Chapter Eleven Faith

Faith's eyes fluttered open. For a moment, she wasn't sure where she was. Her back was stiff, and her head rested forward on something soft. It was still dark, but she didn't remember going to bed. Sitting up, she massaged her aching neck.

Then it hit her. She was in Sophia's room.

She sat up and checked the time on her wristclip. It was almost midnight. Beside her, Sophia was sleeping, her breathing so light that Faith couldn't hear it until she leaned close. When Faith took hold of her hand, it was no warmer than it had been in the hub at breakfast.

They had managed to get Sophia back to the dorm and into bed. But Lily's prediction had been accurate: within ten minutes, she had thrown up the porridge. Rowan had cleaned her up and settled her back in bed, while Lily fetched a cannula and section of tubing, which she had managed to insert into Sophia's arm.

"We have to rehydrate her," she had muttered to no one in particular.

Lily had been slightly happier once the fluids were flowing into Sophia's system, but her expression was still bleak. She was out of her depth, and she knew it.

The effort of walking to the hub and back, plus the vomiting episode, had taken its toll on Sophia. Since their return to the room, she had lain on the bed, her body limp and listless. Faith had stayed with her, hoping that a combination of rest and fluids would help her to heal, but neither seemed to have made much difference. Sophia was just as sick as she had been the previous day.

Tears pricked at Faith's eyes. All she had wanted for weeks was to have her friend back. Out of Danforth's clutches, away from the drugs, safe in the haven of the library. She'd pictured their happy reunion so many times. But she'd never pictured this.

Part of Faith was glad to be there to support her friend in her time of need. It was what you did for the people you loved. But another part of her hated every moment that she sat there, staring at her friend's wasted body. The coward in her just wanted to run away. If she wasn't in this room, she could pretend Sophia was going to get better.

But she had to face this. Be honest about what was happening to her friend. Looking at her right now, it was difficult to believe she would ever recover.

She had refused offers from both Lily and Rowan to watch over Sophia through the night. Either of them would have taken over, she knew. But she hadn't wanted to leave Sophia with people who were virtual strangers. Not when she was so sick.

Desperately thirsty, Faith reached for the glass of water which rested on the nightstand. She slurped at it greedily before setting it down. When she turned back to the bed she was shocked to see that Sophia's eyes had flickered open.

"Hey!" Faith fought to keep her voice upbeat. "Welcome back to the land of the living."

"Time is it?" Sophia whispered.

"It's late." Faith smoothed down the covers. "How are you feeling?"

Sophia grimaced as she shifted her body slightly. Trying to hide her concern, Faith leaned forward, adjusting the pillows until Sophia looked more comfortable.

"Feel up to trying a little food?" Faith gestured to a bowl on the nightstand. "I have a bowl of yoghurt and berries here, or I can go and make you toast if you'd like?"

Sophia leaned forward, glancing at the contents of the bowl. She blanched, bringing a hand to her mouth.

"Maybe later." The nausea had clearly returned. "When I'm less… when my stomach is…"

"You have to eat, Soph." Faith put the bowl back. "You have to build your strength."

"I know… I just… I can't." Sophia sank back on the pillows. "You saw what happened today. I keep t-trying, but nothing stays down."

"Okay." Faith tried to soothe her. "We can try again tomorrow, when you're more rested."

"Maybe." A lone tear trickled from Sophia's eye. "Thought I was improving."

"I'm sure you are." Faith insisted, not believing it. "It'll just take a little time, that's all."

Sophia sniffed loudly. "D-don't lie to me."

Faith grasped hold of Sophia's hand. "I'm not lying!"

Pulling her hand away, Sophia struggled to sit up. "Could you…" she gestured to the bed next to hers, "…another pillow, please?"

Glad of the excuse to diffuse the tension, Faith moved away. By the time she brought the pillow back, Sophia seemed calmer. Placing an arm around her, Faith assisted her into an upright position.

When she was settled, Sophia took a deep breath. "Thanks. And I'm sorry. It's just… difficult to stay p-positive…." She sighed. "Tell me about your speech."

For a moment Faith hesitated. But she could see her friend was trying to change the subject, think about something more positive.

"Um. It felt good, I guess." Faith felt herself blushing. "Like… like I was actually having an impact."

"You were." Sophia's eyes glowed. "Diane said… she said the women were really l-listening."

"Maybe." Faith shrugged. "But the bomb ruined all that."

"Not necess-essarily." Sophia paused, closing her eyes briefly. Faith leaned forward, concerned, but Sophia recovered and waved her away. "You made them… made them doubt. It's a good start."

