The Progenitor's Decree

In the isolated, self-sufficient compound of the Harmonious Seed, the word of the Progenitor is law. When Elara is chosen for the annual Fertility Offering, she knows she should feel honored. She has been raised to believe that bearing the Progenitor's child is the highest calling, a sacred duty to ensure the survival of their people. But as she is led to the inner sanctum, a place of sterile white walls and cold steel, a flicker of rebellion ignites within her. The Progenitor is not the benevolent father figure she was taught to worship; he is a cold, calculating scientist, and his obsession with genetic purity is terrifying. He sees her not as a woman, but as a vessel—the perfect carrier for his next generation. Her body may be bound by his decree, but her mind fights for freedom, even as he awakens a primal, traitorous response she cannot control.