Chapter 5

FIVE

Turi couldn’t curl herself into a tighter ball. She pressed her nails into her palms hard enough for it to hurt. Hard enough to wake her up, but the dream remained and so did the sting in her hands.

Moments later the door opened and Ellion strode in. He was dressed the same as when Turi last saw him, but wore a shirt this time.

“What is happening?” he demanded with a scowl on his face.

The shadow creature appeared to put her hands on her hips. “I told you you should have told her about me. Look how scared she is.”

“It slipped my mind,” he said, turning his glare to Turi.

“What’s going on here?” She placed a hand on her chest as her heart beat a frantic, wild pace. “Where are my clothes?”

Ellion took a deep breath. “This is not a monster or a specter or any creature here to hurt you. This is Ara and she is to assist you. And if you’re referring to the rags you were wearing, she took them away, cleaned you up and dressed you for sleep.”

“How did I sleep through that?” Turi wanted to know.

“You were tired,” Ellion said. “Ara helped you fall asleep, but you stayed that way on your own.”

Turi didn’t want to know how this creature “helped” her fall asleep. “For how long?”

“Twenty-six hours. Ara is here to help you get your bearings. She can answer questions and keep you company.”

“Is she your slave?” Turi asked, recoiling in disgust.

“No,” Ellion replied. “She’s a friend and she does work for me.”

Turi shivered. “You’re not a—a specter?” she asked Ara. “A spirit of the dead?”

“No, I’m very much alive.” The shadow being appeared to straighten up with an air of indignity. “I am a member of the Skrac species. We’ve been here much longer than your people.”

“What do you mean?” Turi asked. “Terians have always been on this planet.”

Ellion held up a hand and gave Ara a warning look. “The point is, Ara is here to help you acclimate to living at the fortress, not harm you.”

Turi relaxed and gazed at Ara with cautious wonderment. “The Riests told us that you are vengeful spirits who eat the living, and that we should fear you.”

Ara snorted. “Your Riests are wrong about a lot of things.”

This being didn’t seem dangerous at all. She’d scolded the overseer and received no punishment. She clearly had the Riests’ number. Turi gave a tentative smile, deciding to be open-minded about this Skrac. “I agree with that.”

“I did clean you, but it wasn’t thorough, if you know what I mean. You’ll want a bath. Here are some clothes to change into.” Ara tossed the bundle she held onto the bed. “We’ll get you more later, but this was all I could find at short notice.”

Turi looked at the tumble of soft, colorful fabrics. “Oh, that’s far too fine for me. I can wear my own clothes.”

“You’ll not be getting that clothing back,” Ellion said. “Your settlement life is over.”

Turi eyed the garments skeptically as she took in his words. They sounded very final. “These look far too beautiful.”

“This will be hard for you to accept,” Ellion said, crossing his arms. “You are a resident of my fortress now. The rules are different here.”

Turi reached out and touched the clothes, rubbing the soft, thick fabric between her fingers. “Why is that?”

“Why is what?” Ellion asked.

“Why are the rules different? If such things are available to you , why can’t they be available to us in the settlement?” She looked up at him, her eyes filled with curiosity. “We’re suffering down there.”

He inclined his head. “That is the will of the Axis. I cannot question them.”

“So the Axis make us suffer.” She shook her head. “And you don’t ask why?”

Ara let out a whispered chuckle. “You chose one with spice, Ellion. I like her already.”

Ellion gave the shadow female a bland look before turning back to Turi. “There is much you don’t know. Things I can’t talk to you about, but there are reasons for all of it. I suggest you accept it and try to enjoy your life here. It will be more comfortable. I can promise you that.”

It didn’t appear that Ellion was in the mood for any more questions. He nodded to Turi, then Ara, then strode from the room.

Turi let out a sigh. “He’s so strange.”

“Just wait until you get to know him better,” said Ara. “You haven’t seen strange yet.”

“How long have you known him?” Turi asked, fascinated by the easy rapport between them.

“Ah.” Ara observed Turi for a moment before answering. “Longer than he knows.”

Turi shook out one of the garments, trying not to show the awe she was feeling just holding this beautifully woven fabric. “How is that possible?” She sighed. “You both talk in riddles.”

Ara sat on the edge of the bed, and Turi was surprised to see the mattress sink under her dark, featureless weight. She half expected Ara to have no substance and be the shadow she appeared to be, but this was a new world. Turi reminded herself to be prepared to be in a state of wonder most of the time. From the overseer actually having a name and a personality, to learning that the specters were not spirits of the dead at all, but just people, she was beginning to question everything she’d ever known. And this was likely just the beginning.

“You only just got here,” Ara said. “You can’t expect us to tell you all our secrets on the day you arrive.”

“I’d appreciate it if you would,” Turi muttered.

Ara chuckled again. “I do like you. You’re going to turn everything upside down, but maybe that’s okay.”

“How am I going to turn anything upside down?”

Ara tilted her dark head to the side. “You really have no idea, do you?”

“Apparently not.” Turi looked at Ara expectantly. “But I’d love to hear about it.”

