by Eden Wolfe
Seven years since that day when they beat the man in the market, and look where we've gone since. I never would have imagined. I never could have guessed.
Trudith touched her pocket where she kept her papers and then brought her hand to the lava amulet around her neck.
Could we have fought the changes? Could we have stopped things from becoming this bad?
Trudith absent-mindedly wiped at the bar, even though she already had her answer. It had been within six months of the new Queen's coronation that things had turned for the worst. They didn't see it at first; the arguments had been logical, even if now they made no sense at all.
They put limitations on food consumption and access. And still, nothing has improved for us here. Wasn't that the point of all this? Wasn't that how the directive on carrying identity papers came to be, to assure equality, fairness? It had seemed so reasonable. Even necessary. And now? Mandatory blood collection. The end-of-day controls. It wasn't supposed to be like this.
Then Rose had left. She hadn't shown for work in three days, which hadn't happened in the three years since Trudith had taken over the pub. Rose had come with the pub. She was as much a fixture in it as the countertop under her fingers.
And then, just like that, she was gone. Trudith had found Rose in the morning, behind the pub, waiting for her. "I'm sorry, I have to go," were the only words she'd said. But Trudith somehow understood. She couldn't place the feeling, but she understood. Was it because Rose was among the most disfigured in Cork Town and would experience greater persecution than others? Or did Rose see the crackdown coming and couldn't bear to live in it? Or...was it something else entirely?
Maybe Rose was right. We live this half-life now and we don't even know why. The screen tells us nothing of our actual conditions. Sometimes I'm sure Mary is outright false. Soil viruses? I don't buy it. It's an easy answer for the lack of resources in Cork Town. Too easy an answer. Something isn't right. Someone is lying.
But there was nothing to be done about it. Not now. Maybe not ever, with this Queen.
Queen Ariane. I thought things might have gotten better with her. At least Maeva used to come to Cork Town. She tried to show solidarity, even if times were hard. But Queen Ariane?
Trudith rubbed the amulet between her thumb and forefinger.
I'm not sure what the Royalty even stands for anymore.
"If I have to watch one more guard push a child into their house, I just might lose it. What's wrong with them playing on the street in off-hours? They've reduced the schooling time. Magda of the sixth line, you know, the one three doors down from me? She must be sixteen years old. And she can't read. Not because she can't. But because they're not teaching it anymore." Krescencia sat back in her chair. "Not teaching reading."
Heads around the table nodded.
"It's all part of some plan they have."
"And it's working."
"I'm sure it's part of the reason for limits on circulation. Forget all that blather about crop killers. There's no way that's related to us. They're just looking for a scapegoat."
Trudith heard the door swing open and her heart jumped. Her eyes darted at the door in silent prayer that it wasn't a guard.
Please tell me this isn't how everything ends.
Trudith couldn't believe her eyes.
She'd thought of Lucius a few times over the past years since he'd gone quiet, but she never expected him to show up in her pub again.
And then Sara had come.
Of course, Lucius would send Sara to the pub, straight to her. Though Rose had few things to say, she spoke kind words of her guardian, the former Great Geneticist. Trudith still remembered when he held the title though he was already degrading and living in Cork Town. She'd had some misplaced hope that his living in the commune meant their lives might somehow integrate with Geb again. When Lucius was stripped of his title, her hopes disappeared with it.
And now he was standing right in front of her.
"This is a surprise," Trudith managed to say. "We had the woman you sent over here just a couple of days - "
"Yes, yes, I know. Trude, do you have something cold to drink? I've had to walk a long way with this cane, never mind the guards who got my blood pressure up."
Trudith noticed there was sweat rolling down the sides of Lucius' face. "Yes, of course, sit down why don't you?"
He nodded and hobbled past the table of women. They'd shut up as soon as Lucius walked in. It was one thing for them to see Sara, a woman, even if she was from Geb. But Lucius? This would have their heads scurrying. Trudith knew it.
Yala hissed across the table, but loud enough to be heard. "Did you hear that Isabel disappeared yesterday?"
"Isabel of the fourth line?"
"No, third."
"Oh, thank god. I just saw Isabel of the fourth line two days ago. She was yakking about how her building had been raided. I thought maybe that's why they'd take her, for blabbing about the raid."
"No, it was the third line, I'm sure of it."
"Isabel of the third line had it coming. Just couldn't keep her mouth shut, not in the same way as the fourth line Isabel. Third line had a problem in the head. She truly couldn't tell when to shut it or not."
Yala looked over to Lucius and then back to the women. "Maybe we should change the subject."
"Don't let me stop you, ladies," Lucius said, "These are worrying times indeed."
"Is that why you sent that woman here?"
"I didn't send her, I asked her to come."
"She had some real concerning things to say." Yala slowly stood from the table.
"Yes, she did."
"But she had some ideas too. Ideas that might affect us directly."
