Chapter 36
A Hazmaggi elder has put forth the claim that her daughter-in-law is the infamous Morchidat.
The woman reports that the resistance leader's real name is Jumana Rajja, and that she is responsible for the death of her son and keeping her two grandsons in secret locations where the family is unable to contact them.
—”Does the Leader of the Sisterhood Have a Sordid Past?” A special report
The new Lallat stumble into the night to find a crowd has gathered around the cave entrance.
Some people are staring at the hole that seems to have opened up in the earth.
Some are staring at the sky, which is abloom with shimmering arcs of light.
The meteor shower has arrived, one night earlier than the last prediction.
Among the crowd are Naturalists wearing checkered scarves. Some of these begin to whisper, pointing at the girls.
“Is it them?”
“They wear the sacred jewelry.”
“Should we apprehend them?”
“You girls must get out of here quickly.”
Shay jolts at the voice. She turns and looks into the tattooed face of the Morchidat.
She notices several things at once. One, the suspicion with which Marjan regards her mother.
It brings to mind all the moments Marjan stopped them on their journey, her nagging concerns that they were being followed.
Another, the way Walid seems to wait for his mother's eyes to land his way, seeking some reaction he never gets. Lastly, she notices that the Morchidat shows no surprise about the changes in the girls’ appearances.
“It's her. The one they call the Morchidat.”
The Naturalists have increased in number.
A group has separated from the peaceful onlookers and is forming a loose circle around them.
Among these, men who brandish swords with blades too long and sharp-looking to be carried about so casually.
The Morchidat draws her own double-bladed weapon.
Flashes of steel shimmer in the blue-black darkness. Tension spikes through the crowd.
A deep rumbling draws everyone's attention to the line of trees that borders the nearby forest. A second later, all seven bone-eater brothers, plus some additional bone-eaters Shay has never met, burst from the timber at a running gait.
They too carry weapons. Knives. Spiked Clubs.
Chained balls. They head straight toward the encroaching Naturalists, who turn their blades away from the girls, toward them.
It would appear the brothers decided to break their rule about interfering in human affairs.
“Run!” the Morchidat shouts at Walid and the girls.
Shay runs.
She runs as if all their lives depend on it. As if the burning in the back of her calves, the deep ache in her heels, could bring back Ghita, bring back Hind. Bring back the unknown thing the night hags took from her.
Footsteps pound the earth as what sounds like a small group pursues them. In her periphery, Shay sees Marjan clutching a handful of arrows and firing them back in succession as they flee. Something tells her they all find their mark.
They run straight into the forest. The clash of swords and grunts of men ring in the distance behind them.
Shay doesn't see or hear anyone pursuing them now.
It would be hard if they did, for the forest seems to both open a clear path before them and close like a seam behind them.
Branches bend. Trees collapse inward. Vines stitch themselves together.
Shay stops, gripped by panic.
“What's wrong?” Marjan glances around, assessing for threats, then into Shay's eyes.
“The brothers …” Shay turns back toward the medina, but she can't see the crowd anymore.
She can't even see a path in that direction anymore.
Panic eats the edges of her vision. Her throat is raw with it.
“If the bone-eaters are there fighting alongside the Morchidat, who's with my sister? Who's taking care of Najla?”
Yara whispers something to Walid and Khawla, perhaps explaining that Hind died in childbirth. That Shay is now caretaker to a newborn.
“What do you mean?” Marjan says slowly. She shakes her head. Slowly. “Shadi is with Najla, Shay.”
A bolt of pain blasts the base of Shay's skull, nearly knocking her off-balance. “Who is Shadi?” It hits her again when she repeats the name. She plants her hands on her knees and breathes deeply until it passes.
When she stands back up, Yara is giving her the saddest look.
“What is going on?” Shay doesn't like the way everyone is looking at her. The way they don't seem as worried about Najla as they should be. She's a newborn!
“Shay, we need to keep going,” Marjan insists.
“What is going on?”
“The night hags took him from your memory,” Yara says. “I'm so sorry, Shay.”
Shay doubles over again. She can't think about the night hag. About the meaty thing that dangled from her talon, the thing that used to be a part of Shay. Doing so causes her unbearable pain.
Yara crouches next to her, telling her to breathe. Shay stands again. She shoves the heels of her hands into her eyes until her lids are painted with sparks, until she no longer feels like she is dying. Until she can focus on what Yara is trying to tell her.
“It's fine, Shay. Najla is well. I promise.”
“How can you say that?” Shay screeches in frustration. “How can a newborn be well if no one is with her?”
“We have a brother,” Marjan says carefully, watching Shay for any adverse reaction. “Our brother is with your sister.”
