Eye of the Oracle - By Bryan Davis Page 0,44

in Mara’s ears.

Alone in caves through darkest nights,

A bitter girl is mining ore,

With pick and bucket gathering rocks,

Confined to chains forevermore.

No life, no love, no mother’s arms,

Forever empty you will yearn.

The friends you love will fade to ash,

And you will see them fall and burn.

These caverns held the judging flow

Where floods awaited God’s command

To spring into the worlds above

And drown the souls who dared to stand.

So now these caves are empty tombs

For hopeless slaves who chisel stones;

Far worse than death as on their knees

These ghosts unearth their sisters’ bones.

Relinquish now all hope for grace,

For grace and mercy spew their scorn

At girls who live and die in caves

And those who dwell as underborns.

Naamah repeated the verses, each one filling Mara with sorrow. She couldn’t protest. Every word was true. There really was no hope, and her only real friend was gone forever. Grace didn’t exist. Mercy and hope were merely words in Mardon’s dictionary, flat and lifeless.

As the lyrics passed through Mara’s mind a third time, the song faded into oblivion, replaced by a fuzzy, dream-like voice. She knew she had begun dreaming, but as the dream progressed, it grew so real, she lost all consciousness of anything but the image before her.

“We’d better go,” Acacia said. “If Morgan finds us, we’re goners.”

Mara stuffed a small loaf of bread into her pocket and handed one to Acacia. “I’m not leaving without enough food. Paili won’t get her rations if she doesn’t come to the dining chamber.”

Acacia held out the loaf. “She can’t eat this much.”

“Who knows how long she’ll be sick?” Mara pushed the loaf into Acacia’s pocket. “I can’t risk coming back to get more.”

“The bell for roll call already rang.” Acacia pulled Mara’s arm. “Let’s go!”

Mara pulled back. “I have to get the bread to Paili!”

“Roll call first, then we’ll sneak out and feed her.”

The two girls ran through the tunnel, the lantern in Acacia’s hand guiding the way. After riding the platform down to the labor level, they hustled to their places in line, side by side.

Nabal glared at them and raised his whip. “Where were you?”

“Tending to Paili,” Mara said. “She’s sick.”

Nabal, towering at least four feet taller than any of the girls, glanced over at Paili’s empty place in line. He cracked the whip across Mara’s shoulder, tearing her skin.

“Owwww!” Mara dropped to her knees. As she fell, her loaf tumbled out of her pocket.

Nabal’s eyes widened. Acacia snatched up the loaf and took a bite from the end. “I was hungry,” she said, mumbling through her mouthful.

“That was your loaf?” Nabal asked. “Where did you get it?”

“The pantry,” Acacia said casually. She pulled out a loaf from her own pocket. “Want one?”

“You’re not allowed in the pantry!” Nabal roared, raising his whip again. “I will ”

“Stop!” a new voice interrupted. “What’s the problem here?”

Everyone turned. Morgan, her brow bent low, strode toward the line. Mara rose to her feet, trying to hide her pain.

Nabal lowered his whip and pointed at Acacia. “A food thief, Mistress.”

Morgan held out her hands, and Acacia dropped the loaves into them. “You stole the bread?” Morgan asked.

Acacia nodded. Morgan walked slowly past her and touched the wound on Mara’s shoulder as it bled through her outer tunic.

“Alone?” Morgan rubbed Mara’s blood between her finger and thumb.

Acacia’s eyes grew wide. She spoke quickly. “Nabal is a fool. He hit Mara when he should have hit me.” She pressed her thumb against her chest. “I stole the bread. I should be punished.”

Morgan brushed breadcrumbs from the material around Mara’s pocket. “I see.” Taking Nabal’s whip, she wound it up around her hand, her gaze locked on Mara. “Nabal, dismiss the laborers to the trenches and come with me. Bring these two girls with you.”

“Get to work!” Nabal bellowed. He then grabbed Mara and Acacia by their wrists and followed Morgan as she headed down a sloping tunnel. Nabal’s powerful grip seemed to squeeze the blood from Mara’s arm and shoot it up to her head until her brain pounded against her skull.

Morgan finally exited the tunnel through a tall, wide door. Nabal half dragged the girls through it and stood them on a spacious ledge that overlooked a deep, fiery chasm. As Mara blinked at the bright magma river below, she swallowed, hoping she didn’t look too scared.

Morgan eyed them both. She tore off Acacia’s coif and ran her fingers through the long tresses that fell to her waist. “If it wasn’t for the length of your hair” she yanked Mara’s coif