A Concubines Curse

A life of endless intrigue, sniping and bitching, there beauty turned to paint, their kindness brittle with suspicion. They were doomed to live the rest of their days as pampered shadows of the once beloved, constantly in earshot of their many replicas.  Their families had willingly given them up as flowers to decorate the Emperors garden. They had once blossomed as generously as cherry trees and been plucked for their beauty. The lucky ones bore him fruit and at least had concerns beyond their fading favour and beauty to consider, but for most, their season in the sun had been fleeting and they were left with no purpose but to fight for their place in a hierarchy of cats, clawing and hissing at each other and constantly licking their wounds with salt. The Sun's glow that once bathed them in golden light turned away and left them cold and dissatisfied. There was more bitterness here than in an orchard of lemons.