Sullha
She sat on the edge of her bed at dawn, with Tomek still curled in the warm hollow she'd just vacated, and did the math.
There were six women she needed to vet for Yaaf in addition to Asira, who was already confirmed, and there were several women she wanted to vet for herself, the ones whose names had been circling in her mind last night before she had finally fallen asleep.
The problem was locating the women and talking with them without it looking suspicious. Pulling that off was going to take some creative thinking, especially since she needed to do it while avoiding the notice of the Sacred Mothers.
They were everywhere, which was astounding given that the order had only been founded four years ago, and until recently it had been dismissed as nothing worthy of attention.
Then suddenly it seemed as if their numbers had exploded overnight, and the enclosure became riddled with women who watched and reported to the guards because they were fanatically loyal to Mortdh's cause.
No one had assigned them the role of informants, and the guards had no interest in the internal politics of the women's compound, but if they spotted suspicious activity that might endanger the enclosure, they would report it.
The Mothers sought to bring all the women in the enclosure into the fold, which meant obedience and conformity.
Any departure from that was noticed, discussed in their circle meetings, and acted upon when they deemed it troubling enough to require intervention.
If Sullha was seen approaching one woman after another and asking questions, the Mothers would notice and conclude that she was plotting something. They might not know what, but the suspicion alone would be enough to bring them to her door and draw attention to her.
She needed a cover for her inquiries. Something that fit the enclosure's everyday life. Something plain and dull.
A reading group?
She'd read about them in one of the tattered novels in the library, and the idea had stuck with her because it was so appealing. The women in the story met every Tuesday to discuss whatever book they had agreed on, and she'd loved the notion of it. But a reading group in the enclosure was absurd.
Most of the books in the library were about subjects that didn't interest the women, at least not the ones written in the Brotherhood's language. Those were probably discards from the army.
There were a few titles in other languages that were more interesting, foreign novels, most of them in English, that had found their way into the same boxes, and alongside them a handful of battered dictionaries and primers, the kind the army used to teach the soldiers the languages of the places where it operated.
Those too had arrived in poor shape, spines cracked and pages loose, clearly castoffs.
Sullha wasn't the only one who'd taught herself another language from these books, sounding out English words against the dictionary until the strange shapes turned into meaning, but there were only a few women who had managed to open that small private window in a place that had none.
Most of the older ones couldn't read at all, not in the Brotherhood's language or any other, because they'd never been taught.
The enclosure just didn't have any teachers to spare for the adult women when there were children who needed to be taught the basics…
That was it. That was the excuse she'd been searching for. She could claim to be looking for new teachers.
The older girls, the seven-to-thirteen, were getting maybe four hours of schooling a week because they had only one teacher for that age group, and the boys of the same age were getting a different curriculum from two male teachers, who were part of the guard force watching over them.
Eight hundred children. One teacher for the young children, one teacher for the older girls, and two teachers for the older boys. Sullha had been complaining about it to anyone who would listen since Tomek had been old enough to start in Saphira's class.
If she went looking for women who could read well enough to help teach, she would have a perfect reason to talk to anyone.
Well, that wasn't true. The mothers of the six soldiers in Yaaf's group were probably barely literate, if at all, because they were older and hadn't received any schooling unless they'd elected to learn later in life when it had become available to them.
That was a disadvantage but also an advantage because she would need to talk to a lot of women before she found capable candidates to fill the teaching positions.
It was the perfect cover.
Later, when she told Saphira about her recruitment idea, the teacher was all for it.
"We could use more teachers for the young kids and for the older girls," Saphira said, her arms full of the rolled mats the children sat on during lessons.
"The older girls deserve more than four hours a week, and we can reinforce the boys' education as well. They won't be happy about it, though."
Sullha chuckled. "No, they won't. They much prefer to run around and play than sit in a classroom. Let's start with finding teachers for the little ones and the girls first."
Perhaps she could even find new teachers for real before she escaped.
Probably not.
She didn't have enough time.
Could the escape plan be postponed?
She needed to talk to Yaaf and convince him to delay the plan so she could leave the enclosure with a clear conscience. After all, hadn't he done the same by eliminating Losham's adversaries? He'd secured the island to the best of his ability.
Not he. Them. The Eight who were one.
She still couldn't wrap her head around that.
Saphira gave her a long, evaluating look that made the hairs on the back of Sullha's neck prickle. Saphira was not a Sacred Mother because she wasn't a mother at all. But she was perceptive, and Sullha didn't know if she could trust her.
"Why now?" Saphira asked.
"Why not now?"
"You have been complaining about the teaching situation for a long time, and your solution was to volunteer your help and hope others would follow your example."
"But they didn't." Sullha threw her hands in the air. "And since they didn't come to us, I decided to go to them and guilt some into doing more for the children."
Saphira winced. "You know what most will tell you. Why bother? What use do these kids have for education?"
"I know. But I have to try. I can't keep sitting on the sidelines and hope something will change. I need to be the one who will bring that change."
Saphira nodded. She did not look fully convinced, but she didn't look suspicious either.
"When you find volunteers, I'll help interview them. Not everyone is suitable for working with kids."
"I know." Sullha rolled her eyes. "Trust me, I know."
Saphira cast her a sympathetic look.
The teacher knew about Sullha's mother and how she treated her.
Sullha left Tomek in Saphira's class with a kiss on his forehead and him wincing because she was embarrassing him in front of the other kids.
She intended to start searching for Rohilah, who was next on her list, but found herself heading to the kitchen to collect some cool lemonade instead.