Mia, who was awake, saw Lydia wake up sweating profusely, and she was surprised.
"Had a nightmare?" Mia asked, and Lydia sat up and nodded.
"Yes," Lydia replied without thinking. It must be a bad dream, she thought.
"What was it about?" Mia asked, prying for more info. Lydia looked at her, thinking whether to tell her about it.
"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it," Mia said with a smile. "Prepare, let's go to the bathroom before we get late."
She added, making Lydia widen her eyes in amusement.
"Let's go to the bathroom together?" Lydia questioned in disbelief. She had never experienced this awkward thing before. In her past life, she didn't even share a bathroom with anyone talk more of bathing with anyone.
"Yes, it's normal here," Mia said, and changed, wrapping a towel around her body.
Lydia watched her as she left. She felt too embarrassed to bathe with other girls. She lay back down on the bed and drifted into a deep sleep. When Mia got back, she was surprised that Lydia was fast asleep, and she had to wake her up.
"Lydia... Lydia... Wake up, you will get into trouble if you continue sleeping." Lydia got up, still feeling sleepy.
"Is everyone done bathing?" she asked Mia, causing Mia to laugh.
"Are you waiting for others to finish bathing before you bathe?" Mia asked back while applying body cream.
"Yes, I mean I can't bathe with other girls," Lydia replied with a serious expression, causing Mia to laugh more.
"You have to learn it," Mia said and looked at the wall. "We have time to do this here; everyone will be done bathing by 8 a.m.," she added.
"Okay, thanks. I'll wait till then," Lydia replied.
Lydia waited till it was 8 a.m., and she quickly made her way inside the bathroom. When she entered, she observed it was spacious enough to fit plenty of people. She gently took her bath, washing herself clean, and for a moment she missed her former life. She missed bathing in the bathtub and staying in it for some minutes to relax her body.
When she was done bathing, she heard a loud ring of a bell, and when she got outside, she saw girls rushing to the exit of the building, and she was confused.
"What's going on?" she asked a girl who was approaching, but the girl gave her no answer and passed her like a dead corpse.
"Lydia! You have to be fast! It's roll call!" Mia, who was walking in haste towards Lydia, spoke hurriedly.
"Okay!" Lydia said and rushed back to the room. She quickly dressed and moved out of the room to find no one was outside. When she got out of the building, she saw the woman with "CM 1" indicated on her cloth, and a shiver ran down her spine.
The woman smirked and walked closer to Lydia.
"Who do we have here?" she said in a low, menacing voice.
"O-obryn Lydia," Lydia spoke in fear.
"Why are you here at this hour? Aren't you supposed to be at the assembly for roll call?" she questioned, but Lydia gave no answer.
"Follow me," she said, and Lydia followed her, walking gently behind her.
When they got to the open space, hundreds of eyes stared at both Lydia and the woman.
"Obryn Lydia here seems to be out of place," the woman spoke in an authoritative tone.
And then she searched through the crowd and pointed at Mia.
"Come out," she said, and Mia walked out.
"Since you've been here for a while and she's your roommate, I'll put her in your care. Teach her what she needs to know. If she misbehaves, I'll hold you responsible."
"Yes, Chain Mistress," Mia said with a light bow and held Lydia's hand.
"Let's go," she whispered, and they went to join the line.
After the roll call, the newbie obryn were called aside.
"Today we welcome you all to Bladefang Pack, and I am the Moon Warden. I am in charge of all the obryn affairs, and I have my assistants," she spoke and looked at the women who lined up accordingly.
"We have 'CM' they are the Chain Mistresses responsible for disciplinary actions among the obryns. We also have 'PH' they are Pack Hand, who carry out orders. We have 'BW' Bone Watchers. They keep watch over work obryn routi—" she paused and closed her eyes, feeling uncomfortable.
The Moon Warden opened her eyes and began to feel dizzy. She was helped out by the Pack Hand, and the Chain Mistress 1 stepped on the podium to address them.
"Our Moon Warden seems to be a bit out of place, so I'll continue from where she stopped," she said, her tone cold.
"Our next in line is the 'FM' the Fang Matrons. They are in charge of hunting down runaway obryns, and trust me, if any of you here dare to run away, that's a death wish," she spoke as her cold gaze swept among the crowd, making the girls filled with fear.
"The last one is the 'WK' they're the Whipkeepers. They lash the disobedient obryns," she spoke with a smug smile. "These are the important people that control the obryns in this pack, and their ranking is in number 1 to 3, and the highest is number 1 of each position. Am I clear?"
"Yes, ma!" the obryns all shouted in unison.
"Good... now let's step into the rules of this pack."
"As an obryn, you dare not look into the eyes of the royals. It is considered disrespectful, and you'll be punished severely when caught doing that," she spoke, her tone cold.
"Again, if you are placed in a position to serve the Alpha, you must be on your best act, and if you dare try to seduce the Alpha, you are seeking your own death."
After she spoke, there was a deep silence, and a yellow-haired girl spoke.
"What if the Alpha tries to do something bad to us?"
Immediately she spoke, all eyes were on her. The Chain Mistress who was speaking scoffed and walked towards her, everyone giving her space. She looked at the girl, and a smirk appeared on her lips. Her claws elongated, and she scratched the girl's throat, causing her to gasp for breath.
"Our Alpha is known for his just character. Don't think highly of yourself as
an obryn! You have no chance of being the Alpha's plaything!" she spoke in anger.