“How far along are you?” she asked.
“I think I’m close to six months, Karla. I’m
not really sure, though. Linnea has a midwife monitoring the growth of my
belly.” Chandra responded, as she placed the weaved basket next to her feet and
exhaled. She looked up at the sky.
“The dusky lavender hue of the sky reminds me
of an Amethyst crystal and the white fluffy clouds hang prominently in the
foreground. Beautiful. It seems so otherworldly, so surreal. Can’t get over its
beauty. The best thing about this place is that my thoughts are my own. No
Soran.”
Chandra
felt a tap on her shoulder, she gasped and put her hand over her enlarged
belly.
“Are you
okay,” Symonea asked. She is one of the women that live in the sanctuary. She
is a Dryadian female, who escaped from a bounty hunter and stumbled into the
forest. Lucky for her, one of the warrior women that guard the gates
surrounding the sanctuary, found her and brought her to safety. “I’m fine,”
Chandra responded and sat down on a bench under a tree.
She exhaled
deep and smiled. “Chandra, I hope you
don’t mind me asking but who is the father? Is it Carlos?” Symonea asked. Her
innocent intrusion did not offend Chandra, but she wondered if Symonea has a
crush on Carlos, she has caught her eyeing him in adoration. Chandra smiled.
“The father is,” she paused. “on the other side. He can never crossover.”
Chandra sighed.
“Oh, I see.
He must not be pure of heart,” Symonea paused. “That is the only reason why he
cannot crossover or he is a threat to you and your unborn child.” What Symonea
said, flicked a light in Chandra’s head. “A
threat? Maybe. If he knew I am carrying his child, he definitely would not
approve. I don’t know how he would feel about it,” she thought. One of the
guards walked up to them.
“Linnea wants to talk to you Chandra,” said
a slender Valurin female, dressed in a pair of brown suede fitted pants, a
matching halter top, and dirty brown leather boots. Her hair is haphazardly
done up in a bun. Some strands hang loosely on the sides of her temples. She is
one of the guards. They dress differently than the rest of the women at the
sanctuary. Chandra is escorted back to the main compound. The main building has
two lower layers of rooms.
Carlos
passed them in the hallway, he abruptly stopped, and turned on his heels.
“Whoa! Stop the press.” His eyes shot open,
and they rested on Chandra’s belly. Chandra grimaced. Carlos has not paid much
attention lately to Chandra’s appearance and this is the first time he noticed
something off. Chandra stopped and turned around. She sighed. He finally
noticed her belly. Her cheeks flushed.
“Yes, Carlos I’m pregnant,” she confessed,
casting her eyes down briefly, feeling ashamed that she did not tell him
sooner. However, he is not the father so frankly, it is none of his business.
Carlos is taken back by the news. He gulped, surprised.
“Is it…
mine?” he stuttered.
“Chandra
chuckled. “No. Right now I need to speak to Linnea, I will talk to you about it
later.” She smiled and walked away quickly. Carlos sighed nervously and a
perturbed look shadowed his face. He never noticed her belly before since she
wears long loose dresses.
“When
we first arrived, we always hung out together but within time I was sectioned
off to work with other males that live here and eventually, I was moved to the
compound two blocks away from the main building. It’s no wonder I never noticed
Chandra’s changing body,”
thought Carlos.
“The sanctuary is a large place, sometimes
people don’t see each other for a long time,” the warrior woman told Chandra.
Chandra shrugged and nodded.
“Poor Carlos, I probably scared him. He
probably thinks he is the father. I’ll explain to him later if we cross paths
again,” she scoffed and smiled. Chandra was escorted into a well lite room.
At the center on a large metal pedestal, a
large egg-shaped stone, sits. She suspects that this is one of those Kry’ash
stones of Knowledge, that was brought to this world from Dryade. “How did they cross it to this dimension?” she
thought. Linnea walked in. Her slender body swept past her.
“How are you feeling?” She asked.
“I am doing good. Not sure how I got pregnant
by a Javarin, but I suppose anything it possible.” Chandra said, a worried look
shadowed her face.
She did not want Linnea to know that she is
scared to death about having a child even though she has had children before
back on Earth.
“It is understandable to be afraid,” Linnea
patted Chandra’s shoulder. “Don’t be afraid though, because you’re about to
embark on a journey to seek what is hidden inside your mind.” Linnea poured a
cup of tea for herself and Chandra.
“This tea will help you relax and make you
ready for the communion.”
“What communion?” Chandra asked. Her lips
stopped short of the rim of the cup as she second guessed whether she should
drink it or not. “Will this harm the child?” She asked.
“No, it will help you and the child,” Linnea
said.
You must
seek the truth and in order to do that, you must commune with the stone. All it
takes is for you to open your mind. If there’s any doubt, I will be here with
you on your first journey inside the Kry’ash.” Linnea assured her, but it’s no
comfort since Chandra naturally tends to be wary of new things.
