Number Four played a card, Number Two played a card, and the pile grew. A silence settled over the circle, but it didn't feel awkward. It was just a pause, and the collective wondered what they could ask next to get better insight into the minds of women.
So far they had learned that women appreciated cleanliness and consistent attention.
"You said that you had questions," Anita said. "Ask away."
Number One looked at the others.
The collective rotated through several candidates and settled on one.
"How does a woman decide whether she's interested in a man?" Number Eight asked. "What is she looking for in someone she might consider as a romantic partner?"
The corner of her mouth lifted again. "You are starting at the very beginning."
"Yes."
"All right." She laid down a card. "Physical attraction usually comes first, but that doesn't mean that the man has to be very handsome. Sometimes the personality that shines through his eyes is the thing she's attracted to. Confidence is attractive, but only as long as it doesn't turn into arrogance and a sense of entitlement. He shouldn't assume that she wants him. He needs to put in an effort to charm her, to show her that he wants her, and then wait for her to respond to him."
That advice was very confusing because it wasn't concrete. How was it possible to determine when confidence seemed like arrogance? How was a man supposed to show a woman that he wanted her without frightening her?
Especially when she'd had a lifetime of bad experiences with men, as Sullha had.
"We don't know how to be charming," Number Six said. "We need actionable line items."
Anita looked like she was stifling a laugh, which was good because it meant she was having a good time, but it was also bad because it might mean that the question was stupid.
"Let me see." She tapped her lips with her finger. "It has been so long since I've been courted by a decent man that I don'tremember, but I can tell you what Konstantin does that makes me like him."
"That could be helpful," Number One said.
"He tells me funny stories. Things from his past that he can turn into humorous tales. He listens attentively when I tell him about things, and he looks into my eyes, making me feel as if what I tell him is important enough to commit to memory. He makes me feel appreciated." She smiled. "And desired, but not like a piece of flesh to be used. He desires my company as much as he desires my body, and that's special." She looked up from the cards in her hands and scanned their faces. "It's important to be seen for the person I am on the inside. Not as someone to be used and discarded."
The collective processed her words and felt ashamed for the way they had treated the brothel women in the past, before their ascent. None of them had been cruel or disrespectful, but they hadn't considered these women as people.
They hadn't known any better because that was what Mortdh's teachings claimed. According to Mortdh, women had been created to serve men, for pleasure and for childbirth, nothing more, and they had been too young and brainwashed to think for themselves.
"More questions?" Anita said.
"Have you ever been in love?" Number Two asked.
She nodded.
"How did it feel to be in love?"
"Wonderful." She sighed. "When a woman is in love, she wants to spend every moment with her beloved. She thinks of himconstantly. She is willing to do anything to see him smile, to know that she is pleasing him."
"How is it different for men? Do they feel the same way about the women they love?"
"Of course." She pursed her lips. "But a woman wants a man to prove that he's worthy of her love. Men, on the other hand, rarely think in those terms. They don't think in terms of worthiness as long as the woman is beautiful. Sometimes that can lead to disappointment."
That was an interesting observation, and the collective tried to reflect on the love they had witnessed between Mattie and Dimitri. Did he need to constantly prove to her that he was worthy? Had he been blinded by her beauty when he'd first met her?
They had no answer for that.
"How does a man prove his worthiness?" Number One asked.
"By being honest and respectful." She smiled. "In the outside world, a well-paying occupation was also a consideration women took into account."
"Honest and respectful," Number Three repeated. "That's probably not something you encounter often in this place. Other than with Petrov, that is, and with us."
