever was speaking had mistaken them. Sometimes she responded to Lilac's name even when she was there out of a newly formed habit.
And so she had responded when Tau called Lilac's name, before she had even had time to also call out to Lavender.
She was pretty sure this was the same room Lilac had mentioned going into for a conversation with these very same dragons who took them here now.
Lavender was still mad at the younger SilkWing for being such a fool– how was she supposed to take care of her when she was running off doing stupid things like that?– but at least it ended in better standing for the two of them. Lilac was still a fool.
"Have you ever heard," Cinnabar started quietly, "of a group called the Chrysalis?"