Sullha wrapped her hands around the warm cup of tea that Burda had set in front of her and inhaled the faint herbal scent.It was not hibiscus tonight. It was chamomile, with something sweet underneath.
"I saw you talking with Vinnah," Burda said. "Do you know that she's one of those?" She swirled her finger next to her temple to indicate what she thought ofthose, meaning the Sacred Mothers.
Sullha hadn't realized that Burda had seen her talking to Number Eight's mother, but then she shouldn't have been surprised that she had. The woman saw everything somehow.
"I know," Sullha said carefully, keeping her voice low so the two women sitting at the next table over would not catch it. "Well, now I know. I didn't when I started talking to her. I was just curious about the melody she was humming."
Burda could never know the real reason Sullha had struck up a conversation with Vinnah. Or could she?
What if Burda could join the escape plan?
The woman's gray-streaked eyebrows lifted. "Don't you know what the humming means?"
Sullha gripped the cup tighter. "I'm not really familiar with the order, so it didn't occur to me."
"It's best to avoid them," Burda said. "They are aggressively recruiting, and if the Venerable Mothers notice you showing interest, they take it as a sign and start pestering you, thinking that you're considering joining them."
Sullha grimaced. "I am not."
"Of course, you are not. But don't be surprised if you find a whole circle at your door with sweet words about purpose anddevotion, and the next time you turn around, there will be three of them sitting next to you at meals and explaining things. You won't be able to get rid of them."
Sullha hadn't thought of that.
"I know how to be rude when I want to. They'll give up on me pretty quickly."
Burda huffed. "Don't be so sure. They are consumed by religious fervor, and they are fanatics, so a little rudeness won't deter them. Also, you need to walk a careful line with those Sacred Mothers. Avoid saying anything that could be considered blasphemous."
"What are Sacred Mothers?" Tomek asked.
Sullha and Burda looked at each other over his head.
They had been careless, forgetting that the little guy had ears and was listening to their conversation.
"They are women who believe that having children is their divine calling." Sullha chose her words carefully. "They believe that they are doing Mortdh's work when they bring babies into the world."
Tomek's face wrinkled in confusion. "Aren't you a Sacred Mother?"
She laughed before she could stop herself, and Burda made a soft sound that sounded very suspiciously like a laugh, too.
"No, baby. I'm not a Sacred Mother."
"Why not? You had me."
"I had you because I wanted you. Not because I thought I was doing Mortdh's work. I had you because I wanted someone of my very own to love, and kiss, and hug, and tickle."
She tickled his side and he giggled, looking satisfied with her answer.
Saying out loud that she had borne her child for herself rather than for the god Mortdh skirted the edge of what was permitted, and if a Sacred Mother had been within earshot and told the guards about her blasphemy, the consequences could have been dire.
Burda was looking at her with an expression that was almost approving.
Tomek smacked his lips around the last bite of his sandwich and reached for a cookie. He bit into it with the same satisfied sound he had made over the chocolate milk and watching him thinned out the fog around the edges.
Burda waited until Tomek was busy with the cookie before leaning back behind him.
"They are crazy, you know." She dropped her voice to just above a whisper. "There is this look they get in their eyes, and once you learn to recognize it, you can't unsee it. It's a state of elation that has nothing to do with what's happening around them."
Sullha knew the look. She had seen it on Vinnah and on others before her, and Burda was right that it was unmistakable once she recognized it for what it was and then knew what to look for.
