36
A Hazmaggi elder has put forth the claim that her daughter-in-law is the infamous Morchidat. The woman reports that the resistance leader's real name is Jumana Rajja, and that she is responsible for the death of her son and keeping her two grandsons in secret locations where the family is unable to contact them.
—”Does the Leader of the Sisterhood Have a Sordid Past?” A special report
The new Lallat stumble into the night to find a crowd has gathered around the cave entrance. Some people are staring at the hole that seems to have opened up in the earth. Some are staring at the sky, which is abloom with shimmering arcs of light. The meteor shower has arrived, one night earlier than the last prediction.
Among the crowd are Naturalists wearing checkered scarves. Some of these begin to whisper, pointing at the girls.
“Is it them?”
“They wear the sacred jewelry.”
“Should we apprehend them?”
“You girls must get out of here quickly.”
Shay jolts at the voice. She turns and looks into the tattooed face of the Morchidat.
She notices several things at once. One, the suspicion with which Marjan regards her mother. It brings to mind all the moments Marjan stopped them on their journey, her nagging concerns that they were being followed. Another, the way Walid seems to wait for his mother's eyes to land his way, seeking some reaction he never gets. Lastly, she notices that the Morchidat shows no surprise about the changes in the girls’ appearances.
“It's her. The one they call the Morchidat.”
The Naturalists have increased in number. A group has separated from the peaceful onlookers and is forming a loose circle around them. Among these, men who brandish swords with blades too long and sharp-looking to be carried about so casually. The Morchidat draws her own double-bladed weapon. Flashes of steel shimmer in the blue-black darkness. Tension spikes through the crowd.
A deep rumbling draws everyone's attention to the line of trees that borders the nearby forest. A second later, all seven bone-eater brothers, plus some additional bone-eaters Shay has never met, burst from the timber at a running gait. They too carry weapons. Knives. Spiked Clubs. Chained balls. They head straight toward the encroaching Naturalists, who turn their blades away from the girls, toward them.
It would appear the brothers decided to break their rule about interfering in human affairs.
“Run!” the Morchidat shouts at Walid and the girls.
Shay runs.
She runs as if all their lives depend on it. As if the burning in the back of her calves, the deep ache in her heels, could bring back Ghita, bring back Hind. Bring back the unknown thing the night hags took from her.
Footsteps pound the earth as what sounds like a small group pursues them. In her periphery, Shay sees Marjan clutching a handful of arrows and firing them back in succession as they flee. Something tells her they all find their mark.
They run straight into the forest. The clash of swords and grunts of men ring in the distance behind them. Shay doesn't see or hear anyone pursuing them now. It would be hard if they did, for the forest seems to both open a clear path before them and close like a seam behind them. Branches bend. Trees collapse inward. Vines stitch themselves together.
Shay stops, gripped by panic.
“What's wrong?” Marjan glances around, assessing for threats, then into Shay's eyes.
“The brothers …” Shay turns back toward the medina, but she can't see the crowd anymore. She can't even see a path in that direction anymore. Panic eats the edges of her vision. Her throat is raw with it. “If the bone-eaters are there fighting alongside the Morchidat, who's with my sister? Who's taking care of Najla?”
Yara whispers something to Walid and Khawla, perhaps explaining that Hind died in childbirth. That Shay is now caretaker to a newborn.
“What do you mean?” Marjan says slowly. She shakes her head. Slowly. “Shadi is with Najla, Shay.”
A bolt of pain blasts the base of Shay's skull, nearly knocking her off-balance. “Who is Shadi?” It hits her again when she repeats the name. She plants her hands on her knees and breathes deeply until it passes.
When she stands back up, Yara is giving her the saddest look.
“What is going on?” Shay doesn't like the way everyone is looking at her. The way they don't seem as worried about Najla as they should be.She's a newborn!
“Shay, we need to keep going,” Marjan insists.
“What is going on?”
