Page 91 of Shadowlands Omega

But I tilt my head. “Did your parents come with you across the sea?”

“Yes, they did. We were very lucky to stay together.”

“But…” I don’t know how to phrase this politely. “Sorry, it was late and I might have been mistaken. Didn’t you arrive with your grandparents?”

“Oh yes,” she says again, just as adamantly. Then, as if realizing that I’m looking at her funny, she shrinks down in her seat. “Well, they are my parents now. My real parents died.”

I feel like immediate shit. “I am so sorry. Did they…” I was going to ask her if they died in the battle of Ruby City — if they were killed by the undead — but then I remember this girl must be somewhere between six and ten and I don’t have the heart to make her relive it. Changing topics, I say between bites of savory bean curry and sour sponge bread, “I saw you at the inn, didn’t I?”

She nods vigorously.

“You were very brave, crossing Zaoul like you did.”

She frowns abruptly then, looking very small and making me feel even worse. I scoot forward and place my food-free hand on her knee. She doesn’t flinch away from me like I thought she might and I take that as a win. I smile at her and she holds my gaze a little easier.

“Very brave,” I repeat. “How did you meet my sister?”

“Which one?”

She glances at Zelie then, who smiles and says, “Her quarters are close to ours. Much nicer, though.” She sticks out her tongue and pushes her voluminous twists over her shoulder. “You get to stay in the room right next to that cool suit of armor. I call him Harold. He’s pretty nice, don’t you think?”

She giggles and shakes her head. “He can’t talk.”

“Oh yes he can. Harold and I chat every day. I’ll introduce you when we go back.”

She giggles again and I smile, feeling a little more relaxed. “Were you helping Zelie in the kitchens?”

Margarite shakes her head. “I just saw her when she was leaving. She looked like the other one who helped us before we got here. So do you.”

“The other one?” Zelie says, sounding as confused as I feel. My pulse has started to increase…

“Your other sister. She said she was the sister of the Lady of the Shadowlands and that the Lady of the Shadowlands would keep me safe. That’s you, isn’t it?” She points at me, but my throat is dry.

I stare at Zelie and shake my head. Zelie’s eyes are equally wide. “You don’t think…” she starts, then swallows hard. “Do you think she met Owenna?”

“What? Where’s Owenna?”

“Remember, after the whipping, she left?”

“That was days ago!” I would have shot up to my feet if I didn’t simultaneously feel like fainting. “Ancestors help her, where is she?”

“I…I don’t really know,” Zelie stutters, waving her hands. “She said she was going shopping and then never came back. One of the Riders reported that Sipho escorted her to Undoline to visit relatives…”

“Why would she go visit relatives?”

Zelie shrugs.

We glance back to the girl in unison. I speak first, trying to keep my voice light, pleasant and calm so I can keep her talking. “Margarite, the woman you saw who said she was my sister…where did you see her? At the ports?”

“No. We didn’t land at the ports. We crashed on a beach beside these big cliffs in the morning. There were caves in the sides of the cliffs. That’s where your sister was.”

“Oblivion?” Zelie says, startled. She looks at me and shakes her head and I know that she’s just as shocked as I am.

“Yes.” Margarite nods enthusiastically, her drawl growing drawlier as she becomes more and more absorbed by the food. “This is very tasty, by the way. I’ve never had anything like it.”

I smile at her when she looks at me, but it’s delayed. It’s hard to keep the worry from my voice as I prod her again, “Was there anyone else with them?”

She looks at me, her mouth full, her eyes bugging out. She smiles. “Oh yes.” The girl nods vigorously. “Lots of people. They wore rags and had big guns and brought us up a path through the cliffs. It was really narrow and steep and it came all the way out onto the top and that’s where I saw your sister and she told the lady with the goggles that she’d take us to the ports, but she lied.”

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