"He wasn't as bad back then," Tula admitted. "He became much worse after Mortdh and the other gods died."
"I wonder why," her sister said. "Was it grief?"
"He didn't grieve," Tula reflected. "He got cold. Not to Areana, but to everyone else."
The other ladies contributed their own stories, their own perspectives.
They were so absorbed in conversation that Tula almost didn't notice when the van's windows began to change. The clear glass turned opaque, blocking out the landscape but not the light.
She tensed, her hand going to her belly again. "What's happening?"
"Relax. It's just a security measure," Wonder said. "We're approaching the village, and no one, not even its residents, can know the exact location of the entrance. If anyone is captured and interrogated, they won't be able to reveal what they don't know."
"The van switches to autonomous driving," Yamanu added from the front, where he was sitting next to Tony. "The route is programmed. It's all very safe."
Safe didn't always mean the same thing. It depended on the context. Sometimes, safe was another word for trapped.
The opaque windows, the locked-in feeling, reminded her too much of the harem.
Tula fisted her hands, holding them close to her body so Wonder wouldn't notice.
"Tula?" Wonder took her hand. "Are you claustrophobic?"
She shook her head. "It just feels like another prison."
Wonder put a hand on her knee. "I know it seems that way, but it couldn't be farther from the truth. The security is intense, andwe all need to follow safety rules. But this isn't a prison, Tula. Once you're settled, you'll be free to come and go as you please. You'll have your own vehicle with the same kind of windows and programmed driving. You will be able to leave the village whenever you want."
"I don't know how to drive," Tula said. "None of us do. Well, Tony does, and probably Elias, but not the ladies. We've never learned."
"It would be my honor to teach you myself," Wonder said. "In Los Angeles, driving is freedom because there is no public transportation to speak of, and I'm not talking about the village. The whole city is like that. If you don't have a car, you're stuck."
The van slowed, and the windows darkened. The temperature dropped noticeably, and the engine noise echoed from the walls, suggesting they had entered an enclosed space.
"We're in the tunnel now," Wonder explained. "It runs through the mountain. The entrance is so well camouflaged that you can stand right next to it and not see it."
Tula tried to picture it. "How is it possible that a road could terminate in the middle of nowhere or a wall, and no one finds it suspicious?"
Wonder smiled. "You were always so clever, but I can't tell you because I don't know. Perhaps the road terminates at a parking spot, so it doesn't look strange."
The van came to a stop, and there was a mechanical sound of heavy machinery engaging, and then the distinct sensation of rising.
"We are on the vehicle lift," Wonder explained. "We're going up through the mountain to the village parking garage. From there, we'll take another elevator to the surface."
"What's in the underground?" Tula asked. "Other than parking for the cars, that is?"
"Mostly storage. We keep extensive supplies on hand in case of siege. We have food, medical supplies, weapons, and everything else we might need to be self-sufficient for months." Wonder's tone was matter of fact, as if preparing for a siege was perfectly normal. "There's also a gym, a pool, a theater, training facilities, a shooting range, a huge tech lab, a high-tech manufacturing facility, and other things I don't remember off the top of my head, like Kalugal's extensive collections of archeological artifacts. Most of the mountain under the village has been carved out to make room for what we need."
"That's a lot," Tula said.
"It is. But it's necessary. We're in hiding, Tula. From the Brotherhood, from humans that would try to dissect us if they knew we existed, from anyone who might want to exploit or destroy us. The village isn't just our home. It's a fortress."
A fortress.
Like the harem had been a fortress.
Underground facilities, limited access, and careful control of who came and went. The parallels were unmistakable.
But there was one crucial difference, Tula reminded herself. One thing that separated the village from the harem despite the similarities.
