[Phantom Islanders 02.0] Storm Revealed by Ednah Walters

Author:Ednah Walters [Walters, Ednah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781943053476
Amazon: 1943053472
Barnesnoble: 1943053472
Publisher: Firetrail Publishing
Published: 2017-05-25T06:00:00+00:00

A crowd of hall workers, including kitchen staff I recognized, stood outside the bathhouse with Kai and three of her shieldmaidens. They all stepped back when they saw Ryun.

“What happened?” he asked.

“They cut their wrists inside the wash tub,” Kai said. “I’m not sure what they used since the kitchen followed protocol and only gave them wooden utensils and we always kept an eye on them.”

“Wooden utensils can be broken and turned into weapons, and you can’t be with them all the time,” Ryun said. “Everyone go back to work. Delia, send word to—”

“Storm?” Kai asked, and Ryun cut her a quick glance.

“No. Send word to all the elders to gather in the conference room.” A weird expression crossed Kai’s face. “Yes, even Moria. A decision needs to be made now. How many of your maidens are on watch in the Hall?”

“Eight,” Kai said. “The others are in their quarters.”

“The men?”

“Outer towers. We just switched places.”

“I want this hallway blocked off, and someone should be with the lasses upstairs. They should not come downstairs to use the bathhouse.” He studied the faces of the workers who’d gathered with Kai. “No one discusses this with those outside the Hall. The fewer islanders who know about this the better. We haven’t dealt with suicide in decades, and I don’t want anyone spooked.” He indicated I follow him into the bathhouse.

I averted my eyes from the bodies of three girls by the washtub, which was tinged with red. Two girls were crying a few feet away. The tall one had ombré hair—black and blue. Next to her was a shorter curvaceous brunette with wavy hair like mine.

Ryun went to talk to them while I tried not to look at the dead bodies. Someone should cover them. When I’d done the rounds with Delia, she’d explained how the bathhouse worked. There were several washing pools for lathering, and the large one in the middle for rinsing. The water was pumped from the canal, but the dirty pools drained into the ocean along with gifts from privies around the island. The drainage dump was hidden by a waterfall. She said they drained the lathering water once a day, and the larger rinse pool once a week.

Ryun appeared by my side. “Take the Tuh’rens upstairs and talk to them. Nothing I say seems to work.”

I glanced at the girls. “What could I possibly tell them?”

“That we’re not monsters. You’ve adjusted quickly. Explain to them why and how.”

No wonder he’d wanted me to accompany him. Was I the poster child of a well-behaved Tuh’ren? I had Storm to thank for that.

“Don’t you have the ones you harvested last year or the years before to talk to them?” I griped.

“Yes, we do, but like I said, the fewer islanders who know about this the better. Death is not something we are used to, and these girls killed themselves because of us. I’m not sure how our people would see that, especially the young ones. I don’t want them thinking we’re so terrible Tuh’rens would rather kill themselves than be mated to us.

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