I woke up this morning with a clear head, for once, as I had not been drugged the night before. I stepped into the bright sunlight of our garden, the skylights allowing for a natural appearance I had come to appreciate. It was my fourth month here, and I was gradually adjusting to this new life. As I stepped into my patch of the garden, I pulled a veil, studded with garnets, under my eyes. I was Orchid, ever clothed in deep reds and purples- and very rarely white.

My pet lemur, Ishkar, peered at me from his swing. He had golden fur, and could fit in the palm of my hand. He jumped onto my shoulder as I strode past. Today, I would visit Lilac, who had been brought here from much farther away than I. She sat, as usual, in the garden outside her pale purple tent, tending to her snakes.

Her beauty caught me off-guard, as it often did. She had lustrous almond-shaped eyes of deep obsidian, set in a pale, heart-shaped face. Her black hair was in two simple loops, and her pale pink lips curled into a smile.