Page 64 of Dark Destiny: The Fates' Bargain

"We can pull up chairs," Alena said, "put them in the middle, and make ourselves comfortable."

Annani cast her an amused glance. "Are you sure you want to stay for it? I can talk for hours. I have five thousand years of history to cover. Empires that rose and crumbled to dust. My wandering right after my escape, the founding of the clan, one child at a time. The Brotherhood, and all the long centuries of standing against it." She drew a breath. "Khiann and his friends fell asleep in one world and will wake into a very different one. Someone must tell them how we got from one to the other, and since I bore witness to most of it, I might as well."

Alena smiled. "We tried this before. You wanted to record the whole history of the clan, and we made a start, and then we both grew tired of it."

"We did." Annani had nearly forgotten. "You still have those recordings?"

"Of course. I never delete anything." Alena shrugged. "But this is different. Back then we were reciting into a machine, for some imagined future audience that never felt real. Now you'd be telling it to actual people. I bet you will do a better job of it when you tell the story to Khiann. Our first attempt was made out of obligation. This one will be done out of love, and I bet the difference will be immense."

"You are right." Annani looked at the bed in the center, at the face that might or might not be her husband's. "He needs to hear my voice. What all of them need. A goddess's voice to follow home."

"I'll record it," Alena said. "If you don't get bored with it this time, this could be a treasure trove of information for the clan and all of its future generations."

"Can we listen?" Gertrude brought two chairs for them and placed them in the middle.

"Of course." Annani smiled at the nurse. "Everyone knows how much I love having an audience, especially one that can actually react."

"Thank you, Clan Mother."

Gertrude sat on one of the chairs lined against the wall while Alena and Annani settled into the two chairs in the center of the room.

"I will begin at the beginning," she said. "Or at least, at my beginning, when I was seventeen and in love."

24

SULLHA

Zohara arrived at the van wearing a blue dress and a big smile.

"I changed three times," she announced to everyone as she climbed in. "I never knew that having nice things to wear would be so problematic."

"You look lovely," Sullha said, shifting Tomek's backpack higher on her shoulder. He had insisted on bringing the entire box of cars, and those little things were surprisingly heavy.

Karina stood beside the bus wearing a pair of pants and a t-shirt, which were finer than anything she'd ever worn but simple compared to what the others were wearing. She hadn't said a word since she'd arrived, and Sullha knew better than to try to draw her out. Karina's silences were not empty. They were full of things she could not say and prodding her would only make her withdraw further into herself.

Hopefully, she would open up in time.

Mirumah came last, her graying hair pinned back in a nice updo and red lipstick on her lips that left the rest of the women gaping.

Sullha had seen the box of face colors in her bathroom vanity. She knew what they were for but had no intention of using them. The only times she'd gotten her face painted were when she'd been summoned to the breeding building, so the association wasn't positive.

"Good morning," Mirumah said as she sat next to Zohara.

"Good morning," Sullha answered, matching her tone because that was what Mirumah needed.

Rohilah sat with Bianca on her lap, and the little girl was chewing on the ear of a stuffed rabbit. Baruha and Asira were talking in hushed voices about what she planned to tell Camdor, and Leehy sat stoically by the window, looking out at the underground parking garage as if the concrete columns were fascinating. She could have stayed home, but she'd decided to come, claiming curiosity. She wanted to see where the Eight were staying.

Leehy didn't look excited or nervous. She just was, and for now, that was enough.

Okidu, who had been standing by the door in his crisp suit and bowing to each woman as she climbed in, got behind the wheel and turned on the engine.

This time when the vehicle entered the elevator that would take it down to the tunnel, they all got to see it. Tomek knelt on his seat so he could press his nose to the glass and watch the exposed cables of the lift.

"Mama, look! We are going down!"

"I can see, sweetie."

When the lift stopped its descent, Okidu drove the van slowly down the platform and into the tunnel. A few minutes into the drive, the windows turned cloudy, and the concrete walls of the tunnel disappeared.