Filed To Story: Spit or Swallow: Kiss Of The Basilisk
The next morning dawned like any other. Tem went about her chores, delivering her eggs and helping her mother in the kitchen just as she always did. But in the back of her mind was the constant knowledge that in less than twelve hours, she would be face-to-face with a basilisk.
By the time evening arrived, she was taking her angst out on the potatoes.
“Careful, Tem,” her mother said. “You’re going to cut yourself.”
A cut was the least of Tem’s problems. She threw down the knife in exasperation. “I’m not ready, Mother,” she said. “How will I know what to do?”
Her mother sighed, brushing her hair from her face.
“You will learn what to do. The basilisk will teach you.”
“What if I’m inadequate?”
“All girls are inadequate when they go into the caves.”
“Not all girls,” Tem muttered, thinking of Vera with Jonathan.
“Trust me, my dear. You will do just fine.”
Tem sighed. It was no use-her mother simply didn’t understand. Tem had absolutely everything to fear. Inadequacy was but a single feather on the wing of her insecurities. Tem couldn’t imagine a scarier scenario than the one she was about to experience.
And yet the dream ran through her mind.
If what awaited her in the caves was anything like what had happened in the dream, she knew she had no reason to fear.
“It’s nearly nightfall. Why don’t you go get ready?”
Tem nodded. Anything was better than chopping potatoes.
She retreated to the bathroom, drawing a bath and washing quickly, trying not to think about every inch of her naked body. When she returned to the kitchen, her mother gestured to the bench.
“Sit.”
Tem sat.
Her mother tapped her on the knees. “Pull up your skirt, my dear.”
“Why?”
Her mother held up two amber glass vials. “We must apply oils to your thighs.”
Tem frowned. She didn’t want to go into the caves with oily thighs. “What for?”
“Ylang-ylang is for bravery. Sandalwood for heat. They will give you courage and capture the eye of the basilisk.”
“Hopefully not literally,” Tem muttered as she pulled up her skirt.
“Of course not, my dear. You know what I mean.”
Tem sighed, watching as her mother took the stoppers from the vials and spread the oils on her thighs. She rubbed them in with warm fingers, leaving the skin shiny and bright. The rich, woodland softness of the sandalwood was an appropriate mate for the floral depth of the ylang-ylang. Tem could imagine how the scents would entice a man.
But was it truly a man she was to entice?
“Mother,” Tem said tentatively as her mother resealed the vials. “What will it be like?”
She’d never asked her mother about her own time in the caves. But her mother had been just like Tem, born in the same year as a prince, and she had participated in the same training. The current king hadn’t chosen Tem’s mother as his wife, but Tem often wondered what her life would have been like if he had.
Her mother sighed deeply, and for the first time that evening, her brow softened. She looked like she was remembering something significant.
“It will be…transformative. You will take the first step to becoming a woman.”
“I thought I was one already.”
“Not nearly, my dear. You have barely begun to live. You cannot possibly fathom the journey you are about to embark on.” Her mother tugged Tem’s dress down, stepping back to look at her fully. “Now remember, this is but the first of many nights. Do not offend him, or else he may not allow you to come back.”
“How would I offend him?”
“Kora willing, you won’t. But knowing you, you’ll find a way.”
Tem sighed. Her mom wasn’t exactly wrong.
“You must remember to be polite,” her mother continued. “And to defer to him completely. You are the student, and he is the teacher. This is not the time for your headstrong nonsense. You will do as he says and try to learn something.”
Tem nodded, although her stomach had turned into a tangled mess. She was no good at following instructions-she never had been. Why would she be good at this most important, fundamental thing?
“I’m hopeless, Mother,” she whispered, her eyes on the ground.
“No, my dear,” her mother said kindly, placing her palms on Tem’s shoulders. “No girl is hopeless.”
Her words were of no comfort to Tem. She craved specificity from her mother-she wanted to hear that she, herself, wasn’t hopeless. But that was not what she expected, and it was not what her mother provided. There would be no specificity; there would be no coddling for Tem tonight or any night. There was only the task at hand and her willingness to complete it.
“It is nearly time,” her mother said. “Come.”
Tem nodded, following her mother out the front door and along the cobblestone path to the street. She could see Vera ahead of her, following her own mother out of their cottage. By the time they reached the edge of the trees, Tem was last in the line of fourteen girls and their mothers.
They walked as if in a trance, nobody speaking as they followed the long dirt path into the woods. It was a chilly night-one of the first nights of autumn. Tem tried to calm herself down, but it was no use. Her thighs were oily and her head was light; she felt as if she might be sick. She was seriously considering turning around and sprinting home when suddenly the wall loomed in front of them.
Tem had never been beyond it. She knew there were doors at various points along it but had never gone through one. They weren’t even locked-locks were unnecessary when the mirrored exterior was protection enough. But the thought of running into a basilisk in its true form-and risk being turned to stone by its deadly gaze-was plenty of motivation to stay within the wall.
Tem said a silent prayer to Kora as they passed through the door.
As soon as they were outside the wall, Tem saw that they were at the base of the mountain. The line of girls stopped before a long row of caves, each entrance a gaping mouth in the moonlight. For a long moment, nothing happened. And then, through the haze of the evening gloom, a figure emerged from the shadows.
Tem’s heart caught in her throat. She was too far away to see it clearly but close enough to know that it was wearing its human form, as expected. That was part of the deal: none of the girls vying for the prince’s hand would die in the caves. It would violate the truce. Of course, Tem found it hard to trust an agreement that was made hundreds of years ago. But she had no choice.
Beside her, Tem’s mother grasped her wrist.”Be brave, child.”
Tem didn’t have to turn around to know she was gone. All the other mothers were leaving too, kissing and embracing their daughters before disappearing back down the path until only the girls were left standing alone in the cold.
Nobody said a word.
Tem realized that despite being told about the training nearly every day for the better part of her life, she had no idea what actually happened next. How would she know which basilisk she would be paired with? Would she be the one to choose, or would they?
Before she could ask the girl next to her, the basilisk stepped forward.
“You have come here to learn,” he said, his voice echoing against the rocks. “At the end of the training, the prince will select one of you as his wife.”
Silence.
It wasn’t exactly new information. Still, it was jarring to hear it now, moments before it was about to begin.