Chapter 69:
“Eat this now, while I’m here.”
Sukren didn’t need to be told twice. It had been a full diurnal since he’d been put inside the castra-dome. That meant three days without anything to eat. He ripped with relish into the meat Rajani was giving him.
He could feel the glares of the serfs nearest to him, but he was too hungry to care. All too soon the meat was gone, and then the wildflowers, and even the plicatus berries he normally found nasty. “Thank you,” he breathed.
Rajani fingered her weapon. Some kind of gun, wasn’t it? Sukren tried to remember what Rajani had told him about Cursed weaponry. Syrinx gun, that was it. Small but powerful, a good choice to take into the castra-dome. She still seemed anxious, though. She was glancing around at the three-hundred-odd serfs imprisoned in the castra-dome. There were about a dozen other hunters in the castra-dome with her, also doing food drops, but it was clear that she was wondering, armed or not, could they really stand up to so many?
“Don’t worry,” he told her. “There are enough overbelters like me, who wouldn’t attack you. And the rest aren’t organized yet. Give it a few weeks, maybe, and then start worrying.”
Sukren had meant it mostly as a joke. And Rajani did seem to appreciate it, although the smile on her lips didn’t last long. “I’m sorry I didn’t come earlier,” she said. She looked away as she spoke, and spoke distantly, as if thinking of something else. “I didn’t learn you were in here until just this sunstir.”
“What’s wrong?” Sukren asked, his heart suddenly pounding. “Is Mayah okay?”
“She’s fine,” Rajani replied. He watched her kick at the dirt by her feet. They were standing next to the chute, as far away from the other serfs as possible. It was the only way to get any sort of privacy. “But we, the Jinkari, aren’t. They’re voting next diurnal on whether or not to ostracize us. They’ve already started to do it anyway, informally.” Her fingers clenched her gun’s handle. “I’m going to find a way to get you out of here to stand trial. It’s the only way, for you, for Mayah, for the Jinkari, for the Cursed.”
Sukren didn’t particularly like the idea of standing trial, but he supposed it was better than starving to death inside the castra-dome. And if it would help the Jinkari avoid ostracism, well, that was definitely something Sukren desired, especially now that Mayah was with them. “How can I help?”
She was surprised by the question, Sukren could tell. Her face lit up; she actually began laughing. Normally Sukren hated laughter – when was it ever not mocking? – but this time he knew it wasn’t at his expense. For indeed, what could he possibly do, trapped as he was inside the castra-dome? A shy grin crept onto his face. Standing there with Rajani, having just eaten, he felt it again, that warmth in his chest that seemed to burn at the sight of her. It was so strange. He’d never felt anything like it, had never allowed himself to feel anything like it. What room was there in his heart for anyone but Lady Nari and Mayah?
He jumped when she clasped his arm. Her gaze was open and friendly. “If I can’t get the lodge mother moot to put you on trial fast enough, I’ll come back again with food.” She lowered her voice. “And if I’m not able to come myself, I’ll send something down the chute for you, same time as now, next diurnal, when the first nightsleep starts.”
The thought of having to wait another three days to eat dampened Sukren’s mood. Still, he knew he was one of the lucky ones. Not everyone got food drops. Sukren would have to be fast to make sure whatever food Rajani sent down the chute next diurnal didn’t get stolen.
The other hunters were starting to gather by the chute. That was Sukren’s cue to thank Rajani and get back to Thal and a few other village Chenta with whom he’d formed a self-protective gang. “Thank you,” he said, earnestly, and meaning it. “I hope to see you soon.”
“Me too,” Rajani replied, with a smile. “Hopefully next time not in here!”
***
When the hunters first came into the castra-dome to stay, Sukren had been wary, especially when he saw Pratap among them. Everyone else had been on edge too. Why aren’t they leaving? the serfs whispered to each other as the day turned into night. They’re not staying for our good, that’s for sure. These mutineers hate us Saranai. They’re just like their ancestors!
The whispers quieted down once the hunters killed a few serfs for trying to steal their weapons, and gratitude soon diluted Sukren’s wariness. For the murders stabilized the castra-dome. Sukren no longer had to go to sleep nervous about getting assaulted in the middle of the night; he no longer had to stick so closely to his gang during the day. He almost wished the hunters had come earlier. Thieves had left him barely a quarter of Rajani’s first chute delivery, even though it had been labeled both in serf letters and in Cursed with his name.
He wondered if Rajani knew why the hunters were here. So far she’d stuck to her usual rhythm – visit one diurnal, slide food down the chute the next – which meant four days ago had been her last visit. Sukren had gotten to eat only half that food parcel too, because he’d given the rest to Thal’s wife, who was pregnant. The hunters had arrived literally the following morning, three days ago. Two days ago, Rajani’s second chute delivery had come sliding down for Sukren. A hunter had handed it to him, and Sukren had shared half of it again with Thal’s wife. Now it was sunstir, near the end of it from what Sukren could tell. If Rajani stuck to her schedule, he would be eating again in one full day.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
I can make it, he told himself. As long as this period of enforced fasting doesn’t go on for too long, as long as I’m not deprived of vital nutrients for longer than a season, I can make it. I won’t lose my health permanently. I’ll be able to keep doing the work I need to do. I’ll be able to continue helping Mayah.
