Page 8 of Dark Shaman: Eternal Hope (The Children Of The Gods #100)

"Not the natural kind, that's for sure." Areana pressed the button for level seven. "But if the breach was sabotage, cameras in the elevators and the emergency stairs might have caught the perpetrators."

Tula rolled her eyes. "That sounds paranoid even for our lord."

Areana lifted a finger to her lips. "Watch what you are saying. Besides, after the rebellion, security was tightened all over the island. Not just here."

When they exited the elevator on the seventh level, it was bustling with activity. The familiar sounds of daily life filled the corridors, conversations, laughter, the clatter of dishes, and even the occasional shriek of a child.

Something loosened inside Areana at the sounds. Despite them being deep underground, this was what real life sounded like.

They found a group of maids in the common area, folding linens and chatting. The women rose when they saw Areana and Tula, but Areana waved them back down.

"Please, don't let us interrupt. We just wanted to see how everyone was settling back in."

Marta, an elderly maid who had served in the harem for decades, smiled warmly. "It's good to be home, my lady. The hotel was nice, and the beds were comfortable, but it didn't feel like home. Here, everyone knows their role, their place. No one judges us or looks down on us."

Elda, who was in her late thirties, nodded enthusiastically. "It's funny, but I feel freer here than I felt outside. I don't need to pretend. I can be myself, and no one is giving me the evil eye."

Marta slapped her arm playfully. "No one was giving you the evil eye, Elda. You have a wild imagination."

"Yes, they were!" Elda insisted.

"Freedom is relative," Areana murmured. "Sometimes the cage we know feels safer than the world outside."

Tula's hand moved to her stomach before she caught herself. The gesture was subtle, but Areana had been watching her more closely lately. The other ladies gossiped about Tula being potentially pregnant, and perhaps she was, but until Tula told her, she wasn't going to ask.

Until today, Tula had managed to avoid pregnancy, and if she was expecting now, she wasn't happy about it.

None of them wanted the heartache that they knew was coming, but Navuh expected them to produce sons for him, and although he was patient, his patience would eventually run out.

Each one of them had given him a son, and now it was Tula's turn, whether she liked it or not.

"We should let them return to their work," Areana said before turning to the maids with a smile. "Have a wonderful rest of your day, ladies."

They toured the kitchen, visited the laundry room, and when they were done, they returned to the elevator.

"Are you alright?" Areana asked when they were alone, but with the camera overhead, that was an illusion.

"I'm fine." Tula leaned against the mirrored wall. "I'm just thinking about what you said, that freedom is relative."

"It's a complex thing, freedom," Areana agreed. "Sometimes I wonder if it truly exists or if we all just choose different cages."

They returned to find the library abandoned.

"Is it lunchtime already?" Tula asked.

"It must be." Areana turned around and started toward the emergency stairs.

They climbed to the second floor and indeed found the other ladies in the dining room.

"How's the garden?" Sarah asked as they took their seats.

"Recovering well," Areana reported. "Tony and Elias are working hard. Did you tell them to come for lunch?"

"I did," Tamira said. "They are cleaning up, and then they will join us."

"They're good males," Beulah said, then caught herself. "I mean, for humans."

The qualification had them all feeling awkward. They all knew what she meant—Tony and Elias were temporary, mortal, would age and die, while the ladies remained unchanged. It was the fundamental tragedy of any attachment to humans.

"The servants seem happy to be back," Tula offered, changing the subject.

"Of course they are," Raviki said. "This is their home."

"Is it though?" Tamira unfurled her napkin. "Or have they just been here so long they've forgotten anywhere else existed?"

"That's rather harsh," Liliat said. "But true. Being out of here reminded me that there was a world out there, but it's not a nice one. I'd rather be here in our hiding place where no one can get to us."

"The beach outing was nice," Raviki said, probably to salvage the mood. "Perhaps we could arrange them monthly?"

"That would be lovely," Beulah agreed. "Something to look forward to."

"Lord Navuh seemed amenable when I mentioned it," Areana added.

"Once a month," Liliat mused. "Twelve beach visits a year. After five thousand years, that's progress, I suppose."

There was a bitter humor in her voice that Areana didn't like. The brief taste of different freedoms had awakened something in all of them. Small things like shopping in a store, traveling between locations, and living aboveground.

She was a goddess, and her kind loved underground structures.

Her home back in the old country had been built mostly underground, as were the abodes of the other gods.

Her eyes were sensitive to the sun, and she had to wear filtering sunglasses, but back then, she hadn't been a prisoner in her underground rooms, and that made a difference.

Even here, she could come up to the surface whenever she wished and sit in the sun if she wanted, or in the shade of the gazebo, but it was still different somehow.

"We could also ask about other outings," Sarah suggested. "Perhaps stay a night or two in the lord's mansion."

"Did you like it there?" Tamira sounded incredulous.

"No, not really," Sarah admitted. "I would have enjoyed our stay more if the staff had been replaced with the harem servants so we could be ourselves. Perhaps that can be arranged. The mansion servants won't complain if they get a couple of days off once a month."

Tamira shook her head. "I prefer this prison to that one. The chains are prettier here."

Several of the ladies flinched.

"That's enough," Areana said firmly. "We all process our situation differently. If some find contentment here, that's their right. If others struggle, that's valid too. But we support each other. That's how we've survived this long."