Chapter 4 Tula
TULA
Tula sat on the edge of the pool's deck, her legs dangling in the shallow end, the semi-sheer cover-up wrapped around her body to hide the swell of her belly. She watched the water shimmer under the artificial lights, the patterns fractured by the gentle ripples created by the swimmers' movements.
It was a lazy Sunday afternoon, and they were taking a break from the book restoration to enjoy some physical activity. It was supposed to be relaxing, and she had no doubt that the others were having a good time, but she was too tense, too worried to enjoy herself.
Tamira was doing okay, putting on a brave face and pretending that everything in her world was fine, and Areana was swimming endless, leisurely laps.
"Are you going to sit out there all afternoon?" Raviki called from where she was floating on her back near the center of the pool, her dark hair fanning out around her like seaweed. "Come in and float with me."
Tula forced a grin, the expression feeling tight on her face. "I'm enjoying the view. Having fun does not equate to being in constant motion like a school of hyperactive fish."
Hopefully, that had sounded like her old self. A little sarcastic, teasing, with just enough bite to be amusing without drawing blood, but while before it had been effortless, now she had to force it, and the result wasn't as witty.
Raviki laughed and splashed water in her direction. "Hyperactive fish? That's the best you can come up with? You're losing your edge, Tula."
She was. "My edge is fine."
Across the pool, Areana cut through the water with her usual fluid grace.
Lap after lap, her strokes were perfect, seemingly effortless.
Her skin shone, but not because she was using her inner glow.
It was just the overhead lighting bouncing off her nearly white skin.
Her expression remained serene, untroubled, as if she had nothing more pressing on her mind than the simple pleasure of movement through water.
How did she do it?
How did Areana maintain that perfect composure when so much was on the line? When she was planning to betray her mate, an act that could damage their relationship in an irreversible way?
For Tula, it was an effort to maintain a facade for a few hours by the pool, and she couldn't fathom how Areana was managing to do it when all the while hiding her scheming from Navuh.
Practice. The goddess had had a lot of practice over the five thousand years she'd been mated to him.
"You should get in," Sarah said as she slid through the water to rest her arms on the deck beside Tula's legs. "Your belly isn't that noticeable," she said in a whisper that was meant for Tula's ears alone.
Tula glanced down at herself at the way the cover-up draped over her midsection. To her, the swell was obvious, impossible to miss.
"I look like I've gained five kilos," she muttered. "It's very noticeable."
Sarah's expression softened. "It's in your mind. Have you actually gotten on the scale?"
Tula hesitated, then admitted, "Two. I've gained only two kilos, but it looks like five."
"That's nothing. It could be water retention or a few extra servings at dinner. Besides, the water will hide it." Sarah squeezed her ankle gently. "Stress eating is to be expected after the trauma of the rebellion."
Tula had to admit that sounded like a good excuse.
"Yeah, I've been snacking on too many sweets," she said aloud.
"It seems like the only thing that can calm me down these days.
" In fact, she could use the trauma from the rebellion to explain the changes in her mood as well.
"I can't stop thinking about what could have happened, how close we were to…
" She trailed off on purpose. "You know.
What we were all terrified of happening. "
Sarah nodded. "These enhanced soldiers are monsters. I hope Lord Navuh decides not to continue with the program."
There was no chance of that. According to Areana, a new scientist had arrived on the island to continue the work.
"Tula!" Tony called from the far end of the pool, where he was practicing flips with Elias. "Come and see what I can do!"
Ever since they'd had that fight about his cowardice in acknowledging her pregnancy, he was making an effort, which meant that he was hovering.
He brought her water without being asked, fetched extra pillows for her to rest against, and kept shooting her concerned glances when he thought she wasn't looking.
It was sweet but also suffocating.
Tula couldn't tell him that, though. Couldn't explain that his attention, however well-meaning, felt like just another thing to manage, another performance to maintain.
"I can see you from here," she called back, injecting false brightness into her voice. "I'm impressed."
Grinning, he returned his attention to Elias.
