***
“What is your name?” I asked the woman for the fourth time, and for the fourth time, she looked between Savannah and me with wide eyes and tears streaming down her cheeks, gasping all the while. We were in the infirmary, and light was just beginning to break on the horizon. She was lying down on one of the beds, soaking wet, because she had refused the clothes we had tried to give her, looking both terrified and infuriated.
The damage done to her by the Old Spirits was even worse than the damage that had been done to Maura, and truly, I never thought I would have been able to say that. Though I had been told that Maura was one of the most stubborn dissenters, this woman must have been a downright mule. The skin of her arms told me that she was white, but her face was so many shades of black, blue, and purple that I could not tell. Her cheeks were swollen to such a size that it appeared as though she were holding a full breath of air in her mouth. The tops of them pushed her lower eyelids so they almost met the upper lids, and because of that, she could only see through tiny slits. Once, when she opened her mouth to gasp for air, I grimaced; she only had half a tongue.
Her physical mutilation sent unrelenting waves of jolting unease through me. Every time my eyes landed on her face, they tore themselves away defensively, so quickly that the muscles behind them felt ready to tear. I prayed to empty space that Adam, once he awoke from his tumultuous infection, would find it in his heart to cure her, but I knew that he would not. This woman was human, definitely from Earth; I could still smell the poisoned air on her, which also told me that she and the rest of her people did not or could not bathe as frequently or with the same upmarket, homemade soaps that we used. Tyre, Paul, and Rich Bachum denied such luxuries, unless, of course, those luxuries were for themselves.
“She’s in shock. We should come back later.” Savannah’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts. She was tapping the gun on the floor almost absent-mindedly, and the resounding thuds it made pounded through my head, constricting around my forehead just above my eyes and tightening. For a second, I squeezed my eyes shut and rubbed them. The woman appeared to be even more distressed by the sound than I was, if the sudden volume spike of her wails and the way her shaking hands flew up to cover her ears were any indication. I frowned up at Savannah.
“You are going to shoot your foot off if you keep doing that.”
“No, I won’t.”
“Well, you are going to make me run out of here in search of pain-killing tonics if you keep doing it, so stop. Please.”
“You’re tired. It’s obvious. Why don’t you go in with James or with Penny and Violet and go to sleep? I can sit with her.”
“No. This woman knows where they are, and once I find that out…”
“I know, I know. Save the world. Save our people. All of that.” She sighed heavily, “But Brynna, she needs to rest, too. She looks worse than you do.”
“Yes, because she is probably fifty pounds lighter than me and has clearly not slept in days. Are you hungry?” I asked the woman, “Can I get you anything?”
The woman was not looking at me anymore, not even when I spoke directly to her. Her eyes were locked on Savannah’s, and after several moments during which Savannah seemed to become more and more unnerved by the woman’s prying, widened eyes, Savannah stood up and left the room abruptly.
I stood up, knowing that she was rattled, and as her almost-friend, I had to stomach my own discomfort while I tried to comfort her. Though the woman we had rescued was in rather dire straits, as they say, in terms of her health, her condition did not seem to be degenerating at a rate that was even slightly alarming.
Just as I begin to walk away, she reached out, and with a painful grip that was far beyond what I thought her strength would allow, she grasped my wrist. Her mouth opened, and out of it came a rasping half-breath, and what sounded like one word. Which word it was, I could not say, so I leaned closer to hear her better.
“Ffffff…. Hear… wah… wah…Ssssss… Jah… May… Ssss… Not… Earth!”
So, it was complete gibberish. You cannot blame me for trying to hear. Oftentimes, at moments like these in the stories I had read all my life, some stunning revelation is told, and the main character gains some deep insight, which then leads to events that could potentially change the entire ending. The disappointment I felt was punishment enough for believing that life would follow neatly and kindly the path of the stories I loved so dearly.
“Just go to sleep now.” I told her softly but not very gently, I will admit. To avoid looking into her admittedly very unsettling eyes, I paid extra attention to the glass of water I was pouring for her.
“You are safe here.” I told her as I put the glass on the table beside her. “One of our doctors will be right soon enough, and I will send her or him in to look you over. You are going to be fine. Alright.” I looked around awkwardly. “Bye.”
I had almost made it completely out of the door. So close, and I never would have had that icy doubt thrust clear through my chest. I never would have heard the three discernible words she screamed at me as I left.
“One of them!”
When I turned back around, she was lying back down, and she was so still that if it weren’t for the sound of her rasping breaths, I would have thought she was dead. Very slowly, I walked back over to her.
“Who is?” I asked her softly, “Who is one of them?”
But her eyes were closed, and after a minute her breathing slowed. I checked for her pulse and found that it was still beating. She was not dead, thank God or the Gods, but she was certainly asleep.