"I suppose." Faith inhaled deeply. "What we need now is some solid proof of what I told them. Something that will convince them once and for all. But how do we get it?" She tried to keep the despair out of her voice. "Security at the hospital is crazy now. Matriarch House is in ruins. The curfew makes it more difficult to move around the city at night, and—"

"There has to be a way," Sophia whispered.

Faith chewed on her lip. "Persuading them that the Eremus people aren't their enemy will be too hard. The hatred of men is too ingrained. And with the explosion causing all these deaths…" Faith shook her head. "Can you imagine the Bellator women ever accepting them?"

"What if we could get someone… someone inside the academy…" Sophia drifted for a moment. She blinked slowly, coming back to the conversation. "I m-mean to take f-footage of the experiments…"

"Possibly." Faith was doubtful, but didn't want to discourage her friend. It was the most enthusiastic Sophia had been so far. "I guess Kemp might be able to do something, though she said at her last visit she didn't know when she'd get away again. They're still watching her pretty closely."

"What about me?"

Faith frowned. "You?"

"I'm a prime example of Danforth's ex… per… experiment." She gestured to her body. "Just s-show the citizens the state I'm in!"

"You're not well enough." Faith's heart lurched. "We just got you out of danger. You go public, you'll be putting yourself in a huge amount of danger."

"It's worth… worth considering." Sophia's eyes fixed on Faith's. "Isn't it?"

"I suppose you"re the only one who reacted the way Danforth wanted to the femgazipane," Faith conceded. "But we'd need to be very careful how we did it."

"Keep meaning to ask what Madeleine…" Sophia took a steadying breath. "What did she say about the n-necklaces?"

Faith's hand flew to her mouth. "I didn't… You were sick, and it went out of my head."

"Tell her today." Sophia's gaze drifted to the darkened window. "S-soon… soon as she gets up."

A noise at the door made them both turn. Rowan poked his head inside.

"Want me to take over?" He glanced at Faith. "You've been up most of the night."

"No, I'm fine, I–"

"No, you're n-not." Sophia's expression was fierce. She stared at Rowan. "Yes please. Faith needs to rest." She glared at Faith, challenging her to argue.

"Alright." Faith pushed her chair away from the bed. "If you're sure you'll–"

"I'll be fine." Sophia reached for Faith's hand, squeezing it tightly. "Rowan will take care of me."

Reluctantly accepting Rowan's offer, Faith walked to the door. When she got there, she turned to look back at her friend. Sophia had already sunk back on the pillows and closed her eyes. The animation she'd had a moment ago was gone.

Pushing through her exhaustion, Faith headed for Madeleine's office. It bothered her that she had forgotten to pass on the theory about the pendants and she wanted to see if the Resistance leader was awake, as she so often was at night. The hub was quiet, given the early hour, but raised voices from inside the office disrupted the peace.

One of the voices stopped her in her tracks.

"What are you doing about it?"

Unable to stop herself, Faith burst in. Anna stood opposite the Resistance leader, her fists clenched in fury. She spun to face the door at the interruption, her face moving from anger, to shock, to relief.

"Faith!" She stood up and moved forward, enveloping Faith in her arms. The embrace was warm and genuine. When Anna let go, Faith missed the contact.

"You're here because of Flynn, right?"

Anna nodded, the brief glimmer of happiness disappearing from her eyes. "When he didn't come back, I got worried." She turned back to Madeleine. "And we've had no contact from your operatives since the day he headed into the city."

"The curfew has made things very difficult for us," Madeleine said stiffly.

Anna glared. "You left me no option but to come here myself. And now I discover from some poster on the streets that Danforth has sentenced him to death!"

"As I said, we're not taking this lightly." Madeleine waved an impatient hand at Faith. "Did you want something?"

It didn't seem like the right time to interrupt, but Faith steeled herself. She couldn't put off telling Madeleine a second time.

Taking a step into the room, she plunged ahead. "Sophia and I were just talking, and–"

"Sophia's here?" Anna's face brightened. "The rescue went as planned, then?"

"It did." Faith's mind returned to her friend's condition. "But–"

"Is she any better?" Madeleine's tone was hopeful.

"Better?" Anna's gaze flicked between them. "What's wrong?"

"She's pregnant. But she's also sick." Faith blinked rapidly, fighting to remain calm. "We've no idea what's–"

"What symptoms does she have?"

"She's constantly nauseous and very weak." Faith fingered a thread on the sleeve of her sweatshirt. "She's so tired she can barely hold her head up. And she can't eat."

Anna tapped a finger against her lip. "Are the rest of the girls at the academy similar?"

