Page 118 of Lost and Stolen Gods
She stroked her son’s cheek, her gaze tender. “For Viki, and the children to come. We did not wish for them to be born beneath the earth. Viki was born in Nahee Aasha, and this one…” She placed a hand on her swollen belly. “This one will be born in our new home. They will know the gentle touch of the moon and the warm embrace of the sun.”
Viki perked up at the mention of the baby. “And if the baby is a girl, we will call her Jyoti, and if it is a boy we will name him Vijay, right, Mama?”
“Right,beta.”
He yawned, and she pulled him close.
“Close your eyes. Mama is here.”
My heart filled with love watching them, and my eyes pricked because I remembered what it was to be held like that. To be called beti and to be loved so deeply the awfulness of the outside world paled.
I miss you, Nani. I miss you so fucking much. I’m going to save you. And…and I’m going to keep these people safe so that no one has to lose a lovedone. Not on my watch.
It wasn’t much longerbefore we abandoned the trail for a wide, open road. Good on one hand, because if anything came at us we’d have plenty of advance warning, and bad on the other, because if anything came at us, there was literally nowhere to hide the people we were protecting.
"I don’t like this stretch,” Dharma said. “It’s way too exposed.”
“I was just thinking the same,” Joe said.
“We’ll be entering an old town soon,” Pashim said from ahead. “The plan is to make camp for a few hours and let the people and the animals rest. We’ll continue at first light.”
I had no idea what time it was or how long we’d been on the move, but it felt like forever. Viki and his mother were fast asleep, and I’d spoken to Daji, the father, briefly. He was worried about his wife, about the pregnancy and the traveling. She was due in a few weeks, and the midwife who’d agreed to come with them had backed out at the last moment. There were several women with us who could help birth her child, but none as qualified as the midwife.
Daji was back at the front of the assembly now with the elite, but he’d checked on Meena several times.
It was easy to spot Pashim ahead of us. The drohi stood a couple of heads taller than everyone else, but I’d be able to find him by the sound of Aradha’s sultry laugh that punctuated the air every few fucking minutes.
Araz had barely spoken two words to me since we’d left the settlement, and I got the feeling he was regretting his admission about finding my jealousy appealing.
And honestly, the whole back and forth, push-pull thing with him was beginning to get on my nerves. My stomach grumbled.
Araz held out a fruit and nut bar. “Eat this and stop thinking so hard.”
I took the bar and bit into it. Pashim made these all the time. Held together with honey and…stuff. They were the protein bars of this world.
“Thanks.”
“That’s what a good drohi does.”
Had he been a good drohi to Aradha? No, no, do not think about that. “So, tell me about Aradha.”
“What do you want to know?” Araz asked.
“What’s her role here? It seems that only people essential to the setup and running of this new farming settlement are going.”
“Aradha designed the domes. She understands how to harness bijli and how to find water in the earth.”
“So she’s a scientist?”
“Is that what you call sages in your world?”
“I suppose so.”
Pashim laughed softly at something Aradha said, and I gave an involuntary snort of irritation.
“It bothers you,” Araz said. “Seeing them together.”
“It would bother me more seeing her with you.” The words slipped out before I could think them through.
