Chapter 1 Tula #2
Tula was no longer sure. "I don't know, Areana. You might be overestimating Annani's devotion to you. She might not deny your request outright, but eventually she will tell you that it's too risky and she can't sacrifice her people to save me."
"Annani is a mother," Areana said. "She will empathize with your plight and admire your courage to try to change the fate of your child."
Tula shook her head. "The escape wasn't even my idea.
Tamira and Elias were planning it for weeks, maybe longer, and they didn't intend to take anyone with them.
When Tamira saw how devastated I was by my pregnancy, she and Elias offered to take Tony and me with them.
It was their generosity, not my courage. "
Areana was quiet for a long moment, her expression thoughtful.
"I suspected Tamira and Elias were plotting something," she said finally.
"For a long time, actually. But I didn't know that you and Tony were involved.
" She paused, and something that looked like hurt crossed her face.
"When I saw you at the tunnel entrance, I'll admit that it stung. "
Guilt twisted in Tula's stomach. "I'm so sorry, Areana. I would never have left if not for the pregnancy."
"Don't apologize." Areana's hand covered Tula's, squeezing gently.
"I understand why you jumped at the offer.
If I were in your position, I might have done the same.
" She smiled ruefully. "But I might have been more diligent about finding out more about the submarine and if it was operable before making such an attempt. "
Tula was sure she would have. Areana was always careful, methodical, and didn't suffer from impulsiveness like Tula.
"What happens now?" she asked.
"I will call Annani and beg for her help."
Hope flickered in Tula's chest. "Can you call her today?"
Areana shook her head. "Our calls are scheduled for Wednesdays.
Always Wednesday, same time. This is how we've done it since the clan installed the communication device on the cliff and Carol taught me how to use the earpiece and its counterpart.
So far, I have avoided discovery, and I won't risk tempting the Fates by deviating from the schedule. It's bad luck."
"But—" Tula started.
Areana lifted a hand to stop her. "Patience, Tula. I know it's difficult, but this is not the kind of thing that should or could be rushed. We've kept this communication channel open for so long because we've been careful. Disciplined."
Tula pressed both hands against her belly, feeling the firm swell there. "I can't be patient. The child is growing so fast now. Every day that passes, I'm more visibly pregnant. Soon, I won't be able to hide it at all, and what then?"
If Navuh discovered her condition, he'd be pleased. Another son for his army, another warrior to mold and control. But he'd also have her watched closely to ensure she carried to term.
Copying Carol's fake suicidal leap off the cliff would not be possible.
Areana's gaze dropped to Tula's stomach, and a soft smile curved her lips.
"Given the shape of your belly, it must indeed be a boy.
I still vividly remember my pregnancies with both of mine, even though they were nearly a millennium apart.
The way time seemed to accelerate, the way I could feel them growing by the day. "
Tula knew the story or parts of it. She knew that both sons had eventually escaped their father's control. Lokan had only recently fled for good, while Kalugal had been free for nearly a century. She also knew that Areana mourned their absence from her life but celebrated their hard-won freedom.
"I'll call Annani on Wednesday as scheduled," Areana said. "We're going to get you out." The certainty in her voice made Tula want to believe that it would happen.
"It's Friday," she murmured. "Wednesday is a long time from now, and even if they agree to help, they will need weeks to plan."
Areana nodded. "It's all for the best. You and the others must return to your routines and act as normally as you can—no whispered conversations, no furtive glances, no suspicious behavior of any kind.
Navuh doesn't monitor the surveillance camera feed in the harem, but his men do, and they report any suspicious behavior to him.
Any hint that something is amiss, and he'll investigate. "
A chill slithered down Tula's spine. "We've been acting very suspiciously lately, all four of us, and I know the others have noticed."
All those meetings in the bathrooms, which were the only private spaces safe from surveillance. They'd even used her bathroom as a fingerprint workshop. If Navuh's men had the intelligence of a fence post, they would have noticed something.
"You have the excuse of your maladies as of late, but they could also point to your condition.
This is why you must make an extra effort to appear as normal as possible.