“Walid is here with us!” Shay feels like she's losing her mind.
“Not Walid.” Yara looks at Marjan, who nods. “A brother you haven't met yet. Let's go. You'll meet him when we get to Ard Al-Ghul.”
“Another brother?” Shay doesn't understand why they never mentioned him before. “And does this other brother of yours know how to take care of a baby?”
“He's taking the best care of her,” Yara says soothingly “I'm absolutely sure of it.”
They continue on, moving at a quick clip, but no longer running.
“I don't understand,” Khawla mutters softly, to no one in particular. “Why did you have to go to the night hags? The Morchidat should have told you where to meet us.”
As they approach the bone-eaters’ yard, Tarik is outside, fussing over his shrubs, brandishing a shiny pair of oversized gardening sheers. He stares at the girls with unabashed awe. Wordlessly, he raises one hand in greeting, a gesture Shay returns.
Khawla does a double take, frowning. “Are you two friends now?”
“It's complicated,” Shay hedges.
It is decided that Yara will go inside with Shay while Marjan takes Khawla home to her parents. Shay hugs Khawla once more, then watches her receding figure, seeing now what she didn't see inside the cave. What she didn't want to see.
The changes in Khawla are not just physical. The fearlessness she once wore like sparkling jewels has dimmed, and whatever mantle of leadership the Morchidat manipulated the four of them into inheriting is not enough to bring it back.
Shay finds this brother of Yara and Marjan's upstairs, sleeping on her pallet.
Najla is on her tummy, dozing on his chest, her little body rising and falling like a tiny ship with each breath he takes.
The sight gives Shay a strange twinge in her chest she can't place.
Part of her was worried she'd find the baby crying her lungs out in desperate hunger, and her relief that this is not the case acts as a balm.
She sets a lantern on the windowsill and clears her throat.
The boy opens his eyes. He sees her standing there, and a wide smile spreads slowly across his handsome face. Very carefully, and with the ease of someone who has practice handling an infant, he shifts the baby onto the pallet and rises.
He's walking toward Shay.
His arms are extended wide to his sides. His expression is joyful.
She's preparing to take about three steps backward to avoid what appears to be an incoming hug from a complete stranger, when he stops. Confusion flashes over his face.
“What happened to your hair?” he whispers. His eyes dip to the ring on her finger. “What happened to you, Shay? You don't look the same.”
She flinches when she hears her name. Without thinking, her fingers glide through her hair, the soft strands glinting in the moonlight through the thatched roof. Feet pound up the stairs.
“Shhhh,” she and the boy both say together when Yara appears at the top of them.
“Oh, sorry,” she whispers. “I need to borrow my brother for a minute.”
“But Shay just got back,” he says. “And you have something weird in your hair, too, khti.”
“I know. It won't take long.” Yara gives Shay a lingering look before turning to her brother again. “I need your help with something important.”
“Wakha,” he says reluctantly to Yara. “Sorry,” he says to Shay.
“No problem,” Shay says. “I might go to sleep, honestly. But thank you. For taking over the care of my sister after the bone-eaters had to leave.”
He looks more confused about this than he did about her silver hair. “Shay?”
He says her name like it's a question, and as little sense as it makes, she almost feels like she should know the answer. Like if she tilted her head just so, a different image would slide over the one she sees now. And this feeling that she is missing something would fade away.
But these are not rational thoughts. He must just be curious about what happened at the caves.
Shay shakes her head, fighting a yawn. She should probably wait up for the Morchidat and the bone-eaters to return, but she doesn't know whether she could if she tried.
Whatever she did last night in the dream caves, she doesn't think it counted as sleeping, not as far as her body is concerned.
Clearly, she's exhausted. “I'm sure Yara can fill you in. But, truly, I cannot understate my appreciation for the service you have provided. My sister is everything to me. From the bottom of my heart, I pray that God will reward you for this kindness you have extended to a stranger.”
He doesn't look confused then. He looks hurt. Terribly, terribly hurt. Yara starts dragging him down the stairs, her hand gripping his upper arm so hard, her knuckles strain, but he keeps gazing up at Shay with wounded eyes.
She shakes her head again, turning toward her room. Boys are strange creatures.
She creeps into bed next to her sister and presses the softest kiss to the top of her head. It's silly, the urge Shay has to wake her up. She truly missed her. Also, her breasts are painfully full. But sleep falls over Shay like a quiet shadow.
She does not dream of her mother's face, not tonight. Not ever again. She dreams of another life. Battles she's never fought. Places she's never seen. Magic, love, and milestones that belong to someone else.
Someone whose spirit is now irrevocably tethered to her own.