Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 97459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
“And T’ia?”
“As far as I know, the female is well. They keep them separated from us. Ever since the khui sickness killed many of our people, the females have been protected. I cannot say if she is happy, but the chief and his son will treat her well.” Set’nef shakes his head. “More I cannot say.”
I clench my jaw in frustration.
“I know you hate me,” Set’nef says. “But I alone volunteered to feed you both. My people would have put you both to death, because the stories of outsiders are not good stories. But I would learn from you both. I have never seen anyone like your female, or like you. I have seen the others with the armor.” He taps his brow. “But you are different from them. And I have heard…stories. Is it true there is a great water? That it is salty instead of sweet?”
I nod.
Set’nef sighs. “I would like to see it for myself. I wonder about the world above, what it is like outside of the caves. I have stepped outside once.” His expression turns to one of wonder. “It was so cold it took my breath away, and white powder fell from the sky. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.”
Has he never been above? “I will show you everything you wish to see. Just let R’slind go,” I plead. “Let me take her to my people.”
The ancestor does not understand me, though. He indicates the food he brought. “Eat. I will return as quickly as I can with the chief’s response. Until then, guard your female. Kin’far the Tainted watches her with covetous eyes. An exile is not allowed to even walk past the Wall of Females. But if he can steal one for a few days…” He shrugs. “Just watch her closely.”
This does not make me feel better.
Set’nef hesitates, then turns and leaves, disappearing down the long, dark tunnel. I clutch the bars of the cage, hoping he will return. Hoping that he will change his mind and let R’slind and myself out. I run my hand over the bars—like I have so many times already—and look for weaknesses. I look for a mechanism of some kind to pull on. Something that will provide me hope.
But there is nothing.
“R’jaal?” R’slind’s soft voice pulls me from my frustration.
I turn, showing her the food. “Good. You are awake. We have more to eat.”
She sits, holding the fur to her body, and it does not provide nearly enough warmth. Even from here, I can see her lips are a pale purple shade. “I heard you talking to him.”
My heart stills in my chest. Did she hear everything? Did she hear that she needs a khui? That she will die? I do not want her to be afraid.
I am going to fix this for her. I do not know how just yet, only that I must.
“He’s not going to help us,” she says. “We’re going to have to figure our own way out.”
Relaxing at her calm words, I nod, moving to crouch next to her. I pull open the bag and this time, there is no scent of seed upon the food. It is good and clean, more of the strange moss and the mushrooms that Set’nef brought us before. I hand her one. “We will need our strength. You must eat.”
“I’m not hungry.”
I shake my head. “You must eat anyhow, R’slind. We will both need to be strong to escape.”
She sighs and takes the mushroom from me, and I notice her hand trembling. “Do you think he’s our enemy?”
“Not like the other,” I admit, and take a bite out of one of the mushrooms to encourage her to do the same. “But I still do not trust him. Not if his people are keeping T’ia against her will.”
“What did he mean by the ‘wall of females’?”
I shrug. “We have no female walls where I am from. Our hut walls are just walls. They do not have a sex.”
Her mouth twitches, and a smile warms her face. “You’re cute, you know that?”
My khui sings louder than ever. “I am glad you find me appealing.”
Her smile broadens and she takes another bite of mushroom, her gaze sliding to the shadows behind me. “What if Set’nef doesn’t come back? What if the other does instead?”
“Then we will deal with him.”
“Maybe you need to eat me out in front of him again. You know…establish dominance.” Her face grows pink. “I mean, I’m just saying. It can’t hurt.”
“It is a good idea, but not while you are weak. Eat.”
R’slind does, and she licks her fingers, then stares at them for a long time.
“What is it?” I ask. “What is wrong?”
“I dreamed about being at the library,” she says, giving me a wide-eyed look and spreading her fingers. “Between shelving books, I’d work on writing. Long hand, of course, so no one could see what I was working on. I’d scribble it down in my journal and transcribe it at night.” She wiggles her fingers. “In my dream, my fingers had ink on them, but I remember I had calluses, too. Here, on the side of my finger, because I hold my ink pen so hard.”