He’d been blabbing the whole walk down to the mine and really had no idea what he said. His mind was so involved in both her and her reactions to him. When they reached the dig area, his mate was sweating. He had forgotten how hot it was in the volcano’s depths.
“Smits,” Ferrus called out. He watched as his mate studied the young boys carrying in rock from the mine and the magma female drenched in sweat at the lava river. His mate’s wide eyes and gaping mouth probably weren’t a good thing.
Great. Now, what was wrong?
Chapter Eight
Lilah was so pissed when she walked out of the dining room, she could’ve chewed the entire rock wall and spit it out like bullets from a machine gun. All at one man, well two: that asshole who liked to hurt women and the dumbass king for his stupider than dog shit laws.
That one nice man, though, she had seen him when she walked in. She’d wished that the light hadn’t been so dim in the room. She couldn’t see much more than his silhouette as he sat. She would have loved to see what all of him looked like up close. That would be a wet dream come true. But right now, she had more important things to think about.
It was time to get the hell out of this place. If the guards tried to stop them, she’d deal with it then. Right now she was too angry. Reaching the kitchen entrance, she made sure her cousin was with her then continued down the slope toward the king’s throne room where this whole nightmare began.
Could she tell off the bastard and not be thrown back in their cell? Probably not. Maybe she could try to be such a pain in the ass that His Hind Ass would tell them to leave. She doubted that too. Judges didn’t release the attorneys for bad behavior; they called contempt of court. And sitting in jail while the judge cooled his jets wasn’t fun. She learned that the second time she had to sit and wait.
“Lilah,” her friend asked, “do you know where you’re going?”
“We went straight to the kitchen from the king’s room. So, we just go past that, and the big cavern should be nearby. From there, we can get to Wren and Zee and get the fuck out of this fresh hell.”
“Lilah,” Daph whispered, getting closer to her, “why are you ready to chew someone a new hole? Granted, that guy back there who hit the woman deserves to have his left nut cut off, but you’ve been like this since we left the village this morning.”
Lilah squeezed her hands into fists, letting the bite of her nails into her palm help her to get a grip on herself. There was no way she would tell Daphne about her jealousy of Wren finding a mate, the loneliness she had endured for so long, and the humiliation she suffered daily from others because of her weight.
“I am guessing you didn’t hear me in the hall before I got to the dining room where women work for free and get shitty tips.”
Daph shook her head. “No, someone shoved a bowl in my hands and told me to follow them while the older lady helped you put on your poncho.”
“Let me tell you about this lovely prison garment.” She tugged on the covering and went on to tell her cousin what Valori had told her about the men subjugating the women because they couldn’t keep it in their pants.
“That’s a bunch of bull hockey,” Daph replied.
She snorted. “Not quite what I said, but yeah. Then there were women serving the men and not eating themselves. Then to top it off, that bully showed no respect for what the women were doing for the men. Not to mention that women aren’t allowed to talk to men because of gender.”
Daphne laughed as they passed the throne room door. “I knew that would piss you off.” When they came to an intersection, Lilah guided them to the right. Daphne said, “I remember that case a couple years back when a woman who was a welder sued for discrimination. You were so awesome with the jury. I don’t see why you aren’t a partner at the office yet. The men there are idiots.”
Discrimination based on sex happened at more than blue-collar jobs. But she loved what she did, so she hadn’t complained since it was just her affected. The thing was she couldn’t stand to see an injustice. When someone was wronged, her inner demon flared to life, wanting revenge on the wrongdoer, to make him pay for the harm he’d caused.
She couldn’t beat the shit out of those people, so she took them to court.
“I’ve had enough of this place to last me forever,” she mumbled. “If they want to live in the stone age, then let them. But we are finding a way out if I have to crush every piece of rock to do it.”
“I forgot about that. How did you do that?”
She shrugged. “It just happened. I have no clue.” Lilah wiped her forehead. “It’s getting hot.”
“I noticed. I don’t think we're in the right tunnel. We’ve been walking too long.”
She scowled. “I think you’re right. We probably should’ve turned left instead of right.” When she pivoted on the ball of her foot, movement caught the edge of her eye, and she screamed from being startled. Daphne did the same. And holy shit.
It was him. This was the first time she had seen him up close and…all of him. Their training “uniform” of short-shorts type of covering outlined everything it hid. All she could do was stare at his perfection. Everything about him was fine, head to toe.
Yeah, so she understood how men could get riled up at seeing a woman scantily clad, but was she about to attack the man? No. Not because she didn’t want to, but because she had control over herself. Enough for the moment anyway. If she could keep it in her pants, so could the men here.
Her eyes fixed on his plump lips as he spoke. His voice was sweet music in her head. She breathed him in. He smelled like crisp, clean air like after a snowfall. Next thing she knew, he had his hand on her back, guiding her farther down the tunnel. Where were they going? She didn’t care as long as he was with her.
Then she saw boys coming out of a hole, coughing from the dust-laden air, carrying containers of crushed rock to dump into a huge cauldron. At the black pot, a young woman as wet as a fish worked a device that lowered the large kettle to the top of a lava flow. Wait, she wasn’t doused in water, but sweat. And the kids were mine laborers.
She stared back and forth between the two areas. She didn’t know which was worse. Which was the most significant, most unethical treatment on the planet?
Wanting to know what was going on, she went to the woman manning the cauldron.
“Don’t you have any water? When was your last break? Are you the only one doing this?”
The lady’s eyes widened, and she stepped back, closer to the edge leading into the lava.
“Stop!” Lilah said, holding her hands out. She slowly pointed. “Don’t fall in.” The woman glanced into the pot hovering just above the molten rock river. With a long hook, she rolled it toward her and to the side where stone molds in the shape of swords lay. She tipped the pot, and liquid poured into each mold. To the side were stacks of swords ready to go.
“This is how you make your weapons?” she asked the lady who just squinted at her. Then Lilah watched as the woman picked up a boulder the size of two softballs and shaped it into a hilt, then inserted it in a notch at the end of the cast. Viola, a sword.
Lilah asked, “Why are you making so many?” The woman covered her lips. Lilah didn’t understand. “What? You’re not allowed to talk about it?” The lady opened her mouth, pointed inside it, then put her hand over her lips again. “Oh, you can’t talk at all?” Sad eyes met hers.