Page 103 of Dark Island: Rescue
Regrettably, she could not share the fortune with Wonder because the soothsayer had sworn her to secrecy. Besides, it was not clear. Were the seven children the soothsayer predicted to include the five Annani had with human males who reminded her of Khiann? Or would she have seven more when Khiann returned to her?
For many years, Annani had believed that the soothsayer meant Khiann would reincarnate, but now that sheknew there was hope he was alive in stasis, the fortune made even less sense than before.
Perhaps it had all been nonsense, and she should stop clinging to it.
"Anyway," Wonder continued. "You know Areana as well as I know Tula, which I'm afraid is not well at all. We don't know what kind of women they are today."
"I know that Areana is struggling with the guilt of what she is about to do." Annani sighed. "She is betraying Navuh's trust and helping Tula escape while leaving the others behind. It must be crushing her."
Annani went back to her list, adding details she would need to tell Areana on Wednesday. Naturally, she would go over everything with Kian ahead of the call to see if there were any changes, but having the list now meant that neither of them would forget something important. After all, it was not as if Annani could just call Areana again with the missing information. Everything had to be transmitted correctly in one go.
"Do you worry about what Navuh will do if he discovers her involvement?" Wonder asked.
The question made Annani's hand pause mid-word. She put the pen down again.
"Every moment of every day," she admitted. "Navuh loves Areana, as much as someone like him is capable of love, but he is also Lord Navuh. Ruthless and cruel."
"The truelove mate bond should protect her."
"Should," Annani emphasized the word. "But rage can override many things, even a sacred bond. And Navuh's rage is legendary. It does not run hot like hisfather's used to run. Navuh gets cold, and that is even more dangerous."
"How do you know that?" Wonder shifted, making herself more comfortable on the delicate desk. "You only met Navuh a couple of times and never alone."
That was a good question. "He was not that bad back then. He detested his father and everything he stood for, but he had to play the role of a dutiful son. According to Areana, he got colder after Mortdh murdered all the other gods. He might have convinced himself that he must be evil because he carries the blood of an evil god. The sad part is that we know now it was not Mortdh's intention to kill the gods. The Eternal King's assassins used the conflict to hide their involvement. They might have fired upon Mortdh's ship, causing it to explode over the assembly hall and triggering a nuclear reaction, or just dropped a bomb of their own while Mortdh was flying over. We will probably never know what happened there."
Wonder nodded. "Navuh would make an interesting study subject for Vanessa. As busy as she is, I'm sure she would have made time for him."
Annani chuckled. "Navuh is unredeemable. Not even Vanessa could pull off such a miracle."
"There must be some light left in him," Wonder insisted. "I can't imagine kind, sweet Areana in love with a total monster."
"Navuh has caused immeasurable suffering, Wonder. The Brotherhood is responsible for millions of lives lost, mostly human, but some of ours as well."
"I don't think Areana knows the extent of his evildoing," Wonder said. "Or she chooses not to know."
"It is probably the second one. When we first started talking after Carol showed her how to use the communicator, I tried to convince her to leave him, but I quickly learned that as soon as I brought up Navuh, she clammed up and rushed to end the call." Annani turned so she was facing Wonder. "I realized that it was futile to try to convince her that he was evil and she needed to leave him. If I wanted to maintain a relationship with my sister, I had to accept that she loved Navuh and that was never going to change."
36
TULA
Tula floated on her back, staring at the painted ceiling designed to look like the sky, and tried not to scream.
It had been three days since Areana had spoken with Annani. Three days of living in limbo, not knowing if a rescue was coming and if, by some miracle, all four of them would be saved.
She'd prayed to the Fates and refused to let go of the last shreds of hope, clinging to them with desperation.
It was the only way she could deal with the crushing guilt. Every time she looked at Tamira's face or heard Tony mention Areana's promise to find a way to get them off the island, something died inside of her, and the only way she could keep up a pretense of normality was to cling to the irrational hope that the next time Areana spoke with Annani, she would hear good news.
"You are going to get wrinkles in that porcelain skin of yours." Tamira swam up beside her.
"I'm immortal. We don't get wrinkles."
"If you frown nonstop, you will." Tamira flipped onto her back and floated next to Tula. "What's going on with you?"
"You know. Same old stuff."
"The pregnancy?" Tamira whispered.