Trudith watched Yala's verbal dance. Throwing some hints out, watching Lucius' reaction. She wasn't bad at it, considering that Yala had a tendency to speak harsh words too quickly.
Trudith brought over iced lemon water. She couldn't keep much ice, but she felt Lucius deserved it. He lived on the far side of town. In his condition, hobbling to the pub might almost put his life in danger. Though it was true he'd survived longer than any of them so far. She didn't know how old he was, but she knew he was very old. His face didn't give it away. She could see something in him, when she took off the years and effects of the degradation. He had been a very beautiful man, at one time. But it must have been a long time ago.
"Sara is a very good woman," Lucius wiped his forehead with his arm. "Trustworthy."
"Yeah, I thought so too. But when she started talking about one of us being a Willing Woman, you know, in secret," Yala walked towards Lucius, "That's a pretty frightening prospect you know. Could get us disappeared, you know."
What's she going to do? Is she going to threaten him? There's something in her swagger.
Trudith stepped out from behind the bar, concerned that her pub might become the sight of something unseemly if Yala made a wrong move.
"Yala," she said, "What are you doing?"
"I want to talk with the Great Geneticist."
"So talk from back where you were."
Yala raised her hands as though to show she had no weapon. She must have heard the worry in Trudith's voice. She picked up a stool and took it to Lucius' table while the other women sat with their mouths open.
"Speak, old man. Sara was supposed to be the one to come back. Why are you here?"
Lucius cocked his head.
"Come on, out with it," Yala's tone was somewhere between threatening and curious. Trudith stood nearby.
"You're right to be suspicious," Lucius said. "Today was the first time in nearly three years I've set foot on these streets. Much has changed. And not for the better."
"Three years?" Anna said. "How could you stay inside for three years?"
"I have a lot to occupy my mind," Lucius tapped his forehead. "And I'll tell you all about it. I don't have secrets to keep from you, not anymore. I don't need secrets, I need allies." Lucius looked straight at Yala. "You want
to know if you can trust me. I want to know if I can trust you."
The pub went quiet. Trudith looked from the table of women who had been meeting there for months now, back to Lucius who seemed to be offering something that was what they'd all been looking for. A chance to take action. Something to do. A way to be useful. A way to undo what had been done to them.
"You can trust me," Trudith said.
Yala's eyes narrowed, but something in her softened.
Lucius nodded, "You already know we will need a woman. But this one woman will need a team behind her. You need to know what you're getting into here. I don't have much to lose anymore. I don't know how long I have left. I'll never go back to the Tower, but my work is not yet done. I need a woman to give birth, and this will not be a regular child. I couldn't let Sara tell you everything. No, I need a woman to give birth to a boy. I have designed a boy. And I think he will survive."
The women looked from one to the other, necks snapping. Even Trudith did not expect to hear this. A boy?
"It'll be a boy, building on the common sequence of men, but he will have sequences from women who have - skills. The gestation period will be longer than it is for Willing Women, this is a long-term commitment. I'm not willing to accelerate it. It has to be as it was before we first began altering the sequences. Nine months."
Trudith swallowed hard.
He's taking a great risk coming here, speaking like this. Any of the women could report him.
Trudith looked at the faces of the women around the table, all with an unexpected expression. Calm, assured.
They won't report him. He's giving them something to live for.
"You want to save the men," Anna said.
"I want to give men a chance." Lucius raised his hands in the air. "But there's no more to say unless there's someone among you who would be ready to risk her life for this. This isn't just about getting disappeared anymore. This is so much more than that."
"We could get disappeared any day," Matilde spoke. "They're looking for reasons now. It could be any one of us, any day."
Anna held the amulet, twisting it with her fingers. "This isn't a greater risk than us being here right now with the conversations we've been having."
Yala stood up. "A boy? Yeah, I did not see that coming." She looked to the women and back to Lucius, " We trust you. And you can trust us."
Lucius let out a big breath of air. "Trude, would you get me another one of these divine drinks? Nothing ever tasted so wonderful. And we're going to be here for a while. We have much to discuss."
18
Leadon
The cool night air invaded Leadon's hut, settling across her skin. She inhaled deeply through her nostrils, letting the smell of the fire fill her up. She closed her eyes. Even over the crackle, she could hear the six women standing with her, a circle around the fire. Their breathing, shifting positions. She opened her eyes and scanned them. They all kept their eyes tightly shut.
Joom, Rianh, Adanni, and Ahnira had all accepted her invitation. She already knew that Priyantha and Miliah would come. She was winning them over, slowly. It would take time. She had trust to build after decades of them believing she didn't belong among them. Seven women in whom the Ganese blood was strong. Not just in their physique, though the black hair, dark skin, and tall feminine figure were common between them, but in their belief that all they were living now had come before.
Leadon looked at Rianh who had come from the West. Leadon smiled. She intended to bridge the divide that had emerged between East and West Gana in these recent years.
