The man who Ayla had been supposed to marry. The one she'd kicked in the groin, but not the man she'd stabbed. Still, Mr. Morgan was not Felicity's husband, so why had he punished her?
"I'm sure you'll hold your tongue next time," I told her. "But let me help you with this. It looks like you're behind, and slovenliness will not be tolerated."
"Thank you, Callah," she mumbled, glancing up without raising her head.
I noticed the direction, but didn't immediately look. Instead, I hurried through my last items, then moved Felicity's to taketheir place. Together, we soaked and scrubbed, letting the sound of wet cloth fill the room the same way the other women were.
When I finished the first piece, I wrung it out and put it back in her now-empty basket. The turn allowed me to finally look the same way Felicity had earlier, and I saw the young Mrs. Becker folding her things, looking like she was finishing up. Her husband was an elder. It was enough to make me not want to trust her either.
So I waited some more. When Mrs. Becker finally left, it was as if everyone in the room breathed a collective sigh. And still, no one spoke, not for a few more minutes until we were sure she wasn't coming back in.
Then the woman across from me glanced back, checking the room and finally broke the silence. "Why did Mr. Morgan do that to you, Felicity?"
"I..." She paused to swallow hard. "I said it was a hard decision to make between being stoned or married. He made it clear that was not an amusing joke." And she slung the wet cloth in her hands down into the basin as hard as she could. "He punched me in the side of the neck!"
"No!" I gasped.
"Girl, you'll soon learn that men's tempers are dangerous things," the woman told me.
"No," I said. "It's not that. I've known they're cruel since I was a child. It's that he's not her husband."
"I don't have one," Felicity pointed out.
"But when have the leaders or elders handed out our punishment themselves? Even with the children, they tell someone else to handle it. Yes, we know it will be worse because the person who punishes us will need to prove themselves as well, but they don't typicallydothe punishing!"
"She's right," another woman said.
"Yeah..." Felicity breathed. "I didn't even think of that, but I do know the men are livid about the girls resisting marriage. Callah, they blame the girls you shared a room with."
"Everyone does," I admitted. "I know that. I also know I'm watched because of it."
"And your husband?" the woman across from me asked. "How is he handling it?"
I paused, debating whether I should tell them I was happy with him or keep avoiding it. When more eyes turned to look, the decision was easy - and not at all the right one.
"Tobias Warren is a simple man," I said like I had so many times before. "He's easy to mollify. Large, yes, but also easy to placate."
"At least there's that," Felicity said. "I've just been given the date of my next marriage. That's why I spoke out of line."
"When?" I asked.
She forced out a single laugh. "I will be married again at the end of November. The 29th. I've been widowed a mere four months!" And she grabbed her laundry and began scrubbing even harder.
"This isn't right," a woman said.
"We keep saying that," Felicity spat, "but what are we doing about it? Nothing, that's what! We avert our eyes when a man is offended. We apologize if he's rude to us. Over and over, we do absolutelynothing!"
"But what can we do?" another woman asked.
"We need to start talking to each other," I said. "We need to at least care for each other."
"And what willyourisk to help?" an older woman at the back asked. I was sure she had to be well into her thirties.
But she had a point. Most of these women didn't know me. None of them knew what I could do, or that I'd even try to doanything. So, I pulled in a breath and decided to take my first big risk.
"Any woman who's hurt? She can come to my suite for help. If my husband is there, I will handle him. If he's not, I will help immediately. No need for subterfuge. No messages and getting others involved. I. Will. Heal. Them."
"Callah..." Felicity said, sounding like she was trying to stop me.