Madeleine shook her head. "None of them are even close to being pregnant, according to Kemp. It's so strange. They're–"

"Sophia and I have a theory about that." Faith seized the opportunity. "We think it may have something to do with the academy pendants, that they–"

Madeleine turned to her, frowning. "Pendants?"

"Neither of us were wearing them when we were given the femgazipane. The girls at the academy will all–"

"I hardly think the jewellery worn by the academy girls is relevant right now." Madeleine gave a dismissive wave of her hand.

"But I–"

"I'll get Blake to look into it later." Madeleine's glare cut right through Faith. "I think, at the moment, we have more pressing matters to deal with."

Faith felt her face flushing. Obviously, Sophia's health was the most important thing right now. She opened her mouth to apologise, but Madeleine had turned back to Anna.

"Do you think you could take a look at Sophia? We're extremely concerned about her."

"Of course." But Anna's face hardened. "Can you spare a few minutes to answer my questions first? It won't take long."

"Sure." Madeleine nodded, reluctantly. "What is it you want to know?"

"My son." Anna took a breath. "Is he–?"

Faith watched the Resistance leader's face closely.

"He's fine, as far as we're aware. Still at the hospital. Diane checked in with him just yesterday." Madeleine smiled. "It seems he's done an excellent job of blending in so far."

"He played a vital part in rescuing Sophia," Faith added.

Anna barely blinked. "Where's Danforth keeping Flynn?"

Noah's ma wasn't usually so demanding. But Faith could imagine how her frustration had grown as she'd hurried through the darkened city. Of course she was insisting on getting to the truth before she helped them.

Faith vowed to keep quiet. The faster Anna was satisfied, the faster she would go to Sophia.

"We don't know." Madeleine held up a hand at Anna's protest. "Yet. Rest assured, we have operatives out looking."

"And you're certain he's not already dead?" Anna demanded.

"As you saw on the poster, Danforth has announced a public execution. Faith's speech – the one Flynn was planning to arrive during – it went well." As Madeleine ploughed on, Faith felt herself blushing under Anna's grateful gaze. "The women were starting to believe what she said. Danforth's worried she's losing them. Trying to further demonise the Eremus men to bring the Bellator citizens back onside." Madeleine shook her head. "There's no way she would kill him in secrecy. She wants an audience."

"And the execution is scheduled to take place this Thursday?"

"Yes. At the memorial."

"Memorial?"

"For the women lost in the bombing." Madeleine's face changed. "I guess you don't know about that."

Anna regarded Madeleine with a raised eyebrow. "You forget all our news comes from you."

Madeleine sighed. "The day Flynn brought Helen into the city, a bomb went off at Matriarch House. Right in the middle of the Liberation Day Celebrations. Killed more than forty Bellator citizens."

"That many?" Anna turned to Faith for confirmation.

Faith nodded. "It was awful."

"Jacob's work, of course." Madeleine continued. "But Danforth wasn't slow to take advantage of the situation for her own ends." The leader shook her head. "Damn that man. Things would look very different right now, if it wasn't for him."

"Wait." Anna's brow furrowed. "You think the bomb was Jacob's work?"

"Who else?" Madeleine raised her eyebrows. "He's gone rogue. There's been no news of him for days. Given his past behaviour, we assumed–"

But Anna was on her feet, pacing the room. "This was the night Flynn came to the city, you say?"

Madeleine tutted. "Yes. Why?"

"Then it couldn't have been Jacob." Anna turned to face them both, her eyes wide. "Because he was in the forest that night."

"What?" Faith sat forward. "He came back to Eremus?"

"They broke in and stole some more supplies." Anna's tone was bitter. "Waited til people were gathered in the canteen for dinner. Snuck in through the sky cave. Ruth was on duty at the entrance. They knocked her out before she could radio for help."

Faith's hand flew to her mouth at the mention of Noah's best friend. "Is she okay?"

Anna nodded. "She had a major headache, but no lasting damage. She's furious, though. Jacob's group was in and out within half an hour. Took some batteries. Food. A little extra ammunition."

"And they were all there?" Madeleine's tone was urgent. "They couldn't have left someone behind in the city to detonate the bomb?"

Anna shook her head. "Ruth accounted for them all. Jacob, Sarah, Carl, Harden, Denton, Sil."

Faith stared at Anna, her mind spinning. "If they were in the forest, then who–"

I know exactly who." Madeleine's face was dark. "Someone who has benefitted from the horror that's swept the city since the death of so many of its citizens. Someone who has capitalised on the women's fear ever since the explosion."

"You mean–?"

"Someone," Madeleine shook her head, "who will stop at nothing to keep the women of this city in the dark."

Anna's gaze levelled at Madeleine, understanding. "Danforth."