" Areana patted Tula's knee. "Engage in your normal routines.
Let yourself be seen being bored, being content, being whatever you usually are, but don't show anyone that you are nauseous, and don't touch your belly.
Your friends will cooperate, thinking that you want to hide your pregnancy, which is true. Don't give anyone a reason to wonder."
That was easier said than done, but Areana was right, and Tula resolved to be the best actress possible until the rescue arrived.
There was only one problem. "Don't I need to appear depressed and suicidal so it would be believable when I throw myself off the cliff?"
"Not yet," Areana said. "We don't know what plan the clan will devise this time around, and until we do, behave normally. Smile and tease your friends like you have always done."
"I can do that."
"That's the spirit." Areana smiled. "I knew that spunk was still somewhere in there." She rose to her feet. "I'll make us some calming tea. We need that after all the excitement."
"I wouldn't call it excitement." Tula toed off her slippers and pulled her legs under her. "More like being pounded on the head with a hammer. By the way, are you sure it's safe for me to be here for so long? What if Navuh comes back?"
"He won't," Areana said with absolute confidence. "He has meetings scheduled all day—something about the new scientist arriving and preparations for resuming the enhancement program. He won't return before dinner."
The mention of the enhancement program sent another chill through Tula. The soldiers had had their minds broken and twisted by Zhao's drugs and had turned into monsters. They were imprisoned in isolation while Navuh searched for someone to continue the experiments.
The island had gone from bad to worse. In addition to the army of immortal warriors and an internationally infamous brothel, it was now also home to a laboratory for horrors.
And she was about to bring a child into this world, into this place.
No. She couldn't think that way. Areana would call Annani, and her clan would come to the rescue. She had to cling to that hope.
"Lie back down," Areana instructed as she returned with a steaming cup of tea. "Put your feet up."
Tula obeyed, arranging herself comfortably in a semi-reclining position. Areana handed her the cup, and Tula inhaled the fragrant steam—chamomile and something else. Something soothing that made her eyelids feel heavy.
"Drink." Areana settled into an armchair across from the chaise. "Slowly."
The tea was perfect—not too hot, sweetened with just a touch of honey, and full of flavors that bloomed on her tongue.
Tula felt some of the tension begin to drain from her shoulders, the tight knot in her chest loosening, and with it the reason that had seemed to abandon her in moments of panic and despair.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked. "You love Navuh. You've chosen to stay with him despite everything. Why risk his wrath by helping us escape?"
Areana was quiet for so long that Tula thought she wouldn't answer. Then she sighed, a sound that seemed to carry the weight of millennia.
"I do love him," she said finally. "That's true.
But love doesn't erase the reality of what this place is.
I've made my peace with it. But you?" She met Tula's gaze.
"You and the others never had a choice. The other ladies were a collection of precious objects that Navuh inherited from Mortdh and decided to keep, and you came with me as a young girl and blossomed into a beautiful female.
" She smiled. "You want to hear something I never told anyone? "
"What?"
"It was I who convinced Navuh to keep the ladies, let them have lovers from the harem staff, and claim their children as his own.
I was afraid of what he would do with them otherwise.
He and I are truelove mates, which means that neither of us can ever touch anyone else sexually.
Navuh didn't need them, and I was afraid he would kill them or have them serve as breeders in the Dormant enclosure.
I couldn't stomach the idea of them being sent there.
Not that I can stomach what's being done to the poor Dormants either, but I can only save some, not all.
At least the Dormants have the ultimate way out in death.
Immortal females don't have even that. They would have been used and abused forever. "
Tula shivered. "You did a good thing."
Areana sighed. "I think I did. Their lives were spared, made comfortable, but they had to pay a heavy price, which was giving up their children."
Tula felt fresh tears prick at her eyes, but these were different—warmer, born of gratitude rather than despair. "Thank you for all you have done for us and are still doing."
Areana smiled and motioned at the cup. "Drink your tea and try to rest a little. You are still emotionally fragile, and I want my old Tula back. I miss the humor, the spunk, and the sharp tongue."