Ara reached out and placed a shadowy hand on Turi’s knee. “Ellion likes you. He finds you interesting. And I suspect over time that interest will only grow. You stood out to him at the settlement. That’s very rare. Just…give him a chance, will you?”

A chance at what? Turi wanted to ask, but she was as fatigued of asking questions as Ellion apparently was of answering them. She shrugged, confused by Ara’s cryptic words. “Sure. I never had anything against the overseer. He never bothered us. We were terrified of him, of course.”

Turi got the impression that that wasn’t what Ara had been hoping to hear, but it was all she had in her. She was hungry, overwhelmed, and still tired, even after getting some sleep.

“You must be hungry. Why don’t you eat something? I’ll set up your bath, and then I’ll show you how everything works here,” Ara said. “After that, we’ll get a real meal.”

“I am hungry,” Turi admitted, noting the slight tremor in her hands as she ran her fingers over the bundle of clothes. They didn’t feel quite so alien anymore. “But I’m always hungry.”

“You won’t be anymore.” Ara’s voice was firm. “Ellion will take good care of you.”

“I suppose he has ample food here in the fortress while those of us in the settlements starve.” She held up a hand before Ara could reply. “And don’t tell me—it’s the will of the Axis.”

“The Axis is a powerful force, even over Ellion.” Ara shrugged one shoulder. “Now, come on. I’ll bring your breakfast—although it’s late afternoon—and you can soak away the rest of the stress and dirt from your ordeal.”

Ara followed Turi to the bathroom and helped her peel off the nightdress, waving away Turi’s noises about modesty. “I’m completely naked right now, Turi,” Ara said. “You don’t seem scandalized.”

“You don’t have…” Turi peered at her shadow face. “ Do you have genitals?”

Ara laughed. “Of course. We reproduce like other organisms. Well, not exactly like them, but the concept is the same.”

Turi hung the nightdress on a hook with great care. “I guess I will never know, since I no longer have a mate to bond with.”

“From what I’ve seen of your would-be mate,” Ara said dryly, “you’re not missing much.”

“You knew him?” Turi asked, surprised.

“I, and a few others of my kind, help observe the settlements for Ellion. He’s pulled away often by Axis business or dealing with the Hecrons to the west who want to take back the land your people work for their own.”

Turi had no idea the “beasts,” as Sevas had called them, needed to be dealt with. “The overseer fights them himself?”

“He does when they can’t be reasoned with,” Ara replied. “Helps that he can change fully into a dragon. They are terrified of him. Still, he comes back wounded sometimes. Now, let me show you how to use this room. I’d be envious, if I had a form that needed to be washed.”

He fought for them? She had no idea that their safety was so tenuous.

Ara showed her around the bathroom as Turi pondered this new information about the overseer. There was a metal cylinder for taking waterless showers that seemed able to clean the body by some mystical force, an advanced technology she couldn’t comprehend. Ara provided a long and complex explanation for how it worked, but Turi struggled to follow along. It was a stark reminder of how little she knew about the world outside her farm and settlement. She could identify twenty different varieties of leaf shapes, but a device that could clean with a burst of air was beyond her understanding.

The large bathtub made more sense. Ara showed Turi how to add different scents to the water and various additives to soften the skin or heal a rash or even treat an injury.

When the instructions were done and Turi was alone in the room, she sank into the deep tub with the tray of food on the edge, trying to eat slowly while the water enveloped her. This was such a new experience—such profound luxury. She had never been submerged in water before, as she used her allotted amount for bathing sparingly. Water was scarce and needed for the crops. She’d planned to use her bathing water ration to prepare for her bonding ceremony but hadn’t had a chance to do so.

Turi emerged from the bathroom feeling like a different person. Her skin was smooth and soft, and smelled wonderful. It was like nothing she’d ever known before. The new clothes didn’t itch or pull, and they fit like they’d been made for her. The seams didn’t chafe her skin and they hadn’t been mended a dozen times.

“Much better,” Ara said. “You look like you just saw a ghost—a real one.”

“I don’t feel like me,” Turi said with a smile. “I’m comfortable.”

Ara laughed. “Good. That’s the idea. I guessed your size, but those look like they fit well enough.”

“Where did you get them?”

“The fortress has a fabricator—a machine that can make things to inputted parameters. It’s a handy gadget.”

Turi shook her head and looked down at the green and copper-toned clothes Ara had given her to wear. They were loose pants and a shirt, and soft-soled slippers that would last less than a day in the fields of the settlement. “They’re the most beautiful things I’ve ever worn.”

Ara shook her head. “And that’s the saddest thing I’ve ever heard,” she quipped. “Let’s go down and get you a proper meal.”

After the luxury she’d experienced so far, Turi was half afraid to see what she’d be given to eat. Would it be some fat-rich meat that would make her sick? Maybe a feast that could fill every empty belly from her settlement.

Ara took her back on the lift where they came down to the main level, but led her through the main hall and to a square room with round lights hanging from the ceiling. In the center was a square table that looked as if it had risen up from the floor, and six scoop-shaped chairs. One of them was occupied.

“Welcome, Turi,” said the overseer, gesturing to the chair beside him. “Won’t you join me for a meal?”