But help her do what? Sarana, this was where Sukren got stuck. Help her, I have to help her, that’s my mission, that’s my work, but I can’t, I can’t get out, I can’t even think anymore, all I can think about is food, all I can hold onto is when Rajani will next come so I can eat –
“Isn’t that your friend?” Thal asked him.
Sukren had been crouching over one of the barrels, drinking water to fill his empty stomach. When Thal spoke he straightened up. Rajani was early! She’d come a day earlier! That meant… wait. He eyed her soaked clothes, her empty hands. He watched as she walked from the chute’s end to the cluster of Cursed hunters by the castra-dome’s edge. “I don’t think she’s here for me.”
“You think she’s with the other hunters?”
Perhaps? But her hands were empty. She had no food parcel and no syrinx gun either, not unless she’d hidden something in her wet clothes.
Wait, wet clothes? Why were her clothes wet?
Rajani was now talking with the hunters. Sukren approached them. He kept an eye on Pratap and stopped well outside of arm’s reach. He was close enough to hear their speech – not that he understood any of it. Mayah was the polyglot. It said so right in the Prophetess Darshana’s prophecies: Many are her tongues. That was why Sukren had arranged for her to have so many language tutors in the village. Because he was an Enabler, wasn’t he? He believed the prophecies were instructions, not foretellings. That was why it had been such a shock to watch Mayah pick up Cursed so quickly. That was the kind of thing a Watcher would expect of the Promised Daughter.
Finally, after several minutes of passively waiting, Sukren managed to catch Rajani’s eye. She peeled away from the other hunters and greeted him in Xhom.
“What happened?” he asked her in the castle serf pidgin she seemed to understand well enough. “Why are you here? And why are your clothes wet?”
“Chief Bikash pushed me into the rubber forge pool, then had me arrested.”
“What? Why?”
“Because I attacked him.”
Sukren couldn’t help himself. Maybe it was the strain of hunger and imprisonment, but he began laughing. She’d said it so matter-of-factly. Without shame, without loathing. Just like Lady Nari, and yet at the same time, so unlike her.
A sheepish smile touched Rajani’s lips. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing, it’s nothing.” He looked down before he could start flushing. “Where’s Mayah?”
“Still in the urb. She’s fine.”
At least there’s that, Sukren thought. His stomach grumbled; he ignored it. “How long are you in here for?”
“I don’t know yet,” Rajani said. Sukren watched her glance around the castra-dome. “How many of the Gather’s Children here understand Xhom?”
“A few.”
“I’ll tell you later then.”
Sukren looked at her, his jaw tightening. “Does it have something to do with why the hunters are here?”
He was surprised when Rajani laid a hand on his arm. “Don’t worry,” she said. “I saw something on my way over here. A vision of the future. We’re going to be fine.”
What do I say to that? Sukren wondered. He took a deep breath and smiled, stalling for time. It made sense to him that the Cursed would rather believe that they lived on this side of the shelterbelt because of a divine call than because of an edict by the Eternal Queen Sarana. The last remnant of a pure people, or the exiled descendants of mutineers? Of course they would pick the former story. This talk of visions, though, that was new. After stretching his smile out for a few more seconds, Sukren decided to respond as if he believed her. Rajani had been kind to him. He was happy, more than happy, to return the favor.
“Who is we?” he asked.
“The Cursed,” Rajani responded. “The huntered and the Gather’s Children alike.”
“Any visions of food?” he asked. He was mostly kidding. If Rajani did have food hidden away, though, he wouldn’t say no. Especially as her presence now meant no parcel tomorrow…
Rajani’s rueful smile was back. She put a hand on her stomach and shook her head. “I’m hungry too. I should have eaten before I attacked Chief.”
Sukren tried to check his disappointment before it could show up on his face. He managed to, but only barely. Come on, he told himself. You’ll survive. And you know someone will show up with food for Rajani, at least, and you know she’ll share with you. Especially if she thinks that everything is going to be fine in the end. Her vision will make her generous.
Sukren’s last thought made him wince a little. He didn’t like how manipulative it was. Rajani might have a Lady Nari-like conviction and sense of authority, but she was still young. Sometimes she even seemed foolish. Sukren remembered being scarcely able to believe that Rajani had invited him and Mayah both to eat with the Jinkari Table. Did she not realize the impact another mouth would have? That she hadn’t seemed to marked her in Sukren’s mind as vulnerable. Her desire to follow her gods could be used against her. But he didn’t want to be the kind of man who took advantage of the vulnerable, did he?
“Water, excellent,” he heard Rajani say. Half lost in thought, Sukren followed Rajani back to the barrel of water beneath the dripping vines. He watched as she drank. Eyes closed as she lifted her cupped hands to her mouth – she seemed so unafraid. Or was she just naive?
Which was he?