Page 73 of Devour
“It has nothing to do with you,” he spits. “You’re nothing. If you wish to live, you’ll learn to keep your mouth shut.”
I suck in a breath, eyes wide. He turns on his heel and storms from the room.
33
Lina
Iam staring at the ceiling when Helena enters my room in the morning.
Helena is peppy when she rises and pampers me. She chatters about a friend of hers who recently joined the community. The girl is blessed to be a food server, and how it’s so lovely to meet new people when they arrive from the outworld.
It’s as if we are aliens to her, and this world is a gift. Always a blessing.
Once dressed in a lovely silk gown with long sleeves, my hair braided carefully, she guides me to the community area for breakfast.
Here, there is a massive wooden table that could hold fifty people. We are not the first to arrive, however.
There are older women, young women, a few children, and a few older men. In the corner, I see two Dread, and my stomach sinks to my feet.
I’m not ready to see my Dread. I secretly hope I never lay eyes on him again, but obviously, that’s a far stretch.
The room is chilly, but with my new clothes, I am fairly comfortable.
“A new Drahkita!” someone says joyfully.
“Oh, I love the dress!”
After a short moment of friendliness, they all shift their attention back to each other and seem to forget I entered at all.
“Here,” Helena says. “These are the other new Drahkitas.” There are three young girls, my age or younger, sitting at the corner of the large wooden table with their eyes cast low. They are clean, with new frocks, but their cheeks are sunken and their eyes dim.
I wonder if they too suffered as I have. Surely they lost loved ones. Did they come here out of desperation?
A girl with pretty blond hair and blue eyes looks up to me.
“Hello,” she says demurely. “My name is Tamaria. What is yours?”
“Lina,” I answer. I look around the room one more time before taking a seat next to the other shy girls.
“That’s a nice name. Did you go to the cascades today?” the youngest girl asks.
“Yesterday. It was lovely.”
Her smile seems forced. I look down at her hands. She wrings them together in her lap. Her fingers are trembling.
I reach out and squeeze her forearm gently. “I’m scared too.”
She sucks in a breath and meets my eye. There are tears welling in hers.
Helena delivers a basket of pastries, and I choose a similar muffin as yesterday. She also delivers me juice without a word. There are two warriors in the room who sit quietly while the women chatter casually. They seem so out of place here.
Several women in tan dresses like Helena bustle to set out food and refill drinks.
One of the Drahkita snaps her fingers at a pile of crumbs on the floor, and a woman in a tan dress rushes to sweep it up.
My brow pinches. I knew Helena was my personal helper, but watching this dynamic, I’m realizing it’s a bit more than that. Are these women our servants?
I also notice a clear pattern in clothing.
