Chapter 37 Areana
AREANA
Areana kept her breathing steady as she and Tula walked toward the cliff, and her expression was calm even though her heart was racing. Beside her, Tula was silent, her hands clasped together so tightly her knuckles had gone white.
"It will be all right," Areana said softly, though she wasn't sure she believed it. "You, at least, are getting out."
"You don't know that." Tula's voice was barely above a whisper. "They might say that it's too risky this time and they can't do it."
"That's not going to happen." Areana sat on the stone bench as she had done for countless Wednesdays before and pulled the embroidery out of her purse.
Tula sat beside her, but instead of facing the ocean, she sat sideways so she could see anyone approaching and sound a warning.
"Hello, Lady Areana," William's familiar voice sounded in her earpiece. "I'm patching you through."
"Areana." A male voice came online instead of Annani's. "It's Kian. My mother is here with me, but she asked me to explain. Is Tula with you?"
"Yes."
"Good. She needs to hear this." Another pause, and Areana heard papers rustling. "We have a viable plan, but there are limitations you both need to understand."
Areana's stomach tightened. The word limitations was ominous.
"What kind of limitations?" she asked.
"After much deliberation, we arrived at the conclusion that we can safely extract only one person. Any more would raise too many questions, create too much scrutiny, and put you at risk, which we are not willing to do. I'm sorry. I know you were waiting for better news."
Beside Areana, Tula made a sound—something between a gasp and a sob.
"Is there a chance you could extract the others at a later time?" Areana had to ask, though she already knew the answer.
"We'll reassess in a year or two, after scrutiny dies down. If we can find a way to extract them safely without exposing you, we will." Kian's pause told Areana everything she needed to know about the likelihood of that happening. "But right now, Tula is our priority."
Tula's hand found Areana's, gripping so hard it was painful, but Areana didn't mind. Tula was communicating her grief, her guilt, her relief mixed with her crushing loss.
"She is," Areana said. "What do we need to do to prepare?"
"Can you two stage something at night? That's the best time for the extraction when visibility is low."
Areana expected that, but she had no easy solutions. "Navuh typically joins me for dinner in the evenings. It would have been better if it could have been done when he was away from the harem."
"Can you get him to leave? Create a distraction?"
"Not without arousing suspicion. I will need to create a sense of emergency. Maybe a maid informing me that Tula is distraught and needs me. We did that with Carol, but we will have to come up with a different scenario, or it will seem suspicious."
"Would Navuh let you handle it alone?" Kian asked.
"He'd stay away. Navuh avoids what he calls 'female drama.' He will be happy to leave handling Tula's emotional crisis to me as long as he doesn't suspect anything."
"Then you'd better come up with a convincing act. As before, our master shrouder will handle the humans, thralling them to see Tula throwing herself off the cliff. Are you sure there are still no cameras mounted in the vicinity of the cliff?"
"I'm sure."
She had wondered about it. The area around the cliff didn't lend itself to cameras, but that had never stopped Navuh before.
Normally, he would have a pole installed wherever he needed a camera and solve the problem like that.
Could it be that he didn't want to encroach on what she considered her sanctuary?
Tears misted her eyes at the thought.
Tula's grip on her hand tightened further, and when Areana glanced at her, she saw tears streaming down Tula's face, though she made no sound.
"It will be safer for you if you're not there when I supposedly jump," Tula said. "The gardeners will report that I threw myself down the cliff and that they saw my body go under. You don't need to be present. If you are with Navuh when it happens, he will be less suspicious of you."
"Tula—" Areana started.
"She's right," Kian cut in. "Tula can do this without you. The investigation will focus heavily on whoever was there when she jumped, and that means you."
"Which is exactly why I need to be there," Areana said firmly.
"There is no guarantee that anyone will be there after dark, and someone has to confirm that Tula threw herself off the cliff.
Someone Navuh trusts completely. If I'm not there, and even if the humans working the grounds see it, he will have questions.
He'd wonder why I wasn't alerted, why no one came to get me, so I could try to prevent a tragedy involving someone I love. "
"The gardeners can be thralled to say they wanted to send for you, but it happened too fast," Tula argued. "Yamanu can make them believe whatever we need them to believe. You don't have to put yourself at risk."
"It's too risky for you to attempt this alone." Areana turned to face Tula. "What if one of the ladies realizes that you are missing and goes looking for you? Yamanu's shroud doesn't work on immortals."
"You are also right," Kian said in the earpiece. "Your presence makes the cover story more credible and provides backup if something unexpected occurs. The additional risk to you is worth it for the increased chance of success."
"I don't want you to be hurt because of me." Tula's voice was breaking. "I don't want Navuh to—if he finds out—"
"He won't find out." Areana squeezed Tula's hand.
"This extraction will be flawless because I will be very believable in my grief and horror of watching you fall.
It won't even be difficult to act the part.
" Areana felt her throat tightening. "Because that's how it will feel.
Knowing I'll never see you again, that I'll never get to know your child—the grief will be real. "
Tula's tears fell harder. "I don't want to leave you."
"I know." Areana pulled her into her arms, holding her tightly. "But you must."
Kian cleared his throat in the earpiece. "I hate to rush you, but we need to go over several things."
Areana let go of Tula but held on to her hand. "What else do we need to know?"
Kian spent the next several minutes detailing the specifics—the timing, the positioning, the signal system, what Tula should wear and bring, and how long the underwater portion would take. Areana committed every detail to memory, and beside her, Tula was doing the same.
"Saturday night," Kian finished. "That's the target date."
Three days. Areana had three more days with Tula. Three days to prepare her, to memorize her face, to say goodbye without actually saying it aloud.
"Saturday," Areana repeated. "We'll be ready."