Page 2 of Dark Shaman: Eternal Hope (The Children Of The Gods #100)

The answers to the question that had been haunting her for over a century were somewhere out there, so close, and yet so far.

She moved to stand next to Areana. "You know, this could be an opportunity to find out what happened to our sons," she whispered.

Areana's face went pale, then flushed with what might have been anger or fear. "Don't even think that."

"The harem is nearly restored, and once we are back there, we will be completely isolated again. When will we have another chance like this?"

Areana shook her head. "Even if we could find out anything, which I assure you we can't, abusing our hard-won, limited freedoms will only backfire. We should enjoy them while they last."

"But—" Tamira started.

"No." Areana's tone brooked no argument. "Lord Navuh is being generous, allowing us this outing, and even permitting Tony and Elias to join us at the beach. Don't ruin it for the rest of us by being foolish."

Tamira wanted to argue, but she recognized the fear beneath Areana's stern words.

The lady had also lost her sons to Navuh's system.

Perhaps not knowing their fates was better than confirming their worst fears.

Then again, Areana might not be kept in the dark like the rest of them.

Navuh loved her, so he might have taken mercy on her and told her the fate of their sons.

No doubt they were high-ranking generals in the Brotherhood, and he whispered their praises to their mother at night.

"You're right." Tamira averted her gaze so Areana couldn't see the anger burning in her eyes and walked away, pretending to find the hat display fascinating. "We should all get hats," she said. "The sun is going to be scorching at the beach."

"We are immortal," Tula said. "Our skin doesn't burn in the sun. Not even Areana's, and hers is almost entirely devoid of pigment."

The discussion continued while the others chose large hats to provide some shade in the sun, and after a few moments, Tamira's ire subsided. Perhaps Areana was just as clueless as the rest of them. Maybe she didn't know what happened to her boys.

"Thank you for your assistance," Areana told the shopkeeper once all the purchases were tallied and recorded.

As they left the air-conditioned interior they were met by heat and humidity, but the salt breeze from the ocean made it bearable.

"Navuh's sons are treated well," Tula suddenly said, and Tamira realized she'd been listening to her exchange with Areana. "They all became high-ranking officers in the Brotherhood. He values them greatly."

"He does," Areana agreed.

"I wish that were also true for the women in the Dormant enclosure," Tamira couldn't help adding. "We don't know how they're treated."

They were Dormant but kept human so they could have one child after another. The poor women were probably treated as nothing more than breeding stock and kept perpetually pregnant.

"There is nothing we can do for them," Areana said. "So, there's no point dwelling on it. I did my best to advocate for them so that at least their living conditions would be adequate. The rest cannot be avoided."

"And then there's the brothel," Tula murmured, and all three of them shivered despite the heat.

Young, beautiful girls were trafficked from all over the world, given drugs so they would be compliant and addicted, and put in the brothel to service the warriors and visitors.

When they outlived their usefulness as sex providers, they were moved to different jobs, primarily as maids, and some of them had ended up working in the harem, which was how Areana and the ladies had discovered what the island was known for in certain need-to-know-only circles.

"Let's not think about such unpleasant things today," Areana said. "We're going to the beach, and we're going to swim in the ocean for the first time in forever."

Living on an island surrounded by water and never being allowed to dip their toes in it had been its own sort of torture. Now, they were finally going to visit the beach.

As they were driven back to the mansion, they passed by buildings that showed various degrees of damage from the rebellion. Numerous building crews were working to restore the area to its previous state, clearing rubble, replacing windows, and rebuilding walls.

Tamira wondered where they had all come from. It didn't make sense for the small island to have so many construction crews or building materials on hand. Navuh must have activated his network outside the island, and they'd delivered the men and materials.

"It's remarkable how quickly they're restoring everything," Tula murmured.

Areana followed her gaze. "Lord Navuh wants all traces of the rebellion erased as quickly as possible."

It had to be done, not only because the tourists would begin to arrive on the island soon, but also because the lord didn't want to see signs of the uprising.

Not that it was possible to erase it from the memories of those who'd been affected by it, especially those who had cowered in the basement while enhanced soldiers tried to get to them.

Nor could it be erased from the mind of Lord Navuh. He would never forget how close he had come to losing everything.