26. Sullha
SULLHA
O n Friday morning, two vans waited in the underground garage instead of one.
Sullha herded Tomek out of the elevator with his backpack bouncing on her shoulder, stocked with cars, two coloring books, and crayons in case the visit turned out to be long and boring.
It was amazing how quickly children adapted to new things. Tomek was already treating elevator rides as if he had done them his whole life, while some of the women still clutched each other in fear.
Gathered beside the second vehicle were the harem ladies, dressed in bright colored dresses, their hair perfectly styled, and their faces painted with a skill Sullha would never master no matter how many times she tried, and she'd tried a lot.
In the end, she'd just washed her face and declared it good enough.
Yaaf loved her the way she was.
He'd told her he loved her again last night, and her heartbeat had still not returned to normal.
"Sullha!" Tula broke from the group and walked over to her with arms open.
"Good morning." Sullha walked into the hug willingly, angling so she didn't put pressure on Tula's pregnant belly.
"Look at you," Tula said. "Village life agrees with you." She took Sullha's hand and pulled her toward the others. "Come. I want you to meet my mate, Esag."
The male had flaming red hair that curled at the ends and eyes the shade of the ocean, a blue that was almost turquoise. He was tall and broad like all the immortal males Sullha had met so far. His eyes were kind, and the smile on his face was effortless, as if smiling was his natural default.
She liked him at first sight.
"Esag is an artist," Tula said, and smiled at Tomek. "He made you a present."
Tomek's eyes widened. "He did?"
"Indeed." Esag reached into his pocket and pulled out a little carved knight, complete with shiny armor, a sword, and a pointed metal hat. "I also made a princess for him so he wouldn't be lonely." He reached into his other pocket and pulled out another figurine.
His command of the old language was flawless, but his pronunciation was completely different. He sounded high class, like the harem ladies.
"Thank you." Tomek reached for the knight and the princess, but it was obvious that he was much less excited about her than about the knight.
He handed the princess to her. "Mama, can you put her in the backpack?"
"Sure, sweetie." She smiled at Esag. "Thank you for the figurines. They are beautiful."
"My pleasure. Next time I'll bring him only knights, or maybe horses to go with them."
"I want a horse," Tomek exclaimed. "Please? Can I have a horse?"
Esag laughed. "You'll get a horse, young man. But it will take me a few days." He pulled out another figurine of a princess. "Excuse me, but I have one more present to deliver to a little girl." He walked over to Bianca.
"This is Tony." Tula switched to English as she gestured at a man with dark hair. "He used to be mine, but I traded him in." She said it with such open affection that Tony laughed.
"We both upgraded," he said. "My mate lives in the village and works as a librarian in the city. I was lucky enough to get a position walking distance from home."
"He works with Kaia," Tula said, as if Sullha was supposed to know who Kaia was. "And this is Eluheed." She pulled her toward a man who was holding Tamira's hand. He was lean, with light brown hair and wise blue eyes. "He's Tamira's mate."
"An honor to meet you," Eluheed said, and dipped his head.
Tomek, who had no interest in the adults, planted himself in front of the second van's open door and stared up at the driver who stood beside it in a crisp suit identical to Okidu's, with a face identical to Okidu's, wearing an identical polite smile.
"Mama." Tomek pointed. "There are two of him."
He had been so overwhelmed during the escape from the island that he either hadn't noticed the two Odus who had helped the team or had forgotten that he'd seen them.
"You shouldn't point at people, Tomek."
"But look. They are twins."
"We are," the Odu bowed. "I am Onidu, and Okidu is my brother. We are two out of seven, and we all look alike but not identical."
Tomek looked from Onidu to Okidu and back with his mouth open.
"You look the same," Tomek said.
Okidu, who was standing beside their own van, tilted his head. "We are not exactly the same, Master Tomek. My six brothers and I were created by the same master, who fashioned us in his own image, but he made sure that we were easily distinguishable from one another."
Tomek blinked, probably not understanding half of what Okidu had said, even though the Odu spoke the old tongue, which was similar to the island language, but many of the words sounded different.
"That's nice," Tomek murmured, which was his standard answer for things that flew over his head, and climbed into the van.