At the door, I looked back at her. Then, I looked out into the hallway where Savannah was standing at the window. The only two people from our camp that the woman had seen were Savannah and me. If one of us was one of them…
But it was crazy. Savannah had been with us for months and had never led me to believe that she was anything but loyal. The way she shuddered every time the Bachums or Tyre were mentioned, or the fact that she sometimes still cried over the trauma of being exiled and losing her husband, the fact that she had children, both of whom could never perpetuate such a lie…
But maybe they knew nothing of it. Maybe her grief and her residual fear were acts. Maybe Savannah was a liar.
Or maybe I was very tired, and as a result, was jumping quickly to conclusions. Perhaps the woman was warning me that there was one amongst us who was “one of them.” I knew for a fact that there were several who were, so I did not know why I had been so rattled by what she had said.
The only reason why you are rattled, Maura’s voice said rather snidely; she had been drinking in the afterlife, is because that woman is not who she says she is.
Or maybe, I thought back, just as rudely, this projection of you in my mind needs to shut up and vanish.
Savannah was still staring out the window of one of the free rooms. I saw that she appeared to be in a space of deep contemplation and knew what said contemplation was about: She had killed three men that day. Most people never have to make that final decision for another human being. They never have to place their finger on a trigger and pull. They never have to decide whether they are going to close their eyes after that bullet starts flying, or keep them open to see what they've done, to watch their opponent's final moments. Even when the killing is in self-defense, most good people have that moment of contemplation, and sometimes it is deep and sometimes it is shallow, but it always happens, and it is always painful.
If you are good, it is always painful. And despite our kind's penchant for discussing every last feeling that crosses our consciousness, that contemplation is better conducted in silence, alone. Once it is over, talking can be done with others. But nothing of use will be said if a third party interrupts the time between the killer who was forced and their newly departed victim.
Besides all of that, I needed to consult with James about my new suspicions. Don was lurking in the hallway, clearly looking as though he wanted to talk to me
. I carefully ducked into a side hallway that would take me the long way around to James’s room. Of course, that hallway held the room where Adam and Janna were being stowed away, and when I passed, I could not help but stop to listen.
“I am sorry for all I have done. You know that I am, Adam. You know that I love you. I might do things that speak to the contrary, but it is only when you make me.”
“I could kill her for leaving you in here with me. Thank the one God that the sun is coming up. I could kill her for so many things. I should kill her for what she did. I would kill anyone else. A man I would kill myself. A woman I would let you kill.”
“Well, I will gladly kill her. Just give me the order, and I will do it. Maybe then, you will be able to forgive me. Maybe then, we can…”
“You will not touch her!” He barked at her, and I heard her draw in a deep gasp. “If she is to be dispatched from this realm, it will be me who dispatches her!”
“Oh, if she is to be dispatched…” Janna spat venomously, “Hours ago, there was no ‘if’ to be spoken of… It was sure. I was ready to begin planning a village-wide festival to celebrate the removal of that scourge from our world. But no, now it is ‘if’… You love her. It is clear that you do. Perhaps it is not romantic love, like what I thought you felt for me for all these years. But it is love, nonetheless. And is that not just so funny? King Adam, the Rexprimus of all Purissimus, in love with a human girl. With Earthean scum.”
“I have nothing but the upmost hatred for that girl now. You will not suggest otherwise. She is Earthean scum, but to be frank, my dear, I would take Earthean scum over a whore who disgraces not only her high position but her entire race.”
I pushed the door open at that point, taking in a deep sigh, as though smelling the morning air.
“My goodness, I hope this is the burn unit…” I said, and with great effort, I suppressed my urge to laugh at my own joke.
“What are you talking about?” Janna hissed at me, “Unlock these restraints right now. Let us finish what we started.”
“Did you sleep at all? You are positively ferocious this morning.” I replied sunnily, “If anyone has any allowance to act in such a way, it is me. As you both know, I have been up all night protecting your village, since you two were incapacitated.”
“Yes, protecting the village that you endangered, you vile cow.”
“Oh, I much prefer Earthean scum, Adam. It is far more poetic.”
He did not reply. Instead, he just glared at me, his eyes bright red. I smiled down at him as I reached for the chains around his ankles.
“You should have brought your lover with you.” Janna snarled at me, “You will need his protection once my husband regains his strength. Look at him; he is murderous. Because of that, he will more than likely murder you the moment you…”
Adam had broken the restraints on the bed but had been too weak to move. Now, his strength had returned enough that he was beginning to stand. Once his feet were planted on the floor, and he had risen to his full, intimidating height, I looked up at him, my face emotionless.
“Where did the bullet hit?”
“My chest.”
