Chapter 10 Wonder
WONDER
The afternoon rush at the café was finally slowing when Wonder saw Esag walk in. Even from a distance, she could tell that he was troubled. His red hair fell over his forehead, partially covering his eyes, his hands were tucked into his pockets, and his shoulders were slumped.
He looked at her and smiled, but then quickly averted his gaze and walked over to an empty table next to the hedge, private and shaded.
Annani had told her that Esag had given up on getting visions about Khiann because weeks of carving figurines had yielded nothing but frustration and disappointment. Perhaps that failure had crushed his spirits.
He felt like he'd disappointed Annani.
"Aliya." Wonder turned to her assistant. "Can you handle things for a bit?"
"Of course." Aliya smiled, casting a glance at Esag. "Need to console a friend?"
"That's very perceptive of you. He looks down, and he came here for a reason. He probably needs someone to talk to."
They used to talk a lot back in Sumer when she'd still fancied herself in love with him.
He'd been so full of spirit, always teasing and joking and generally clowning around.
Life had robbed him of that youthful enthusiasm, of the naive belief that if he only tried hard enough, everything would turn out okay.
Five thousand years was certainly long enough to crush the spirits of anyone but the strongest. Luckily for her, she'd spent most of that time in stasis, so her years of actual living matched her appearance. She was in her early twenties, even though she'd been born only a few years after Esag.
She poured coffee into two large paper cups, put them on a tray, added a few pastries and coffee fixings, and headed to Esag's table. The almond croissants were his favorite, and hopefully, they would help lift his spirits.
He'd always had a sweet tooth.
Strange how some details stuck in memory while others faded. She could still remember the exact way he'd smiled when she'd offered him cookies her mother had baked for her and Annani, the way his eyes had lingered on her face, her lips, and the way her heart sped up every time he did it.
When she got to his table, Esag was staring at nothing, his fingers drumming a mindless rhythm on the metal surface. He didn't notice her approach until she set the tray down with a clink of plastic against metal.
"Oh, hi, Wonder," he said. "I didn't order anything."
"I know. It's on the house." She sat across from him, pushing one of the coffees in his direction. "You look like you need someone to talk to."
A ghost of a smile touched his lips. "You could always read me with such ease." He lifted the paper cup. "You've always seen me."
She nodded. "I cared for you, and I still do, just not in the same way."
A blush bloomed on his neck like it always did when he was embarrassed. The curse of the redheads, he used to call it, cursing his pale skin that betrayed every strong emotion.
The acknowledgment of their history sat between them for a moment, a little awkward but also comfortable in the way people who had known each other for a long time felt. Was that how divorced humans felt after the initial hurt and anger faded?
Even lovers who had gone their separate ways could not erase the history they had together, the familiarity.
She and Esag had made their peace, a balance between past and present that allowed them to coexist in the village without feeling awkward around each other. But moments like this, when old intimacy surfaced, reminded them both of what had been, or rather could have been but never was.
Esag took a long time adding the sugar and cream to his coffee and stirring them in. It was a delay tactic so he could organize his thoughts, but he shouldn't bother being so careful with his words around her. Had he forgotten that she knew him better than most?
"What is it?" she asked gently when the silence stretched too long.
He set down the stirrer. "Have you heard from Tula recently?"
Of all the things she'd expected him to say, asking about her sister hadn't even been on the list. "No, not directly.
The harem was flooded after a minor earthquake, something about subterranean water penetrating the structure, and everyone was evacuated.
They only recently returned, and Areana called, but I don't think she said anything about Tula or Annani would have told me. "
His pained expression didn't make sense.
"You're scaring me, Esag. What's going on? Why the sudden interest in Tula?"
He reached into his pocket and withdrew something wrapped in soft cloth.
As he unwrapped it, a small wooden figurine was revealed.
It was beautiful, carved with the meticulous skill she'd come to expect from his work, but that wasn't what made her heart race.
The face was familiar yet different, like looking in a mirror that reflected not quite accurately.
"I was trying to carve you," Esag explained.
"Anandur commissioned it. But every time I tried, it came out wrong.
The features were off, the expression wasn't right.
I made three attempts." He pushed the figurine across the table toward her.
"And each time this was what emerged from the wood. It's Tula, isn't it?"
"I don't know." Wonder picked up the figurine.
"I don't know what she looks like except for Carol's descriptions.