Tula allowed the smile to slide off her face and shifted her gaze to Beulah and Liliat, who were competing near the deep end to see who could hold her breath longest. Immortals could remain submerged for impressive amounts of time, but levels of skill varied between immortals as they did between humans, and they were even more competitive.
Tamira floated nearby, her eyes closed, her face tilted toward the ceiling. She looked peaceful, but it was all an impressive act. When she thought no one was looking at her, the haunted expression returned to her eyes.
These females were Tula's sisters in everything but blood. How could she leave them behind?
The guilt didn't let up. She was choosing her unborn child over these females who'd been her family and friends for millennia.
Was she being selfish? Or was it the most natural thing in the world for a mother to choose the well-being of her child above all?
"Tula?" Sarah said, bringing her back to the present. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah. I was just thinking."
"About?"
Tula looked at her friend, at the concern in her eyes, and the guilt felt like acid was flowing in her veins.
"Nothing important." She slipped off the edge and removed the cover-up, tossing it on the deck behind her.
The cool embrace of the water was a relief. She ducked under completely, letting the water close over her head, muffling all sound. For a moment, she could pretend the world had shrunk to just this—the gentle pressure of water, the play of light through liquid, the muted sounds of movement.
Then her lungs demanded air, and she had to surface.
She swam toward the cluster of women in the center of the pool—Sarah, Beulah, Raviki, Tamira, and now Liliat, who'd surfaced from her breath-holding contest with a triumphant grin.
"I definitely won," Liliat declared.
"You absolutely did not," Beulah protested. "I was down there for at least thirty seconds longer."
"Thirty seconds? Try ten at most."
"Ladies," Raviki interjected with mock solemnity. "You both lost. I clearly remained submerged the longest."
"You weren't even competing!" Liliat splashed her.
The easy banter, the comfortable teasing, was what Tula would miss most. Not the luxury or the safety or even the familiarity of the harem itself, but this. These women. These relationships were built over thousands of years of shared captivity.
Would any of them choose to leave if given the chance?
The question burned in her mind, demanding release, even though she couldn't offer them freedom because she still didn't know if Annani was going to send a rescue team at all. Still, if Areana's sister agreed to help, perhaps she could rescue more than just the four of them.
"I came across the most interesting story," she said, treading water next to them.
"Oh no." Raviki groaned dramatically. "Not another one of your philosophical debates. I'm too relaxed for deep thinking."
"This one is not as much philosophical as it is hypothetical," Tula said. "It's a what-if scenario."
Tamira, who was floating upright in the water, opened her eyes, and there was something guarded in her expression, a wariness that Tula understood perfectly. Tamira suspected what Tula was about to do, and she didn't approve.
Of course, she didn't.
But Tula pressed on anyway. "What if aliens land on the harem grounds—"
"Aliens?" Beulah chuckled. "Is that what you are going with?"
"Hush, I'm setting the scene. Aliens land, and they offer to take us away from here. They freeze everyone else. The guards, the servants, everyone except us. So, there is no one to stop us from boarding their craft and venturing into the unknown. Would you accept their invitation?"
As the question hung in the air, Tula's heart raced. To ask this was reckless. Stupid, even. But she had to know.
Sarah pursed her lips. "I wouldn't go with some strange aliens who would do the Fates know what to us." Her answer was like a punch to Tula's gut. "How could I possibly trust them? For all we know, they'd experiment on us or eat us, or worse."
"What if you could somehow know that they weren't dangerous?" Tula tried. "What if you could sense that they were good?"
"No one can sense that." Sarah spread her arms in the water to keep herself afloat.
"Evil doesn't announce itself. It pretends to be good until it has you in its grasp.
The worst evildoers in history lied and distorted truth until they amassed enough power to slaughter all the stupid people who believed their propaganda. "
Behind them, the men stopped their exercise and got closer.
"That's why seeking truth is essential to survival," Elias said. "Evil lies and subverts."
Raviki turned to look at him. "But how do you distinguish truth from lies? Those who lie have no scruples. They use every nasty trick in the book."
Elias nodded. "You are right. Lies are easy, but providing evidence is more difficult. The smart people who take the time to examine the information will find holes in a deceitful narrative and realize that they were lied to."