Dzar-Ghan (Alien Barbarians of Vandruk #3)

40. Chapter 40

Nobody slept that night. Whoever wasn’t busy celebrating their reunions gathered in the main Temple chamber. The priests’ atrocities needed to be brought to the light of day, and I prayed it wouldn’t crush our society.

The gallis who had accused Bzun-Lhan of taking her baby wasn’t the only one, and after a while, Thlung-Rhan broke and took us to another hidden part of the Temple, where older gallies lived, taking care of infants and children up to twelve years of age.

Some of the gallies had been pregnant when they were taken from the cave; some, it turned out, had indulged in relations with the priests or Guardians for better food, housing, clothes, or simple company. I didn’t fault any of them, but the males would have to face a public trial. Any youngling resulting from such unions had been taken from the gallies and brought into this other part of the Temple to be raised by strangers to be later mated to Vandruks who could afford to buy one.

This was Bzun-Lhan’s powerplay.

He raised the young males to become Temple Guardians to enrich his own steadily growing army. The gallies were used as pawns to indebt powerful Vandruk males to the Temple. I had to give Bzun-Lhan credit for being a patient man. It would have taken decades for his plan to fully succeed, but in the end, he would have held all the power.

What a despicable bastard.

In the days to come, I was sure we would have to guard him carefully; there would be more than one male seeking to hack him to pieces.

Dzur-Khan was burning to leave in search of his sister, but since he didn’t have much to go by, he reluctantly stayed, muttering, “Why didn’t she come to me?”

I didn’t have any answers for him, and I was wondering the same thing. If Gisetta had escaped, why hadn’t she come forward and exposed what the priests were doing long ago?

“She was always selfish and vain,” Secylly answered my question. “None of us ever thought she would come back for us.”

“Gisetta was always only about Gisetta,” Mynarra added, taking hold of my arm and smiling up at me. “I’m so glad you came. I always knew you would.”

“Mynarra…” I didn’t know what to say. The other khadahrs were taking their seats. We were about to discuss the future of Vandruk. This wasn’t the time to tell Mynarra that my heart belonged elsewhere.

She looked so fragile, and when she smiled up at me, my heart constricted. I didn’t want to hurt her, but I feared I would.

“Whenever you’re ready to join us, Dzar-Ghan,” Tzar-Than called from the table.

“We need to talk later.” I nodded at Mynarra and excused myself to join the Gathering of Khadahrs, not in the least surprised to see Amber sitting next to Dzur-Khan. From what I had gathered, she was training Vandruks in the fighting style of the humans. Still, no gallies had ever sat in at the Gathering of the Khadahrs.

Some of the khadahrs glared at her, but the way she glared right back shut even the bravest male up. It had never happened before, but any Vandruk had the right to fight for a seat at the table. He only had to defeat the khadahr who opposed him or her. I supposed that this right, even if it had never been tested, extended to gallies. Amber’s temper and skills had proceeded her; none of the khadahrs were willing to challenge her. It would have been a losing battle. Even if they won, they would have looked bad in the eyes of the others.

I also thought it couldn’t hurt to have her sit in and give us valuable information on the humans, which would be another subject we needed to discuss tonight.

From outside, the laughter and noise of a celebratory party reached through the doors, emphasizing the need to get things settled as soon as possible. Once people’s good mood over finding loved ones wore off, they would demand answers. Answers we needed to figure out without destroying everything Vandruks believed in.

“Even with this celebration, these are dark days, and even darker ones will be ahead of us,” Tzar-Than opened the session.

After a few hours, we took a small break. Mynarra cornered me the second she laid eyes on me, and with a sigh, I realized that I would have to talk to her tonight—now. It wasn’t right of me to keep her hopes up.