Chapter 48:

“Sukren! Sukren!”

Sukren turned towards the voice. The pre-dawn light stretched so thinly over the Xhota urb that it took him a moment to realize it was Mayah who was racing towards him through the empty streets. Mayah, with her hair blown to the side by the gales buffeting through the branches of the bio-dome.

Joy, intense and overwhelming, flooded through him. He shot to his feet. Mayah’s safe! Mayah’s here!

Dread immediately followed. Now he had to turn away from her. Now he had to obey Lady Nari. Oh, Sarana, now he had to…

Later, later, Sukren would do it later. He couldn’t do it now. It didn’t make sense to do it now, Mayah wouldn’t understand, and oh, it was Mayah, she was back, she was safe, and what in the bio-dome had happened to her hair? Were those bangs?

She was almost upon him. He reached out to her. “What happened to your hair? And where are your glasses?” There was a fishnet on her back; he helped her wiggle out of it. As soon as she was free, she looked up at Sukren and beamed. Sukren tried and failed to suppress a smile. He held his hand out to Mayah and stepped backwards in surprise when she flung herself into his arms. Laughing, Sukren returned Mayah’s embrace, and didn’t let go until she did.

She seemed softer, somehow. Like an edge had been filed down, a splinter removed from within. Something in her upturned face reminded him so much of when she was young that Sukren had to turn away, his chest filled with something so fierce and powerful that it frightened him.

“Vek is hurt,” Mayah said. They both looked down the street where Vek was coming up a few paces behind. “He got his finger cut off in the Temple. I made him drink a lot of water like you taught me, but I think it got infected.”

“I’ll take a look at it. You go ahead inside. Petrika is cooking breakfast. I bet you’re hungry, right?”

“Yes,” Mayah said instantly, which made Sukren smile again, but to his surprise, when he began making his way past the close-curtained stalls to Vek, Mayah followed him. “I’ll help too,” she said.

***

“Bring him up this way,” Petrika said. Sukren felt grateful for her; she had pulled down the ladder from the second floor of her Xhota hut and was laying blankets down in a corner of the bare room. Light from the rising sun peeked through the two bioplastic windows in the ceiling.

The smell of bean paste stew wafted up from the ground floor. Mayah turned towards it, but Sukren glanced at Vek. The boy’s face was withdrawn and tight with pain.

“I’m going to take a look at Vek’s hand now,” Sukren said to Mayah. “Go ahead downstairs with Petrika and eat.”

Mayah’s eyes lit up. But then she hesitated. “You won’t need help? Should I bring food to you and Vek first?”

“No, it’s all right,” Sukren said, wondering a little at Mayah’s eagerness to return. It wasn’t like Mayah to divide her attention between food and people, not when she was hungry. “After you eat, you can bring up a bowl for Vek, if you like.”

“I’ll do that,” she said brightly. Once she had followed Petrika down the ladder, Sukren pulled out a new medicine kit – courtesy of Petrika – and unwrapped the dressings around Vek’s hand. When the final bandage came loose, Sukren grimaced. The skin around Vek’s missing finger was red and swollen.

“You have a fever, don’t you?” he said, reaching with his other hand to check Vek’s forehead. “I’m going to lift your right arm and check the lymph nodes under your armpit. I don’t think the infection is too far gone because there isn’t any pus, but I want to make sure. Can you tell me how this happened? Mayah said you got your finger cut off?”

“Ran into some Chenta in the Temple,” Vek said, his eyes closed. “They saw Mayah, so they called me a Rajas tail because I hadn’t killed her yet. I tried to fight my way out. I smashed one of their hands, so they invoked the rock-god law of mercy and cut my finger off.”

Sukren’s eyes widened. “Did – did they hurt Mayah?”

“No. They left her alone.”

Relief washed over Sukren. “When did this happen?” he asked, his fingers gently probing Vek’s skin. Good, the nodes weren’t too swollen.

“About two days ago.”

“I’m going to wash your injury, and then we’ll see if we can soak it in some warm salt water. I’ll try to find some medicine for you to take as well.”

Sukren removed a foldable bioplastic bowl from his kit. He filled it with water and a chemical powder, then pulled Vek’s hand into it, rubbing a scrub around his injury. Vek winced, pain filling his face. For a moment Sukren thought Vek was going to withdraw his hand from the solution, but he gritted his teeth and remained still.

