Sentinel - Cyndi Friberg Page 0,14
Natalie whispered, moving closer to Salvo’s side.
Salvo wrapped his arm around her shoulders, the action instinctual. “When and where?” he asked Caster.
The lad’s pointed chin shot up again and defiance flashed in his yellow eyes. “I already told you more than I should have. You have the better part of a day to find Dellia before Malik and his mate are scheduled to arrive. After that, the outcome is up to you. I’ll be in touch.” Caster darted for the door before Salvo could disentangle himself from Natalie.
“How in creations name did he know when Malik is scheduled to arrive?” Salvo muttered as the door shut behind Caster.
“We have to warn them,” Natalie insisted. She pivoted to face him, shifting out from under his arm in the process.
Salvo shook his head, feeling the distance between them with irrational intensity. One step would bring her back into his arms, yet he ached for her as if they’d been separated for cycles. “I’d rather speak with him in person. Long-distance coms are too easily intercepted. Clearly someone is watching him.”
“Can’t you talk to him telepathically?”
“I can, but telepathy can be intercepted as well. The safest way to inform him is to wait until he gets here.”
She didn’t seem pleased with his decision, but she didn’t argue. “How hard will it be to find Dellia?”
“Governor Shyrrik owes me a favor. With a few coms, he should be able to find out where she ended up.”
He waited for her expression to relax, but her worry expanded instead. “Are you really going to close down the workhouses, or were you just trying to pacify your contact?”
“Oh, they need to be shut down, badly. But it makes more sense to wait until the outpost is operational. Most of the workers have nowhere else to go. If we raided the workhouses tomorrow, it wouldn’t really benefit the workers. Most are orphans. They would end up back on the streets.”
“The Riverside and Lake Walker outposts are both operational. They would be welcome there.”
Salvo shook his head as he corrected, “With strict supervision, they would be tolerated there. These are city orphans, urbanites. They would be miserable at any of the villages.”
She looked at him questioningly, clearly not understanding what he was talking about. “What is so different about ‘city orphans?’ You make urbanite sound profane.”
She had been here half a season-cycle. How could she not have learned something so fundamental? The question made him cringe. It would have been more surprising if someone had taken the time to explain.
Feeling awkward standing in the middle of the room, he motioned toward the furniture a short distance away. “Let’s sit down.”
She obliged him, moving to the nearest chair and perching on the edge as if she weren’t sure if she would stay or run after Caster.
He sat facing her and tried to order his thoughts. An in-depth history lesson would take days. She just needed the basic facts. “Ghost City was the epicenter of the war. All of the densely populated sectors were targeted, but none as heavily as Ghost City. The entire area was bombarded with a variety of biological weapons. It caused horrendous mutations in those it did not kill.”
“But isn’t that true of the entire planet? I was told that biological weapons were what drove your people underground.”
“They were, but the mutations in Ghost City were more severe, more shocking. My people are tribal by nature. When faced with conflict, we close ranks and defend our own. It was village against village for centuries, but gradually the villagers realized they were stronger when they worked together. Well, Long Shadows still hate Wind Riders, but all the villagers hate urbanites.”
“Is urbanites a slur or what city-dwellers call themselves?” Her silky brows drew together, and the hesitation in her tone made it obvious she was unfamiliar with the word.
“It started as a derogatory term, but gradually became a label city-dwellers wear proudly. It can be applied to anyone who lives here, but most often it refers to the residents of Elburu Obak.”
“That didn’t translate. What does that mean?”
“It’s a place from our ancient myths, not hell exactly, more like human’s purgatory.” Before she could ask him how he knew the difference between hell and purgatory, he said, “Roughly translated it means ‘sanctuary of the soulless.’ Occupants of Elburu Obak are known as urbanites.”
Her brows drew together creating adorable indentations above her nose. “Why urbanites if their sanctuary refers to the soulless?”
“Members of the council that controls everything are known