Chapter 18
Eighteen
Callah
Iknew who could help me find Sylis a wife. I actually had a woman in mind, but I wasn't sure if she'd be brave enough to take the risk. To find out, I needed to talk to Felicity again, but there was a problem with that.
She wasn't around.
Over the next few days, I checked the women's laundry and facilities at various times, hoping to catch her.
I asked the wives if they'd seen her. I checked with the widows too.
All of them said she hadn't been around for a few days.
One widow thought she was taking the chance to consider her options, since soon she'd have to remarry.
When the next set of weddings happened, I checked for her, and still didn't see her. But I knew how to find her. Sadly, I didn't know her room, but if she did the same thing as last time, she should be in the laundry the next day around noon.
So I made sure to be there too, and early.
Piece by piece, I scrubbed clean every article of clothing Tobias and I owned.
Women came and went. Some muttered about the brutality of these weddings, but most kept their eyes on their work.
I watched, trying to keep track of who seemed angry, who was resigned, and which women were watching the rest of us like me.
I couldn't be sure if those were trying to judge how safe they were, or if they were planning to tell their husbands about the discontent. As a new wife, I didn't know most of these women, so I wanted to get a feel for them. To me, that meant my trip wouldn't be wasted.
But on the next to last piece of clothing, Felicity finally stepped through the door.
Her laundry basket was more full than normal, but the dark mark on the side of her neck explained why.
I sucked in a loud breath before I could stop myself.
She didn't have a husband to beat her. She was a widow, so how had she been bruised so severely?
"Felicity?" I asked, leaving my washing and hurrying to her side. "What happened?"
I took her basket from her hands, all but forcing her to follow me back. Oddly, she said nothing. Felicity simply looked around, taking in who was in the laundry with us. Her next words made me think there was someone in here who couldn't be trusted.
"I spoke out of line and was punished for it."
A woman at the next basin overheard. "You remarried already?"
"No, it was Mr. Morgan."
The man who Ayla had been supposed to marry. The one she'd kicked in the groin, but not the man she'd stabbed. Still, Mr. Morgan was not Felicity's husband, so why had he punished her?
"I'm sure you'll hold your tongue next time," I told her. "But let me help you with this. It looks like you're behind, and slovenliness will not be tolerated."
"Thank you, Callah," she mumbled, glancing up without raising her head.
I noticed the direction, but didn't immediately look. Instead, I hurried through my last items, then moved Felicity's to take their place. Together, we soaked and scrubbed, letting the sound of wet cloth fill the room the same way the other women were.
When I finished the first piece, I wrung it out and put it back in her now-empty basket.
The turn allowed me to finally look the same way Felicity had earlier, and I saw the young Mrs. Becker folding her things, looking like she was finishing up.
Her husband was an elder. It was enough to make me not want to trust her either.
So I waited some more. When Mrs. Becker finally left, it was as if everyone in the room breathed a collective sigh. And still, no one spoke, not for a few more minutes until we were sure she wasn't coming back in.
Then the woman across from me glanced back, checking the room and finally broke the silence. "Why did Mr. Morgan do that to you, Felicity?"
"I..." She paused to swallow hard. "I said it was a hard decision to make between being stoned or married. He made it clear that was not an amusing joke." And she slung the wet cloth in her hands down into the basin as hard as she could. "He punched me in the side of the neck!"
"No!" I gasped.
"Girl, you'll soon learn that men's tempers are dangerous things," the woman told me.
"No," I said. "It's not that. I've known they're cruel since I was a child. It's that he's not her husband."
"I don't have one," Felicity pointed out.
"But when have the leaders or elders handed out our punishment themselves? Even with the children, they tell someone else to handle it. Yes, we know it will be worse because the person who punishes us will need to prove themselves as well, but they don't typically do the punishing!"
"She's right," another woman said.
"Yeah..." Felicity breathed. "I didn't even think of that, but I do know the men are livid about the girls resisting marriage. Callah, they blame the girls you shared a room with."
"Everyone does," I admitted. "I know that. I also know I'm watched because of it."
"And your husband?" the woman across from me asked. "How is he handling it?"
I paused, debating whether I should tell them I was happy with him or keep avoiding it. When more eyes turned to look, the decision was easy - and not at all the right one.
"Tobias Warren is a simple man," I said like I had so many times before. "He's easy to mollify. Large, yes, but also easy to placate."
"At least there's that," Felicity said. "I've just been given the date of my next marriage. That's why I spoke out of line."
"When?" I asked.
She forced out a single laugh. "I will be married again at the end of November. The 29th. I've been widowed a mere four months!" And she grabbed her laundry and began scrubbing even harder.
"This isn't right," a woman said.
"We keep saying that," Felicity spat, "but what are we doing about it? Nothing, that's what! We avert our eyes when a man is offended. We apologize if he's rude to us. Over and over, we do absolutely nothing!"
"But what can we do?" another woman asked.
"We need to start talking to each other," I said. "We need to at least care for each other."
"And what will you risk to help?" an older woman at the back asked. I was sure she had to be well into her thirties.
