Page 62 of Mated By Twilight
“Is it though?” Leah asked, uncertain.
The two of them were in one of the many practice rooms. Skara was going to be leading her through a scene reading of the play they were performing now. Because Leah knew the story, she’d heard the others perform it, and she knew how it was supposed to sound. But looking at the script, seeing the words on the hologram from her combot, it just didn’t seem like there was life in it. She could read them, but they didn’t come out the same way Tillos or Sollit said them.
Skara had let her read one of the monologues from start to finish, and then immediately started into this lecture. So, Leah knew she did it badly.
“You must embody the character. That is how you project the character” Skara informed her, turning dramatically. She wore long, elegant, wispy robes, gossamer and delicate that floated around her like a dream. They were all gold today, with gold paint on the spikes on her head. She looked like an alien princess. She might very well be for all Leah knew.
“Try again,” Skara ordered, pacing in front of her. “But this time, you must imaginebeingthe general. You mustbecomethem. Their desires are yours. You must feel it in yourself, and project it as if youarefeeling this angst and fear. Do it again!”
Leah frowned, returning to her script. “But, ho, why does the darkness-”
“No,” Skara interjected, pausing her pacing to loom over where she sat in the chair. “You are just reading. Speak it! Feel it!”
“I thought I was…”
“No, no, no!” Skara hissed, making Leah reel back in her chair. “Now, you’ve lost yourumph.”
“My what?” Leah frowned.
“You retreat when you are afraid or uncertain. You should not! Meet the challenges of acting and life with bravado and determination! Do not shrink from them!”
“I’m not sure I know how to do that…” Leah admitted softly.
Skara blew out a breath, crossing her arms. “What gives you passion, Leah?”
“Er…”
Dicks.
No!
Leah’s face burned. How couldthatbe the first thing she thought of?! Shewasa whore. She was a sinful harlot.
“Hm?” Skara suddenly leaned right into her face. Leah had nowhere else to go. She could only blink, staring into the distinctly reptilian, yellow eyes of the ratchi female. Her pupils were oddly shaped, like three beads on a string, tight and direct. Looking right through her. Like she could see every salacious thought in her head.
Leah couldn’t even look at her. She kept turning her eyes away. Heart pounding in her throat. Absolutely certain that she was judging her.
Skara sighed. “Newly mated. All you can think about is fucking.”
Leah squeaked. It was true, but she didn’t think she’d be accused of it so directly.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbled.
Skara cocked her head curiously. “Why?”
“B-Because it’s… wrong?”
Skara didn’t have eyebrows, but her forehead still furrowed. It was a subtle movement, but powerful because of it. “You think it’s wrong to desire your mates?”
“I…” Leah moved her lips up and down, not sure what to say. If it had been her father, she would have said yes. But she wasn’t sure what the correct answer was anymore.
Skara stood straight, giving her a dull look. “Shorvi was right. You’ve no presence.”
Leah winced. “Sorry…”
“Why are you apologizing to me? You’re the one who suffers for it.”
Leah frowned. Skara was gentler in her approach, but it was no less uncomfortable to hear it coming from her than it was from Shorvi. She didn’t even have an argument for them. She wanted to say that they were wrong, that she wasn’tpresence-less, but she couldn’t think of a single thing to say. And maybe that meant they had a point. She couldn’t even argue for herself.