Page 27 of Dark Island: Rescue
"What is it?" she asked gently when the silence stretched too long.
He set down the stirrer. "Have you heard from Tula recently?"
Of all the things she'd expected him to say, asking about her sister hadn't even been on the list. "No, not directly. The harem was flooded after a minor earthquake, something about subterranean water penetrating the structure, and everyone was evacuated. They only recently returned, and Areana called, but I don't think she said anything about Tula or Annani would have told me."
His pained expression didn't make sense.
"You're scaring me, Esag. What's going on? Why the sudden interest in Tula?"
He reached into his pocket and withdrew something wrapped in soft cloth. As he unwrapped it, a small wooden figurine was revealed. It was beautiful, carved with the meticulous skill she'd come to expect from his work, but that wasn't what made her heart race. The face was familiar yet different, like looking in a mirror that reflected not quite accurately.
"I was trying to carve you," Esag explained. "Anandur commissioned it. But every time I tried, it came out wrong. The features were off, the expression wasn't right. I made three attempts." He pushed the figurine across the table toward her. "And each time this was what emerged from the wood. It's Tula, isn't it?"
"I don't know." Wonder picked up the figurine. "I don't know what she looks like except for Carol's descriptions. She said Tula was a smaller, feistier version of me." The resemblance was unmistakable, but the bone structure was more delicate, and she remembered the expressionthat was a mixture of determination and longing for something more. The girl her little sister had been, was a spitfire who worshiped Annani and wanted to be just like her. She'd craved adventure but hadn't had the courage to seek it out on her own. That's why she'd been so eager to participate in all of Annani's crazy ideas.
"Even after five thousand years, I still remember this stubborn and yet vulnerable expression. She was always a tapestry of contradictions."
"Have you regained all of your memories?" Esag asked gently.
Wonder nodded. "When I first woke up from stasis, I didn't even remember who I was, but once the memories were triggered by seeing Annani's portrait, everything started flooding back in. Eventually, I regained all of my memories."
"I'm glad." He reached for her hand, then changed his mind mid-motion and retracted it. "I had a vision about Tula," Esag said quietly. "It must have been triggered by what I was carving."
Wonder's hand tightened on the figurine. "What did you see?"
He swallowed. "Tula is pregnant."
Wonder stared at him, waiting for him to take it back, to say that it had only been a vague impression and that he might be wrong, but his expression remained grave.
"Pregnant? Are you sure?"
He nodded. "Understandably, she's frightened and desperate, and she needs our help. That's the only reason I can see for her appearing in my vision."
Pregnancy in the harem was bad news. If the childwere a boy, he would be taken away and raised as a warrior for the Brotherhood. If a girl, she might remain in the harem, but she'd never be allowed to transition to immortality, doomed to age and die like any other human.
"Do you know who the father is?" he asked.
"Tony," she murmured. "A human that was brought to the harem and that Tula has taken as her lover."
Wonder realized she was still holding the figurine, gripping it so tightly the edges dug into her palm. She forced herself to loosen her hold and set it carefully on the table between them.
"How far along is she?"
"It's still early, from what I could see," Esag said. "Her belly was only slightly rounded, but the way she had her hand on it left no doubt about the reason. She didn't just gain weight from eating too many pastries."
"She reached out to you for a reason."
Tula had always been fierce, independent, and proud, but if she needed help and knew how to appear in someone's mind, she should have reached out to her sister or to Annani. Why had she felt the need to contact Esag through a vision?
Did Areana even know that Tula was pregnant?
Esag rubbed his face with both hands. "It was like she was willing me to understand, to act, to do something."
"We need to tell Annani." Wonder stood up.
"Now?"
"Yes." She turned toward the service kiosk. "Aliya, there is something I need to do. Can you hold the fort on your own until Arezoo gets here?"
