Page 58 of The Merciless Ones
Or the next day, or the next day. I don’t know how things will ever be better again. But I don’t say any of that out loud. “I need to know now,” I finish.
“Very well,” the karmoko says with a sigh, nodding to Lady Kamanda. The noblewoman flicks a finger at her servants, who quickly melt away, as silent and unobtrusive as shadows.
Karmoko Thandiwe takes a deep swig of her palm wine. “The situation is dire,” she says. She regards the expensive white beverage for some moments before glancing back up at me. “There’s no other way to put it: everything is dire.
“After you defeated the emperor in the N’Oyo Mountains, the Hemairan army rushed back to take the city, and the first thing they did was storm the Warthu Bera. Huon, Calderis and I and most of the girls resisted, but there were so many casualties…so many…
“We swiftly realized we needed subtler measures of resistance if we had any hope of freeing anyone. So Huon and Calderis pretended to surrender, and I pretended I’d been killed.”
“Wait, so they’re still there,” I whisper, horrified. “All my friends?” I’d already suspected that this was the case, but hearing it verified is worse than I could have imagined.
Karmoko Thandiwe nods. “That is the truth of it.”
“What about Mehrut?” Adwapa cuts in, agitated. “Is she all right?”
The Karmoko hesitates before nodding. “More or less. She was one of the stronger ones. The stronger ones they bleed for their gold, since they can’t risk them escaping and helping the others. They use the weaker ones to work the forges.”
Adwapa deflates, and Asha quickly embraces her, whispering in her ear.
“I don’t understand,” Kweku says, frowning. He’s sitting at the other end of the table, next to Katya and Nimita. “Why didn’t all of you just leave and go back with reinforcements the minute the jatu attacked? There are training grounds all across Hemaira. Surely you could have all banded together.”
“Banded together.” Karmoko Thandiwe seems bitterly amused by the thought. “Not all karmokos in the training houses share our support of alaki, and even if we all did band together, we wouldn’t have the numbers. Finally” – Karmoko Thandiwe turns to him – “what does the phrase Warthu Bera mean, young uruni?”
“‘House of women’,” Kweku replies, confused. “What does that have to do with anything?”
Belcalis rolls her eyes. “What do men tend to do when they’re in a house full of young, pretty women?” she asks pointedly.
“Oh.” Kweku looks down, nauseated.
“That, young man, is why we couldn’t all just leave,” Karmoko Thandiwe says.
It’s all I can do not to give in to the horror churning in my gut now. “So the jatu, they’ve—”
“No,” the karmoko replies. “Not while Huon and Calderis remain there, ensuring that any man who places one finger wrong never sees the light of day again.” She shifts closer to me. “For months now, they’ve been entering the caverns, killing the jatu when they can and frightening them when they cannot. They almost had those superstitious fools believing that the Warthu Bera was cursed, until the priests assigned a new commander, Xipil. He started locking the caverns at night. Thankfully, the men are still too spooked to do anything. But it’s only a matter of time before they begin testing limits again.”
Even with this warning, relief settles me. “So you’ve truly kept the girls safe all this while.”
“Huon and Calderis have,” the karmoko says, “and while they did so, I’ve searched for places to hide the girls – like-minded people to plead our cause once we’ve freed them from that awful place. That’s how I found Maimuna.” She smiles fondly at Lady Kamanda, who smiles back.
Belcalis, however, is not so easily impressed. She turns a suspicious eye to the noblewoman. “Why would you help us?” she asks. “You’re human.”
“Precisely.”
When we all stare, confused, Lady Kamanda continues: “It is precisely because I am human that I help. How can I see what is happening and not feel for the alaki? Or for myself? After all, what happens to your kind happens to human women as well. You’ve seen Sanusi Square, all those bodies there. No matter what we are – human, alaki – we’re all female.”
“Some of us.” This interjection comes from Karmoko Thandiwe.
Lady Kamanda smiles. “Some of us,” she agrees.
When I glance at Karmoko Thandiwe, confused, she explains, “I am neither male nor female. I would consider myself more of a they than a she.”
That makes so much sense, given everything I know about the karmoko, I just nod as Lady Kamanda continues. “We have to free your bloodsisters, Nuru Deka, get them out of here. Out of Hemaira. And hopefully, one day, you and your mothers will return and take back this city.”
My mothers. The words churn up all the doubts inside me, immediately banishing my thoughts about Karmoko Thandiwe and their earlier revelation. I touch my ansetha necklace, trying to feel the goddesses’ presence, but it’s silent once more. If only I could contact them. If only I could learn more about them as Anok—
I blink as my thoughts take a sideways motion. What was it I was thinking?
When I look up, Keita is staring at me strangely. “You all right, Deka?” he asks.