“And yet you live.”
“Well, I am sorry. I know that is disappointing to you.”
“No. Merely informative. Next time, I shall aim for your head. I know you have a very large brain. In my delirium, I shot at your heart, forgetting that you do not have one.”
“Oh, this ridiculous metaphor that the beating organ in the chest is the center of all emotions is so trite and annoying at this point.” I said with a roll of my eyes. “Can we please stop perpetuating it?”
His palm cupped under my chin, and his long fingers tightened.
“I could crush your jaw right now.” He whispered, sounding almost ravenous. His hand traveled down and constricted lightly around my windpipe. “I could snap your neck just by tightening my grip. I could wrap my arms around you and break your spine in half.”
“But you won’t.” I told him, “You can’t. I can see that, Adam. But why?”
“You see nothing. I can kill you, and I will. You come into my village, take advantage of my people, work here, live here, survive here, all because I am so kind as to allow it. Then, you betray me in this way. For that, Brynna, you will suffer terribly.”
“We are leaving tomorrow night. The least you can do is be hospitable until then. Or perhaps you would prefer acting like an overgrown child, though I must admit that it is disturbing to see a man of your formidable muscular girth and tall stature behaving with such puerile indifference to the principles of maturity and conflict resolution.”
“And now you insult me? To my face, you say words against me, and you flout my power over you and every lowly, filthy creature that is of your kind? You, my darling girl, have deluded yourself into believing that I will not hurt you, and I must encourage you to think again! You have seen me fight before. You know how easily I can take a life. You have seen my strength! Pray you, remember it, because my impatience with you is ticking, and I do not need to make a public spectacle, you stupid, reckless quim! Do not think that I will not end you! Do you understand me?!”
“Don made it clear to you that we would be leaving peacefully tomorrow evening to avoid a public display.” I replied calmly.
“You say that you understand me right now, Brynna Olivier!”
He pushed me back so I was against the wall, which he punched just beside my head. I did not even flinch.
“We will be taking only what we need, and all items taken will be things for which we bartered legally. All of my people are going, so soon, we will be out of your hair, and you will be free to continue your honorable reign, only now it will be over a much smaller populace. What does that say about you, I wonder? What does that say about how history will remember you? Oh, that is right. There is very little history here because people do not die. There cannot be solid history without deaths to be admired or admonished.” I stopped and looked up. “I could have been a fortune cookie writer.”
I would have laughed, but his anger was almost tangible. If he had been a full-blooded Ares, a tornado would be whipping through the village, sucking up everything in its path.
“Tell me… you understand.”
With a sharp, abrupt, movement, I grabbed the hand he had rested on my throat, twisted it back so that he drew in a slight breath of surprise and from the pain, twisted his arm behind his back, and forced him to his knees.
“We are getting stronger, and as we get stronger, your powers may stay the same, but in a way, you are getting weaker.” I said, “Do not approach me with the intention of threatening my family, my people, or me.” He struggled against me, and I dropped my slight weight onto his back to hold him still.
“Don has told you that we are leaving peacefully, and we will. All I ask for is the courtesy of your ignorance for one evening while we slip away. Is that so much to ask, Adam?”
“Oh, you are stupid...” He was laughing now in utter rage. “You are so very stupid, Brynna Olivier.”
“It is a yes or no question, Adam. Is that so much to ask?”
He was silent, still trying to struggle out of my firm grasp.
“Yes or no, Adam!?” I shouted.
“By the one God, woman… I am thinking.” He had hissed back at me in his typical cool sarcasm. “I suppose I should say no. Because if you walk away from me tomorrow, you go to war with me. That I know you understand.”
I released him, and he had stood and turned to face me.
“I will destroy you, Brynna Olivier.”
“The way I just destroyed your ego?” I beamed at him and began to walk out of the room.
“No, my beauty. Your ego will be the first and most trivial thing to go. I do not just want your life anymore. Now I want your soul.”
He stormed away, leaving me alone with Janna.
“Wipe that smirk off your face.” Janna hissed at me,” You are just as young and stupid as an
y other girl your age, Brynna Olivier, if you think he does not mean it.”
“I know he means it.” I replied, “I am smirking, Janna Elohimson, because he was supposed to let you up. God or the Gods know I am not doing it.”
“Brynna!” She shouted as I backed out of the door, still grinning at her as I pulled it shut behind me. “Brynna Olivier, don’t you dare leave me here! Brynna! Oh, you… you… You bitch!”
“Bitch, Earthean scum, cow, quim…” I said to myself, loudly enough so that Adam, who was at the end of the hallway could hear but not loudly enough that he would think I was speaking to him directly. “Goodness, the insults just keep on coming…”
He did not even look back at me, and I was disappointed.