“I know it hurts,” Sukren said softly. “I’ll let it soak soon.”

There was the sound of someone climbing up the ladder. Mayah’s head poked out a moment later. She had put her glasses back on. “Here’s some soup!”

“Did you finish your bowl already?” Sukren asked.

“Yes.”

“Give me Vek’s bowl.”

“No, I can do it.”

Sukren looked at her.

“What?” Mayah asked, a note of defensiveness in her voice.

When Sukren answered, he spoke with pauses, wanting to be careful about his choice of words. “Are you… planning on… feeding it to him?”

Mayah blushed. Sukren held out his hands for Mayah to transfer the soup to him. When she pulled back, he gently pried the bowl away from her.

“Go back downstairs,” Sukren said. He kept his voice flat, hoping it wouldn’t tremble. He had to start obeying Lady Nari at some point. “Wait there until I’m done.”

Mayah nodded, her face still flushed. Her head disappeared as she went back down to the first floor. Sukren placed the bowl on the floor where its steaming contents wouldn’t spill and closed the trapdoor.

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“She just wants to help,” Vek said.

“Lady Nari has another assignment for you,” Sukren responded. “For all of us here at the safe house.”

“What is it?”

Sukren told him. Vek frowned when he’d finished. “I don’t like it. I don’t think it’s necessary.”

“That’s not for you and me to decide.”

“No, you don’t understand. I’ve talked to her enough these past few days. She’s ready. She’s really ready. She doesn’t need to be rejected by us.”

Sukren didn’t reply. What does it matter? he thought unhappily. Lady Nari gave the order herself. I don’t have the authority to override it, no matter how much I wish I did.

“Let me soak your hand,” he finally said. “We’ll talk about it later.”

***

Two nights later, Sukren woke to find that the bioplastic sheet covering one of the hut’s windows had come loose, permitting a breeze to sneak into the room. He got up, careful not to disturb the sleeping bodies on the floor around him and reached upward to push the sheet back into place. It took him several minutes to find the right angle. More than once he thought longingly of his dorm in Lost Technology. Although doctor-priests and regents had to apply for a weekly heat allowance, at least there was a heating system.

By the time he had finished, Sukren was thoroughly awakened by the cold and the activity. He paused to take in Vek in a corner to the right, next to Petrika, and Mayah to the left, all of them under skin blankets Petrika had gotten from Yexin. Auroralight flashed into the room, onto Mayah’s scrunched up face.

Now that she was asleep, Sukren could allow himself to smile, remembering how he used to tease her when she was young about how her face was always concentrated so furiously in her sleep. You must be dreaming about food, Sukren would say, infuriating little Mayah. She would stamp her bare feet on the ground and insist that Sukren stop teasing her.

A cough to Sukren’s right caught his attention. He reached for the pitcher on a shelf by his head and held it out to Vek. It took Vek a moment before he was able to sit up and take the gourd from Sukren.

“I thought I would be better by now,” Vek said, wiping the water from his mouth and handing the pitcher back to Sukren. “I feel fine, a lot better, but I keep coughing.”

“It might be stress,” Sukren said, putting the pitcher away. “It’s not likely that the infection from your finger got to your lungs. I don’t think your immune system is that weak.”

“Stress,” Vek repeated. He gave a quiet laugh. Sukren glanced over his shoulder at Mayah curled up on her mat. She had changed back into her village suit, claiming it was more comfortable to sleep in. Maybe it was – she seemed fast asleep, at any rate.

Sukren nudged Vek with his knee and sat down when Vek shifted over. “How’s your finger feeling?”

“I don’t think my finger is feeling anything anymore,” Vek responded with a grin. Sukren rolled his eyes. The boy was obviously fine.

“How’s… how’s it been with Mayah?” Vek asked after a moment.

Sukren knew that hidden in Vek’s question was an apology. For the past two days Vek had feigned a weakness he did not have in order to avoid having to reject Mayah outright. He had refused to spend time with her but had allowed Mayah to think it was because he was sick. Petrika, on the other hand, had no problem executing Lady Nari’s orders. She was not friendly to Mayah, and Sukren knew Mayah noticed and disliked it. But he also knew that Petrika was a stranger to Mayah. Mayah was not crushed by her. No, the burden of devastating Mayah had fallen onto Sukren’s shoulders and his alone.

Sukren wasn’t inclined to accept Vek’s apology. “You know how it’s been.”