She said Tula was a smaller, feistier version of me.
" The resemblance was unmistakable, but the bone structure was more delicate, and she remembered the expression that was a mixture of determination and longing for something more.
The girl her little sister had been, was a spitfire who worshiped Annani and wanted to be just like her.
She'd craved adventure but hadn't had the courage to seek it out on her own.
That's why she'd been so eager to participate in all of Annani's crazy ideas.
"Even after five thousand years, I still remember this stubborn and yet vulnerable expression. She was always a tapestry of contradictions."
"Have you regained all of your memories?" Esag asked gently.
Wonder nodded. "When I first woke up from stasis, I didn't even remember who I was, but once the memories were triggered by seeing Annani's portrait, everything started flooding back in. Eventually, I regained all of my memories."
"I'm glad." He reached for her hand, then changed his mind mid-motion and retracted it. "I had a vision about Tula," Esag said quietly. "It must have been triggered by what I was carving."
Wonder's hand tightened on the figurine. "What did you see?"
He swallowed. "Tula is pregnant."
Wonder stared at him, waiting for him to take it back, to say that it had only been a vague impression and that he might be wrong, but his expression remained grave.
"Pregnant? Are you sure?"
He nodded. "Understandably, she's frightened and desperate, and she needs our help. That's the only reason I can see for her appearing in my vision."
Pregnancy in the harem was bad news. If the child were a boy, he would be taken away and raised as a warrior for the Brotherhood. If a girl, she might remain in the harem, but she'd never be allowed to transition to immortality, doomed to age and die like any other human.
"Do you know who the father is?" he asked.
"Tony," she murmured. "A human that was brought to the harem and that Tula has taken as her lover."
Wonder realized she was still holding the figurine, gripping it so tightly the edges dug into her palm. She forced herself to loosen her hold and set it carefully on the table between them.
"How far along is she?"
"It's still early, from what I could see," Esag said. "Her belly was only slightly rounded, but the way she had her hand on it left no doubt about the reason. She didn't just gain weight from eating too many pastries."
"She reached out to you for a reason."
Tula had always been fierce, independent, and proud, but if she needed help and knew how to appear in someone's mind, she should have reached out to her sister or to Annani. Why had she felt the need to contact Esag through a vision?
Did Areana even know that Tula was pregnant?
Esag rubbed his face with both hands. "It was like she was willing me to understand, to act, to do something."
"We need to tell Annani." Wonder stood up.
"Now?"
"Yes." She turned toward the service kiosk. "Aliya, there is something I need to do. Can you hold the fort on your own until Arezoo gets here?"
"Of course." Aliya looked worried. "Did something happen?"
"I'm not sure." Wonder returned the tray to the counter and walked out of the café.
She heard Esag's footsteps behind her, having to hurry to keep up with her fast pace.
"Wonder, wait." He caught her arm, pulling her to a stop in the shade of an oak tree. "We need to think about this. What can Annani actually do? The Brotherhood's island is a fortress. We can't just storm in and rescue Tula."
"The clan rescued Carol."
"Carol was one person with an extraction plan already in place. This is different."
Wonder yanked her arm free, anger flaring hot and sudden. "This is my sister, Esag. She's pregnant and terrified and somehow desperate enough that she reached out through whatever impossible connection allowed her to appear in your vision. We have to do something."
"I'm not saying we shouldn't. I'm saying we need to be smart about it." His voice was maddeningly calm, reasonable. "Annani is impulsive, and she will want to charge in right away and save Tula, but doing so without a plan will only get people killed and won't help your sister."
She wanted to argue, but he was right. The fury drained out of her as quickly as it had risen, leaving her feeling hollow and scared.
"I wish Anandur were here. He would know what to do."
"Where is he?"
"With Kian on that new island that the clan acquired." She looked at her watch. "I should call him, maybe get Kian involved."
Esag grimaced. "It was a vision, Wonder. It felt real, and it felt current, but you know that visions can be of the future. Maybe Tula is not pregnant yet, but will be? Do you really want to get Kian and Annani involved before we know for sure?"
She frowned. "How will we know?"
"Simple. On Wednesday, ask to talk to Tula and confront her about it."
She shook her head. "I can't wait until Wednesday. I need to at least tell Annani and have her ask Areana to let me speak with Tula. She's always there during those calls, keeping watch for Areana."