Warrior King New Worlds (Crystal Kingdom #6) - Milly Taiden Page 0,10

running. That would’ve been the only male who valued her.

Maybe this separation of the sexes was a great idea. The women wouldn’t have to put up with men’s stupid shit, and the men didn’t have to put up with women trying to make them better.

Wiping sweat from her forehead, legs becoming wobbly, Lilah wondered where they were going and how much longer it would take. When leaving the throne room, she didn’t think to ask. She wanted away from that old fart so badly. This girl did not look threatening, so Lilah had no problem going with her.

Now that she’d had time to think, she needed to pull her shit together. They needed to get Wren and Zee out of the prison cell and get the hell out of this place.

“Excuse me, Ferra?” She thought that was the girl’s name. The daughter turned back to her. “We need to get our friends and get back on the road. Can you help us with that?”

The young lady’s head tilted, brows drawn down. “You are one of us now. You do not need to go anywhere.”

Lilah chuckled and put an arm around the girl’s shoulders, the dumb cover-up limiting her movements. “You do not understand, honey. This is not our home. We are trying to get back to our family. You wouldn’t want someone to keep you from being here with your dad, right?”

Ferra shook her head then twisted around, maneuvering Lilah’s hand into hers. “Come meet the others.” The girl reached out to Daphne, who took the offering.

“We can stay for a little bit. How’s that?” Daphne glanced at her over the head between them. Her cousin’s comment was a good idea. They needed time to come up with a plan to escape anyway. She gave a nod to Daph, and the girl led them up the tunnel, and up, and up.

By the time they came to where light penetrated the dark passage, her legs were jelly. They’d been dragging Daph the last mile or so. Geesh. Had they climbed to the top of the damn mountain?

They entered a room that had her jaw dropping. She glanced at her cousin. Daph’s eyes were as wide as donuts, which sounded good at the moment since they had berries and grains for breakfast a few hours ago.

The space they entered was huge, with sunlight pouring in. Lilah’s eyes needed a minute to adjust to the brightness. Ferra dropped their hands and rushed forward toward other ladies. Some with brown sheets on, some with them off.

The females’ clothing was very different from the gnoleon’s. Where the tree people wore animal hide and bead necklaces to cover their flat chests, these women had a smaller version of the ghost sheets but with no head covering. It looked like they wore a T-shirt that was two sizes too big.

But the most important thing she noted was that they all had big thighs and butts. With all the climbing they had to do, having larger muscles in that area of the body made perfect sense.

Lilah slipped her coverall over her head and laid it over her arm. Daph just pushed the hood back. As the two stood at the entrance, the women started noticing them. Many women stood along a rectangular island in the middle of the cavern, like many kitchens on earth had. They held small knives, and stone bowls of food were scattered about. Smelled like food, anyway.

On the far side, women came down a slope, carrying larger bowls filled with stuff, stopping when seeing her and her cousin. An elder set her blade on the stone island and approached them.

“Welcome,” she greeted, “I am Valori.” She bowed her head slightly.

Daphne made the same move. “Thank you for the welcome. I am Daphne, and this is Lilah.”

Ferra rushed toward them, chewing on something like a carrot. “Valori, Father said for them to learn our ways.”

Valori jerked around. “Why? They are not one of us.”

The girl shrugged.

Lilah smiled, coming out of her stupor. “We are not staying long. In fact, we should be leaving now.” She pivoted on the ball of her foot and walked back the way they came. Daphne caught up to her.

“Do you know how to get us out of here?” her cousin whispered.

Lilah stopped. Of course, she didn’t. Dammit. She stared down the dark slope they had climbed. Shit. “What do we do, Daph?” she asked. Her usual bravado and confidence were gone in the face of failing her friends and thoughts