Leadon sang at the fire, a low prayer for unity. The others repeated after her. They all closed their eyes and lifted their hands in the direction of the smoke, up higher and into the next world, where all who came before would infuse their wisdom within them.
They sang, each her own individual song, the voices mixing and colliding into a beautiful wild call to the beyond. Leadon felt compelled to open her eyes to look on the scene.
That's when she saw Irene standing in the doorway.
They locked eyes and held them. Leadon softened her face, hoping the invitation to Irene would be apparent. Irene didn't see the invitation or paid it no mind, for she stayed in the doorway, unmoving, eyes on Leadon.
The women finished their song and let their hands drop to their knees. They opened their eyes, one warrior priestess then another looked to Leadon. She felt their eyes on her, but she did not break Irene's gaze. The women followed Leadon's look to the door. All eyes were on Irene now.
And still, Irene didn't give any sign. Finally, Irene took in a deep breath. "Your prayers are important. But they are insufficient."
"I do not argue for their sufficiency." Leadon stepped toward her. "You have come during a sacred moment."
"I wish I could have seen you doing something more indicative of our peoples' way."
"More indicative than prayer?"
"We are warrior priestesses." Irene spat, her shoulders pulling her taller, her head grazing the top of the entryway. "It's time you acted like it."
Leadon felt something stirring in her, a foreign feeling. Not the shame that had blanketed her in Geb. This was different. She was on her soil now. She was making progress. And Irene had no right to stand there laying judgments.
She speaks out of turn.
"Warrior priestesses," Leadon continued, "I thank you for your communion. Please continue your tasks as discussed. I will remain here so that I may speak to the concerns of our friend, Irene."
These women had better leave quickly, for I am now beginning to understand why the Ganese distrusted my genes. Irene is closer to Royalty than she is to us. Too close to this imposter Queen.
It's time she answered for it to her people.
19
Irene
Irene wanted to kick the fire, rush the women out of there like children, chastise them for their laziness, their passiveness.
Everything that's happening in this world and they are standing around praying.
It didn't matter that Irene understood that it was part of their tradition, and an important part. Something in her had hoped she would arrive in Gana to find the women in frenzied activity, training, preparing, strategizing.
Not singing around a fire.
She didn't know how to impress upon them the precipice on which they were all walking. She feared it would fall on deaf ears even if she did. Irene knew her position in Gana was tenuous. It had been that way since Maeva had first called her from the tribe to serve in the fortress. But how could she have said no?
Irene knew the call to the fortress would likely mean the end of her kinship with the Ganese, just as had happened for Sahna when she'd left Gana to serve Maeva all those years ago. The warrior priestesses had always been wary of their own moving off to serve another master. It was written across their history, and it never ended well. Even Sahna had found herself ejected from all communities. That's why she’d established the cult of the Sisters.
And yet the Ganese had withstood every trial. When their leaders had negotiated with the new peoples who landed before the Mist, when modern life threatened to take away all they had developed over thousands of years, the Ganese remained. When the settlers came and rearranged their land, politics, and power, the Ganese remained. Even the procreation wall that had been thrown up with the death of the Ganese warrior priests - their husbands, fathers, sons – still they had found their way through by negotiating with Central Tower. One-to-one birth rate with normalized Ganese genetic code, that was all they asked for in exchange for predictions on land and crop health. That had long been in the Ganese blood. They knew the land better than anyone since the first settlers had arrived.
They were the original peoples of Lower Earth.
And what will our people come to with Leadon at the head of it all? Her, of all people! What game was Batrasa playing? What was she thinking?
Irene waited until the other women filed out, leaving her alone with Lead
on. Irene had never grown accustomed to seeing her face on another's body, even if she understood why. Even more so, she didn't recognize herself in this other person. Leadon, so far from her own character. Meek, gentle, kind. Needy.
Irene couldn't wait any longer. The last of the women filed out of the hut.
"What strategies do you have in place, Leadon?"
Leadon's eyes betrayed no hint. "Strategies?"
"Yes, strategies. Negotiations with the other peoples. Negotiations with Geb. Agriculture development. Warrior preparation. What are you putting in place?"
Leadon crossed her arms. "I am starting with cultural evolution."
Irene nearly choked.
"Cultural what?"
"We have a divide in our people, Irene. It's unhealthy. It will only become a larger gap within Gana. I am unifying East and West."
"Is this a joke?"
"It's no light matter."
"Worse than that, it's irrelevant."
Leadon's eyes narrowed. "When did you last live in Gana, Irene?"
"That is not - "
"Relevant?" Leadon sighed. "Let me explain. We have many trials on the horizon, natural and human-made. Many are already on our doorstep. The crop killers, the viruses, the changing seasonal patterns. Divisions in Lower Earth are becoming more acute. The threat from Upper Earth remains a current underneath it all."
Leadon walked to the main door of the hut.
