Rix was already in the warehouse.
I had honestly expected her to wait to show herself until we reached the bunker, but it was better this way, because, by the look on Oz’s face, she’d already told them what had happened.
“You’re going to do what?!” The raven-haired woman stomped up to us.
“Good, you know what we’re doing.” Gesai waved for everyone to leave.
“I’m not going to go just because that’s what he tells me to.” Oz crossed her arms. "He’s basically sending us to live in his home.”
“We’re going because…” The teacher’s stomach growled. "I don’t know about the rest of you, but I didn’t eat for the last week. That healing potion can only do so much. I need real food or I’m going to start getting weak fast.”
Oz looked at Justia, who looked at me. The raven-haired woman looked irritated that her cousin was deferring to me. “You’re okay with this?”
I nodded slowly. "Look, we’re prisoners here. Our captors are acting nice and it may feel wrong, but I say that we don’t try to cause trouble on our first day of freedom.” I looked over at Jord, who hadn’t moved. “What is it going to hurt to see what they’re offering before we reject it?”
There were grumbles, but no one said anything to counter that.
“Alright.” I walked over to Gesai. "Then let’s go.”
Rix was already at the door, and the three women walked over to her, but Jord was still refusing to move.
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“Jord Dinx.” There was ice in Gesai’s voice. "Get up and get over here right now because I swear to the Gods…” She let the threat hang in the air for a moment. "If I have to come over there and carry you out, you aren’t going to like how I do it.” She popped her knuckles for emphasis. "Or where I’m holding while I drag you.”
That was sufficient enough motivation to get the scared Noble to get up and rush into line behind the women.
Rix led the way to building thirteen and stopped right as we got to it.
The building was a pyramid design with three crates on the bottom, going up two crates, then one crate. Unlike the rest of the crates which were all mismatched colors, these were all green. There were windows in the top floor crate, which was something I didn't remember seeing in any of the others, now that I thought about it. Doors, yes, but no windows.
The smell of food was coming from up there and while we were standing in front of the building, a girl that might have been a teenager with white hair and bright blue eyes walked out of the top crate.
“Mom! They’re here!” The girl ducked back inside and Glima came out.
The older woman pointed to the back corner of the building. "There are stairs over there that you can use. Hurry, we do not want the food to get cold.” She walked back into the crate.
Gesai started moving and Jord was not far behind her. Rix had disappeared again and the other three women were just waiting in front of the building, staring at the crates.
“What is it?” I looked at Justia, who was looking the most uncomfortable.
The brunette closed her eyes. "I’m just thinking about the others.”
“You mean that blonde whatshername?” Oz smiled as she elbowed her cousin.
I took Justia’s silence as confirmation. To be honest, I was missing Ether at night. It’d only been a few days, but I had gotten used to having her sleeping with her head on my chest. This past week, I’d felt empty at night and hadn’t slept much. I couldn’t imagine that I was going to have to go fourteen weeks without seeing her.
“We’ll find a way out of here.” I looked around and hoped that I wasn’t being watched, though I doubted that Sipher would put much belief in what I said. He had seemed confident that we were stuck here. I looked up at the top of the pyramid. "And I think I know where to start.”