“I’m sorry. I just can’t do it. Give me another day.”

“You never liked Rajas before.”

“I don’t like them now.”

“Then what’s stopping you?”

Sukren knew he was taking his annoyance out on Vek. He was perfectly aware that Mayah was different from other princesses.

“Just… during this trip… getting to know her…”

Sukren looked at Vek, who avoided his gaze. Was there another reason Vek was reluctant to turn on Mayah? Had something happened between them? Sukren paused. Yes, something had to have happened. Mayah was blushing every few seconds, and finding any excuse to take care of Vek, to offer him food, to help re-dress his wound. It was unnerving.

“What happened?” Sukren asked.

Vek looked down at his blanket. “We ran into a mobile checkpoint unit. You know how those go.”

Sukren didn’t let any emotion show on his face. “Did they hit Mayah?”

“Yes. They wouldn’t have, they were angry at me because I was mouthing off to them, but then she spoke up and tried to stop them.”

So that was what had happened. Mayah, probably already charmed by Vek – she was a lonely thirteen-year-old girl, after all – had fallen headfirst for the boy after enduring suffering together with him. Sukren tamped down on the surge of anger that ran through him at the thought of Mayah getting harmed. He glanced at Vek, another question on his lips, but Vek didn’t appear to want to share more. He had leaned backward, and his eyes were closed.

“I really hate the Eenta,” Vek said after a moment, his voice low. “I can’t wait until the Free Serfs finally rise up and get rid of their sneering faces.”

“Was it serf prods?”

“Yes.”

“I’ve seen you take worse.”

There was a pause. When Vek spoke again, his voice was tight. “I just wish she hadn’t seen me like that. I didn’t want that.”

Silence filled the space between them. Vek always did this, and Sukren never knew what to say. What did one man say to another whose dignity had been stripped from him? The best thing Sukren could do was to avoid bearing witness to the act of humiliation, and yet Vek always displayed it for Sukren to see.

He reached out and touched Vek on the hand, just as he would Mayah. “The Uprising is around the corner. Soon, nobody will even know what serf prods are.”

A hint of a smile touched Vek’s lips. “And now that we have the Dome Ring –”

“What?”

“I never told you? That’s how Mayah’s finger got hurt. When she put the Dome Ring on, little claws came out of it and shot into her skin. She practically had to scrape it off her finger.”

“You have the Dome Ring?”

“Mayah does.”

Sukren’s heart was pounding. The words of the prophecy rang in his mind. Over the shelterbelt, The Rajas Daughter who is Promised, Must go. Over and to The Lake Tower, Her feet will tread. With the Ring of the Dome, Dripping in her hand.

Mayah had the Dome Ring. She had the Dome Ring.

And they were right by the shelterbelt.

Only a few nights ago Sukren had wondered whether it was possible for Mayah to follow the prophecy without being subject to Free Serf manipulation. He hadn’t been able to think of a way. To believe in the Promised Daughter was to be a Free Serf. And to be a Free Serf meant to manipulate the Promised Daughter, to introduce insecurities into her psyche to make it easier to control her. The two causes had been married for longer than Sukren had been alive.

“Sukren? What’s wrong?”

“Who else knows?” Sukren asked. “Who else knows Mayah has the Dome Ring?”

“Hanjan, maybe. Of CaveMound.”

“Is he a Matterist?”

“Yes.”

“Nobody else?”

“Hanjan’s very closed-mouthed.”

“Does Lady Nari know?”

“Maybe,” said Vek. “If Hanjan’s met with her by now, I’m sure he’s told her we have it. I was going to tell her when I saw her next, so even if Hanjan hasn’t been able to meet with her yet, she’ll know soon enough. Why?”

“Don’t worry about it. Doctor-priest business. A new way of looking at the prophecies.”

Vek shrugged. If he thought Sukren was lying, he didn’t show it. Taking a deep breath, Sukren considered his next steps. He couldn’t jump to any conclusions. He would have to re-read the Prophetess Darshana’s oracles. And there was Lady Nari to consider. He knew Lady Nari wouldn’t be persuaded to change her course of action regarding Mayah. Sukren would continue to reject Mayah, per Lady Nari’s orders, at least for the next few days. Perhaps by then his research would reveal to him a way out…

Over the shelterbelt, The Rajas Daughter who is Promised, Must go. Over and to The Lake Tower, Her feet will tread. With the Ring of the Dome, Dripping in her hand.