Page 46 of Abalim

She moaned again, her eyes fluttering open.

Her shoulders relaxed, and he found himself the focus of her mesmerizing blue eyes.

“Did you get the license plate of the truck that hit us?” With the heel of her hands, she rubbed her eyes. “Holy God, I haven’t felt like this since my college days.”

Abalim wasn’t sure what college had to do with the pain in her head, but now wasn’t the time to discover what she meant. “Never mind that.” He helped her to sit up. “How do you feel?”

She snorted. “I’ll live.” Her clear sapphire eyes focused on him again. “I may regret it, but I’ll live.” She looked over his shoulder. “Where are we?”

In his hunched position, Abalim rested his elbow on his bent knee and studied their surroundings. It was then he noticed they weren’t alone. Several younger Lumarians were sitting with some elders he’d never seen before. The only ones he recognized were Maelani and Dravik, who sat with an older Lumarian female. She embraced them under her arms and murmured soothing clicks and whistles while petting the tops of their heads.

“I believe we’re prisoners in the elders’ hut,” he replied.

“What do you think they’re going to do to us?” Lisa scratched the side of her head.

“Well, that’s obvious.” Dravik moved away from the female who had to be his mother and sneered. “They’re going to sacrifice all of us tonight at the ritual.”

His mother tweaked the tip of his pointed ear. “Dravik! There is no reason to think that’s what will happen.” She tried to pull him back to sit with her, but her son shrugged away and jumped up with his hands on his hips.

“Yes, we do, ma-mere. Nyvira made it clear she and Tharion believe our youth will give the village an advantage.”

One of the young female Lumarians cried with gurgling sobs.

The elder female frowned. “They can’t do that.”

“Dravik’s right!” Maelani joined her brother to face their mother. “We’re all going to be sacrificed to Echovara tonight!” She flicked her wrist at the group, staring at her mother with wide, terrified eyes.

“Dravik, sit down!” Their mother’s stern tone was firm. “I need you to calmly tell me what’s going on.”

The younger male Lumarian’s mouth opened and closed as he narrowed his eyes at Maelani.

“Don’t look at me!” His sister raised her palm in defense. “I think we owe it to ma-mere and the other elders to explain what happened after they were selected.”

“Yeah,” Lisa whispered to Abalim. “I can’t wait to hear this.”

He led her to one of the walls and sat. He leaned back and positioned her to sit in front of him, her back resting on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her waist, savoring her warmth as it seeped into him.

“Yes, please tell Alaria and the rest of us what happened once Council Leader Tharion confined us in here.” An elderly Lumarian male spoke up. He had his arm around the sobbing young female next to him.

Maelani gave a respectful nod to him. “Yes, Elder Zylar.” She started her narrative. “From what I understand from the past, it was common for family members to deliver food and comfort to the elders while they were in the elders’ hut. Is that correct?”

The male gave a clipped nod. “Just so.” He glanced around the room. “We’ve wondered why no one in our family came to visit.”

“It’s not that we didn’t want to.” Dravik picked up the story. “Whenever we tried, the guards kept us out and told us we weren’t allowed to see or speak to you.”

“Yeah, they chased us off with threats.”

This came from one of the young female Lumarians snuggling under Zylar’s arm.

“Chased off? Like criminals?” Zylar whistled and clicked with his bright eyes wide.

The male’s disbelief and horror came through loud and clear to Abalim’s psychic sense.

“For what reason did they give for that?”

Maelani’s laugh was devoid of humor. “They told us it was treason to see or speak to you. And every time, we were threatened with exile.”

A collective gasp went around the room.

---