Page 13 of Dark Shaman: Eternal Hope
The lights flickered and sputtered out, but before the emergency lighting could come online, the power returned.
"I prefer to get the tools and do it ourselves," Liliat said, ignoring the brief outage.
There were so many of them throughout the day that people barely noticed them anymore.
Tamira wiped the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand. "The humidity is still too high in here. These books will develop mold if we don't address it."
The climate control was back online, but it was struggling to control the humidity. The entire island was still in a state of disrepair, but not for lack of effort. Areana knew that Navuh was doing everything to speed up the repairs.
"Lord Navuh ordered an additional dehumidifier." She smiled at Tamira, who had been strangely distant since their return to the harem. "The equipment will be delivered within the week."
"That's good," Tamira said, and though the words were neutral, something in her tone made Areana look at her more closely.
Tamira was troubled by something, and Areana resolved to catch her alone and ask if she could help in any way.
Beside her, Tula stood and stretched. "I need to go on a walk. My back is protesting all this hunching over books, and frankly, I'm bored and tired."
"Why don't we take a break in the indoor garden?" Areana suggested. "I'll come with you. We can check on Tony and Elias's progress."
The indoor garden hadn't suffered a lot of damage, but it had been enough to need some tender loving care from someone who knew his way around plants.
They left the others to their work, taking the stairs to the second level instead of the elevator, even though it was safe to do so. Something about getting inside the small box was stillfrightening, but Areana knew she had to get over it sooner rather than later. It was okay to use the stairs while moving between the first three floors of the underground pyramid, but she needed to visit the servants on the lower levels, and she had delayed doing so for too long already.
When they reached the second floor and walked through the familiar corridors, Areana couldn't shake the feeling that the harem felt different now. The walls were the same, the paintings hanging on them perfectly restored, but something indefinable had shifted.
Perhaps it was they who had changed, not the place.
The indoor garden occupied a large atrium on the second level, with the ladies' quarters surrounding it on all four sides. Each section had a set of doors leading outside, and as they stepped out through them, the sound of soil being turned and quiet masculine conversation drifted from a far corner.
"These should go here," Tony was saying. "These peace lilies will look good with the ferns and dracaena."
"I'm impressed," Elias said. "You remembered their names."
"I wrote them down." Tony patted his back pocket.
Both men were covered in dirt, their shirts abandoned in the heat of their work, soil streaking their arms and faces. The garden showed signs of their efforts, with pieces of broken irrigation lines and cracked planters tossed into a large pile, and new plants carefully positioned to replace those that didn't look good after the trauma.
"You've made a lot of progress," Areana announced their presence.
Both men looked up, and Tony's face immediately brightened at the sight of Tula. The emotion was so naked, so obvious, that Areana felt a pang of pity for the man.
Tula didn't love him back. She liked him, enjoyed his company, but she didn't love him. It was smart on her part, but sad for him.
"Lady Areana." Elias straightened, brushing soil from his hands. "Most of the plants are recovering, and the root systems are largely undamaged."
"Some of the irrigation lines broke during the earthquakes," Tony added, his eyes still on Tula. "We fixed most of them, and we are adding new plants to fill in the gaps."
Areana walked further into the garden, impressed by the change their work had produced. "It looks better than before. What are these?" She gestured to a collection of flowering plants she didn't recognize.
"Kalanchoe," Elias said. "They're succulents, very hardy. They'll bloom for months with minimal care, and they do well indoors under artificial lighting."
"The colors are lovely." Tula got closer to examine the small clusters of flowers in pink, orange, and yellow.
"We thought bright colors would help." Tony looked at Tula with smiling eyes. "Make the space more cheerful."
"It's so pretty." Tula's gaze was still on the flowers.
"Like you," Tony said.