She followed her son inside.
Saphira had joined them this time because the gathering wasn't about mothers and sons. It was about escapees from the island celebrating their freedom.
Baruha and Asira sat down on either side of Sullha and Tomek, with Asira immediately launching into an inventory of what she planned to ask Camdor today.
Zohara met Sullha's eyes for exactly one heartbeat and chose a seat two rows back.
Mirumah said, "Good morning, Sullha," with flawless courtesy, and sat across the aisle.
Karina sat beside a window in the very back of the van.
Sullha returned every greeting in the same manner it was offered and made no effort to fix anything.
There was no point. Those who were still angry at her for keeping the hive mind a secret from them would eventually have to accept that it didn't matter who told them what and when. Their sons were an oddity, and it was uncomfortable, but they had to deal with it.
The van entered the lift, and Tomek narrated the descent to Asira, who gasped in all the right places. Once they entered the tunnel and the windows went milky, Sullha leaned her head back against the seat, closed her eyes, and thought of Yaaf.
They had spoken twice since the visit. The first call was the night she had returned to the village after Tomek had fallen asleep.
She'd told Yaaf about the women and how some were still angry at her but would have to get over it, mostly because she was helping them learn English, so they had to spend time with her whether they liked it or not.
Yaaf had laughed at that and suggested she make the classes more difficult for those who gave her a hard time.
Then they talked about him and how he was managing in the tiny room that used to be a cell and was barely big enough for one person but still had more comforts than any Yaaf had enjoyed in a long time.
Even in the hotel suite, he had shared a bed with Number Three.
Here he had the bed all to himself, and a small couch and a television, but he didn't like being alone.
He preferred sharing a bed with someone else to the comfort of having more space to himself.
She'd asked why he hadn't invited one of the seven to sleep with him, and he said that the bed was too narrow for two grown males to share, but it was big enough for her to join him.
An awkward silence had followed, not because she'd found the idea repulsive, but because she'd turned it over in her head to examine how she felt about it.
How would it feel to be intimate with someone she actually chose?
Could Yaaf be intimate with her at all?
She'd kissed him once, just a small peck on the lips, and he'd been stunned. He hadn't wrapped his arms around her or tried to deepen the kiss. In fact, he hadn't tried anything sexual with her ever.
He'd told her he loved her, though.
"I would put myself between you and harm a thousand times and think myself lucky for being able to be your shield," he'd said before they had gone underwater in the cove.
They had not been alone since their dive from the cove to the boat, and there hadn't been an opportunity to kiss again and see where it took them.
Whether Yaaf wanted her that way was another question she had added to her list but hadn't written down. She wouldn't ask him either. She would test it.
Provided that she had the guts to do that.
The second call was Thursday night, and it had been lighter and longer. He had told her about the pool they were advised not to visit because Navuh was doing his rehabilitation exercises there and they had no wish to bump into him.
She'd asked how it was possible that they hadn't seen Navuh yet, since he was also residing in the dungeon.
Yaaf had answered that they had been informed of his pool-use schedule, which was the only time he was allowed out of his cell, and that they were instructed to be in the gym during those times.
Somewhere past midnight she'd realized she was lying in the dark smiling at a ceiling, holding a rectangular piece of technology to her ear, and that this was the best part of her days.
There were questions she still hadn't asked, not on Wednesday and not on Thursday, about the venom and about the bite, and whether he had known about her ability to transition into immortality.
Perhaps she could ask him today during Lady Areana's welcome party. The mothers would be busy chatting with the harem ladies, and Tomek had a backpack full of toys and coloring books to keep him busy as well, so she and Yaaf might find a few moments alone.
As the van's windows cleared, the mountains rolled by, green and dry-patched, and then the city. This time the women looked on with a little less awe, only interest, and Sullha thought that awe was short-lived, but interest could endure longer.
At the clan's private underground parking garage, Bowen was once again waiting for them, and this time the elevator they entered was not the same one as before, and it wasn't big enough for everyone, so the former harem ladies and their companions went first. When the elevator returned empty, Sullha and the others went in together with Bowen.