Very Well

"Okay, come out you two."

A moment of hesitation, and the bedroom door creaked open. Out crept my brothers. And seeing who stood next to me, they had already stopped in their tracks. 

"It's a human..." Mickey muttered. Pandora pretended she couldn't hear him. 

"What happened? What's she doing here?" Damian asked. 

I turned to him. Making sure my words rang. 

"She says Mom is still alive. And she's gonna help us save her."

"Mom?" Mickey's ears pricked up. "Where is she? We have to help her!"

"They'll have her captive by now. There's still time, but we have to play it safe. Please, leave it all to me." Pandora assured. 

Damian just glared at her.

"How do we know you're not lying? What if she's already dead, and you're just leading us right to those soldiers out there?"

"If she wanted to do that she could have done it five times over, Dame." I replied.

"I don't believe her." he growled. 

I opened my mouth, but Pandora stepped in. Approaching slowly, carefully. Like a stray approaching a child. 

"Dame? Is that your name?" she asked. 

"Damian." he muttered. "Only my brothers call me Dame."

She smiled. Bending her knee to the floor at his feet. 

"Damian. You know, we humans wear our hearts on our sleeves. Our souls in our eyes." 

Damian fidgeted. Trying to maintain his resolve. 

"Look into mine, Damian. Do you see that I would hurt you? Do you see that I would lie to you?"

He didn't know what to think. Only that she'd challenged him, and he accepted. Staring into her eyes. Scowling as if she was wrong. His brow loosened and his shoulders untightened once he realised she was right. Eyes wide, lost in a golden haze. 

"H-how do I know it's not a trick...? An illusion?" he murmured. 

Pandora held a hand over his shoulder. 

"It could be. But you're a smart boy. What would you gain from believing it is?"

Damian stayed silent. Although it's presence wasn't natural. What he saw had not been a spell. Not a grand revelation. It was just a soul. Hers. Golden and glowing. Damian nodded in acceptance, rubbing his eyes. Not with sudden conviction. Just understanding. Just a sliver of hope. 

If not for our situation I might have laughed. She was better with them than me. 

I had believed her pampered. Inexperienced. Then I was proven right, but only half-way. She knew more than me about something. Yet another thing I couldn't name. 

Either way, I was grateful. Perhaps she was truly our salvation. 

***

And so we had continued watching from the indoors. Peeking through the wooden planks nailed to the window once more. Taking in the state of our home. 

Houses blown to chunks. The ones that stood bore chagrined tunnels torn into the walls. Stains of red spattered across the grass. 

Every male Gimen who surrendered had been tied to the ravens along with the children. All the ones who didn't lay rotting in the mud.

And the women? Kept alive, just as she said. Slowly being hauled to the centre of the village. Some kicking and screaming. Some so limp they may as well have died already. But still no sign of mom. I didn't tell my brothers why they were doing this. If we were going to prevent it, why did it matter? 

"Where is she?" Damian whispered. 

"They aren't done yet. Let's just wait and see." I said. 

So we held our breaths. Face after face brought out. None of them her. The hope we were just offered slowly draining. Or maybe it was a lie all along.

As I was about to wonder, that hope came flooding back. 

"Mom..." Mickey whispered. My head sprang like the string of a crossbow. 

It was her. Hands tied behind. Pulled like an unruly mule. But she didn't even resist. She looked as if life itself had fled her. The light behind her eyes, trampled. Broken. Why? I wondered. Likely because she thought we had left without her. Whether it saddened or relieved her though, I had no idea. 

Two more women were brought after her. And a familiar voice came crawling with them. 

"Right, you vermin. It seems we have limited spaces on our return trip to Amandla, and unfortunately, unlike your peers, you did not suit the requirement."

'Does he ever shut his mouth?'

"Of course, I would have been delighted to have brought you back. But simply put we have no use for you. No dishes that need scrubbing. No dresses that need mending!"

Some women simply glared at him. Our mother stared into an abyss.

"And furthermore, it seems our citizens are already satisfied with the current selection of... 'entertainment', and would rather slit their own throats than be coerced to lay with beasts such as yourselves!"

I forced myself to tune it out. Eyes glued to our mother. 

"Pandora. What are you gonna do? How does this work?" I asked. 

She didn't face me either. 

"I shall reason with them. The soldiers, I mean." 

I turned my head. 

"He is of course beyond reason. But in my time spent with him I've noticed that his soldiers do not respect him. They don't want to be here. And they do not truly wish to serve him."

"So why do they? Are they like you? Do they think we're monsters?"

"No. They know better. They are his personal capture and excursion force, Cohort VI. They've seen thousands of Gimen. They know what you are, and they do not care. And yet they are different from him, and they want nothing more than to leave. I know not why."

Confusing. But the only hope we had. 

Damian chimed in. 

"...How did you end up helping someone like this?" he asked. 

Pandora sighed. 

"Although I am royalty, I am far from a monarch. Meaning that any reigning monarch bears power over me, and I am required to serve them. Especially when they are forming an alliance with my own family. They said it would be good for me."

My spine squirmed. 

"Reigning monarch...?"

"Yes. His name is Vicram Usman. He is the current ruler of Amandla."

Pandora turned to me. 

"The Gale King."

My frustration had been growing all along. Bubbling underneath. Our plight was not only cruel, it now grew absurd. 

This man is who humans trust to stand atop their world. And his time was spent here. On the brink. Standing atop our necks instead. 

"Humans are dull creatures aren't they?" I murmured from my chest. 

"Indeed we are." she replied.

Vicram's voice came back into effect. 

"And so, that leaves us with one last option!" he exclaimed, raising a single hand to the air.

'If he drops that hand, the women will be killed!'

I tried to warn Pandora, yet the door had already sealed behind her. 

All that was left was to watch, hoping she could pull it off. 

Hoping. Trusting. Having faith in. Was this all we were good for? 

"Ah, Pandora! You've brought no slaves from that house?"

Pandora approached, head tilted down. 

"The house was abandoned. No one lives there."

The women tried to steel their surprise, they knew full well that was not true. Especially mother. 

Vicram sighed. "Oh, very well." he said. Nearly dropping his hands. 

"May I--" Pandora injected quickly. "May I speak with you? With everyone?"

Vicram turned back to her. An eyebrow raised. His hand still in the air. After some hesitation, he lowered it again, not to order execution, but to pause it. 

"But of course. Speak your mind, milady."

We watched as fate toyed with us.