Eliuteria

Chapter 25

I didn't know circumstances that brought Fairyn, Rae, and Camille to the paestra, but I hoped they were like me without any family to be submitted to the cruelties of the zashar.

"I see nothing special about you," one of the Morri men, who had introduced himself hours ago as Xander, said in his own language. He had been walking next to me, several feet away though and had occasionally glanced over as if he were waiting for me to strike up a conversation.

Xander, and both the other men I had woken to find speaking in hushed tones with Ahren were intimidating. I knew whose side they were on, Ro would not have found me help in anyone he did not trust. They weren't friendly though, and the rude comment that I was certain he didn't believe I understood wasn't actually directed to me, just at me, it was the first any of them had spoken a word to me. They hadn't spoken to the other girls either, at least not while I'd been conscious. It may have been courtesy, they were grouped closely together and keeping their distance from the Morri. Even Analiese who was so eager to never judge, kept a skeptical eye on the men.

"What?" I asked, thrown off by the comment.

When Xander spoke again, it was in the human language. "Ro has spoken of you."

"You know him well?"

Xander chuckled like the question was ridiculous before he answered. "Our mothers are sisters."

"Oh," I tried to hide my surprise and turned to face him meeting a familiar amethyst gaze. Though Ro was so alike his father, his eyes favored his mother and if I had to guess, Xander's favored his mother's as well. Aside from the familiarity in his eyes, Xander looked nothing like Ro. His muscle was all bulk where Ro was lean muscle, but I didn't doubt for a second who would win in a fight. They were both covered in markings though I could only see Xander's arms, I assumed they covered most of his torso as well. His jaw was more square and his brow was stronger.

I wasn't sure how to feel about the fact that I had never heard about Xander, who had apparently heard about me. Ro spoke about his parents to me sometimes, told me stories from when he was younger but had never mentioned any other family. They couldn't know how I would react when Juleen got his hands on me. I could have given away everything to avoid the pain and there were moments when I wanted to, when I thought I would say whatever he wanted to make it all stop. I couldn't fault Ro for keeping secrets about his personal life when the only thing that prevented me from telling Juleen everything I knew was the pain.

"And he told you I was special?" Xander's brow shot up, clearly he had not expected me to have understood his previous words. "Did he fail to mention that I understand your language, or did you just not expect me to call you out on it?

Laughter barked out from ahead of us, one of the other two Morri who were leading the group. Mekhai, who turned around was the shorter of the two but still taller than most humans, his green eyes that had been so hard when he first introduced himself were sparkling with amusement.

"Rest assured, Morrisi, they never mentioned your knowledge of the Morri tongue, likely in hopes Xander would make an ass of himself."

"I knew," Ahren said from behind us.

"Didn't want to give us a heads up?" Xander asked.

"It's been a long couple days," he said as explanation. "I needed a laugh."

We lapsed back into quiet for a long while, until the first signs of dawn appeared. It was then that Ahren suggested we stop to eat and rest. The mention of food had my stomach growling as I realized for the first time since leaving that I hadn't had anything to eat since I last saw Ro.