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She was fast asleep when her first unofficial hazing happened. Strong hands grabbed her braided hair and dragged her back to the realm of consciousness. Immediately Lia began to struggle.

"Hey!" she futilely yelled. Nothing but air came out. Those hands tangled up in her hair began to pull her towards the edge of the bed, joined by companions that grabbed her arms and legs. Was she being kidnapped for the 2nd time in the past week? Lia was wriggling in earnest, cursing the darkness of the room as her kidnappers dragged her out of her plushy bed and dropped her onto the ground. The cold ground served to dispel the last remnants of sleep. Lashing out with a foot, Lia was rewarded with a wince. It sounded like a girl.

"Grab her! I'm not done.", said a quiet, but vicious voice from the corner of the room. The ringleader no doubt. If they were kidnapping her they would have a tough time with the guards posted everywhere in the castle. But Lia didn't have much time to wonder before those hands grabbed her once again and started pulling her towards... the window? One of the girls drew back the curtain and for the first time, Lia saw who her foe was. The Gisele Bundchen look-alike was staring coldly at her and she was being held by other concubines. There was banging on the outside of her ornate red door, Odile and Odette. Evil Gisele jerked her head towards the window and Lia was once again in motion. She was yelling but of course, it did nothing. They were about to pitch her out of her own window.

"Stop!" said the ringleader once the window was opened. Walking up to Lia with determined steps, she grabbed Lia's still wounded throat and held her head over the window sill. The cool night breeze served to remind her all to well how close she was to dying and in that moment all that existed was the breeze, Evil Gisele's triumphant gaze, and her heart that was about to beat out of her chest.

"Hmmm..." said Evil Gisele, twirling her dirty blonde locks with her free hand. Lia stiffened under her hand. "You don't look scared enough. Why? Do you really think I won't push you out of the window right now?" Her hand pressed down further and this time Lia couldn't hold back the tears from the pain radiating from her neck.

"Good." Evil Gisele smiled, probably thinking the tears were from fear rather than intense pain. "Creatures like you need to be taught their place. Do you think you're special just because you were named a Gem?" Lia wrinkled her brow in confusion. Gem? Evil Gisele's smile faded away, replaced by a look of open hatred. "You are not special. You don't matter. And as long as I'm around, you will never, ever replace me!" Her grip got tighter and tighter with each word, slowly cutting of Lia's air supply.

'You're killing me', Lia mouthed, her hands desperately pulling at Evil Gisele's iron one.

"What was that?" Evil Gisele said, putting her hand to her ear. "I can't hear you? Girls, did you hear her?" Her cronies just shook their heads and laughed behind their hands. Scratch that. This Gisele was a complete psychopath to boot, not just evil.

"See that?" Psycho Gisele leaned in, her lips a few centimeters from Lia's ear. "You are nothing but a defective, broken girl. And you will learn to respect me or DIE!" she roared. At that exact moment, the red doors blew open and Odile and Odette rushed in.

"Lady Emaline! You are not allowed to harm the new concubines." Odile scolded as Odette rushed to where Lia was being held out the window. Lady Emaline, huh? That was too sweet a name for such an evil bitch. Who busted into people's rooms in the middle of the night and hung them out a window?

"Harm?" said Psycho Gisele with a sickly sweet smile. "We were just... getting to know each other, isn't that right Opal?" Lia was quickly pulled back into the room and thrown onto the floor, gasping like a fish out of water. She had never been so happy to be thrown onto the solid ground in her life. With a mean smirk, Lady Emaline turned on her heel and marched out the door, her loyal followers a step behind her.

"Mistress! Are you alright?" Lia looked at the carpeted floor, in too much pain to write an answer. She could feel blood seeping through her bandaid again. Staggering from the ground, she stumbled, only to be caught by Odette's waiting arms.

"Mistress," Odette said sadly, pulling Lia towards the bed. Odile had turned on some candles and was already warming tea. Lia gestured for her pen and paper.

'WHO IS SHE' she wrote in shaky, all caps. A look of apprehension settled on Odile's face as she began pouring tea in a cup that Lia accepted gratefully.

"That is Lady Emaline. She is the highest ranked member of the harem as well as one of the oldest She has successfully given the king not 1 but 2 children."

'Why'. One short word to somehow encompass what she was feeling. Why was she kidnapped? Why had that crazy girl threatened her by hanging her out of a window? That Lady Emaline's face had been full of anger but even in the middle of the chaos, Lia could see the slight hint of fear on her face.

"Why did she hurt you?" Odette let out a long sigh. "She is the highest ranked member of the harem. Perhaps she felt threatened by you." Lia paused, her cup halfway to her mouth. Lia was confident in her features and was immensely grateful for the beautiful features her mother had passed on to her. Just thinking of her mother sent a sharp pang of longing running through her. However, Lady Emaline, as well as many women in Aether, had an otherworldly beauty that hardly made her competition. Lia pointed curiously at herself, relieved to see her hands were no longer shaking.

Odile and Odette simultaneously nodded solemnly.

"You are the first concubine to ever-"

"-EVER-"

"To be named a Gem at first sight. Even Lady Emaline, who has been heavily favored by the King for many, many years was first a Flower." Lia's head just spun even more with the explanations and her look of confusion wasn't lost. But deep down a dread was forming at Lord Xantho's interest in her. 

"You have much to learn about the harem. We will teach you tomorrow, but first, you must rest." Odette placed a hand on Lia's shoulder and a wave of calmness and sleep began to wash over her. Odile took the teacup from her hands and Lia fell back into the covers and sleep overtook her.