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She checked the coverage of her tunic and saw that it was a new one Longer anddress laced up both sides with ribbon
In the botto white on her face Molly reached up and felt the bandage on her left cheek, saw the wrapping on her wounded hand She shot the guard a look and shuffled toward the door
As soon as she eed, one of the officials rose and strode over to help support her The two Drenards guided her to a soft chair in the lobby, and Molly saw they had the area to themselves She settled into the upholstery and looked down at the bandage on her wounded hand It no longer stung from the toxins
An official approached her with a red band, the sight of it filling her with joy It was like aso to see if it was in place
"Hello, Lady Fyde Congratulations on co the Drenard Rite of Wadi Thooo"
"It certainly wasn’t what I was expecting," she thought, injecting as much venom in the tone as she could "How are my friends? Is everyone back? Has Edison--has he shown up?" She had so much to ask, and not all of it kind She rested her head back against the chair and reveled in the ability to think her mind, rather than speak it Her mouth still felt full of sand and every muscle in her body ached
"The little one returned very quickly with his Wadi Thooo Not h The other huone too long, I’reatly, she--"
"Anlyn?"
"Infors for the hairy one" The cadence and vocabulary were strange, different than Dani’s, but still in her own voice
"I have feelings for theo look for them" She tried to think it forcefully She leaned forward as if to rise, but her body refused to cooperate It eaker than her will
The Drenard official raised a hand, and the guard paused halfway between helping her and halting her
"You are not in any shape to go back out there, Lady Fyde And even if you were, the Light Side is no place for a female Drenard I would not allow you to risk yourself"
"Those are my friends!" Molly pointed toward the , her hand heavy as a brick
"And they assuo with the Rite--"
"That’s crap! You told us nothing! You sent us out to die!" Molly found it easy to screahts Her throat even formed the words--she could hear thehter as she shook it at both uard looked away, out theand toward the bright canvas of colors The official hung his head low, showing a humility Molly had not seen out of any of these people Not even Dani
"We apologize, Lady Fyde We have been discussing this since you returned from your Rite We were told lies about you I think we even lied to ourselves about you"
Molly had no idea what he was thinking about She tried to force up one of the questions roiling below her surface thoughts, but they were tangled with one another
The official supplied one of his own before she could unknot them: "Do you knohy Lady Hooo ran away from Drenard?"
Molly shook her head "I didn’t know she did I always assumed she was captured, a prisoner from the war--"
The official bristled at this, his shoulders co up to his ears; his eyes ide, his o to war Ever!" He shook his head and ran his long blue fingers down the front of his tunic, cal himself His chest rose and fell with deep breaths before he continued: "Lady Hooo ran away froreat sin It was a very bad thing she did"
"Why did she run away?" Molly asked, but she already suspected the answer She’d practically guessed it during that reunion dinner in the Drenard prison
The guard turned to the official and the official nodded Molly realized, all of a sudden, that she had no idea which one she was co with Both, perhaps?
"Lady Hooo is a very iht "Any son of hers will be fourth in line to the Drenard throne She was to o--"
"Who’s Bodi Yooo?" Molly forced in
The two Drenards exchanged another glance, then her own voice continued in her head:
"Bodi is a very i body He is the official that okayed your rite of passage He is also one of the two e friend here and oversaw his Rite"
"What?"
"We are sorry, Lady Fyde We were instructed to give you no guidance for the Rite We were told to give you a lance and our oldest maps No water No food And--"
There was a ht the sound of rapping around the shelter into focus
"--and ere told that none of you would ever become Drenards That all of you are as weak as our worace that makes theht us here to die"
Nobody answered She had said it out loud To herself
"You brought us here to die," she repeated In her thoughts and for everyone to hear
"And you have proven us wrong You brought back a fen for--"
"My friends are going to die because of jealousy? Because we’re aliens? We brought Anlyn here because she’s our friend To help her And her fiancée is going to kill us rather than thank us?"<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>