SWNOVELS Repercussions (Chapter 17)
Rachel:
The silence in the room was horrifying.
We all knew what those unique green eyes meant, what Ava had done. Only the men in the forests had glowing green eyes and they weren’t allowed in the temple. They weren’t even allowed into the city. Yet somehow Ava had managed to become pregnant by one of them.
My eyes leave the baby and swing around to look at Ava lying on the bed.
“What…what is wrong with him?” Ava sounds desperate, her tired eyes are round. She is trying to move from her bed, leaning forward over her bloated stomach.
Ava, the woman who had being a priestess all figured out, messed up.
I take one last look at the baby and then go to Ava’s side. I grab hold of her sweaty hand and sit on the bed next to her.
“Your baby has glowing green eyes” I look at her as I say it. Maybe she didn’t know? Maybe the man somehow fooled the priests and made it into the temple?
“We were so careful” Ava looks haunted, her eyes on me but somehow not seeing. She knows she messed up. Her eyes blink slowly as they slide to her son.
The assistant, Gregory, picks up the baby now wrapped in a small blue blanket. He doesn’t look at Ava as he walks out of the room.
“Where is he taking him?” Ava blinks once and then twice before a tear leaves her right eye and begins trailing down her cheek.
I don’t know what to answer her. I don’t know where they are going and I don’t know what is going to happen.
I look at Tim in horror and he approaches the bed.
“Lean back, Ava, I need to take care of you,” he says calmly as he touches her shoulder.
“Where is he taking him?” Ava asks again as Tim pushes gently on her shoulder to get her to lay down. Ava resists for a moment before complying.
“I need to get you sorted and then we can discuss what will happen next” Tim pushes up the sweaty nightgown Ava is wearing and begins messaging her stomach again. “Rachel, can you grab me some more clean towels?”
I let go of Ava’s clammy hand and go and grab the towels. Handing them to Tim, I take my place back at Ava’s side.
She is crying as Tim does whatever it is he needs to do for her. I am not really paying attention. Instead, my mind is occupied by the little baby with glowing eyes. What will happen to the baby? Will they hurt him? Kill him? Give him to the men who live in the forest?
What will happen to Ava, the woman who did everything right?
She is gripping my hand, hard, but it’s not enough to bring my mind back to her. Her crying is soft enough that it is just the background music to my own thoughts running through my head. Tim’s soft words and movements barely register.
It’s not until Ava pulls on my hand, using it as support to try to stand up, that I register the sound. Children crying, shouting, furniture moving, all muffled through the pale wooden door which leads to Ava’s living room…
I stand slowly from my place sitting on the bed. I have to see what is happening. I have to check on the children. I have to make sure they are okay, fighting over food, or playing pirates, or crying, or whatever it is little boys do when their mother is out of sight.
I feel the heaviness of Ava’s weight as she leans on me, “Ava wait here, I’ll check on them”
“No, take me to my children.” I can feel her shake with strain as she pushes off from the bed, gripping my arm like a lifeline.
I hold out my arms as I take one step forward and then wait for her to take one shaky step after me. We continue this slow dance to the door, Tim having made himself scarce organizing dirty linens. I try to give him a glare but he never lifts his head from his work.
Despite our slow approach, we still reach the door too soon. I’m not ready to see what is behind it.
But I do open it, and it is a world of chaos: children crying, toys thrown on the floor. One of the older children is holding a younger one. One child holds clothing in his arms as he is hauled by a large man towards the door- the boy dragging his feet the entire way. Another child remains still watching the room in the arms of another man.
Three more large men stand to one side of the room overseeing it all. I don’t know who they are, I don’t recognize the uniforms, but one with a broad face, a pinched nose, and a grim smile turns to us as we enter.
“Miss. Thompson” he addresses Ava in a deep solemn voice “we have been directed by the Ministry for Children’s Affairs to bring your sons to the orphanage. You have the right to appeal your case by coming to the ministry at your convenience”
I suddenly feel Ava grow heavier and lax, and I realize she has fainted. She is too heavy for me to hold and we crumble together to the floor as I do my best to at least support her head as we slowly crash, banging my elbow and twisting my knee. After we land, I manage to gradually rearrange us so her head is in my lap and I can sit up.
“Take this for her, she will need to take it to the ministry” the solemn man hands me a document, “keep it for her so she has it once she is out of the Redeemer’s”
“Redeemer’s-?” I ask stupidly.
“Yes, they should be here momentarily. Those fuckers always take too long and make us deliver the bad news”
I nod, dazed by the disorder, the crying, the terror in the air around me. The men herd Ava’s children out of the door going God knows where for who knows how long. All the while, I hold Ava’s head in my lap as she is blissfully spared her children’s soft cries and the fear on their little faces.
*****
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