"The older girls deserve more than four hours a week, and we can reinforce the boys' education as well. They won't be happy about it, though."
Sullha chuckled. "No, they won't. They much prefer to run around and play than sit in a classroom. Let's start with finding teachers for the little ones and the girls first."
Perhaps she could even find new teachers for real before she escaped.
Probably not.
She didn't have enough time.
Could the escape plan be postponed?
She needed to talk to Yaaf and convince him to delay the plan so she could leave the enclosure with a clear conscience. After all, hadn't he done the same by eliminating Losham's adversaries? He'd secured the island to the best of his ability.
Not he. Them. The Eight who were one.
She still couldn't wrap her head around that.
Saphira gave her a long, evaluating look that made the hairs on the back of Sullha's neck prickle. Saphira was not a Sacred Mother because she wasn't a mother at all. But she was perceptive, and Sullha didn't know if she could trust her.
"Why now?" Saphira asked.
"Why not now?"
"You have been complaining about the teaching situation for a long time, and your solution was to volunteer your help and hope others would follow your example."
"But they didn't." Sullha threw her hands in the air. "And since they didn't come to us, I decided to go to them and guilt some into doing more for the children."
Saphira winced. "You know what most will tell you. Why bother? What use do these kids have for education?"
"I know. But I have to try. I can't keep sitting on the sidelines and hope something will change. I need to be the one who will bring that change."
Saphira nodded. She did not look fully convinced, but she didn't look suspicious either.
"When you find volunteers, I'll help interview them. Not everyone is suitable for working with kids."
"I know." Sullha rolled her eyes. "Trust me, I know."
Saphira cast her a sympathetic look.
The teacher knew about Sullha's mother and how she treated her.
Sullha left Tomek in Saphira's class with a kiss on his forehead and him wincing because she was embarrassing him in front of the other kids.
She intended to start searching for Rohilah, who was next on her list, but found herself heading to the kitchen to collect some cool lemonade instead.
8
LOSHAM
Losham savored the tension, the anticipation, and the furtive glances at the six remaining junior brothers as the officers in the hall ran their own assessments of the succession. He could imagine the unofficial wagering that had been running through the barracks since his brothers' deaths, the money pools the senior NCOs would have been quietly maintaining on which brother would receive Kolhood's command.
He was curious to hear who the front-runner had been.
Dave would find that for him, but he would have to wait until the ride back to the hotel to hear everything the Eight had managed to collect.
Losham walked around the dais and leaned against it, assuming a casual pose even though naming Kolhood's replacement was the least casual announcement he was going to make today.
"You are all waiting to hear who will assume command of the army. The selection wasn't easy. The position requires a flag officer with operational experience at scale, with establishedrelationships across the chain of command, and with the demonstrated ability to maintain cohesion during the transition. Above all, the army requires continuity. Any disruption at the top propagates downward through the formations, and we cannot afford disruption in our operations."