But she had a point. Most of these women didn't know me. None of them knew what I could do, or that I'd even try to do anything. So, I pulled in a breath and decided to take my first big risk.
"Any woman who's hurt? She can come to my suite for help. If my husband is there, I will handle him. If he's not, I will help immediately. No need for subterfuge. No messages and getting others involved. I. Will. Heal. Them."
"Callah..." Felicity said, sounding like she was trying to stop me.
"No, it's okay," I assured her. "Tobias wants me to heal. He thinks I should practice on women, children, and others so I'll be able to do more for the Righteous. He married me because I healed him, and he wants to make sure I don't lose my touch now that I am a wife."
"Really?" one of the wives asked.
I nodded. "Like I said, I can handle my husband. But this is what I can do. The way I see it, if we all do something, then we'll all have easier lives, even if we have to hide it from these men."
"All of the men," Felicity warned. Then she looked over at me and touched the side of her neck. "If you're offering, maybe you can look at this for me?"
"Sure."
"There's better light over here," she said, grabbing my wrist to tug me away from the unfinished laundry.
And she didn't stop under one of the lamps. Instead, she kept going, around the racks of cleaning supplies, and all the way to the back of this space to where no one would overhear. I noticed, but now I was the one who was confused.
"Is it more than your neck?" I asked when she finally stopped.
"No," she said, "but the first time we met, you were worried about your marriage. Now you sound pleased with it? You're also pushing, know about a tree on the surface, and so much more. I want to know what's going on."
"I'm done with being pushed around," I told her.
"And?" she asked. "I felt like you'd been waiting for me. Sora said you'd asked after me."
I nodded, giving in easily. "You'd said you were worried about your friend Abi being remarried so soon. I wanted to talk to you about her."
"She'll be wed next week. She's already accepted a proposal," she said. "Callah, it's too late."
"Oh."
But the word was barely out of my mouth before I realized I'd been thinking about the wrong woman. Abihail was a gentle and meek lady. I'd hoped she might be willing to ignore what Sylis was doing, but seeing the way Felicity stared me down? I realized I'd missed the obvious.
So I asked, "Felicity, what would you be willing to do to be safe?"
"Why?"
"Tobias has a friend. He was over recently, and they spoke about him needing.
.." No. I was lying to her. I couldn't expect her to help if I kept protecting myself - and Tobias.
"My husband is my friend, Felicity. A real friend - and not a true husband.
We agreed to marry because Ayla got out.
Meri got out." I paused to lick my lips. "And now they're free."
"Dead is more likely," she pointed out.
But I shook my head. "I know about the tree because Tobias checked to see if Meri had died there. I know about the women in quarantine because Ayla found out her mother came from up there. She's now living in a town and has met her sister."
"But..." She shook her head, clearly confused. "You can't know that. Hope, sure. But know it?"
"Tobias has spoken with her," I explained. "Well, she and the Wyvern attacked him. She now calls herself the Phoenix, but she recognized him and gave him a chance to explain. They talked - a few times. Now, he brings my letters to her, and hers to me."
The air rushed from Felicity's lungs and her knees buckled. One arm reached out, steadying her against the wall, but her eyes were much too wide and her mouth hung open.
"But the battle..."
"There is no battle anymore," I assured her. "The world is green and wild. The Devil isn't there, but the women from above are captured by our hunters and brought back to live in quarantine. That's why none of us remember anyone being sent there. Because they aren't from here, Felicity!"
"Why haven't you told everyone this?" she asked.
So I gestured to her neck. "Because that would be nothing compared to the punishment I'd get. Tobias? He'd be shot in the next hunt. Killed. Then I'd get three months and be married to someone who would keep me in line."
"So what do we do instead?" she asked.
This was going to be the hard part, but if she'd agree, I knew she'd help me. She had to!
"Do you know Sylis Underhill?"
"Vaguely," she admitted.
"Are you related to him?"
"No," she assured me. "He's actually on the list I was just given. It's why I recognize his name. Why?"
I let my eyes close and thought a prayer to anything that might listen, thanking it for making this so easy. "Because he needs a wife," I told her. "One he can trust, who won't expose what he's doing - because he's helping Tobias and me."
"A wife?"
"In name only," I assured her. "He says he has no interest in holding a woman down to impregnate her.
He told me he needs a wife to get a promotion, and that promotion will help all of us.
It's what might allow us to escape to the surface, Felicity, but I'm already married, and I don't know who else I can trust with this. "
"I'm not a pretty woman," she said. "I'm also older than him. He's young and fit. He could have one of the young girls!"
"He doesn't want a real wife," I reminded her. "He wants a friend. Someone who can help him pass messages to Tobias. Someone who'll plan with me. Someone willing to take a risk in the hopes that maybe, just maybe, we can escape this hell, because the surface sounds a lot like Heaven."
"I'll do it," she breathed. "I won't be married for weeks yet, but if you don't have anyone else, I will do it." And she flopped back against the wall she'd grabbed moments before. "I mean, that is the best offer I've gotten so far. A man who won't hurt me? I'd take it just for that."
"Now," I told her, "we just need the two of you to meet."