Page 100 of Dark Shaman: Love Found
"The majority will remain faithful," Areana said. "They might sustain casualties, but with the lord's guidance, they will persevere. They have to."
The last three words came out quieter, almost like a prayer, and Tamira realized that even Areana, with all her strength and certainty, was afraid.
Another explosion, this one different, sharper, like the crack of thunder directly overhead. The lights flickered, plunging them into darkness for a heart-stopping moment before the emergency lighting kicked in, bathing everything in an eerie red glow.
Several servants whimpered. One of the younger maids began to sob, the sound high and hysterical, until an older woman pulled her into an embrace, murmuring soothing words.
"I wish we were still in the harem," Liliat said, her voice bitter. "At least there we could have sealed ourselves in. The structure was designed to be a fortress."
"Isn't that ironic?" Tula asked. "How long have we pined to be freed of our cage? And now we pine to be back in it ."
Tamira pressed closer to Elias, drawing comfort from his solid presence, from the steady beat of his heart against her side.
"Tell me something good," she said, looking up at him. "Anything. A story, a memory, something to take our minds off what's happening out there."
Elias was quiet for a moment, and she could feel him gathering his thoughts. When he spoke, his voice took on the cadence of a storyteller, the rhythm she'd come to love during their nights together.
"Once, a long time ago, I knew a man who claimed he could speak to birds," he said. "Everyone thought he was mad, of course. He would stand in the market square, surrounded by pigeons and sparrows, carrying on what appeared to be one-sided conversations."
Despite everything that was going on around them, Tamira was drawn into the story. The others leaned in to listen as well, desperate for the distraction from the chaos above.
"One day," Elias continued, "the king's prized falcon escaped from the palace. It was worth a fortune, irreplaceable, trained from birth to hunt. The king offered a reward that would make any man rich for life. Hunters and trackers searched for weeks, but the falcon had vanished."
Another explosion interrupted, but Elias kept talking, his voice steady and calm.
"The bird-speaker heard about the reward and went to the palace. The guards laughed at him, but he insisted he could find the falcon. Having exhausted all other options, the king agreed to give him a chance."
"Did he find it?" one of the maids asked, caught up in the tale.
Elias smiled. "He stood in the palace courtyard and began to sing, not in words, but in bird sounds. Chirps and whistles and trills that made no sense to human ears. The courtiers mocked him, but he continued for hours, until his throat was raw and his voice nearly gone."
Tamira held her breath even though she knew it was a story meant to distract them.
"Just as the sun was setting," Elias said, "a shadow passed overhead. The falcon circled once, twice, then landed on the bird-speaker's outstretched arm. It turned out the bird had been nesting in the palace towers all along, too frightened by its unfamiliar freedom to venture far. The bird-speaker had simply been telling it, in its own language, that it was safe to come home."
"That's nice," Tula said.
"It's also true," Elias said, and something in his voice made Tamira believe him. "Sometimes the thing we fear most is the very thing that will save us. The falcon thought freedom meant danger, and it found safety by returning to what it knew."
The metaphor wasn't lost on any of them. They'd all dreamed of freedom from their captivity, but now, faced with the chaos that freedom might bring, they huddled in fear, hoping their captor would prevail so they could return to where it was safe.
"Tell us another one," Beulah requested. "Please."
But before Elias could respond, another explosion thundered. Dust rained down more heavily, and somewhere in the darkness beyond their circle of light, something cracked ominously.
"How long can the mansion withstand this?" Tamira asked quietly.
"It's heavily reinforced," Elias answered. "It would take more than these explosions to bring it down."
But they both knew that wasn't really what she was asking. How long before the rebels breached the defenses?
How long before enhanced soldiers stormed through the mansion, claiming whatever they wanted?
How long before her worst nightmares became reality?
"I wish—" she began, then stopped.
"What?" Elias asked gently.
